Joe Nicholas, 2024

Thesis:

Response of fuels and vegetation to high severity fire in mixed evergreen forests of the Klamath Mountains.

I grew up in the foothills of Shasta County, where my early years were often spent in the forests and waterways of the surrounding wildlands. I received an undergraduate degree in Geography from Humboldt State University in 2011 and began work with the National Park Service in the same year. My career goals became more focused following the 2018 fire season, when the Carr Fire burned all of Whiskeytown NRA, parts of the town I grew up in, and my home. I have found, through experience in the “trenches of land management”, that I am most interested in asking questions whose answers have direct applications to land management. It’s with enthusiasm that I’ve accepted the opportunity to pursue an MS degree with an option in Forestry Watershed & Wildland Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. I look forward to examining questions related to ecological resilience, with a focus on the response of fuels and vegetation to high severity fire in mixed evergreen forests of the Klamath Mountains.

Claire Anderson,

Thesis:

The evolution of private lands forest policies in California and Oregon

Catriona Barr,

Thesis:

Assessing human community recovery after wildfire

Trevor Haltermann,

Thesis:

Evaluation of the CalFire methodology for determining the origin point of a wildfire.

Judson Fisher,

Thesis:

Mitigating wildfire hazard in the redwoods: effectiveness and trade-offs of fuels treatments

Robert Raibley,

Thesis:

The effects of post-harvest residue on plantation forest regeneration of redwood and Douglas-fir

Zachary Erickson,

Thesis:

Integrating ways of knowing: utilizing tribal management perspectives to guide modern silviculture methods in cooperative forest management

Joél Benegar, 2011

Thesis:

Evaluation of constructed wood jams in a forest, gravelbed stream

Kaily Fineran, 2024

Thesis:

Longevity of prescribed fire effectiveness in mixed-evergreen forests of the Klamath Mountains

Kaily grew up in Central Oregon - on the indigenous territories of Paiute, Wasco, and Warm Springs. Her interest in studying fire-prone ecosystems came naturally as she grew up playing in sagebrush/juniper and ponderosa pine forests. To date, she has spent the last six years in fire operations and fire effects, including acquiring her undergraduate degrees at the University of Idaho in Forestry and Fire Ecology and Management with a certificate in Remote Sensing. As she worked on record-breaking fire incidents across the Western United States, she grew more interested in studying the efficacy of forest management practices coupled with the complex issues we face today. Her research focuses on prescribed fire treatment longevity in legacy hardwood stands of the Klamath Mountains. This research is urgent for the biodiverse Klamath ecoregion, as indigenous depopulation during the settlement-era and 20th century fire suppression has caused significant increases in biomass accumulation and conifer encroachment in oak-woodland ecosystems. 

Jackson Carrasco, 2023

Thesis:

Post-fire mortality rates and regeneration within second-growth redwood stands

I received my Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science and Management at Cal Poly Humboldt. In 2018, I interned for the National Park Service at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado where I was introduced to fire mosaics that scarred the region. During the course of my undergrad career, I interned for local non-profits such as the North Coast Environmental Center, and The Smith River Alliance where I was involved in ecological restoration and fuel reduction efforts. These experiences led me to my work in the Wildland Fire Lab following my undergrad. I led a field crew studying stand condition thresholds & fire impact in second-growth Sequoia sempervirens stands along the central coast. My research interests lie in post-fire mortality rates and regeneration within second-growth redwood stands, as well as large-scale geospatial analysis of post-fire conditions.