Breadcrumb
Achievements
Publications and achievements submitted by our faculty, staff, and students.
Amy Livingston
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Amy Livingston, graduate student, lead authored a paper with Erik Jules (Biology) and Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources) entitled "Prescribed fire and conifer removal promote positive understory vegetation responses in Quercus garryana woodlands" in the Journal of Applied Ecology this past June
Jeffrey Kane
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Co-authored three new articles related to fire and fuels management:
“The impact of fuelbed aging on laboratory fire behaviour in masticated woody fuels” in the International Journal of Wildland Fire
“Suites of fire-adapted traits in the southeastern USA oaks: multiple strategies for persistence in fire-prone environments” in the journal Fire Ecology
“Duration of fuels reduction following prescribed fire in coniferous forests of U.S. national parks in California and the Colorado plateau” in the journal Forest Ecology and Management
Kristin Cooper and Catherine Trimingham
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Two Humboldt State University students passed the rigorous “Fundamentals of Soil Science” exam offered on April 15, 2016, becoming Associate Professional Soil Scientists, according to test results from the Council of Soil Science Examiners.
Kristin Cooper and Catherine Trimingham graduated from Humboldt State University with the Wildland Soils option in Rangeland Resource Science. Kristin has performed range technician duties for the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming and has volunteered for several California Resource Conservation Districts. She is studying for the GRE exam and plans to apply to a graduate program for Fall 2017. Catt rowed for the HSU Women’s Crew team and is currently working as a forest-wide soils technician on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. She says that “my education is much more well-rounded compared to the people I work with. I am able to understand a majority of the timber jargon, identify most of the plants I come in contact with, and have been told that my notes are too thorough.”
The national pass rate for the Spring 2016 soils exam was 56 percent, with a California pass rate of 87.5 percent. Since 2011, 25 HSU students have attempted this exam, with an overall pass rate of 80 percent, the last two years with 100 percent success. Those who pass the fundamentals exam will be eligible to take the Professional Practice exam after five years of professional experience, an additional step in becoming a Certified Professional Soil Scientist. Recent Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) discussions about program self-certification have included the fundamentals exam as one indicator of program quality. Given that the exam is multiple choice, it does not evaluate students’ field skills per se, but is an exam that is offered nationwide and is therefore ‘portable.’ Humboldt State University Wildland Soils students (under the Rangeland Resource Science major) spend more than 200 hours in field or laboratory learning experiences, honing hands-on skills and field judgment of soil properties, limitations, and capabilities.
Susan Marshall
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Professor Susan Marshall, Forestry & Wildland Resources attended the 2016 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi, TX. Susan served as 2015 President of the Range Science Education Council and 2016 Past President. She is also an Associate Editor or the Range Ecology & Management Journal and a member of the SRM Professional Accreditation Committee. While there she attended a special workshop looking at the federal Office of Personnel Management 454-Series for Rangeland Specialists with members of the OPM, RSEC and PAC groups. Susan also serves on the Certification Panel for California Certified Range Management specialist.
Kenneth Fulgham
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Emeritus Professor Kenneth Fulgham, Forestry & Wildland Resources, attended the 2016 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi, TX. Ken recently served a three-year term as a national Director on the SRM Board and has been nominated for the SRM 2nd Vice President position with the election held this fall. Ken is also the SRM Membership Services & Meeting Registration Task Force Chair, plus a member of the SRM Bylaws Revision Task Force.
Mariah Aguiar, Tyler Hanson, Kaelie Pena, Matt Prendergast, Rosa Sanchez, and Deedee Soto
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
The HSU Range Plant Team recently competed in the 2016 Society for Range Management plant identification exam in Corpus Christi, Texas. The competition involved the identification of 200 grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees. The Plant Team placed 9th out of 23 schools from Canada, Mexico and United States. In addition, HSU students also participating in the Undergraduate Range Management Exam and the Student Booth Display Contest. The students attending these competitions were: Mariah Aguiar, Tyler Hanson, Kaelie Pena, Matt Prendergast, Rosa Sanchez, and Deedee Soto.
Kaelie Pena, Range Management Science major, was elected Secretary to the SRM Student Conclave and she received a summer Pathways Science Technician job with the Forest Service in Bridgeport, California.
Andrew Slack, Nicholas Zeibig-Kichas
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Andrew Slack, a graduate student, Nicholas Zeibig-Kichas, an undergraduate student, and Dr. Jeff Kane recently published an article in Forest Ecology and Management entitled "Contingent resistance in longleaf pine (Pinus paulustris) growth and defense 10 years following smoldering fires".
Andrew Stubblefield, Rosalea Bond
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Andrew P. Stubblefield, Professor of Hydrology and Watershed Management has recently published a paper titled Sensitivity of summer stream temperatures to climate variability and riparian reforestation strategies
in the Journal of Hydrology, Regional Studies. Coauthors were recent M.S. graduate Rosealea M. Bond and faculty emeritus Robert W. Van Kirk.
Erin Kelly
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
Assistant Professor Erin Kelly of the Forestry Department is working with researchers at the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station to find ways to help forest landowners conduct fuels treatments at large scales and across ownership boundaries to improve fire resilience. Dr. Kelly received $100,000 from the US Forest Service to support the work, which started with documenting known large-scale, cross-boundary fire restoration projects, then choosing case studies across Oregon and Washington. Jodie Pixley, a student in the HSU Environment and Community Master’s program, spent her summer in the Klamath Basin and Ashland, Oregon, working on two case studies.
David Greene, Jeff Keane & Melanie McCavour
Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management
David Greene and Jeff Kane of the Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources and Melanie McCavour of the Department of Environmental Science and Management have just been awarded a 10-year $800,000 grant from the Bureau of Land Management for a study of Baker Cypress. This tree species, restricted to a few populations in northern California and southern Oregon, has seeds retained in cones that will only open when burned and the continuation of fire exclusion is strongly contributing to its potential extinction. The purpose of the grant is to better understand the reproductive ecology of Baker Cypress, determine the feasibility of using prescribed fire and other treatments to inform the restoration and management of this species, and create the Environmental Impact Report that will underpin the management plan.