Achievements

Darren Ward and Molly Gorman

Fisheries Biology

Fisheries Biology Professor Darren Ward has received a 2015 Special Focus Award from California Sea Grant to study state and federally endangered Coho salmon. Ward will work with graduate student Molly Gorman to track the fate of large numbers of juveniles who disappear.

Matt Brinkman, Stephanie Leja

Wildlife

Matt Brinkmann and Stephanie Leja received first and third place, respectively, in the student competition for best oral papers at the Western Section of The Wildlife Society meeting in Santa Rosa in late January 2015. Stephanie also received third place in the poster competitions. Both students work with Dr. Mark Colwell on Snowy Plovers.

A. Preston Taylor

Wildlife

Wildlife Program graduate A. Preston Taylor successfully published his senior honors thesis in the internationally renowned _Journal of Behaviour_. He collected unique video data on the rubbing behavior of black bears in northern California forests. This paper is available for viewing online at the Brill publisher site (Taylor, Allen and Gunther 2015, DOI: 10.1163/1568539X-00003270).

William Wood

Chemistry

On February 18, William Wood, HSU Chemical Ecologist, gave a lecture to the Humboldt Bay Mycological Society: titled “Hallucinogens – Natures Ultimate Chemical Defense.” This talk covered various methods plants and animals use chemical to keep predators at bay. Hallucinogens were described as an “ultimate” means of chemical defense as it targets animal neurotransmitters in the brain. Animals who ingest plants or mushrooms that contain psychotropic chemicals have a “bad trip” and in the future avoid them.

Darren Ward

Fisheries Biology

Faculty member Darren Ward has received a 2015 “Core Award" from California Sea Grant, which funds research, education and outreach throughout California. Ward will track juvenile Coho salmon to discover what happens to young-of-year when warmer water temperatures force them to leave their spawning grounds prematurely from Feb. 1, 2015 – January 31, 2016.

Lori Jones

Environmental Resources Engineering

Lori Jones, a senior undergraduate in the Environmental Resources Engineering department, recently received funding through the CSU’s Water Resources and Policy Initiatives (WRPI) and US Department of Agriculture to investigate osmotic membrane processes as a Watershed Management Intern. Under the guidance of her advisor Andrea Achilli, she will develop three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models and investigate membrane fouling for two different osmotic hybrid systems – RO-PRO and FO-RO. These systems, which employ reuse of wastewater effluent, are designed to reduce the energy requirement of desalination through renewable power generation (RO-PRO) or osmotic dilution (FO-RO).

Sara Downey

Biological Sciences

Last week a CSU team made public comments in support of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Bridges program. Former HSU Biology Major/CIRM Bridges Scholar, Sara Downey’s presence at last week’s meeting was electric because most everyone in the room knew she’s on a team developing an embryonic stem cell-derived product as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. After four years on the job, Sara has transformed from a fresh biological sciences graduate with academic research experience into a biotech professional comfortable talking about Six Sigma, cGMPs, regulatory affairs, biotech business cycles, & process engineering. The CIRM board has extended the program for one year.

Richard A. Paselk

Chemistry

Professor Richard A. Paselk's Display of Twentieth-Century Scientific Instruments at Humboldt State University is featured in Silke Ackerman, Richard Kremer & Mara Miniati (Eds.) Scientific Instruments on Display [History of Science and Medicine Library, Volume 46 / Scientific Instruments and Collections, Volume 4] (pp 148–158). Brill Academic Pub, Leiden (2014).

Jeffrey Black and Frank Shaughnessy

Wildlife

Two Humboldt State University faculty members recently spoke at the Humboldt Bay Eelgrass Management Workshop Oct. 6 and 7 at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center in Eureka.

The free, public event was intended to improve understanding of marine eelgrass ecology, management, restoration, and regulations in Humboldt Bay and elsewhere. Eelgrass plays an important role in coastal ecosystems, where it helps build and provide habitat for a variety of species.

HSU Wildlife Professor Jeffrey Black discussed the role of Humboldt Bay and eelgrass as part of the Pacific Flyway, the north-south route for migratory birds. Botany Professor Frank Shaughnessy discussed eelgrass, water quality and its upland uses. Shaughnessy and his students are currently conducting numerous research projects related to eelgrass in Humboldt Bay.

Other workshop speakers included representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District, and H.T. Harvey & Associates, an ecological consulting firm hosting the event.

Micaela Szykman Gunther, former graduate student Shannon Murphie and colleagues

Wildlife

Wildlife Faculty member Micaela Szykman Gunther has co-authored a paper with her former graduate student Shannon Murphie and colleages Rob McCoy and Brian Murphie from Makah Tribal Forestry and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The paper entitled "Influence of hair loss syndrome on black-tailed deer fawn survival' was part of Murhpie's Master's thesis and will be published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Wildlife Management.