Achievements
Publications and achievements submitted by our faculty, staff, and students.
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 Molly Parren Wildlife
Presented poster at the annual meeting of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society entitled "The effects of human disturbance on intraguild interactions of mammalian mesopredators in the Mojave Desert of California"
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"
Faculty Tim Bean (co-authors Laura Prugh, Nicolas Deguines, Joshua Grinath, Katherine Suding, Robert Stafford, and Justin Brashares) Wildlife
Published paper in Nature Climate Change "Winners and losers in response to extreme drought"