Breadcrumb
Achievements
Find out what our students, faculty, and staff are being recognized for.
Oscar M. Vargas-Hernandez
Biological Sciences
Dr. Oscar Vargas and collaborators have published a new scientific article "Towards a Monophyletic Infrageneric Circumscription of Adesmia DC. (Dalbergieae, Leguminosae): a Taxonomic Revision in Adesmia series Adesmia" in the journal Phytotaxa. https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.639.1.1
Oscar M. Vargas-Hernandez
Biological Sciences
NSF has awarded a grant to Dr. Oscar Vargas to study the origin and genetics of rare plants in California. The grant includes funds for supporting a diverse students from participate in the project, and it aims to study four rare plants in the state. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2334849
Lily Olmo
Fisheries Biology
Graduate student Lily Olmo was awarded the Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Olmo is among 2,000 students selected nationwide to receive the fellowship from more than 16,000 applicants. This five-year award will support her current Master's research and continuation to a Ph.D. program.
Pedro Peloso, Gisele Santana, Davi Pantoja, Geovania da Silva, Maiume da Silva, Gleomar Maschio (only Peloso is CSU faculty).
Biological Sciences
Professor Pedro Peloso was a co-author in the paper "Endemic amphibians of the Cerrado and Caatinga: species richness, geographic range and conservation" published in the Herpetological Journal. Their work highlights the distribution and conservation status of all species of amphibians that exist in two major ecoregions in Brazil (Cerrado and Caatinga). Based on geographic distribution data, they recorded 100 species that do not exist anywhere else in the world: 82 from the Cerrado and 18 from the Caatinga. They also discuss the role of formally protected areas in safeguarding threatened species in these ecoregions.
Pamela Medina-van Berkum, Eric Schmöckel, Armin Bischoff, Natalia Carrasco-Farias, Jane A. Catford, Reinart Feldmann, Karin Groten, Hugh A. L. Henry, Anna Bucharova, Sabine Hänniger, Justin C. Luong, Julia Meis, Vincensius S. P. Oetama, Meelis Pärtel, Sally A. Power, Jesus Villellas, Erik Welk, Astrid Wingler, Beate Rothe, Jonathan Gershenzon, Michael Reichelt, Christiane Roscher, Sybille B. Unsicker
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Justin Luong (FFRM) and colleagues recently published a paper in Functional Ecology on how plant geographic distribution influences chemical defenses in native and introduced Plantago lanceolata populations. Populations from introduced ranges were characterized by an increase in anti-herbivory chemical defense compounds without compromising plant productivity. A link to the manuscript is here.
Kenia Gomez, Gabriel Abundis, Ernesto Chavez-Velasco
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Kenia Gomez, Gabriel Abundis & (graduate student) Ernesto Chavez-Velasco received research grants from the California Native Grassland Association to examine pressing issues on various California rangelands. Kenia will explore how drought and woody debris affect a local threatened species, North Coast Semaphore Grass; Gabriel will explore how local photovoltaic grids affect rangeland plant communities; Ernesto will work to develop field methods for selecting plants that will match with environmental characteristics for context-specific management to promote biodiversity and drought resilience on rangelands.
Rachael M. Wade
Biological Sciences
Rachael M. Wade, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences was awarded a grant for studying ecologically driven morphological plasticity in coralline algae. Her research focuses on the diversity of marine macroalgae and the evolutionary processes that determine and support their current distributions. Macroalgae are often poor dispersers, so understanding how they've diversified and have come to be globally distributed, in some cases. Her work often relies on the incorporation of historical specimens, with genetic resources derived from 19th-century collections, to better understand their diversity and taxonomy.
Silvia E Pavan and students
Biological Sciences
Silvia E Pavan, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences was awarded a grant for presenting research, with students, at the 2024 Meeting of the American Society of Mammologists. Sylvia is broadly interested in biodiversity, and she works with fieldwork exploration and collections-based research to discover and describe species and to understand species diversity and evolution. Her research has been focused on different groups of mammals, especially marsupials and rodents.
Christa L. Meingast
Environmental Resources Engineering
Christa L. Meingast, Assistant Professor from the Engineering Department, was awarded a grant for a soil remediation study in distributed environments. Infectious diseases are a significant threat to public health. Though society enacts practices to prevent the spread of these dangerous diseases, challenges remain. Therefore, continual advancements in treatment and prevention are required. Wastewater treatment and viral clearance in pharmaceutical applications are two key health measures that prevent the spread of infections.
Justin Luong
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Justin Luong, Assistant Professor of Forestry, Fire and Rangeland Management Department was awarded a grant for assessing solar panel grid impacts on coastal prairies to guide regenerative agrivoltaics. Research in Dr. Luong’s lab focuses on adapting restoration practices for changing climates and integrating socio-economic and management perspectives to understand rangeland ecology. Lab members engage in hands-on learning opportunities that inform real-world rangeland restoration and management projects to cultivate a diverse and inclusive learning environment.