Updates about the latest accomplishments—including latest research, publications, and awards—by students, faculty, and staff
Viri Macias, Ana Sammel and Emma Villegas presented their mathematical work at the CSU PUMP Symposium. Viri presented a model for calcium signaling and Ana and Emma presented a model for COVID-19 and immune cell interactions. The projects were mentored by Bori Mazzag and Kamila Larripa.
Kamila Larripa was selected to conduct research at the American Institute of Mathematics in June. She and collaborators will build stochastic models for immune cell dynamics.
Arianna Thobaben (Supplemental Instruction / Learning Center) and Jessica Citti (Writing Studio / Learning Center) facilitated a workshop called "Breaking the Virtual Ice: Online Tools and Activities to Build Community Among Student Staff and Beyond" at the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) 46th Annual Conference (April 2021).
Anthropology Assistant Professor Dr. Gordon Ulmer was recently awarded a grant from the HSU-ERFSA for his proposal "Socioecologies of Human-Wildlife Interactions in Northern California". His project will utilize a range of methods from anthropology (ethnography), ecology (habitat analysis), and wildlife studies (camera trap surveys) to investigate how residents in Northern California perceive, describe, and take action on issues involving wildlife.
HSU GESA Students Sweep the Awards at CGS:
McKnight Professional Paper Award (undergraduate), 1st place: KATIE PIPER, “Nature’s spigot: Bofedal presence in the Peruvian Andes Mountain Range”
2nd place: JESSICA JANECEK, “Placing memory, preserving individual stories amid myth: The Humboldt Cannabis Oral History Project”
McKnight Professional Paper Award (graduate), 1st place: JARED WHEAR, “The Las Vegas water grab is dead: Prior appropriation water law at its best?” (HSU Geography, 2012; PhD candidate in Geography, Syracuse)
Professional Paper Cartographic Award (undergraduate), 1st place: FAITH REHAGEN, “The Baja California Peninsula”
2nd place: MICHAEL FLYNN, “California fire map”
Congratulations to our 2021 Forestry and Wildland Resources Department scholarship recipients! At the annual (Zoom) awards banquet, over $50,000 in scholarships were distributed thanks to the generosity of alumni and other donors.
A new scholarship for Soils and Botany students was created to honor Aidan Leaf Mullin, who planned to attend HSU in 2020 but passed away unexpectedly. The scholarship will support students who exemplify Aidan’s spirit and ideals.
Special congratulations to Department award winners: Cameron Miller (Professional Promise), Judson Fisher (Academic Excellence), Allyssa Glaser (Outstanding Range Student), and Dr. Aaron Hohl (Outstanding Faculty Member).
Sarah Green, Libbi Miller, Heather Ballinger (School of Education), and James Woglom (Department of Art) presented "Expanding Equity Through Reducing Barriers: Applying Improvement Science to Justice in Teacher Preparation Application Processes"at the 2021 Carnegie Summit on Improvement in Education.
Senior Geography major Michael Flynn earned second place for undergraduate cartography for his map “California Fire Map” at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Senior Geography major Faith Rehagen earned prize for undergraduate cartography for her map "The Baja California Peninsula" at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Sophomore Geography major Jessica Janecek earned second place for undergraduate research presentation for her paper "Placing Memory, Preserving Individual Stories Amid Myth: The Humboldt Cannabis Oral History Project" at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Senior Geography major Katie Piper took top prize for undergraduate research presentation for her paper "Nature’s Spigot: Bofedal Presence in the Peruvian Andes Mountain Range" at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Jasper Oshun received a Fulbright Award to teach hydrogeology at a university in Lima and conduct water resources research in collaborations with communities in the region of Cusco. The teaching and research will occur between February and July of 2022.
Arianna Thobaben (Supplemental Instruction / Learning Center) and Jessica Citti (Writing Studio / Learning Center) facilitated a workshop titled, "Breaking the Virtual Ice: Online Tools and Activities to Build Community Among Student Staff and Beyond,"
at the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) virtual conference on April 23.
Joshua Frye, Communication, was recently invited to join the Advisory Board for Windlift, Inc. Windlift is a sustainable wind-energy research and development firm developing airborne power generation (APG) technology.
Kerry Byrne, Assistant Professor (ESM) published a paper in the journal Rangeland Ecology and Management entitled "Technical Note: A Rapid Method to Estimate Root Production in Grasslands, Shrublands, and Forests." Many thanks to Kellie Jo Brown (HSU Marketing and Communications) for taking excellent photographs for this paper.
See the abstract here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2021.02.004
Armeda Reitzel participated as a judge for group exhibits at the 2021 California State National History Day event held virtually throughout the state of California on April 18, 2021.
Sam Kelly (Environmental Science and Management Senior) and Cessair McKinney (December 2020 Environmental Science and Management graduate) presented their capstone research project at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Their talk was titled "Innovation in Restoration: Estimating Seed Counts Using a Photography App." Read their published abstract here: https://apps.cur.org/ncur2021/search/Display_NCUR.aspx?id=112796
Berit Potter (Art) was interviewed for the short documentary "Mosaic is Light" produced on the occasion of the exhibition “Mosaic is Light: Work by Jeanne Reynal, 1940 - 1970,” at Eric Firestone Gallery, NYC. She also contributed an essay to the exhibition's catalogue. "Mosaic is Light" has been featured in "4 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now" in The New York Times, Artnet: Editor's Pick, and "Goings On About Town" in The New Yorker. The documentary is available here: https://vimeo.com/520124010/4713b27be6
Math student Bridget Opperman will present a research poster on "Mathematical Analysis of Virus-Immune Dynamics and Implications for Treatment" at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research.
Education lecturer presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Conference her research "Creating the future of California’s teacher preparation of literacy instruction together after RICA" in a paper session “Exploring Models of Literacy Instruction” on April 12.
Dr. Joshua Smith, Chemistry, published a paper,"Strategies for Design of Potential Singlet Fission Chromophores Utilizing a Combination of Ground-State and Excited-State Aromaticity Rules" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 12, 5602–5617
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b12435
Dr. Joshua Smith, Chemistry, published a paper, "Triplet State Baird Aromaticity in Macrocycles: Scope, Limitations, and Complications" as part of The Journal of Physical Chemistry virtual special issue “Josef Michl Festschrift”.
J. Phys. Chem. A 2021, 125, 2, 570–584
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.0c08926
Joshua Frye, [Communication, Journalism and Media] was recently awarded "Top Paper" from the Freedom of Speech Division of the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA) for his paper, "Polarization, Public Communication, and (Un)Civil Society", which he presented virtually at the SSCA annual convention. The paper examines the multiple causality of divisive and violent political culture that the US has witnessed during the Donald J. Trump Presidency. Dr. Frye was also an invited panelist to discuss the intersections of Freedom of Speech and the 2020 Presidential Campaign.
Dr. Joseph Dieme has published his latest novel "Dans la peau d'un immigré" (In the Skin of an Immigrant). The book follows the experiences of a Muslim immigrant from Senegal in pursuit of the American Dream. From Dakar, destiny leads him to Paris; then to the African neighborhood of Little Senegal in Harlem, NY. Soon after his Senegalese wife joins him, their lives are changed by the September 11, 2001 events. To escape anti-Muslim policing and violence, he, his wife, and two undocumented African housemates leave NY and settle in a small Midwest town where they hope to find refuge. https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/livre-dans_la_peau_d_un_immigre_joseph_dieme-9782343220147-69509.html
Dr. Deepti Chatti has been awarded the prestigious Alastair McCrone Promising Scholars Award this year for her outstanding scholarly contributions and promise.
Dr. Amy Rock (GESA) published an article 'Bringing geography to the community: community-based learning and the geography classroom'
\http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-021-10408-3
James Floss, Faculty Emeritus of the Communication Department has won an Honorable Mention in College of the Redwoods' annual literary contest and will be published in the Seven Gill Shark Review later this semester.
Mary Ann Madej, Adjunct faculty, published a summary of 50 years of geomorphic research in Redwood National Park:
Redwood Creek watershed studies: Summary of geomorphic research at Redwood National Park. Natural Resource Report. NPS/REDW/NRR—2021/2228.
Aghasaleh's book, Children and Mother Nature, Storytelling for a Globalized Environmental Pedagogy, has been awarded an Honorable Mention for the 2021 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award.
This volume is a multilingual collection that represents indigenous environmental knowledges from various ethnic, linguistic, geographical, and national groups of educators and students through storytelling. Each chapter includes indigenous folk tales with a theme of human-nature interaction and facilitated storytelling sessions with groups of students in K–8 grade in Turkey, Greece, US, Jamaica, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Chinese and Korean language speaking communities in the US.
Allison Huysman and Matt Johnson (Wildlife) published a paper entitled, “Multi-year nest box occupancy and short-term resilience to wildfire disturbance by barn owls in a vineyard agroecosystem” in the journal Ecosphere.
Erin Chessin (Journ. ‘19) is published in the New York Times. Her first-ever article in a national publication, “A Successful Lifeline for Natomas Students is Feeling the Strain,” is about the toll the Covid-19 pandemic and virtual learning has taken on students in the Natomas Unified School District near Sacramento. Read the story at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/natomas-school-district-mental-health.html?searchResultPosition=6
HSU student media recipients of 2021 California College Media Association Awards
(HSU publications are awarded in categories with four-year colleges or universities with enrollments under 15,000 students.)
*El Leñador*
Best COVID-19 Coverage (First place): Nancy Garcia, Lupita Rivera, Karina Ramos Villalobos, Alexandra Gonzalez
Best Website (First place): Silvia Alfonso, Nancy Garcia, Sergio Berrueta, Karina Ramos Villalobos
Editorial (Second place) Brenda Sanchez, “Body Positivity”
Overall Newspaper Design (Second place): Jasmine Martinez, Sergio Berrueta, Cara Peters and Vanessa Flores
Special Issue (Second place): COVID-19 Mail Out Edition led by Carlos Holguin, Silvia Alfonso, Nancy Garcia, Sam Ramirez, Diego Linares and Jasmine Martinez
Photo Illustration (Third place): Raven Marshall, “Breaking Barriers: Native Women Faculty”
Multimedia Package (Third place): “Soy Artista Series: B1G $UAV, Social Justice Rapper,” by
Diana Renoj and Silvia Alfonso
Non-news Video (Third place): Diana Renoj, “Soy Artista Series: HSU Folklorico Club”
*The Lumberjack*
Best Headline Portfolio (First place): Collin Slavey, “Sweet Songs, Fancy Feathers, Birds Bang”
Best Feature Story (First place): James Wilde, “Memes, Genocide and Teaching in a Pandemic”
Best News Video (First place): “SJSU Football Team Comes to HSU”
Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design (First place): Jen Kelly
Social Media Reporting (Second place): Thomas Lal, “SFSU Spartans Football team arrives to practice at HSU”
Best Illustration (Third place): Sam Papavasiliou and Jen Kelly, “Pandemic Planning for Spring Break”
*Osprey*
Best Magazine Story (Second place): Emily McCollum, “The End of the Dam Age”
Best Magazine Photo Series (Second place): Julie Navarro, “Black Lives Matter: The Digital Mobilization of Citizen Journalists”
Best Magazine Cover Design (Third place): Julie Navarro and Emily McCollum
Professor Ray Chaudhury's work "This Is Who I Am: Instagram as Counterspace for Shared Gendered Ethnic Identity Expressions," with her co-authors, is now published online (ahead of print) in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/713288
Together with RS Lecturer Sara Jaye Hart, RS Majors Roman Sotomayor and Madeleine Wilson presented a panel on "American Civil Religion, Sacrifice, and Reconciliation" at the American Academy of Religions Western Regional Conference (March 20, 2021).
Alumni Blenna Kiros Geography Department and Diana Martinez Environmental Science & Management wrote the article Behind the Redwood Curtain published in Platform Magazine. The article can be found on pages 10-15.
Alumni Diana I. Martinez Environmental Science & Management & Blenna Kiros Geography wrote an article Behind the Redwood Curtain published in Platform Magazine.
Kerri J. Malloy, Lecturer, Native American Studies, was an invited speaker for “A Conversation about Native American Genocide.” He spoke on the promises and obstacles to transitional justice, reconciliation, and healing associated with the Indigenous genocide in North America. The event was hosted by the Mercer County Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Center at the Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, New Jersey (March 18, 2021).
Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources) published an article entitled "Litter trait driven dampening of flammability following deciduous forest community shifts in eastern North America" in the journal of Forest Ecology and Management with undergraduate student Raul Barajas-Ramirez (Botany), Jesse Kreye (2008; Penn State University), and Morgan Varner (Tall Timbers Research Station).
Caroline Martorano (2020) published a paper entitled "Long-term fuel and understory vegetation response to fuel treatments in oak and chaparral stands of northern California" in the journal Applied Vegetation Science with Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources), Eamon Engber (2010; National Park Service) and Jen Gibson (National Park Service).
Andrew Slack (2016) published a paper entitled "Large sugar pine mortality models informed by growth, defense, and competition in a fire-excluded forest of the central Sierra Nevada" in the journal Trees: Structure and Function with co-authors Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources) and Eric Knapp (USDA Forest Service).
Tani Sebro published the article, “The View of the Coup from the Camp: Myanmar’s Emergent Trans-Ethnic Solidarity,” coauthored with Elliott Prasse-Freeman in Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, March 17, 2021. https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/03/17/https-twitter-com-natrani-status-1360993418445524999-photo-1/.
John Reiss and Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy have been awarded a 3-year National Science Foundation (Division of Integrative Organismal Systems) grant to study the evolution of olfaction across multiple species of lungless salamanders with different developmental modes.
Amy Martin, Employer Relations Coordinator for the Academic and Career Advising Center, was recently named “Ambassador of the Year” by the Arcata Chamber of Commerce. Amy works tirelessly with the local business community, represents HSU at our local chambers of commerce, and works with national recruiters to bring career related opportunities to HSU students.
In early March, Dr. Larson was invited to participate in virtual roundtable discussion on the return of the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement, organized by the Dept. of International Relations of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, in Bogotá, Colombia. The discussion, in Spanish, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d0IIo6weRw&t=10s
Dr. Larson recently published an article, "Birds of a Feather: Populism and the Pandemic" in Tempo Exterior, an academic journal published by the Universidade de Vigo, Galicia, Spain. The article compares how the pandemic and populism influenced the campaigns in the U.S. presidential elections of November 2020 and the legislative elections in Venezuela in December 2020.
https://www.igadi.gal/web/sites/all/arquivos/files/tempoexterior_41_ent…
The 2021 Tuttle Graduate Fellowship was awarded to Danial Nayeri, an incoming graduate student from Iran, who is joining the research lab of Wildlife professor Dr. Ho Yi Wan. The Fellowship provides two years of $15,000 each year for a graduate student studying climate policy or science. Danial's project is evaluating the effect of projected climate change and altered fire regimes on spotted owl habitat using a multi-scale ensemble learning and scenario modeling framework.
The Tuttle Graduate Fellowship was established by Dr. Andrea Tuttle, former Director of the California Department of Forestry and a consultant in forest and climate policy.
Dane St. George and Matt Johnson published a manuscript entitled, "Effects of habitat on prey delivery rate and prey species composition of breeding barn owls in winegrape vineyards" in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems & the Environment
Alumni Blenna Kiros, Diana Martinez wrote the article Behind the Redwood Curtain published in Platform Magazine.
Undergraduate Jose Rodriguez received a $5,000 starter grant given to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color from Save the Redwoods League. This grant will be used to initiate the Condors And Redwoods Ecological Research (CARER) project, which aims to study California condors that are soon to be released into the wild in northern California. Jose will be working with mentor Dr. Ho Yi Wan on the project.
Dr. Bori Mazzag and Dr. Julie Glass, CSU East Bay, co-organized a series of CSU-wide talks in January as part of the year-long Math Council Colloquium series. The theme of the January talks was "Peer Instruction". We aimed to connect faculty and staff across the CSU who work on providing academic support services to students in mathematics and statistics courses. In addition to the talks, we collected some information on the structure of the tutoring and peer instruction on the various campuses. CSU campuses were broadly represented in the series, including speakers from Humboldt State University's Learning Center.