Graduate Student Research Topics

Current Students

Ted Masters
Thesis: New Wolves in a New West: Constructing Wolves and Landscapes in Wallowa County
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Kagat McQuillan
Thesis: Yurok Food Resources from the Redwood Experimental Forest (REF) with an emphasis on Vaccinium parvifolium
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Francisco Chavez
Thesis: Drought's lingering shadow: monitoring the recovery of sagebrush steppe plant communities after four years of experimental drought
Advisor: Kerry M. Byrne, Ph.D.

Tambo Phrakonkham
Thesis: Modeling Floodplain Connectivity in The Lower Eel River (Wiya’t), Humboldt County, Northern California
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Sean Fleming
Thesis: Satellite-Based Phenology and Climate Anomaly Analysis in Evaluating the Response of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Tropical Forests to the 2015-2016 Drought
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Katherine Stonecypher
Thesis: Diet, Growth, and Survival of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Off-Channel Restoration Projects in Humboldt Bay Tributaries
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Benjamin King
Thesis: Effects of Scour and Inundation on Trinity River Aquatic Communities
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Rosa Cox
Thesis: Effects of Sedimentation from Dam Removal on Klamath River Aquatic Food Webs
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Alexander Brown
Thesis: Exploring community knowledge, perceptions of risk, and adaptive capacity around the uncertain future of spent nuclear fuels on Humboldt Bay, California
Advisor: Jennifer Marlow, J.D.

Graduated

2023

Sean Stewart
Thesis: Insights into conservation for the rare perennial herb, Astragalus applegatei
Advisor: Kerry M. Byrne, Ph.D.

Jules Bartley
Thesis: Physical characteristics and fine roots within duff mounds of old-growth sugar and Jeffrey pine in a fire-excluded Sierran mixed-conifer forest
Advisor: Kerry M. Byrne, Ph.D.

Maddie McNerthney
Thesis: Examining the impacts of beaver dam analogues and groundwater storage on Miners Creek, California
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Hannah Joss
Thesis: Monitoring bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) remotely at high resolutions
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

2022

Karlee Jewell
Thesis: Evaluating science communication efforts and citizen scientists' knowledge of, attitude toward, and behavioral intentions related to the North American river otter
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

2021

Allison Nunes
Thesis: Seed bank composition within two sagebrush communities: a comparison of drought, microsite, and aboveground community effects
Advisor: Kerry M. Byrne, Ph.D.

Jordan Adair
Thesis: Using UAV and traditional remote sensing data to detect vegetation vigor and monitor stream morphology in a desert riparian ecosystem
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Lucy Corro
Thesis: A look at land cover classification methods in northern California with the use of high spatial resolution geospatial data
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Melissa Collin
Thesis: Satellite-based phenology analysis in evaluating the response of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands' tropical forests to the 2017 hurricanes
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Holli Pruhsmeier
Thesis: Building habitat suitability models to examine distribution shifts for the Black-headed Grosbeak, Hairy Woodpecker, and Yellow-rumped Warbler due to drought, fire, and bark beetle infestation in the Pacific Northwest
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Jasmine Williamshen
Thesis: Response of invertebrate drift to dam-release restoration pulse flows from Lewiston Dam on the Trinity River, CA
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

2020

Imil Ferrara
Thesis: A Political Ecology of Northwest California Land Communities
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Rebecca Cashero
Thesis: Resilience, Place, and Collaborative Organization: A Political Ecology of Distributed Woody Biomass Energy Development in Rural California Communities
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Thomas Starkey-Owens
Thesis: Daily and Season Variation in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Abundance and Species Composition on the Trinity River Below Lewiston Dam
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Katrina Nystrom
Thesis: Quantifying Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenous tridentus) ammocoete habitat availability and risk associated with the summer hydrograph recession limb in Coastal Northern California
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

2019

Ethan Luckens
Thesis: Modeling the flow of Hall Creek, Humboldt County, California using visualizing ecosystem land management assessments (VELMA) and calculating the channel forming flow using the effective discharge calculation
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Irene Vasquez
Thesis: Evaluation of restoration techniques and management practices of tule pertaining to eco-cultural use
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

2018

Aaron Taveras
Thesis: The performance of 2D and 3D tsunami evacuation maps : a case study for Seaside, Oregon
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Lara Jansen
Thesis: Ecological implications of dam flow diversions on the Upper Eel River
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Monique Silva Crossman
Thesis: Effects of manual and mechanical Ammophila arenaria removal techniques on coastal dune plant communities and morphology
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

2017

Dawn Albrecht
Thesis: From Vulnerability to Resilience - Emergency Planning for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in Humboldt County, California
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Portia Saucedo
Thesis: Multiscale habitat suitability modeling for canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) along the northern California coast
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Emily Cooper
Thesis: An estimation of potential salmonid habitat capacity in the upper mainstem Eel River, California
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

2016

Leanne Lynch
Thesis: Access to Recreational Open Space in Patterson, CA: A Geospatial Analysis Utilizing Geographic Information Systems
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Melissa Kimble
Thesis: Mapping uncertainty for habitat Suitability models for four North American tree species
Advisor: Jim Graham, Ph.D.

Claudia Voigt
Thesis: Measuring Recreation Use Impacts on Old-Growth Redwoods
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

2015

Rebekah Rafferty
Thesis: Rancher Adaptations to Wolf Depredation in Western Montana
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Sarah Aldinger
Thesis: Rural Resilience: Local agro-ecological knowledge, sustainable agriculture and cycles of change in Hayfork, CA: An exploratory case study
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Jessica Blackwell
Thesis: Does personal information and communication technology in the wilderness lead to more risk-taking in wilderness?
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Emily Ferrell
Thesis: Post-Fire Pulses of Aquatic Production: Investigating the Midterm Effects of High-Severity Fire on Headwater Streams in Northwestern California
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Erin Degenstein
Thesis: A Model to Predict the Future Distribution and Spread of Invasive Plants in Wilderness Areas of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, California
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

2014

Dawn Walker
Thesis: Feeding our Families: A Process of Reconnecting with Food, the Earth, and Each Other
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Daniel White
Thesis: Recreational Visitor Use of the Headwaters Forest Reserve
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Kelsey McDonald
Thesis: Tidal Seed Dispersal Potential of Spartina densiflora in Humboldt Bay (Humboldt County, California)
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

2013

Rebekah Dickens
Thesis: Ecological and social considerations in tropical forest conservation: a case study in Ecuador
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Jim Garner
Thesis: Modeling Pacific fisher behavior and habitat use in the Southern Sierra Nevada
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2012

Judy Sears
Thesis: Building local capacity for disaster response: An assessment of community emergency response models In rural areas
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Max Kaufman
Thesis: Ecosystem service value of water supply benefits provided by forest stands in the Mattole River Watershed, California: A bioeconomic and benefit transfer & spatial analysis application.
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Alyssa Hosbach
Thesis: Managing land for resilience: a comparative analysis of conservation planning and holistic management
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Flora Brain
Thesis: Eating Totem Salmon: Exploring extinction and collaborative restoration in a coastal California watershed community
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Michelle Fuller
Thesis: Herding Cats: Grassroots and centralized organizing in the case of California's Fire safe Councils
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Grace Sparks
Thesis: Conserving Working Landscapes and Open Space: A Socio-Spatial Analysis of Private Parcels Suitable for Conservation Easements in Calaveras County, California
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Luc Lagarde
Thesis: Invasive Spartina densiflora Brongn. Reduces primary productivity in a northern California salt marsh
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Matt Mitchell
Thesis: Community Structure of Terrestrial Invertebrates and Habitat Complexity Relationships in Spartina-Invaded and Restored Humboldt Bay Salt Marshes
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Iris Koski
Thesis: Landscapes in Transition: Private lands oak woodland management in the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion
Advisor: Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.

Jason Barnes
Thesis: A socio-spatial and network analysis of entrepreneurship in Mendocino County, California
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Jess Morrison
Thesis: Geospatial modeling of population growth scenarios for the Humboldt Bay, California region: adapting SLEUTH to a rural environment
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Janene Michaelis
Thesis: A Spatial Modeling Tool for Community Health Risk Assessment: A Case Study of Type II Diabetes Patient Nonadherence in Humboldt County, California.
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2011

Kihyun Kim
Thesis: A comparative institutional analysis of management in urban riparian greenways: the American River Parkway (Sacramento, California)
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Emily Walters
Thesis: Defining restoration goals for the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center, Manila, California based on an analysis of ecological processes in coastal dunes
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Jennifer Mayberry
Thesis: Community wildfire preparedness: Balancing community safety and ecosystem sustainablitity in southern California chaparral
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Haley West
Thesis: Home gardens of Humboldt County, California: exploring the politics of knowledge, reciprocity and community
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Mark Douglas
Thesis: Yosemite Wilderness Visitor Travel Patterns -- Implications for Trailhead Permit Quotas
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Nicolas Ramirez
Thesis: Modeling Ecotoxicological Stressors Using GIS
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2010

Kristen Pope
Thesis: Visitor Perceptions of Wilderness Rescue
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Dan Shyrock
Thesis: Ecological Conditions and Monitoring Standards for Meadows in the John Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness Areas, CA.
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

2009

Lenya Quinn Davidson
Thesis: Prescribed fire: Influences on community support and Management activities in Northern California
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Cybelle Immitt
Thesis: The potential of community action plans to promote economic revitalization through rural county planning
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Abbey Stockwell
Thesis: Analysis of barriers to low impact development in the North Coast Redwood Region, California
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Brian R. Davenhall
Thesis: Spatial Interpolation: A simulated analysis of the effects of sampling strategy on interpolation method
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2008

Lisa Spadoni
Thesis: The effectiveness of land use planning on the preservation of open space in five rural, high amenity communities in the Rocky Mountains
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Max Korten
Thesis: Developing Quantitative Indicators and Standards for Solitude on the Lost Coast Trail
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Whelan Gilkerson
Thesis: A spatial model of eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitat in Humboldt Bay, California
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Ian McGovern
Thesis: Using Multiple Resolution Digital Images and GIS to determine vegetation sampling locations at Whiskeytown National Recreational Area
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2007

Ben Letton
Thesis: Hazardous fuel mapping and thematic accuracy assessment in the wildland urban interface
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

John Letton
Thesis: Community Based Hazardous Fuel Mapping and Accuracy Assessment
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Zach Jarrett
Thesis: Expectancy-Disconfirmation Theory and Recreation Visitor Satisfaction
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Thomas Kirk
Thesis: Landscape-scale habitat associations of the American marten in the greater Southern Cascades region of California
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Jennifer Kauffman
Thesis: Development and application of a GIS based evaluation for prioritization of wetland restoration opportunities
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Rebecca Degagne
Thesis: Examining the distribution of Dicymbe corymbosa monodominant forests in western Guyana using satellite imagery
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2006

Kate McCurdy
Thesis: Attitudes, beliefs and behaviors about bear resistant food canister use among wilderness users in Yosemite National Park
Advisor: Steven R. Martin, Ph.D.

Linda M. Miller
Thesis: Evaluation of low-altitude vertical aerial videography as a method for identifying and estimating abundance of residual trees
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Chaeli Judd
Thesis: Mapping Aquatic Vegetation: Using Bathymetric & Hyperspectral Imagery to Classify Submerged Eelgrass in Humboldt Bay, California
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Jennifer Taylor
Thesis: Effectiveness of Hands-On Learning in a Children's Interpretive Program
Advisor: Carolyn J. Ward, Ph.D.

Kari Jensen
Thesis: Effects of the Artistic Design of Interpretive Signage on Attracting Power, Holding Time and Memory Recall
Advisor: Carolyn J. Ward, Ph.D.

2005

Brook R. Edwards
Thesis: Historical assessment of the ecological condition and channel dynamics of the lower Mokelumne River : 1910-2001
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

Matthew Perry
Thesis: Design and Evaluation of a Web Mapping Service for the Klamath River Basin
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2004

Jolie Lonner
Thesis: Determining the Sustainable Harvest of Oregon Grape (Berberis nervosa)
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Patty Clifford
Thesis: Integrating logistic regression and GIS to predict the distribution of Petasites frigidus in the Klamath Mountain subregion, C
Advisor: Yvonne Everett, Ph.D.

Jeff Marsolais
Thesis: Visitor Perceptions of Management Actions Across the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2003

William D. Ritts
Thesis: A quantitative risk assessment of Port Orford cedar root disease in the Smith River National Recreation Area.
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP

2000

Michael D. Hass
Thesis: A Klamath River fisheries restoration webGIS
Advisor: Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP