Breadcrumb
Achievements
Publications and achievements submitted by our faculty, staff, and students.
Lucy Kerhoulas, Nicholas Kerhoulas
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Forest restoration that benefits wildlife can be challenging, but Cal Poly Humboldt researchers are helping bridge the gap. New research by Drs. Nicholas and Lucy Kerhoulas found that the Klamath River separates Sonoma and red tree voles into distinct species, with no evidence of interbreeding. The team also discovered that while Sonoma tree voles are most abundant in old-growth forests, simple nest platforms can encourage them to use second-growth forests. Together, these findings provide practical tools for restoring forests while supporting the long-term conservation of these unique canopy specialists. Watch a short video of photos collected here. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W4j0tRp0Zs>
Funding for this project was provided by the Save the Redwoods League.
Rosemary Sherriff, Lucy Kerhoulas, Michael Kauffmann
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
The Klamath Mountains host a famous amount of botanical diversity, yet many plant communities remain poorly documented. Working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Native Plant Society, Cal Poly Humboldt researchers completed more than 2,100 vegetation surveys across three field seasons. The project documented rare plants, identified potential range extensions, added over 1,000 specimens to regional plant collections, and will ultimately produce seven Master’s theses. These findings will strengthen conservation planning, support land management decisions, and provide a lasting public resource for understanding the Klamath Mountains’ remarkable botanical diversity. Read theses here.
Logan Holey
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Logan Holey was selected to receive a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GFRP) to study effective scaling of plant traits from field, UAV to satellite to inform rangeland management for his PhD at Kansas State University.
Courtney Copper, Sebastian Evans, and Kaitlyn Briggs, Lucy Kerhoulas
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Forestry graduate students, Courtney Copper, Sebastian Evans, and Kaitlyn Briggs, as well as Forestry faculty Lucy Kerhoulas gave oral presentations about their research at the Northwest Scientific Association annual meeting in Olympia, WA in March.
Millen McCord, Lucy Kerhoulas
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Forestry graduate student Millen McCord presented a poster (Physiological responses of Oregon white oak to thinning in the East Cascades; Millen McCord & Lucy Kerhoulas) at the Northwest Scientific Association annual meeting and won first place for graduate student posters.
Gabriel Abundis, Sage Brislen, Trinity Edwards, Bailey Glashan, Logan Holey, Lee Minicuci
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Gabriel Abundis, Sage Brislen, Trinity Edwards, Bailey Glashan, Logan Holey, Lee Minicuci (graduate student) are all independent student researchers in the Rangeland Resource Science Program that were able to share their research from Cal Poly Humboldt through poster presentations at the Annual Society for Range Management in Monterey, California.
Sean Dillon, Marina Dunlop, Tristan Fritsch, J. J. Madrigal Garcia, Bree Gentil-Guijosa, Logan Holey, Noah-Charlie Regan, Jennifer Salguero, Derek Tremaine. Nicholas Verhey, Kai Zerbo, Todd Golder
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Sean Dillon, Marina Dunlop, Tristan Fritsch, J. J. Madrigal Garcia, Bree Gentil-Guijosa, Logan Holey, Noah-Charlie Regan, Jennifer Salguero, Derek Tremaine, Nicholas Verhey, and Kai Zerbo competed at the Annual Society for Range Management in Monterey, California with their coach, Todd Golder. This year they ranked nationally in the rangeland plant identification competition, with Cal Poly Humboldt ranked 2nd place nationally in the U.S and 5th place globally with other universities from Canada and Mexico.
Jeff Kane and Jackson Carrasco (2024)
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Jeff Kane (Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management) and graduate student Jackson Carrasco (2024) published a research paper in the journal Forest Ecology and Management entitled "Tree and stand characteristics moderate wildfire severity and promote resilience in secondary coast redwood forests". The findings of the research indicate that redwoods are highly resilient to wildfire but can result in substantial changes to forest structure and composition. However, the magnitude of forest changes was associated with tree and stand conditions, suggesting that management actions in these forests can be used to limit impacts from wildfire.
Angelina Garcia, Adam Canter
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Graduate students Angelina Garcia and Adam Canter were selected for a competitive USDA-ARS NextGen Fellowship. Angelina will examine how rangeland invasive species management affects soil properties and plant traits. Adam will study how invasive species management and small-scale control burns can be used to restore species culturally in coastal prairies important to Wiyot people.
Logan Holey
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Logan Holey was awarded a competitive undergraduate research grant from the Northern California Botanists to conduct research on how air temperature and photosynthetically active radiation vary and potential effects on rangeland plant communities across microhabitats at local solar microgrids in Arcata, McKinleyville and Kneeland.