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, Fire & Rangeland Management

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 HSU 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 (HSU 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.

Faculty Joshua Smith Chemistry

Dr. Joshua Smith, Chemistry, published a paper,"Strategies for Design of Potential Singlet Fission Chromophores Utilizing a Combination of Ground-State and Excited-State Aromaticity Rules" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 12, 5602–5617
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b12435

Faculty Joshua Smith Chemistry

Dr. Joshua Smith, Chemistry, published a paper, "Triplet State Baird Aromaticity in Macrocycles: Scope, Limitations, and Complications" as part of The Journal of Physical Chemistry virtual special issue “Josef Michl Festschrift”.

J. Phys. Chem. A 2021, 125, 2, 570–584
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.0c08926

Faculty Mary Ann Madej Geology

Mary Ann Madej, Adjunct faculty, published a summary of 50 years of geomorphic research in Redwood National Park:
Redwood Creek watershed studies: Summary of geomorphic research at Redwood National Park. Natural Resource Report. NPS/REDW/NRR—2021/2228.

https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2284606

Student Allison Huysman, Matt Johnson Wildlife

Allison Huysman and Matt Johnson (Wildlife) published a paper entitled, “Multi-year nest box occupancy and short-term resilience to wildfire disturbance by barn owls in a vineyard agroecosystem” in the journal Ecosphere.

Student Blenna Kiros Environmental Science & Management

Alumni Diana I. Martinez Environmental Science & Management & Blenna Kiros Geography wrote an article Behind the Redwood Curtain published in Platform Magazine.

https://www.platformmagazine.me/magazine#march%202020

Faculty Jeff Kane, Raul Ramirez-Barajas Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources) published an article entitled "Litter trait driven dampening of flammability following deciduous forest community shifts in eastern North America" in the journal of Forest Ecology and Management with undergraduate student Raul Barajas-Ramirez (Botany), Jesse Kreye (2008; Penn State University), and Morgan Varner (Tall Timbers Research Station).

Student Caroline Martorano, Jeff Kane Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Caroline Martorano (2020) published a paper entitled "Long-term fuel and understory vegetation response to fuel treatments in oak and chaparral stands of northern California" in the journal Applied Vegetation Science with Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources), Eamon Engber (2010; National Park Service) and Jen Gibson (National Park Service).

Student Andrew Slack and Jeff Kane Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Andrew Slack (2016) published a paper entitled "Large sugar pine mortality models informed by growth, defense, and competition in a fire-excluded forest of the central Sierra Nevada" in the journal Trees: Structure and Function with co-authors Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources) and Eric Knapp (USDA Forest Service).

Faculty John Reiss and Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy Biological Sciences

John Reiss and Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy have been awarded a 3-year National Science Foundation (Division of Integrative Organismal Systems) grant to study the evolution of olfaction across multiple species of lungless salamanders with different developmental modes.

Student Danial Nayeri, Ho Yi Wan

The 2021 Tuttle Graduate Fellowship was awarded to Danial Nayeri, an incoming graduate student from Iran, who is joining the research lab of Wildlife professor Dr. Ho Yi Wan. The Fellowship provides two years of $15,000 each year for a graduate student studying climate policy or science. Danial's project is evaluating the effect of projected climate change and altered fire regimes on spotted owl habitat using a multi-scale ensemble learning and scenario modeling framework.

The Tuttle Graduate Fellowship was established by Dr. Andrea Tuttle, former Director of the California Department of Forestry and a consultant in forest and climate policy.

Student Dane St. George, Matt Johnson Wildlife

Dane St. George and Matt Johnson published a manuscript entitled, "Effects of habitat on prey delivery rate and prey species composition of breeding barn owls in winegrape vineyards" in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems & the Environment

Student Jose Rodriguez, Ho Yi Wan Wildlife

Undergraduate Jose Rodriguez received a $5,000 starter grant given to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color from Save the Redwoods League. This grant will be used to initiate the Condors And Redwoods Ecological Research (CARER) project, which aims to study California condors that are soon to be released into the wild in northern California. Jose will be working with mentor Dr. Ho Yi Wan on the project.

Faculty Bori Mazzag Mathematics

Dr. Bori Mazzag and Dr. Julie Glass, CSU East Bay, co-organized a series of CSU-wide talks in January as part of the year-long Math Council Colloquium series. The theme of the January talks was "Peer Instruction". We aimed to connect faculty and staff across the CSU who work on providing academic support services to students in mathematics and statistics courses. In addition to the talks, we collected some information on the structure of the tutoring and peer instruction on the various campuses. CSU campuses were broadly represented in the series, including speakers from Humboldt State University's Learning Center.

Faculty Jasper Oshun, Margaret Lang Geology

Jasper Oshun and Margaret Lang published an article in the February issue of AAPG Explorer. The article, which details the positive and lasting impacts of their 'Bonanza en los Andes' project to HSU students, the community of Zurite, and hydrogeologic science was featured on the cover. A link to a pdf of the issue is below:
https://geology.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/aapgfeb21explorer.pdf