Caroline Martorano, 2019

Thesis:

Long-term effectiveness of fuel treatments in oak and chaparral stands of Northern California

I graduated from the University of Illinois- Urbana/Champaign in 2012 with a B.S. in Integrative Biology. As an undergrad I was involved in the palynology lab and participated in prescribed burns and other prairie restoration activities. I was a Conservation and Land Management (CLM) intern at BLM offices in Lakeview, OR, Roseburg, OR and Redding, CA for two years following undergrad. The three years prior to starting my Masters at Humboldt, I was the plant biologist for the Quinault Nation on the Olympic Peninsula, WA. My undergrad and work experience has consisted of native plant habitat conservation in the face of natural resource land management. I've worked with natural resources in terms of cattle, timber, recreation, salmon and indigenous use of plants. My research interests stem from my passion for plants, people in the landscape, and the use of fire to manage the land and natural resources. I will be working on a collaborative project in conifer encroached oak woodlands and characterizing spatial variability of surface fuels among different levels of encroachment. I will also be working on the long-term vegetative response to mastication and other fuels treatments in Whiskeytown NRA.

Sungnome Madrone, 2011

Thesis:

Fine sediment sources of coastal watersheds with uplifted marine terraces in Northwest Humboldt County, California.

Trinidad is my Hometown and I received my BS in Natural Resources from Humboldt in 1975. My Master's Thesis was on ?Fine Sediment Sources of Uplifted Marine Terraces in Northwest Humboldt County, California. Data was collected to determine the source and significance of erosion sources and to recommend treatments. Local watershed efforts are currently underway to treat the highest priority sites in cooperation with the local watershed council, local and state government agencies, and local landowners. This project is indicative of a long series of projects that I have been involved with over the past 38 years here in Humboldt County. As a design/builder watershed restorationist my goal has always been to gather the necessary information to plan effective restoration, and then actually implement that work, monitor the work and results, and adapt the treatments based on that information. I am the principal of a restoration firm, Madrone Enterprise (ME). I am currently working to secure funding for implementation of the restoration needs identified as part of my thesis in Luffenholtz Creek. This work is a collaborative effort of ME, Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA), Green Diamond Resource Company (GD), the City of Trinidad, and the Trinidad Bay Watershed Council.

Sungnome Madrone graduated in 2011 and is currently the director of the Mattole Salmon Group.

Dylan Loudon, 2015

Thesis:

Analysis of coastal wetland geography and policy in Humboldt Bay: adapting wetland policies for a changing climate.

I grew up in rural Sonoma County, California and I graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies from University of California at Santa Cruz, 2008 where I also spent time managing the Social Studies Geographical Information Systems lab. I worked from 2008-2014 with Prunuske Chatham, Inc., an ecosystem services company based out of Sebastopol, California. I worked in project planning, GIS analysis, heavy equipment operation and crew leadership. My interests are improving restoration project success and efficiency, specifically stream and wetland restoration. I am researching wetland restoration and mitigation policy around Humboldt Bay. This has included conducting interviews with regulators, planners and developers and collecting their perspectives on the difficulties in performing wetland work and the successful aspects of current regulatory policies. I am currently processing and analyzing interview data, and preparing to conduct a geospatial analysis of wetland distributions around Humboldt Bay and model their potential migrations under multiple sea level rise scenarios.

Amy Livingston, 2014

Thesis:

Plant community responses to fire exclusion, species invasions, and restoration in California woodlands and grasslands.

My research involves understanding the effects of conifer encroachment on understory plant diversity in fire-dependent Oregon white oak woodlands in Northern California. Additionally I am interested in how vegetation changes caused by encroachment affect current fire regimes. I am working on these questions with Dr. J.M. Varner. I have a B.S. degree from Iowa State University with majors in English and Environmental Studies. I have also completed course work in Botany at Cal Poly Humboldt. My work experience has focused on rare plants, exotic species control, and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems. I can be reached at: acl15@humboldt.edu. To learn more about research at Cal Poly Humboldt?s Wildland Fire Laboratory visit: http://www.humboldt.edu/firelab

Lonyx Landry,

Thesis:

Soil sampling for Phytophthora spp.

Lonyx will be working on soil sampling for Phytophthora spp., an organism that causes Sudden Oak Death and other plant diseases. He is currently an advisor at INRSEP.

Laura B. Lalemand, 2018

Thesis:

Restoration and tree drought resistance in coast redwood-Douglas-fir forests at Redwood National Park, California

Laura Lalemand's research interests lie in forest ecology, ecosystem function and biology, and responsible natural resource management and stewardship. She has worked in forests across California and Oregon in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges, on the California North Coast, and in the Klamath Mountain region, participating in numerous forest monitoring and research projects with the U.S. Geological Survey. Currently, Laura is a graduate student in the Dendroecology Lab of Dr. Rosemary Sherriff at Cal Poly Humboldt. She is conducting research on tree growth response to drought under different management scenarios in Redwood National Park, CA. Laura holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Maine at Farmington (2007).

Claire Knopf, 2010

Thesis:

A permeability study on salmonid spawning riffles in the Little River drainage and Canon Creek in Northern Humboldt County, California.

I have always been fascinated by rivers. The algae, invertebrates, rocks, fish and shear power of water has always been of great interest to me. I feel very fortunate to be able to both work and play in and around the rivers of the North Coast. My thesis entitled A permeability study on salmonid spawning riffles in the Little River Drainage and Ca¤on Creek in northern Humboldt County, California was an opportunity for me to study the unseen portion of the streambed, the hyporheic zone. My research was conducted to determine if local salmonid redd location is dependent upon the permeability of the streambed. Permeability measurements were taken using a battery operated pump to draw water through a perforated standpipe driven into the streambed. Study results showed that permeability was not significant in predicting redd location. In addition, results showed that permeability measurements varied in orders of magnitude within as little as 30 cm. The results of this study support the need for further investigation of spawning gravel assessment methods which can account for extreme spatial variation while minimizing disturbance to the streambed. My major advisor was Dr. Ken Fulgham

Alica Jones, 2016

Thesis:

Seeing the forest for the redwood trees: understanding the social impacts of a protected area on a local community ? a northern California case study.

I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where the love of forestry was instilled in me at a very young age. I earned a B.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2011, with an emphasis in Forest and Environmental Practices. I worked for the U.S. Forest Service for two seasons doing timber sale layout on the Tongass National Forest in south east Alaska. I then moved to the beautiful North Coast to work for Green Diamond Resource Company as an inventory technician and then later as a forestry technician. Much of my work experience is in timber harvest layout and inventory, so one of my primary goals is to be a Registered Professional Forester after I earn my M.S. in Forestry. My research interests are in the field of forestry outreach and communication. Working with the Bureau of Land Management and the Redwood Parks Association, my project seeks to find ways to connect the town of Fortuna to the Headwaters Forest Reserve through outreach activities. Through interviews and surveys, my data will help the RPA engage residents across the redwood region with their local federal lands. I am very interested in how people are connected to their local forests, and what purpose forests serve for communities.

Brian Huggett, 2012

Thesis:

Modeling six years of stream discharge using the distributed hydrology soil vegetation model (DHSVM) in a coastal, timber harvest catchment, Humboldt County, California.

I'm originally from Michigan and received my B.S. in Environmental Science from Lake Superior State University in 1996. Soon thereafter, I took a seasonal job in Yosemite National Park and made the Sierra my home for the next 13 years. I originally worked for the concessions company, but transitioned to the National Park Service to do hydrology tech work for the U.S.G.S., Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the California Cooperative Snow Surveys. This work focused on water quality, water quantity and climate change. The exposure to those hydroclimate luminaries and their projects was the motivation to return school and pursue an M.S. For my thesis work, I'm using the University of Washington's Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) to simulate watershed processes on a small, timber-harvest basin in the Freshwater area. I'm using a 6-year stream and sediment discharge record as well as other in-basin observations like rain gages, temperature / humidity sensors, and sediment source inventories to calibrate and validate the model. I'm expecting to graduate by the end of 2011. I'm currently working for California State Parks collecting and assimilating data for a major floodplain restoration project on Bull Creek in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Brian Huggett graduated in 2012 and currently teaches GIS at Humboldt as a lecturer and runs a GIS consulting business.

Nick Harrison, 2012

Thesis:

Understanding the effects of soil exposure in fuels treatments that balance fuel reduction and erosion control in the Tahoe basin.

My thesis investigates the balance of erosion control with contemporary wildland fire objectives in the Lake Tahoe Basin. I am developing an understanding of the amount of organic matter that, following fuel reduction treatments, is required to be left on the forest floor in order to prevent significant erosion. To do this I conducted an experiment that simulated snowmelt runoff within eight sites where fuels were treated with mechanical mastication and eight sites where fuels were treated with prescribed fire. I am currently analyzing the data from the past two summers of field work and looking forward to publishing the results of our study in the near future.

Nick Harrison graduated in 2012 and is currently a Lead Watershed Technician at Green Diamond Resource Company.