Faculty Micaela Szykman Gunther Wildlife

HSU Wildlife Professor Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther has received a grant from the Humboldt County Fish and Game Commission to support ongoing research into the diets of two local at-risk species, the Humboldt marten and fisher, and their predators. The project aims to analyze diet data to help inform land management practices that may benefit the two species, and to understand predator impact that will further help land managers and conservationists.

Project collaborators include Dr. Katie Moriarty (National Council for Air and Stream Improvement), graduate students Alyssa Roddy and Erika Anderson, and two undergraduate students.

Faculty Dr. Steven Steinberg Environmental Science & Management

Dr. Steinberg (Adjunct Professor, Geospatial Sciences) is one of a select group of State Department Exchange Program Alumni chosen to participate in the upcoming Thematic International Exchange Seminar (TIES) on “Environmental Diplomacy and its Impact on American Society”

In February 2022, alumni from across the United States will convene in Denver, Colorado to explore the economics of environmentalism with a focus on how to build new green infrastructure, transition to renewable energy, increase environmental justice, and support sustainable environmental practices that create new economic opportunities.

https://www.alumnities.org/seminars/

Faculty Lucy Kerhoulas, David Hammons, Nick Kerhoulas Other Campus Unit

Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry faculty), David Hammons (forestry undergraduate student), and Nick Kerhoulas (Wildlife faculty) published a paper in Northwest Science investigating bigleaf maple within-crown leaf morphology and seasonal physiology. Read the paper here: https://bioone.org/journals/northwest-science/volume-94/issue-2/046.094.0207/Bigleaf-Maple-Within-Crown-Leaf-Morphology-and-Seasonal-Physiology/10.3955/046.094.0207.full

Faculty William Weinberg, Jessica Suoja, Lucy Kerhoulas, Ryan Maberry, Dave Baston, Susan Marshall Forestry & Wildland Resources

William Weinberg (Forestry & Rangeland Resources undergraduate), Jessica Suoja (Forestry & Rangeland Resources undergraduate), Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry & Rangeland Resources), Ryan Maberry (Forestry & Rangeland Resources undergraduate), Chris Lee (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), Dave Baston (Humboldt Core Lab), and Susan Marshall ((Forestry & Rangeland Resources) published a research paper, “Phytophthora ramorum foliar infection reduces leaf-level productivity in tanoak and California bay: A pilot study from Redwood National Park,” in Madroño. This study was featured by the National Park Service as a Science Story and will be presented as a talk at the Society of American Foresters National Convention in November, 2021.

Faculty Kushal Adhikari, Clifford B Fedler, Alireza Asadi Environmental Resources Engineering

Adhikari (ERE Faculty) and researchers from Texas Tech University recently published an article on design configuration and flow dynamics of Pond-In-Pond (PIP) wastewater treatment system for reuse. The findings showed that the PIP offers more advantage over traditional ponds and thus may be a potential alternative to existing treatment systems. For more information, please refer to:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2021.07.012
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2019.103523
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2020.101281

Faculty Frank Fogarty Wildlife

Frank Fogarty (Wildlife) published a new paper on utilizing point count data to estimate the abundance of mobile animals in Ecological Indicators. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21008359

Faculty Jill Beckmann, Rosemary Sherriff, Lucy Kerhoulas, and Jeff Kane Other Campus Unit

Jill Beckmann (MS student in Forestry), Rosemary Sherriff (Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis), Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry), and Jeff Kane (Forestry) published a paper in Forest Ecology and Management: “Douglas-fir encroachment reduces drought resistance in Oregon white oak of northern California.” (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721006332)

Faculty Kevin Soland, Lucy Kerhoulas, Nick Kerhoulas, and Jason Teraoka Other Campus Unit

Kevin Soland (MS student in Forestry), Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry), Nick Kerhoulas (Wildlife), and Jason Teraoka (Redwood National Park) published a paper in Forest Ecology and Management: “Second-growth redwood forest responses to restoration treatments.” (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721004588)

Student Frank Shaughnessy, Susannah Ferson, Adam Frimodig, Daniel Barton, Mathew Hurst, Jeffrey Black Biological Sciences

Students and faculty from several departments have been studying the effects that grazing by brant geese have on a widespread marine plant, eelgrass, which provides numerous ecosystem services within estuaries. Using an experimental approach, they found that brant enable greater productivity and sexual reproduction of eelgrass, therefore potentially contributing to ecosystem resilience.

https://esajournals-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.humboldt.edu/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3690

Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management

ESM Professor Alison O’Dowd and co-authors published a paper in River Research & Applications entitled ‘Toward natural approaches in restoration: Experiments of co-evolving physical and biological structures in a self-organizing step-pool channel.’ The article is available in open access at https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3851

Faculty Jasper Oshun Geology

Jasper won a 3-year National Science Foundation GEOPATHS Award ($145,352). This education award links faculty and students at SDSU, CSUS, and Humboldt and is titled ‘Collaborative Research: Developing a diverse hydrology workforce through an undergraduate hydrological research experience in a coastal California watershed’. The award provides opportunities for 10 rising sophomores per year to participate in course and summer immersion focused on interdisciplinary water science, hydrology field techniques, and the challenges of water management. A primary goal is to build community across 3 CSU campuses and train a diverse cohort of hydrologists to inform water management in California.

Faculty Jill Beckmann, Rosemary Sherriff, Lucy Kerhoulas, Jeff Kane Geography

Jill Beckmann (MS 2019), Rosemary Sherriff, Lucy Kerhoulas and Jeff Kane published a new paper on conifer encroachment on oak woodland drought resistance in Forest Ecology and Management: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119543

Faculty Jasper Oshun & Margaret Lang Geology

Dr.’s Oshun (Geology), Lang (ERE), and Keating (geophysics, Rutgers University -Newark) won a $266,034, 3-year award from NSF’s International Research Experiences for Students program to engage a diverse set of students from two HSI’s in water resources development in the Andes of Perú. Students from Humboldt, RUN and Peruvian universities will participate in an interdisciplinary curriculum, which includes a preparatory semester of virtual learning, 5-weeks of field work in Perú and faculty guided independent research. The project will blend western scientific, Indigenous, and nature-based approaches of water resources management to inform best practices of sustainable water development.

Student Viri Macias, Ana Sammel, Emma Villegas, Bori Mazzag, Kamila Larripa Mathematics

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.

Faculty Kamila Larripa Mathematics

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.

Student FWR Students Forestry & Wildland Resources

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 Humboldt 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).

Faculty Jasper Oshun Geology

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.

Faculty Kerry Byrne (ESM), Kellie Jo Brown (Marcomm) Environmental Science & Management

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 (Humboldt Marketing and Communications) for taking excellent photographs for this paper.
See the abstract here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2021.02.004

Student Samantha Kelly, Cessair McKinney Environmental Science & Management

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

Student Bridget Opperman, Kamila Larripa Mathematics

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.