Breadcrumb
Achievements
Find out what our students, faculty, and staff are being recognized for.
1
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
The Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, the western branch of American Association of Geographers, recently honored emeritus Professor Stephen Cunha with their Distinguished Service Award. During the awarding, a former student said “His passion for teaching geography through storytelling is unrivaled in the APCG. He has inspired generations of new geographers on the Pacific Coast and mentored many of them on to professions in the academy and industry for decades.” In February, Stephen heads to Senegal, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia to lecture on National Parks and World Heritage Sites.
Laura Johnson
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Dr. Laura Johnson, a lecturer in departments of Geography and Environmental Studies, was interviewed on the Sacred Community Project Podcast. Her conversation with host Sitaram Dass, MSW, revolved around ecological grief, rest as radical practice, embodied activism, and postcapitalist futures, among other related topics. Feel free to listen or share here: https://sacredcommunityproject.org/digital-library/eco-grief
Rosemary Sherriff
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Rosemary Sherriff (Professor, GESA) co-authored (85 authors) a recent paper in the journal Ecosphere on a newly compiled North American tree-ring fire-scar network (NAFSN), which contains 2562 sites, >37,000 fire-scarred trees, and covers large parts of North America. The study explores the NAFSN in terms of geography, sample depth, vegetation, topography, climate, and human land use. Fire scars are found in most ecoregions, from boreal forests in northern Alaska and Canada to subtropical forests in southern Florida and Mexico. The network includes 91 tree species, but is dominated by gymnosperms in the genus Pinus. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.4159
Zachary Wenderott, Rosemary Sherriff
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Humboldt graduate Zachary Wenderott (MS, Forestry, Watershed and Wildland Sciences), Rosemary Sherriff (Professor, GESA), and colleagues at the U.S.G.S and National Park Service recently published a paper in the journal Forest Ecology and Management on prescribed fire effects in mixed-conifer forests in Lassen Volcanic National Park. The findings suggest that forest management, such as prescribed fire, may be beneficial in terms of maintaining or improving tree growth among large residual trees. However, managers may want to balance the benefits of these treatments against inadvertent injury and mortality of large trees. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120260
Faculty Dr. Matthew Derrick & Dr. Amy Rock, Students Anthony Lucero, Otto Schmitt, Angela Valladares, Yuichi Ambiru
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Anthony Lucero won the Geosystems Award which is the top prize for undergraduate geospatial research for his paper titled “Drone Photogrammetry: Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to Represent the Underrepresented.”
Otto Schmitt earned the second-place Joe Beaton Professional Poster Award for his research poster titled “The Effects of Rising Sea Levels in Humboldt County on FedEx Ground.”
Angela Valladares placed first in the Professional Digital Cartographic Award for her entry titled “The Great Earthquakes of September 19th.”
Yuichi Ambiru took the first-place Professional Paper Cartographic Award for his map titled “Iceland, the Island of Volcano and Glacier.”
Dr. Laura Johnson
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Dr. Laura Johnson published her Yoga for Ecological Grief course, which she has taught through Cal Poly Humboldt's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) since Fall 2020, in a widely accessible online format through Teachable. This unique self-paced course is offered at a sliding scale with scholarships available, and more information can be found here: https://a-restful-space.teachable.com/p/yoga-for-ecological-grief
Stephen Cunha
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Emeritus Professor Stephen Cunha’s: A Narrow Escape from the Tajik Pamir (Geographical Bulletin 62A, Iss. 2), documents surviving attempted murder and gunshot wounds incurred during 1992 geographical fieldwork in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. Trauma aside, the decade-long project resulted in the Tajik National Park in 1992 (enlarged in 2005) and the Mountains of the Pamir World Heritage Site in 2013. The Postscript presents lessons learned that apply to field work everywhere.
Jill Beckmann, Rosemary Sherriff, Lucy Kerhoulas, Jeff Kane
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Jill Beckmann (MS 2019), Rosemary Sherriff, Lucy Kerhoulas and Jeff Kane published a new paper on conifer encroachment on oak woodland drought resistance in Forest Ecology and Management: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119543
Katie Piper, Jessica Janecek, Jared Whear, Faith Rehagen, Michael Flynn
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
HSU GESA Students Sweep the Awards at CGS:
McKnight Professional Paper Award (undergraduate), 1st place: KATIE PIPER, “Nature’s spigot: Bofedal presence in the Peruvian Andes Mountain Range”
2nd place: JESSICA JANECEK, “Placing memory, preserving individual stories amid myth: The Humboldt Cannabis Oral History Project”
McKnight Professional Paper Award (graduate), 1st place: JARED WHEAR, “The Las Vegas water grab is dead: Prior appropriation water law at its best?” (HSU Geography, 2012; PhD candidate in Geography, Syracuse)
Professional Paper Cartographic Award (undergraduate), 1st place: FAITH REHAGEN, “The Baja California Peninsula”
2nd place: MICHAEL FLYNN, “California fire map”
Michael Flynn
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Senior Geography major Michael Flynn earned second place for undergraduate cartography for his map “California Fire Map” at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.