Achievements

Ryan Gustafson

School of Engineering

Ryan Gustafson, a recent graduate from the ERE program, received a Viterbi Graduate School PhD fellowship to pursue a PhD in Environmental Engineering with Prof. Amy Childress at the University of Southern California. He will be funded for four years to continue his research on membrane distillation that he started last year at HSU with Dr. Andrea Achilli.

Nathalia Holt

Biological Sciences

Nathalia Holt ('02, Biological Sciences) has written a book that tells the personal stories of two men whose HIV infections were cured in distinct yet essentially related ways, revealing the imminent promise of a cure for HIV. "Cured: How the Berlin Patients Defeated HIV and Forever Changed Medical Science," is forthcoming from Penguin in February. Holt is an award-winning research scientist specializing in HIV biology. Her research has led to major developments in the HIV gene therapy field. After receiving a Bachelor's degree from HSU, she trained at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard University, the University of Southern California and Tulane University. She lives with her husband and their daughter in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jeffrey Kane

Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Assistant forestry professor Jeffrey Kane recently published an article in the journal Oecologia asserting that the number of resin ducts a tree has can help predict how resistant the pine is to beetle infestation. The results of the paper, combined with the findings of an earlier study, provide information that may be useful to land managers who are trying to keep public parks and other relatively small forested areas healthy. In the first study, researchers demonstrated that a certain type of slippery bark protects trees from pine beetle attacks, which can kill trees. For the full article, visit http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-013-2841-2/fulltext.html.

Mark Colwell, Luke Eberhart-Phillips, Wendy Pearson

Wildlife

Mark Colwell and his former graduate students, Luke Eberhart-Phillips and Wendy Pearson, recently published three papers addressing various aspects of the population and reproductive biology of the Snowy Plover. This federally listed species has a small population in Humboldt County, which Colwell and his students have studied for 13 years.

Kathleen H Sienko, Amir Sabet Sarvestani, Lonny Grafman

School of Engineering

Amir Sabet Sarvestani and Kathleen H. Sienko of University of Michigan, with Lonny Grafman of Humboldt State University, presented an "Open-Source, Wiki-Based Medical Device Compendium for Global Health" at the Second WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jeffrey Black, Micaela Szykman Gunther and student Kristin Brzeski

Wildlife

Wildlife Professors Jeffrey Black and Micaela Szykman Gunther recently co-authored a paper with student Kristin Brzeski in _The Journal of Wildlife Management_ evaluating the status of river otters in Humboldt Bay. River otters have experienced dramatic population declines in the last century and relatively few studies have evaluated their status, especially in California. Black, Gunther and Brzeski evaluated the population of river otters in Humboldt Bay by extracting DNA from the animals' scat. They analyzed the scat in the lab to create unique river otter "fingerprints." They pooled that data with visual observations from a citizen science project and determined that the Humboldt Bay is home to a larger number of river otters than previously expected. It also has a higher density of the creatures compared to other coastal systems. To read the full paper, visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.610/abstract.

Georgia Kaufman

Biological Sciences

Georgia Kaufman, a Cellular & Molecular Biology major (adviser Professor Jacob Varkey) has been awarded the 2013 Jack and Maureen Yarnall Scholarship for a Student Athlete majoring in the Biological Sciences. Georgia is a junior and a member of the HSU Crew Team.

Jairo Luque Villanueva

School of Engineering

Jairo Luque Villanueva ('15, Environmental Resources Engineering) was one of 33 students nationwide to receive a prestigious GRO Fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency. GRO recipients are eligible to receive up to $50,000 over two years for their studies in the sciences and math. They also receive an EPA internship. Villanueva is interning with ERE professor Andrea Achilli. He is researching forward osmosis and membrane distillation wastewater treatment/water reuse. Villanueva previously served as a student assistant and tutor for HSU's Indian Natural Resource, Science and Engineering Program and as a summer research intern at the University of Minnesota.

Jonathan Castro

Geology

HSU alum Jonathan Castro ('93, Geology) recently co-authored a paper that provides scientists with the first direct insight into the rocky lava known as obsidian flow. Castro, a professor at the University of Mainz in Germany, captured footage and images of a volcanic eruption in Chile in 2012. He and his colleagues found that contrary to popular belief, the lava kept moving more than a year after the eruption. The findings were published in recent issue of Nature Communications. For the BBC News article, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24821494.

Craig Kurumada

Computer Science

Craig is playing the leader of the Kabuki muses in the Redwood Curtain Theatre's production of "Far East" by A.R. Gurney, directed by Craig Benson. The story is set in 1954 Japan where three American naval officers and one wife are stationed. Benson's interpretation has set the American play atop a traditional kabuki setting. For reviews of the play go to:

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/changing-times/Content?oid=24…

and

http://www.times-standard.com/entertainment/ci_24504326/edwood-curtains…

HSU students Denise Truong and Cody Miranda are also cast in the play. Look for their achievements under Students.