Department News
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The Spring 2012 issue of Humboldt Magazine features HSU Wildlife Faculty and Staff. The article titled “For the Birds - The Rewards and Challenges of Avian Research” details the avian research conducted by the Wildlife Department. Read the full article here.
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Humboldt State students took home first place in the Western Student Conclave wildlife quiz bowl Mar. 9-12 at the University of Idaho. As in years past, HSU put on an impressive performance, beating out a handful of other schools in the annual wildlife trivia contest. The winning team consisted of Phil Chaon, Kate Howard, Justin Purnell, Max Marquez and John Oliver.
Humboldt State also won in several other events, nabbing first place in the poster contest, second and third in the oral presentations, and third in the “triathlon.” Travis Strong earned two first place prizes in the photo competition for the flora and landscape categories. HSU’s strong overall performance also garnered it the “Best in the West” award, granted annually to the highest scoring competitor in all categories.
Student chapters of the Wildlife Society gather each spring to compete in regional conclaves, which include field trips, workshops, networking opportunities and quiz bowls testing students’ wildlife knowledge. hiTs year’s Western Student Conclave included the University of Montana; University of Wyoming; Colorado State University; New Mexico State University; University of Nevada, Reno; University of Nebraska; Washington State University and Utah State University.
HSU students will participate in the national student quiz bowl this fall, to be held at the Wildlife Society’s annual conference in Portland.
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HSU Wildlife Professor Richard Brown will present “Emerging Diseases and the One-World-One-Health Concept” as part of the Sequoia Park Zoo’s monthly conservation lecture series. The lecture will be held at 7PM on Wednesday, January 11th at the Sequoia Park Zoo classroom.
Dr. Brown will discuss emerging diseases that affect wildlife and those that people contract from animals such as West-Nile encephalitis and Lyme disease, as well as a disease that is associated with raccoons.
Dr. Brown specializes in disease ecology and has worked with the Sequoia Park Zoo as a consulting veterinarian for over 10 years. A reception will be held at 6:30 PM, prior to the commencement of the lecture.
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Humboldt State University Wildlife Professor Mark Colwell, a veteran shorebirds expert, will lecture on the biology and conservation status of the Snowy Plover on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Sequoia Park Zoo Classroom in the Secrets of the Forest Building, 3414 W Street, Eureka.
Colwell’s presentation, “A Tale of Two Plovers,” is the life story of two of the oldest breeding plovers in the local population that Colwell has been studying for 11 years. His talk is the second in a new series of free monthly evening talks sponsored by Sequoia Park Zoo’s Conservation Committee. Local experts address species conservation topics.“My goal with this talk is to get away from the sometimes difficult abstract issues of conservation biology and focus on the lives of two specific individual birds,” said Colwell. “In Humboldt County, the issue of closing off areas of public beaches to protect snowy plovers’ breeding habitat has been the cause of some friction, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lay out all the relevant facts to the community.”
Colwell’s lecture will be preceded by a reception at 6:30 p.m. The next talk on January 11, 2012, “Emerging Diseases and the One-World-One-Health Concept,” will be given by HSU Wildlife Professor Richard Brown.
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HSU undergraduate Wildlife students snagged a close victory at the 2011 National Wildlife Quiz Bowl in Waikoloa, Hawaii, Nov. 5-10. This year’s champions are Sam Aguilar, Phil Chaon, Brian Fagundas, Aaron Spidal and Amy Trost. After trailing Virginia Tech for 10 minutes of the 15-minute championship game, the Humboldt State team secured a 115-95 point victory, posting HSU’s eighth championship since it began competing in 2001. “It was a real nail biter,” Spidal says. “For a while there, it really could have gone either way.”
Teams competed from across the nation, and the rivalry was fierce with several “down to the wire” matches. Second place went to Virginia Tech, Purdue captured third, and the University of Montana came in fourth.
Humboldt State is unique in the large number of undergraduates it brings to this meeting of 1300 wildlife professionals. This year, 21 HSU undergraduate students and three graduate students participated in the conference.
“I’ve had an uncounted number of conversations with professionals who are simply amazed at our students,” says Professor Rick Brown, who attended the conference. “I am too. We owe a great deal of thanks to Associated Students and the continued support from the administration.”