Achievements

Joshua J Frye

Communication

Dr. Frye has published the Citizenship+ Communication Action Guide with the upcoming nationally convened Civic Learning Week, March 19-23, 2026. The Citizenship+ Communication Action Guide is an open source educational resource developed by Dr. Joshua Frye and Dr. Steve Goldzwig (Marquette University) to accompany their 2024 book, Rhetoric and Democracy in a Post-Truth Era.  The OER includes several applied learning activities to advance ethical and effective citizenship+ communication. It also includes a series of topically organized quotations to help inspire democratic attitudes and practices.

Deidre Pike, Hanna Mounce ('03), Marcy Burstiner

Journalism & Mass Communication

Journalism chair Deidre Pike contributed an article “Bringing Back Birds From the Brink of Extinction” to Paris, France-based educational website News Decoder. The article, published Jan. 16, looks at the hopeful work of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project in saving Hawai’ian birds from extinction. The Maui organization’s project manager is Humboldt State University alumna Hanna Mounce (‘03, Wildlife). News Decoder is an educational publication edited by Cal Poly Humboldt emeritus journalism professor Marcy Burstiner.

Josh Meisel

Sociology

Professor Josh Meisel (Sociology) was quoted in a MJ Biz Daily news story about the implications for cannabis research of the Trump administration's recent Executive Order calling for the rescheduling of cannabis to a less restrictive category. 

Yaneyry Delfin Martinez

Sociology

Sociology M.A. student Yaneyry Delfin Martinez received an Alpha Kappa Delta Social Justice Award of $1,500, addressing food insecurity among undocumented students with support from Sociology Professor Stefanie Israel de Souza. 

Yaneyry Delfin Martinez, Caglar Dolek

Sociology

Sociology M.A. student Yaneyry Delfin Martinez received a McCrone Award for his work: Living in Liminality: Navigating Academic Barriers and Building Support For and By Undocumented Students and Sociology Professor Caglar Dolek received the same award for his work: Police Power and Popular Resistance: Tales from the Margin. 

Dr. Laura Johnson

Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis

Dr. Laura Johnson has joined the Embodied Philosophy teaching community to offer a transformative course, Yoga for Ecological Grief. Blending yin and restorative yoga, meditation, pranayama, poetry, and socio-ecological awareness, this course invites you to stay present with the realities of our time rather than turn away. This self-paced, pre-recorded offering provides accessible movement, guided meditations, mudras, reflections, and curated resources to help you engage ecological grief as a pathway toward connection, resilience, and meaningful action. Learn more about the course and about Dr. Johnson's offerings at A Restful Space.

Dr. Sarah Jaquette Ray

Environmental Studies

Dr. Sarah Jaquette Ray interviewed Alexander Menrisky, author of a new book called Everyday Ecofascism, about the violent side of environmental politics for the University of Wisconsin web-magazine and podcast, Edge Effects.  You can find the interview and more about the book here: https://edgeeffects.net/alexander-menrisky/

Stephanie Murillo and Mónica Elivier Sánchez González

Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Stephanie Murillo was selected from a group of undergraduate students to participate in the Summer Research Immersion Program at the University of Guanajuato in summer of 2025. The program provided academic training, professional development, and mentorship in scientific and social research while simultaneously adapting cultural immersion. The objectives of this program were to advance research skills by conducting an eight-week project, produce scholarly work, engage in international collaboration, develop cultural and social insight, and integrate research into career goals. This published work is the result of Stephanie Murillo's time abroad and we are happy to share her published work with the University. 

Captive Bodies: Overmedication as Structural Violence Against Women by Stephanie Murillo

Josh Meisel

Sociology

Dr. Josh Meisel co-authored, "Global cannabis cultivation as a gendered activity: Findings from the 2020 International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire" in the International Journal of Drug Policy. With co-authors from the Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium they examined the extent to which women's participation in cannabis cultivation may have changed across varied global legal contexts. They found that policy shifts towards legalization are related to further reducing overall gender disparities in cannabis cultivation, yet differences remain in earnings, motivations for growing, and experiences with the criminal justice system. 

Dr. Gabi Kirk

Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis

Dr. Gabi Kirk published an essay with Jewish Currents, "In California, Jewish Groups’ Win Is Students’ Loss." It is a critical analysis of California's recent bill, AB 715, which aims to combat antisemitism in K-12 education but may threaten free speech and academic freedom, especially on the topic of Palestine-Israel in the classroom.