Student Frank Juma Ong'ondo, Frank Fogarty III, Peter Njoroge, and Matt Johnson Wildlife Wildlife graduate student Frank Juma Ong'ondo and his collaborators Drs. Frank Fogarty and Matt Johnson from Humboldt Wildlife, and Dr. Peter Njoroge from the National Museums of Kenya published a paper entitled "Bird abundance and diversity in shade coffee and natural forest in Kenya" in the journal Global Ecology & Conservation. Open access link here.

Faculty Dr. Oscar M. Vargas-Hernandez Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Dr. Oscar Vargas and collaborators published a paper titled "Evolutionary history constrains heat tolerance of native and exotic tropical Zingiberales." The paper studies the thermal tolerance of native and wild gingers in Costa Rica, discussing its implications to conservation and the biology of invasive species. 

Faculty Matt Johnson Wildlife Wildlife faculty member Matt Johnson has secured a new grant ($659,987) from the Agricultural Research Institute to investigate the use of nest boxes for bluebirds and swallows for insect pest control in winegrape vineyards. The 3-year project is in collaboration with researchers at UC Davis (Dr. Daniel Karp) and UC Riverside (Drs. Erin Wilson-Rankin and S. Houston Wilson), and it will fund a post-doctoral researcher and multiple undergraduate students from Cal Poly Humboldt, along with a PhD student at UC Davis. The research will occur in Napa Valley.

Faculty Brittany D. Light and Robert W. Zoellner Chemistry Professor Emeritus Robert W. Zoellner and his former student, Brittany D. Light, have published a "mini-review" entitled "Chemistry with a capital Z:  The superheavy elements, Flerovium" in the Summer 2022 issue of The Hexagon of Alpha Chi Sigma:  B. D. Light and R. W. Zoellner, The Hexagon of Alpha Chi Sigma, 2022, 113(2), 20-24.

Faculty Tara S. Caso, Robert W. Zoellner Chemistry Professor Emeritus Robert W. Zoellner and his former student, Tara S. Caso, have published a peer-reviewed article entitled "The effect of substituents on the hypothetical decomposition energies of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) derivatives:  Structures and properties from density functional calculations":  T. S Caso, R. W. Zoellner, Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research 2022, 21, 106-110.

Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management Dr. Alison O'Dowd, with collaborators in the Yurok Tribe and Hoopa Valley Tribe, was awarded $123,000 by the Trinity River Restoration Program to explore the effects of scour and marginal inundation on Trinity River invertebrate communities. River invertebrates are an important food resource for salmonids and this study will investigate if longer periods of winter inundation can bolster invertebrate populations.  The other aspect of the study will use monthly invertebrate sampling to see if high-flow winter scouring events can 're-set' the system and increase fish food later in the season (as has been shown in other research).

Student Alexandra Papesh and Tanner Hooven Physics & Astronomy Congratulations to Physics & Astronomy majors Alexandra Papesh and Tanner Hooven who presented Cal Poly Humboldt gravitational physics research at the 2022 Far West Section Meeting of the American Physical Society. This year around 100 researchers were welcomed by the University of Hawai'i, Manoa in Honolulu to share knowledge, network, and learn about recent groundbreaking results. Great work!!

Student Molly Parren, Daniel Barton, and Barbara Clucas Wildlife Molly Parren, MS graduate in Wildlife, published results from her MS thesis research, "Drought and coyotes mediate mesopredator response to human disturbance" in the ESA open-access journal Ecosphere, co-authored with Cal Poly Humboldt faculty Drs. Daniel Barton and Barbara Clucas and CDFW scientists Dr. Brett Furnas and Misty Nelson. This work addressed how California's extreme drought and coyotes in 2013-16 influenced interactions between bobcats, kit foxes, raccoons, and human disturbance at 585 study sites throught California's Central Valley and Mojave Deserts.

Faculty Alan Tepley Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management Alan Tepley was the lead author on a paper that evaluates trends in wildfire evacuations across Canada's forested regions over the last four decades. The study summarizes spatial variation in the characteristics of the fires that led to evacuations (e.g., the size, seasonality, and ignition sources) and the communities exposed (e.g., population, access to the road network, and trends in evacuations on First Nations reserves vs. non-reserves). Understanding the key risk factors and how they vary spatially across Canada and temporally over the fire season will aid in planning for future fire seasons.

Faculty Hunter Harrill, Will Goldenberg Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management Dr. Hunter Harrill (Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management) was invited to deliver a presentation titled, "Creating Immersive Field Trips and Assignments During COVID" for a panel session on Forest Operations Education at the COFE-FORMEC-IUFRO Division 3 International Conference of Forest Engineering, in Corvallis, Oregon, October 4-7th, 2022. His presentation featured the high quality virtual field trips that were filmed and produced by Humboldt alumni Will Goldenberg, that are now helping professors from other universities around the world, to educate their students. Dr. Harrill also served as a moderator for a panel session on Forest Operations Planning Issues and Opportunities. 

Student Club Dennis Lindelof, Lisa Elconin, Huntington Paulson, Amanda Admire Geology On Saturday October 1st, the Geology Club officers, Dennis Lindelof, Lisa Elconin and Huntington Paulson, joined the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group and Humboldt Earthquake Education Center to participate in Pastels on the Plaza. Their design promoted the Great ShakeOut happening on October 20th at 10:20 am, and it highlighted the importance of earthquake and tsunami awareness and preparedness. Check out their design on the Arcata Plaza! We encourage everyone to sign up and participate in ShakeOut during Safety Week so you too can practice your earthquake and tsunami drill. Preparedness makes a difference! 

Student Karolyn Fagundes, Hunter Harrill, Susan Marshall, Andrew Stubblefield, Han-Sup Han Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management Karolyn Fagundes (Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management) was invited to deliver a presentation highlighting her Master's thesis research, titled, "Assessing Soil Disturbance from a Tethered Feller Buncher on Steep Slopes in Northern California." The presentation was part of a panel session on Environmental Impacts at the COFE-FORMEC-IUFRO Division 3 International Conference of Forest Engineering, in Corvallis, Oregon, October 4-7th, 2022. 

Student Logan Hysen Wildlife Logan Hysen, M.S. student from the Department of Wildlife, was selected to be the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship given by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the California Association of Environmental Professionals. The scholarship supports students pursuing a career in the environmental field. Logan is conducting research on environmental impacts on northern spotted owl for his thesis.

Faculty Hunter Harrill Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management Dr. Hunter Harrill received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a study that will determine the size, scale, and capabilities of the logging industry in California. The main objective of the project is to survey the industry to quantify the number of crews that exist and their characteristics (e.g. capacity, employment, equipment, capabilities), and improve our understanding of their challenges, opinions, business outlook, and vision for the future. Findings will inform land managers about the potential for types of forest operations and available capacity in their respective area.

Student Logan Hysen, Danial Nayeri, Ho Yi Wan Wildlife In Summer 2022, Logan Hysen and Danial Nayeri, graduate students of the Wildlife Department, were awarded a $1,000 research grant from the California North Coast Chapter of the Wildlife Society. This grant will be used to conduct a pilot research on northern spotted owl prey species in recently burned forest landscapes. They will be conducting the research under the supervision of Dr. Ho Yi Wan.

Faculty Jeffrey Kane Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management In an effort to address California's daunting wildfire challenges, Dr. Jeffrey Kane and the Humboldt Fire Resilience Institute recently acquired a $500,000 Cal Fire Workforce Development Grant. Through these funds, the institute, in partnership with local agencies and organizations, will work to develop and better integrate education, training, experience, and outreach opportunities for fire students, professionals, and community members within northwestern California. The major aim of this work is to enhance the qualified fire and fuels management workforce to help reach the ambitious but necessary fuel reduction targets for California in the coming years.

Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management ESM Professor Alison O'Dowd received >$800,000 in grants and matching funds to do a 5-year food web study related to the removal of 4 large dams on the Klamath River.  The study includes collaborators at the Karuk Tribe and UC Davis to look at food resources and diet of salmonids in tributary and mainstem sites on the Klamath River before, during and after dam removal.  This research will explore the resiliency of culturally-important salmonids during high sediment loads released during dam removal.

Student Alfredo Calderon, Kevin Chung, Steven Gracy, and Taylor Juchau Physics & Astronomy Four Physics & Astronomy majors were selected to be Cal-Bridge Scholars for the upcoming academic years. The Cal-Bridge program creates opportunities for historically underrepresented groups and first-generation students to participate and advance in STEM fields including physics, astronomy, computer science, and computer engineering, in order to increase their representation in PhD programs. Each scholar is provided a CSU as well as a UC mentor to help prepare them for graduate school applications and secure research opportunities. Students are awarded a scholarship up to $10,000 per year on a need-based assessment.

Congratulations to all!

Faculty Tara S. Caso and Robert W. Zoellner Chemistry Professor Emeritus Robert W. Zoellner and his former student, Tara S. Caso, have published a peer-reviewed article entitled "Thioacetone analogs of cyclic diacetone diperoxide (DADP), triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and tetraacetone tetraperoxide (4A4P):  Structures and properties from density functional calculations" in the Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research 2022, 21, 54-59.

Student Catherine LeDesma, Michael Ross, Benjamin Daly, C.D. Hoyle, and Monty Mola Physics & Astronomy Together with faculty members, a group of Cal Poly Humboldt Physics and Astronomy students (now all alumni) recently published a peer-reviewed article in the journal AIP Advances published by the American Institute of Physics. The work, titled "A modified Michelson interferometer to measure sub-milliradian changes in angle," that describes technical advances in measuring miniscule angular deflections for use in fundamental physics experiments, can be found in open-access format at the following link:

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0100720