Research

Humboldt State University has acquired a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), a submarine that will be used to study marine habitats and organisms up to 3,000 feet beneath the ocean’s surface.

Psychology professor Tasha R. Howe has received a 2014-15 Fulbright scholarship to Croatia, where she will work in child abuse prevention.

Two Humboldt State geologists and a team of graduate students contributed to the discovery of an extensive sedimentary deposit formed by a 1946 tsunami, providing the first known tangible evidence of the event and furthering the understanding of the long-term hazard of tsunamis on California coastal communities.

Humboldt State University, along with 15 regional partners, has received a $5.88 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct innovative biomass research.

Humboldt State’s Schatz Energy Research Center has been awarded a pair of grants totaling more than $2 million from the World Bank Group to support its continued involvement in the Lighting Global initiative. Lighting Global and its sister programs, Lighting Africa and Lighting Asia, support the development of commercial markets for solar charged off-grid lighting products that are affordable to low income people in developing countries.

Humboldt State University’s Sponsored Programs Foundation will host the annual McCrone Awards Banquet at 4 p.m. April 24 in the Great Hall above the College Creek Marketplace. The event is free and open to the public.

Five HSU students have been selected to participate with students around the state in the California State University’s 28th Annual Student Research Competition.

Humboldt State University, along with 15 regional partners, has received a $5.88 million grant from the Department of Energy to conduct innovative biomass research.

During its 40-year existence, Humboldt State’s marine research vessel, the Coral Sea, has seen its share of adventures. It’s been held captive in a foreign port, served as the headquarters for drug smugglers and brought back sunken treasure from the Bahamas. For a while, it was also the home of Mac, the Diving Dog.

Humboldt State University will host a free public screening of “Becoming California” a public television documentary exploring man’s relationship with the environment 7 p.m. March 8 in the Van Duzer Theatre.

Humboldt State University has launched an interdisciplinary institute for education and research in the marine and coastal sciences, which will expand understanding of a large and remote section of California coastline.

Humboldt State University will screen two films produced for the California Environmental Legacy Project—a statewide multimedia initiative designed to raise public awareness about environmental change in California—Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre.

The California Ocean Science Trust has awarded ten grants totaling $4 million to state and local agencies to conduct marine research on the North Coast, including over $2.2 million to Humboldt State University.

Fall 2013 was a big semester for Humboldt State: the university kicked-off its Centennial year with an unforgettable celebration on the Plaza; HSU students, faculty and staff made their mark both on- and off-campus and the university continued to expand its academic offerings with new programs and majors in a variety of disciplines. From student achievements to university milestones, here are some of the highlights of Fall 2013.

Recently, a team of HSU researchers used a unique combination of citizen science and genetic sampling to estimate the number of river otters around Humboldt Bay.

*Biotechnology Research Competition*

Humboldt State’s Biology Core Facility has purchased a stereo microscope with fluorescence illumination, an advanced instrument that will better support student and faculty research in the biological sciences.

“Fenced round with snow, the headland of all rivers, where the mountains are high and the land is pure." Though spoken by an anonymous Tibetan poet centuries ago, these words continue to inspire HSU undergraduate students to explore and document the geography of the Tibetan Plateau.

Last spring, a few students in Kathryn McDonald’s _Intertidal Ecology_ class were studying sea stars at Trinidad Bay when something unusual started happening.

Humboldt State has been named a top school for Fulbright scholars by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Three HSU faculty members received awards in 2013-14, making Humboldt State a leading producer of Fulbright scholars among U.S. master’s institutions.

Humboldt State University and the University of California will co-host a biomass energy workshop Thursday, November 7 at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center.

On the bottom floor of Science D, a group of students sat in small groups discussing water turbidity, pH levels, mineral content and energy consumption.

Engineers at Humboldt State’s Schatz Lab are expanding their work on electric vehicle readiness to New Delhi, India.

Crows are among the most intelligent animals on the planet. But just how smart are they? A new "study":http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.12064/abstract;jsessioni… led by wildlife faculty member Barbara Clucas suggests that they can tell when humans are watching them and adapt their behavior accordingly.

In biology, some creatures are simply evolutionary oddities. Take the aardvark, for example, or the duck billed platypus—animals with distinct, unusual features that make them unique in the mammal world.