Achievements
Publications and achievements submitted by our faculty, staff, and students.
Faculty Kerry Byrne and Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler Environmental Science & Management Drs. Kerry Byrne and Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler received a grant to support a study on Applegate’s milkvetch, a federally endangered plant species found only in the lower Klamath Basin of southern Oregon. The project will investigate alternative management practices that may better promote Applegate's milkvetch recovery, and ultimately provide managers with a roadmap for optimal management of this species. Collaborators will include Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, US Fish and Wildlife Service, ODA, and the City of Klamath Falls, OR.
Faculty Zach Walllace, Bryan Bedrosian, Jeff Dunk, Dave LaPlante, Brian Woodbridge, et al. Environmental Science & Management Jeff Dunk (ESM) and colleagues recently published a paper on predicting the spatial distribution of wintering Golden Eagles in Wyoming (including parts of surrounding states). Much of the existing work on Golden Eagles pertains to their breeding season habitat use. A link to the manuscript is here.
Faculty Jim Graham Environmental Science & Management Dr. Jim Graham received a grant from CalTrout that will pay for a graduate student to perform GIS habitat modeling in the Eel River Watershed, and develop a subsequent Riparian Climate Refugia (RCR) data set. The data will provide information on where riparian corridors (vegetation growing near natural bodies of water) contain remaining climate refugia on the CA North Coast. Climate refugia are landscape features that provide environmental protection and can allow species to persist through climate change effects. The data will be particularly useful to land managers, who can use it to make more informed restoration and conservation decisions.
Faculty Steve Martin Environmental Science & Management The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has appointed Prof. Steve Martin to the Bureau of Land Management's Resource Advisory Council for Northern California. The Council provides advice to the federal agency regarding the management of public land resources.
Faculty Kerry Byrne Environmental Science & Management Dr. Kerry Byrne (Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Management) was awarded a sabbatical research grant from Western SARE (Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education) to work with collaborator Dr. Kelly Hopping at Boise State University on a project entitled "Seeds underhoof: can the soil seed bank facilitate restoration of sheep-grazed, cheatgrass-invaded rangelands?" Details of the award can be found here: https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/sw23-944/
Student Johnathon A. Macias Environmental Science & Management Johnathon A. Macias published the peer-reviewed paper “Highlighting the Disconnect Between Legislation and Sustainable Cannabis” in the newly released ideaFest Journal. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ideafest/
Student Jasmine Williamshen, Alison O'Dowd, Kyle De Juilio, Nicholas Som, Darren Ward, Brian Williamshen Environmental Science & Management Former ESM graduate student Jasmine Williamshen and co-authors Alison O'Dowd (ESM professor), Kyle De Juilio (Yurok Tribe Fisheries Program), Nicholas Som (USFWS), Darren Ward (Fisheries professor) and Brian Williamshen (UC Davis) published a paper entitled, "Restoration pulse flows from a California dam temporarily increase drifting invertebrate biomass concentration" in the Journal of Environmental Management (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479722022204).
Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management Dr. Alison O'Dowd, with collaborators in the Yurok Tribe and Hoopa Valley Tribe, was awarded $123,000 by the Trinity River Restoration Program to explore the effects of scour and marginal inundation on Trinity River invertebrate communities. River invertebrates are an important food resource for salmonids and this study will investigate if longer periods of winter inundation can bolster invertebrate populations. The other aspect of the study will use monthly invertebrate sampling to see if high-flow winter scouring events can 're-set' the system and increase fish food later in the season (as has been shown in other research).
Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management ESM Professor Alison O'Dowd received >$800,000 in grants and matching funds to do a 5-year food web study related to the removal of 4 large dams on the Klamath River. The study includes collaborators at the Karuk Tribe and UC Davis to look at food resources and diet of salmonids in tributary and mainstem sites on the Klamath River before, during and after dam removal. This research will explore the resiliency of culturally-important salmonids during high sediment loads released during dam removal.
Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management Dr. Alison O’Dowd received a grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board to support research into salmonid food webs in the Klamath River. The project seeks to understand the food webs dynamics associated with Klamath Dam removal by examining the water quality, salmonid food resources and diet in the mainstem Klamath River and associated tributaries before, during, and after Klamath dam removal. Findings will inform management of fisheries and fish food resources associated with future dam removal projects. It will also advance the field of disturbance ecology by documenting the effects of a large-scale ‘planned’ disturbance.
Faculty Jeffrey Dunk Environmental Science & Management Jeffrey Dunk received a continuing grant from the Teton Raptor Center to support a collaborative project with scientists from Teton Raptor Center, University of Wyoming, and a consulting firm. The project is focused on developing an eagle conservation prioritization tool for the entire state of Wyoming that integrates eagle habitat, risks, protected areas, and other species values. The end-product will be a web-based decision support tool for managers, industry, conservationists, and others.
Student Sam Kelly, Cessair McKinney, and Kerry Byrne Environmental Science & Management Sam Kelly and Cessair McKinney (Environmental Science and Management undergraduates), and ESM faculty Kerry Byrne published a restoration note on the efficacy of a Photography App to enumerate native seeds in the journal Ecological Restoration. Their work was supported in part by GI 2025 funding, and their article was published Open Access thanks to the Sponsored Program Foundation. Access the article here: http://er.uwpress.org/content/40/1/29.refs
Student Allison Nunes and Kerry Byrne Environmental Science & Management Former Natural Resources graduate student Allison Nunes and advisor Kerry Byrne (ESM) published a paper in the Journal of Arid Environments. The paper describes the effects of experimental drought and shrub microsite on the seed bank of two sagebrush steppe plant communities in southern Oregon. It is available Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2022.104752
Faculty Dr. Steven Steinberg Environmental Science & Management
Dr. Steinberg (Adjunct Professor, Geospatial Sciences) is one of a select group of State Department Exchange Program Alumni chosen to participate in the upcoming Thematic International Exchange Seminar (TIES) on “Environmental Diplomacy and its Impact on American Society”
In February 2022, alumni from across the United States will convene in Denver, Colorado to explore the economics of environmentalism with a focus on how to build new green infrastructure, transition to renewable energy, increase environmental justice, and support sustainable environmental practices that create new economic opportunities.
Faculty Alison O'Dowd Environmental Science & Management
ESM Professor Alison O'Dowd and co-authors published a paper in River Research & Applications entitled 'Toward natural approaches in restoration: Experiments of co-evolving physical and biological structures in a self-organizing step-pool channel.' The article is available in open access at https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3851
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 Blenna Kiros, Diana I. Martinez Environmental Science & Management
Alumni Blenna Kiros Geography Department and Diana Martinez Environmental Science & Management wrote the article Behind the Redwood Curtain published in Platform Magazine. The article can be found on pages 10-15.
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.
Student Sarah Aguiar (ESM undergraduate) and Kerry Byrne (ESM Assistant Professor) Environmental Science & Management
Undergraduate Sarah Aguiar (ESM) received a $6,400 science fellowship from the Agricultural Research Institute for her proposed study to track phenology of California poppies from different parts of California and Baja California. She will be working with mentor Dr. Kerry Byrne (ESM) on the project.
