Breadcrumb
Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series
2024-2025 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series
On behalf of Interim Provost Young and the Office of Academic Affairs, you are invited to the upcoming Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series presented by the 2024-25 faculty award recipients. Award recipients are nominated by their colleagues or students for excellence in their field, and then reviewed by a Faculty Awards Committee.
The upcoming events are an opportunity for award recipients to engage with the campus and local community by giving a public lecture or performance or a different activity of their choosing. These events are free and open to students, faculty, staff and members of the local community. Light refreshments will be provided.
Please join us for this semester’s upcoming talks:
Dr. Dale Oliver - Outstanding Service
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
The Great Hall
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Lecture Title: "Opportunities Abound for Service to the Common Good"
Summary: Dale will reflect on key opportunities for service to the common good during his 35 years as a faculty member and sometimes administrator at Cal Poly Humboldt. Together, these opportunities have been an important part of a meaningful and rewarding career. The AAC&U’s recent statement on “Higher Education’s Compact with America: Shared Principles for the Common Good,” will help to frame the discussion. There will also be words of gratitude and encouragement.
Dr. Young S. Kwon - Excellence in Teaching
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Goodwin Forum, Nelson Hall East, Room 102
5:00-7:00 pm
Lecture Title: "Beyond Facts: Paradigm Shifts in Exercise Biochemistry and Their Implications for Health"
Summary: Inspired by Thomas S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this lecture explores how scientific progress occurs not through the simple accumulation of facts, but through fundamental paradigm shifts—changes in how we understand and interpret the world.
Using exercise biochemistry as a central example, the lecture examines how long-standing concepts—such as energy metabolism and lactate—have been shaped by older paradigms, and how new scientific frameworks are transforming both education and health-related practice today. Rather than dismissing prior knowledge as “wrong,” this talk emphasizes that rethinking scientific assumptions leads to deeper understanding, improved teaching, and more meaningful applications to human health.
Drawing on classroom experience and real-world examples, the lecture highlights how teaching students to recognize paradigm shifts fosters critical thinking, scientific curiosity, and lifelong learning—skills that extend beyond the classroom to personal health and professional decision-making.
Dr. Daniela Mineva - Scholar of the Year
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Fulkerson Recital Hall
5:00-7:00 pm
Lecture Title: "A Magical Journey Through Music"
Summary: Music has the power to inspire, transform, and bring out the best in all of us. In this concert-lecture, Daniela will share music that has been especially meaningful in her life.
She will perform piano works by composers who have deeply influenced her musical path, including Debussy, Messiaen, and Rzewski, and will reflect on how these pieces connect to her own journey as an educator and concert pianist. Join Daniela for an enjoyable and engaging evening of music.
2023-2024 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series
These lectures are open to all students, faculty, staff and the community.
Andrea Juarez- Excellence in Teaching
Lecture date: Wednesday, February 26, 2024, 5:00-7:00 pm
Lecture location: Goodwin Forum, Nelson Hall East 102
Humnath Panta- Scholar of the Year
Lecture date: Wednesday, March 5, 2024, 5:00-7:00 pm
Lecture location: Goodwin Forum, Nelson Hall East 102
Loren Cannon- Outstanding Service
Lecture date: Wednesday, April 9, 2024, 5:00-7:00
Lecture location: Goodwin Forum, Nelson Hall East 102
Sara Sterner- Excellence in Teaching
Lecture date: Wednesday, April 16, 2024, 5:00-7:00 pm
Lecture location: Goodwin Forum, Nelson Hall East 102
Past Distinguished Faculty Award Winner Lectures
Watch the recorded lectures of previous year's Distinguished Faculty Award Winners from 2021-2022 and onward.
Erik Jules- Scholar of the Year - 2022-23
Lecture Title: How climate change, fire suppression, and invasive species may be reshaping our forests
Erik will describe his research on recent changes to forests in our region, including changes that have resulted from non-native pathogens, climate warming, and fire suppression. Using several long-term studies, the talk will focus on an at-risk, high-elevation pine species and a botanically-rich forested ecosystem in the heart of the Klamath Mountains.
John Meyer- Scholar of the Year - 2022-23
Lecture Title: Which way (if any) toward sustainability?
Our climate crisis often feels very new, but is in some ways, as Kyle Powys Whyte has argued, “unprecedentedly old.” It has prompted many calls for a more sustainable society. But what could that mean and how might it be pursued? Does it require more deference to experts? Or more power to “the people?” In this talk, I argue that questions like these are inescapably political and that answers reflect differences in underlying values and visions of a good life. One goal of environmental political theory – my field of study – is to surface these values as a basis for imagining more deeply resonant strategies for social change.
Noah Zerbe- Excellence in Teaching - 2022-23
Lecture Title: Conversations from the Classroom: Strategies for Engaging Pedagogies
From flipped courses to playful pedagogy, it’s hard to stay on top of the latest innovations and emerging technologies in teaching, especially as faculty tend to be siloed into their classrooms. In this interactive session, we’ll draw back to the curtain and engage in a conversation about effective teaching. Come and share your favorite activities and assignments, or just bring your questions.
Cindy Moyer- Outstanding Service - 2022-23
Lecture Title: All I Really Needed to Know about Service, I Learned from Studying Music
Cindy will be joined by musical colleagues as she discusses and demonstrates musical skills that are also relevant for service work.
Sara Hart- Excellence in Teaching
Lecture Title: Jim Hart's Magical Mystery Tour
This is the story of how I came to Religious Studies, and of what the journey has taught me about learning, teaching, and being in the world. To imagine alternate moral horizons, to practice being wrong about our most committed worldviews, to engage impossible beliefs: these are the keys that I have found to community, purpose, and hope.
Meenal Rana - Excellence in Teaching - 2021-22
Sonja Manor - Excellence in Teaching
The Power to Change
Teachers have a unique and powerful ability to create change, not only for our students but for ourselves, our teaching, and our campus culture. As a Freshmen at Humboldt State University, I had no idea I was going to major in mathematics nor would I have believed I could. A note from a professor at the top of one Calculus test changed the course of my life. It is a great honor to now be able to play this role in the lives of my students. Each semester they help me change my classes to be more applicable, active, and inclusive. In this presentation, I will share some of the teaching philosophy, classroom projects, and interdepartmental collaborations that have transformed my classes.
Jeffrey Kane - Scholar of the Year
Restoring Fire-Adaptive Oak Woodlands in Northwestern California
The removal of fire in oak ecosystems in northwestern California over the past century has resulted in substantial loss of biodiversity and degradation of culturally managed landscapes. Efforts to restore oak ecosystems and reintroduce fire hold promise but often require removal of conifers to promote effectiveness. In this talk, Dr. Kane will share his research over the past decade that explores the impacts of fire exclusion and the ecological responses of restoration approaches within oak ecosystems of northwestern California.