Achievements

Lauren Adabie, Ben Adams, Travis Clohessy, John Hunter, Blair Kinser, Izzy Konopa, Kendra Miers, Ryan Seng, and Zak Stanko

Environmental Resources Engineering

The Environmental Resources Engineering team claimed the top prize at the American Society of Civil Engineers Mid Pacific Regional Conference Water Treatment competition. The HSU-ERE team had an outstanding performance and a first place win over eight other university teams including UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Students were tasked with treating “polluted” water for common water quality problems in a timed, competitive setting. Designs were scored on cost, speed, efficiency, final water quality as well as an accompanying presentation and report. Local sponsors include ASCE North Coast Chapter, LACO Associates, Pierson’s, Winzler & Kelly and the President’s office.

Lori Dengler

Geology

Lori Dengler presented a paper "The Effects of the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami on the California Coastline" (with 22 co-authors including HSU Geology grad student Amanda Admire) at the Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee April 15.

Lori Dengler, Hans Abramson-Ward, Carrie Garrison-Laney, Gary Carver

Geology

Lori Dengler, HSU Geology alums Hans Abramson-Ward and Carrie Garrison Laney, and Geology emeritus professor Gary Carver were co-authors with Curt Peterson and Ken Cruikshank on a paper "Evaluation of the use of paleotsunami deposits to reconstruct inundation distance and runup heights associated with prehistoric inundation events, Crescent City, southern Cascadia margin" in the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. (DOI:10.1002/esp.2126)

Ryan Ziels

Environmental Resources Engineering

Ryan Ziels, Environmental Resources Engineering major, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships for graduate study next year. Ryan will receive $30,000 per year stipend and $10,500 cost of education allowance for three years at any institution in the US. Ryan will be pursuing his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington.

Rick Bailey, Jason Crowley, Patrick Fox, Brenda Howell, Sam Speet, Zak Stanko

Environmental Resources Engineering

Again this year, two HSU Environmental Resources Engineering teams entered the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) Mathematical Modeling Contest. The contest ran from February 10 to February 14, 2011, with over 3,500 teams competing from U.S. and foreign universities.

One team, consisting of Patrick Fox, Sam Speet and Jason Crowley, addressed the problem of determining the shape of a snowboard course (“halfpipe”) to maximize the production of “vertical air” by a skilled snowboarder. This team competed against 2,775 other teams and was awarded a "Successful Participant" ranking.

The other team, consisting of Zak Stanko, Brenda Howell and Rick Bailey, chose to address whether the widespread use of electric vehicles is feasible and practical. This team competed against 735 other teams, and received the highest award, "Outstanding Winner," one of just six teams to be honored with this designation.

More information on the Math Modeling Contest can be found at http://www.comap.com/undergraduate/contests/mcm/contests/2011/results/#c.

Zak Stanko, Brenda Howell, Rick Bailey

Environmental Resources Engineering

HSU ERE students Zak Stanko, Brenda Howell, and Rick Bailey received the highest award, "Outstanding Winner" in the 2011 Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) Mathematical Modeling Contest. They were one of just six teams to be honored with this designation for their category. The contest ran from Feb. 10-14, 2011, with over 3,500 teams competing from US and Foreign universities. The team developed a model of the environmental, social, economic, and health impacts of the widespread use of electric vehicles and detailed key factors to consider to support the development and use of these vehicles.

Lori Dengler

Geology

The paper "Effects of Harbor Modification on Crescent City, California’s Tsunami Vulnerability" authored by Lori Dengler and Burak Uslu (NOAA) was published in the journal Pure and Applied Geophysics. http://www.springerlink.com/content/81jlg83h80qg0r50/

William Wood

Chemistry

William Wood, Terrence McGlynn (CSU Dominguez Hills) and the student, Thuy-Tien Hoang, reported their research on the alarm pheromones of Costa Rican turtle ants ants.

Volatile components from the mandibular glands of the turtle ants, Cephalotes alfaroi and C. cristatus. William F. Wood, Thuy-Tien Hoang, Terrence P. McGlynn. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 39, 135-138 (2011).

Micaela Szykman Gunther and colleagues

Wildlife

Micaela Szykman Gunther and colleagues had a paper published in Conservation Genetics:

Spiering, Penny A., Szykman Gunther, Micaela, Somers, Michael J., Wildt, David E., Walters, Michelle, Wilson, Amy S. and Maldonado, Jesus E. 2011. Inbreeding, heterozygosity and fitness in a reintroduced population of endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). Conservation Genetics, 2011(12): 410-412.

William Wood and Warren Wood

Chemistry

William Wood and Warren Wood (University of Portland) and three of their undergraduate students had their research on western thatching ants published.

Chemical analysis of the defensive secretion from the western thatching ant, Formica obscuripes. Gloriane W. Faith, Brian G. Solliers, Rachel M. Feeny, Warren J. L. Wood and William F. Wood. Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research 10, 15-17 (2011).