All Presenters & Abstracts
Seeking Sofrito: Food Loss and Reconnection in the Puerto Rican Diaspora
Presentation Year:2026
Lisa
Montalvo,
Undergraduate Student,
Anthropology
This is an autoethnography about the impact of diaspora on cultural identity using foodways as a method of determination. I used embodied cooking, informal interviews and digital ethnography to survey the availability of puerto rican food sources in Northern California and explored methods of reconnecting to my Puerto Rican community and identity in the absence of those resources.
Sustainability Employee Educators Developing Solutions (SEEDS)
Presentation Year:2026
Katie
Koscielak,
Staff,
Environmental Studies
My poster shares information, photos, and lessons learned from four years of implementing a campus sustainability program called SEEDS (the acronym stands for: Sustainability Employee Educators Developing Solutions):
Born from gaps identified in the triennial STARS report, SEEDS brings together volunteer staff and faculty to advance peer sustainability education at Cal Poly Humboldt. Now in its fourth year and contributing to EN 3 Staff Engagement & Training points earned in STARS, the program incentivizes the growth of sustainability champions across campus.
The Boys and Girls Club of The Redwoods Pacific Union
Presentation Year:2026
Kyle
Sabio,
Undergraduate Student,
College Corp
As a College Corps Fellow, I served at the Boys and Girls Club of The Redwoods (BGCR) at Pacific Union Elementary School as a Youth Development Associate. Working with youth has developed my conflict resolution skills as well as communication skills in this field. I was grateful to be able to work with kids from TK-8th grade and act as a role model for them. BGCR operates an afterschool program on the campus of Pacific Union. The program facilitates care for members TK-8th grade and currently enrolls over half of the school population (approx. 296 members). With the sheer number of attendees on a daily basis, my position exists to fulfill staff/member ratios and provide an added element of safety for attendees.
The Hidden Lives of Plants
Presentation Year:2026
Adam
Ibarra,
Undergraduate Student,
Psychology
With this presentation I hoped to illustrate the deeper often hidden history of plants and how the relationship that they have with humankind. I also have endeavored to bring attention to the UAF Ethnobotany Program and the potential benefits of a collaboration between the Food Sovereignty Lab at CPH.
The Menstrual Cycle, Dual-Hormone Hypothesis, and Competition: Implications for Athletic Performance
Presentation Year:2026
Gaia
O'Neil,
Undergraduate Student,
Psychology
This study examines how testosterone and cortisol interact to influence competitive drive and athletic performance in female collegiate athletes. Guided by the dual-hormone hypothesis, researchers predicted that testosterone would enhance competitiveness when cortisol is low. Results showed a significant interaction predicting competitive drive, but no effect on sprint performance. Additionally, menstrual cycle phase did not significantly impact hormones, motivation, or performance, suggesting that hormonal fluctuations may shape psychological aspects of competition more than physical outcomes.
The Politicization of Performance: How Rome Turned Ancient Greek Ritualistic Entertainment Into Political Propaganda
Presentation Year:2026
Ava
Henderson,
Undergraduate Student,
Anthropology
In this poster the topic of how Ancient Greek ritualistic theater was changed to fit the bloody and politically inclined ideals of Ancient Rome was discussed. It explores different theoretical frameworks such as the Ritual Theory, the Spectacle and Power Theory, and the Performance Theory. It also uses many different methodologies including comparative archaeological analysis, textual analysis, and socio-political contextualization. Using these different methods the poster is able to explore how Rome used both their spectacles and their architecture to promote their idealization of war while Greece used their performances and architecture to honor their Gods, specifically Dionysus who was the God of theater. The poster specifically contrasts the changes in the architecture of theaters that reflect the changing ideals and the switch from comedic plays and tragedies that honor the Gods to violent games to promote the idea that being strong and winning is everything.
Tracking a Marbled Murrelet on its Journey along the Alaska Coast
Presentation Year:2026
Tony
Nichols,
Undergraduate Student,
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
This StoryMap combines both written contextual information about marbled murrelets and their conservation status, and an animation of a space-time cube showing the tracking data of an individual murrelet in southern Alaska.
Trail Surface Influences Nighttime Mammal Detections in a Forest Reserve
Presentation Year:2026
Spencer
Foto,
Undergraduate Student,
College Corp
Recreational trails are widespread in protected forests, yet their effects on wildlife remain understudied. As part of a College Corps fellowship with the Bureau of Land Management, we used motion-activated cameras at 30 sites along the Elk River Trail, CA, to test whether trail surface (paved vs. unpaved) influenced nighttime mammal detections and whether responses varied by body size. Eight species were detected, with the gray fox being the most frequently observed. Detections were higher on paved trails (p = 0.005), but no consistent species-level or body size effects were found.
Trauma-Informed Peer Support for Legal Record Review Pilot Project
Presentation Year:2026
Jasmine
Rafferty,
Graduate Student,
Social Work
This pilot project explores a trauma-informed peer-supported approach to legal record review for justice-impacted students in higher education. Using frameworks such as Critical Action Research, Slow Research, Disability Justice, and Abolition Feminism, our team collectively engages lived experience to support healing and challenge systems that create barriers. Our work highlights systemic gaps that disrupt student internship placements, causing further harm. Through relational and restorative practices, we normalize experiences, address stigma, and develop peer-led tools to reduce retraumatization and increase equitable access to education.
Viewing Cute Images Enhances Emotion Perception
Presentation Year:2026
Emma
Frerichs,
Graduate Student,
Psychology
Infant features have been shown to influence caretaking associated behaviors, by capturing the attention of potential caregivers and impacting the behavioral responses. Research has shown that exposure to infant faces promotes careful behaviors. The recognition of displayed emotions is important for social dynamics that are essential to survival, such as detecting threats. The current study intended to investigate whether viewing cute stimuli would enhance one's accuracy of emotional recognition of displayed faces.
Wildlife Abundance in Relationship to Residential Zone
Presentation Year:2026
Giovani
Quiroz,
Undergraduate Student,
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Wildlife and humans are inseparable, more so in areas with vast areas of wilderness. With the utilization of trail cameras at a variety of distances animal presence was recorded. Does wildlife detection increase with distance form residential zones. This study helps shine some light on this question and uncover some trends when looking at wilderness areas near residential areas.
Your Brain as a Long Distance Runner
Presentation Year:2026
Sebastian
Vaisset-Fauvel,
Undergraduate Student,
School of Applied Health
Despite the performance benefits of endurance training, long-distance runners are at risk of declining performance and chronic
fatigue when training load exceeds recovery capacity. Acutely, running can increase neurochemicals, blood flow, and neural
activity, which temporarily enhances attetion and cognitive function. Chronically, running leads to structural and functional brain adaptations in regions involving memory, motor control, and decision making. However, Excessive training without adequate recovery can lead to Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) This review investigates how endurance running shapes the brain through acute and chronic adaptations, and how excessive training may shift these benefits toward maladaptive neural changes associated with overtraining syndrome.