Faculty Rafael Cuevas Uribe Fisheries Biology

Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe (Fisheries Biology) has received a grant from the Western Regional Aquaculture Center to support a collaborative aquaculture project between HSU, Virginia Tech, and Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, which aims to collect and assemble information on western aquaculture and distill it into easily accessible digital media forms.

Funding will enable Cuevas Uribe and a graduate student to collect farm-level data from fish farmers in California, and then produce at least one video vignette that highlights the farmers, their care for their animals, the commitment to environmental stewardship, and social responsibility.

Faculty Frank Fogarty Wildlife

Frank Fogarty (Wildlife) published a new paper demonstrating that observational data can be useful for predicting songbird nest sites in Ibis. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.13020

Faculty Darren Ward Fisheries Biology

HSU Fisheries Biology Professor Dr. Darren Ward received a grant from the Cooperative Institute for Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Systems to support an ongoing research collaboration project between HSU, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division, and the California Coastal Area Office, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.

The project supports research and graduate student training related to habitat and conservation of federally-listed salmon, and allows for enhanced research efforts that complement NOAA Fisheries research and management information needs in northern California.

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/

Student Sophia Lemmo Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Sophia Lemmo (Forestry graduate student advised by Lucy Kerhoulas and Rosemary Sherriff) gave an invited talk about the post-drought demographics of select true fir species in northern California at the Annual Meeting of the California Pest Council.

Faculty Lucy Kerhoulas, David Hammons, Nick Kerhoulas

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, Fire & Rangeland Management

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 (HSU Core Lab), and Susan Marshall ((Forestry & Rangeland Resources) published a "research paper":https://hsu.link/ZcR, "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":https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/sos-diseased-trees.htm 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

Student Sophia Lemmo Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Sophia Lemmo (MS student in Forestry) was awarded a $1500 scholarship from the North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society for her study of regional forest mortality and regeneration.

Student Sophia Lemmo Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Sophia Lemmo (MS student in Forestry) was awarded a $1000 Northern California Botanists Research Scholarship for her study of regional forest mortality and regeneration.

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

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

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…

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 HSU 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 HSU, 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.