Student Hilary Cosby and Micaela Szykman Gunther Wildlife

Former graduate student Hilary Cosby had her thesis research published in the Journal of Mammalogy, co-authored with mentor Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther in the Department of Wildlife. The paper is entitled: "Variation in diet of river otters by season and aquatic community."

Faculty Mark Colwell, Chelsea Polevy and Hannah LeWinter Wildlife

Mark Colwell, Chelsea Polevy and Hannah LeWinter published the last of three papers summarizing the importance of Humboldt Bay to shorebirds along the Pacific America’s Flyway. Their work, funded by Audubon California, shows that the bay hosts a diverse (52 species) and abundant (~850,000 individuals) assemblage of mostly sandpipers and plovers rear-round, justifying its designation as a site of international importance under the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. See their work at: https://www.waderstudygroup.org/article/14584/

Faculty Seafha Ramos Wildlife

Dr. Seafha Ramos, NSF postdoctoral fellow in biology, and collaborators developed a series of 5th grade science lessons that incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge and a simulated wildlife survey. All lessons are available for free download at https://www.stemtradingcards.org/teklessons.

Student Sarah Schooler, Matt Johnson, Peter Njoroge, Tim Bean Wildlife

Graduate student Sarah Scholer published a paper in the journal "Ecology & Evolution" stemming from her Master's thesis with co-authors from HSU, Cal Poly SLO, and the National Museums of Kenya, "Shade trees preserve avian insectivore biodiversity on coffee farms in a warming climate."
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.6879

Student Wendy Willis, Matt Johnson Wildlife

Wendy Willis and Matt Johnson (Dept of Wildlife) published a paper, "Political Ecology of Shade Coffee: Perspectives from Jamaican Blue Mountain Farmers" in the journal Conservation and Society stemming from Wendy's thesis in HSU's interdisciplinary Environment and Community program.

Staff Matt Johnson, Amy Sprowles, Katlin Goldenberg, Steven Margell, and Lisa Castellino Wildlife

A team of faculty and staff published a paper documenting the effects of the first three years of the Klamath Connection placed-based learning community entitled, "Effect of a Place-Based Learning Community on Belonging, Persistence, and Equity Gaps for First-Year STEM Students" in the journal Innovative Higher Education. The article is open-access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10755-020-09519-5

Faculty Matt Johnson, Sacha Heath Wildlife

Matt Johnson, professor in the Dept of Wildlife, and HSU alum Dr. Sacha Heath co-organized a symposium, "Protecting and restoring bird habitat in the agricultural matrix: net benefits for birds and farmers" with 10 invited speakers held at the 2020 North American Ornithological Conference, August 14, 2020.

Student Deven Kammerichs-Berke, Matt Johnson Wildlife

Deven Kammerichs-Berke, graduate student in Wildlife, presented results from his thesis, "Community Composition and Foraging Selectivity of Insectivorous Bird on Central Kenyan Shade Coffee Farms," at the North American Ornithological Conference, Aug 12, 2020.

Faculty Katelyn Raby, Mark Colwell Wildlife

Katie Raby and Mark Colwell published a paper in Wader Study, an international journal dedicated to conservation of shorebirds. Their 15-yr analysis show that Snowy Plover nests survived better on restored beaches of Humboldt County, CA compared with unrestored areas.

Faculty Daniel Barton Wildlife

Dan Barton published an open-access article "Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on field instruction and remote teaching alternatives: Results from a survey of instructors" in the journal Ecology and Evolution. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.6628

Faculty Sharon Kahara Wildlife

Co-authored "APEX simulation: Water quality of Sacramento Valley wetlands impacted by waterfowl droppings". Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. (in press)

Faculty Frank Fogarty Wildlife

Co-authored "Fire, livestock grazing, topography, and precipitation affect occurrence and prevalence of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) in the central Great Basin, USA". Biological Invasions 22, 663-680.

Faculty Frank Fogarty Wildlife

Co-authored "Mapping of land cover with open‐source software and ultra‐high‐resolution imagery acquired with unmanned aerial vehicles". Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. doi:10.1002/rse2.144.

Staff Seafha Ramos Wildlife

Seafha Ramos (Yurok/Karuk), National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, has been selected as a participant in "Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers for Natives in STEM". The program is offered by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society to increase the representation of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians in STEM faculty positions at universities across the country. Support is provided via professional conference attendance, access to a mentorship network, and a stipend. Dr. Ramos is hosted by the HSU Wildlife Department, with Dr. Matthew Johnson kindly serving as her mentor.

Faculty Mark Colwell, Matt Lau, Lizzie Feucht, Jeremy Pohlman Wildlife

Mark Colwell and co-authors published a paper in Wader Study, an international journal dedicated to shorebird ecology and conservation. Their work culminates 20 yrs of research on Snowy Plovers in coastal northern California, and shows that plovers prefer to breed on wide ocean-fronting beaches; however, the reproductive success of plovers in these habitats is often compromised by the presence of Common Ravens (which eat plover eggs and chicks) and humans.

Staff Dr. Seafha Ramos Wildlife

Dr. Seafha Ramos (Yurok/Karuk/Chicana) has been awarded a 2-year National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in biology. She will continue ongoing research in the application of Indigenous (e.g. Traditional Ecological Knowledge; TEK) and Western science in wildlife conservation. She plans to submit to peer reviewed journals two manuscripts: one on TEK through the Yurok lens and one on the use of genetic analysis of scats in a wildlife survey on Yurok ancestral lands, from her doctoral work. She will also continue new research in partnership with Redwood National Park and the Yurok Tribe to apply both scientific paradigms to explore TEK and genetic analyses of elk fecal pellets.

Faculty Mark Colwell Wildlife

Co-edited book Population Ecology and Conservation of Charadrius Plovers. Studies in Avian Biology No. 52

Student Claire Nasr Wildlife

HSU MS student Claire Nasr won an Honorable Mention in the National Science Foundation's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program competition

Faculty Barbara Clucas Wildlife

Awarded Sequoia Park Zoo Conservation Grant for project "Monitoring Humboldt's Flying Squirrels with Novel Techniques".

Student Trinity Smith Wildlife

Graduate student Trinity Smith won best student poster at the North American Society for Bat Research (NASBR) conference for her poster entitled "Patterns of western red bat occupancy across a disturbed landscape in California's Central Valley"