Student Rachael Olliff Biological Sciences

Biology graduate student Rachael Olliff recently received a 2013 conservation grant from the Sequoia Park Zoo of Eureka. Olliff will use the grant to monitor the relationship between the native but seldom-studied dune silver bee and flowering plants on the North Spit of Humboldt Bay and publish informational pamphlets.

Faculty Christine Cass Biological Sciences

Oceanography faculty member Christine Cass recently received a 2013-14 California Sea Grant Focus Award. Cass will spend 18 months studying seasonal changes in the fat and protein content of zooplankton in northern California and southern Oregon. California Sea Grant is funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Student Isral Konopa and Britany MacFarlane Environmental Resources Engineering

Isral Konopa, Environmental Resources Engineering undergraduate student, and Britany MacFarlane, Environmental Resources Engineering graduate student, have each received a 2013/14 scholarship from the California branch of the American Council of Engineering Companies.

ACEC invited scholarship applications from full-time students enrolled in California colleges and universities with an ABET-approved engineering program. From all the pplicants, only 5 undergraduate students and 3 graduate students were chosen to receive scholarships.

Staff Peter Lehman Environmental Resources Engineering

The Schatz Energy Research Center conference room has been named after SERC founding director Peter Lehman. A professor of environmental resources engineering, Lehman served as SERC's director from 1989 to 2012 and as faculty advisor to the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology from 1979 to 2000. The newly-dedicated room will also include a portrait of Lehman.

Student John M. Mola, Rachael L. Olliff, Christopher M. Steenbock Biological Sciences

Biology graduate students John Mola and Rachael Olliff and Botany/Biology-Ecology undergraduate student Christopher Steenbock received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship on March 29th.

Faculty Amy Sprowles Biological Sciences

Biological sciences professor Amy Sprowles recently won an elevator pitch contest summarizing her research on stem cells. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's Elevator Pitch Challenge asked scientific researchers to explain what they do, why it’s important and why the public should care in 30 seconds or less. Sprowles and her students are studying how cancer genes may turn on stem cell like properties in normal adult cells. Their research is supported by CIRM's Bridges to Stem Cell Research Awards program. You can see the speeches on YouTube at #SciencePitch.

Faculty Sharon N. Kahara and Steven R. Chipps Wildlife

Dr. Sharon N. Kahara and Steven R. Chipps' paper "Wetland Hydrodynamics and Long-term Use of Spring Migration Areas by Lesser Scaup in Eastern South Dakota," published in the journal Great Plains Research (2012), was selected to receive the Charles E. Bessey award for the best paper in natural resources.

Student Lauren Wendt Wildlife

Lauren Wendt ('09, Wildlife) received the "Torch Award" by the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association. The award honors top young officers in the U.S. and Canada. Lauren works as a conservation officer for the Idaho Department of Fish & Game.

Staff Lisa Perry

The California Forestry Association awarded Lisa Perry the Educator of the Year award at its January 31 annual meeting in Napa, CA. The award is given for outstanding work in public education. Lisa is an outreach specialist in the College of Natural Resources and Sciences.

Faculty Mark Colwell Wildlife

Wildlife Professor Mark Colwell was named 'Outstanding Mentor' at the 2013 Annual Conference of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society in Sacramento in January.

Student Kelly Weintraub, Dana Herman Wildlife

HSU Wildlife Master's students Kelly Weintraub and Dana Herman received best poster awards at the 2013 Annual Conference of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society in Sacramento in January. Kelly's presentation summarized her research on the nesting ecology of tri-colored blackbirds in the San Joaquin Valley and Dana's presentation reported the results of her work on the reproductive success of the threatened snowy plover in Humboldt County.

Student Bethany Baibak Biological Sciences

Bethany Baibak (MSc, Biological Sciences) has been named a 2013 California Sea Grant State Fellows. Since 2010, Baibak has held positions as a wildlife biologist at the National Council on Air and Stream Improvement in Arcata and as a wildlife technician at Stanislaus National Forest. As a state fellow, Baibak will work closely with California Department of Parks and Recreation's division chief to develop strategies and policies that protect coastal parks from sea level rise and other climate impacts.

Student Holly Leopardi and Crystal Cardenas Physics & Astronomy

Physics majors Holly Leopardi and Crystal Cardenas attended the 8th Annual Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at the California Institute of Technology January 18-20th. Leopardi presented a poster at the conference describing her ongoing research efforts in the HSU Gravitational Research Laboratory.

Faculty Sharyn Marks Biological Sciences

Sharyn Marks published a paper in the journal "Molecular Ecology" on the phylogeography and historical demography of Black Salamanders. This manuscript was based in part on data collected by Sean Reilly as part of his master's thesis under the supervision of professors Marks and Bryan Jennings. Reilly is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley and Jennings is a Visiting Professor at the Museo Nacional in Rio de Janeiro.

Sean B. Reilly, Sharyn B. Marks and W. Bryan Jennings. 2012. "Defining evolutionary boundaries across parapatric ecomorphs of Black Salamanders (_Aneides flavipunctatus_) with conservation implications. Molecular Ecology 21: 5745–5761.

Faculty T. Luke George and Joe LaManna Wildlife

T. Luke George, graduate student Joe LaManna and scientists at the Institute for Bird Populations published a paper in the Auk (October 2012) examining factors influencing the annual survival of Swianson’s Thrushes in the Pacific Northwest. Using mark-recapture data collected at bird banding stations throughout the region (including a station near Eureka where many HSU students have been trained to band birds) they found that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important driver of annual survival in Swainson's Thrushes.

Faculty Roland Lamberson Mathematics

Rollie Lamberson, emeritus professor of mathematics, is one of several co-authors of the paper, “Developing a Broader Scientific Foundation for River Restoration: Columbia River Food Webs, published in the _Proceedings of the National Academy of Science_. He is also author of "A Brief and Biased Look at Spatial Structure in Ecological Models: A Route to Individual-based Models," which recently appeared in _Natural Resource Modeling_. And, in January he will be giving an invited address, "Sustainability and the Crisis in World Fisheries," at the annual joint meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America.

Faculty Sharon N. Kahara, Walter G. Duffy, Ryan DiGaudio and Rosemary Records Wildlife

Sharon Kahara and Walter Duffy along with colleagues Ryan DiGaudio (PRBO Conservation Science) and Rosemary Records (Colorado State University) published a paper in the journal "Diversity." The title of the paper is "Climate, Management and Habitat Associations of Avian Fauna in Restored Wetlands of California’s Central Valley, USA". The paper reports the results of a two-year study of avian diversity on restored wetlands in California's Central Valley. Restored wetlands support a large number of avian species; however, securing access to water in the drier southern valley is imperative to sustaining bird use and diversity.

Student Gregory Manata Biological Sciences

Biology student Gregory Manata has received the 2013 Crellin Pauling Student Teaching Award from the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB). The $1750 award recognizes outstanding student teaching by California State University students in biotechnology.

Manata will be honored at the 25th Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium Jan. 6 in Anaheim.

Faculty Lonny Grafman Environmental Resources Engineering

Lonny Grafman will co-facilitate the Epicenter Entrepreneurship in Undergraduate Engineering Education un-conference Oct. 1st, 2013 at Stanford Sierra Camp. http://epicenter.stanford.edu/

Student Dawn Albrecht and Claudia Velasco

Two HSU students (Dawn Albrecht, Masters Environment & Community) and Claudia Velasco (Geology BS) are the recipients of the first two RCTWG Internships through the State's Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA). These internships will provide $7000 to each of these students to work on earthquake/tsunami preparedness issues. Dawn will be working to promote wider ShakeOut participation in the RCTWG area, and also with vulnerable populations (elderly, disabled etc.) to create disaster plans and promote resilience. Claudia will be developing Spanish language versions of much of our material and helping to develop a Spanish outreach program. Claudia grew up in Fortuna in a bilingual home and has strong connections to the local Hispanic community. She is also completing a senior thesis project on the impacts of the 1964 tsunami in Crescent City.