Jackie Killam,

Jackie is working with the Yurok Tribe to evaluate the Humboldt marten population on Yurok current and ancestral territory.

Brielle Jaglowski, 2025

Thesis:

Factors influencing elk road crossing behavior

Brielle will be assessing the road crossing behavior of elk herds that reside along Highway 101 on the North Coast of California using data collected from GPS collars. She is working on a project designing and testing an Electronic Detection System on Highway 101 in Humboldt County to alert drivers of elk crossing the road. This is a collaborative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Caltrans, along with tech company Lotek. Through her research, Brielle hopes to inform management actions aimed to reduce elk-vehicle collisions and enhance habitat connectivity.

Teresa King, 2016

Thesis:

An experimental test of response by Common Ravens to nest exclosures

Alexis Dejoannis, 2016

Thesis:

A description of pre-alternate molt in snowy plovers.

Sydney McCluskey, 2024

Thesis:

Using Novel and Traditional Survey Techniques to Monitor Small Mammal Species in Northwestern California

ABSTRACT: Small mammal species play a critical role in forest ecosystems contributing significantly to overall forest biodiversity and ecological dynamics. Forest-dwelling species are among the most vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation. It is essential to develop efficient techniques for monitoring small mammal populations in forested ecosystems to inform conservation efforts and management plans; yet, monitoring small mammals in these habitats can be particularly challenging due to their size, activity patterns, and frequently nocturnal nature. In this study, I aimed to address two primary research objectives: 1) compare the effectiveness of 3 distinct camera-trap survey techniques (i.e., ground, tree, and tube) with traditional live trapping techniques for monitoring small mammal populations, and 2) elucidate the species composition of small mammals across old- and second-growth forest stands. Additionally, I assessed the effectiveness of the 3 different camera-trap techniques by comparing species richness and capture rates between methods. Surveys were conducted in 6 study areas within old- and second-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) stands (3 areas within each stand type) from June to September 2020 in Headwaters Forest Reserve in northwestern California. Camera-trap methods recorded greater small mammal diversity (77% of total known species) compared to live-trap methods (46% of total known species), and also demonstrated significantly higher capture rates. Cameras also proved to be more cost-effective in the long term, reducing both labor and ethical costs compared with live-trap methods. A total of 10 small mammal species were detected by cameras out of the 13 known species during this study. Ten species were detected in second-growth stands and 8 species were detected in old-growth stands, with most species revealing an increase of “activity” (higher number of independent detections recorded) in old-growth stands. The tube camera method captured the greatest species richness (n = 10 species), followed by the tree method (n = 9 species) and ground method (n = 7 species); however, there was no significant difference in capture rates between camera methods. Capture rates were substantially different between live- and camera-trap methods, with more than 35 times the number of detections with camera-trap techniques. Camera-trap methods also detected more species (n = 10) compared with live-trap methods (n = 6). Findings from this study indicate that camera-trap techniques are more effective for detecting small mammal species in redwood forest ecosystems compared with live-trapping techniques, as well as being more cost-effective. This study further validates the efficacy of camera-trap techniques for monitoring small mammal species and deepens our understanding of small mammal ecology in redwood forest ecosystems and can help support informed decision-making for conservation and management strategies in fragmented forest landscapes.

Chad Moura, 2020

Thesis:

Temporal Partitioning of Mammalian Mesopredators in Response to Anthropogenic Urbanization and Climate Change in California’s Central Valley

Born in the heart of the Silicon Valley in San Jose, California, Chad has always been surrounded by sprawling suburbia that abruptly interfaces with the tall trees and open spaces of the Santa Cruz Mountains. He has always been enthralled with the amount of diversity in flora, fauna, culture, and experiences that California has to offer. In his undergrad, Chad worked as an insect collector, gray whale counter, small mammal trapper, and raccoon latrine finder. After UCSB he moved up to Humboldt and worked with California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a coho and chinook salmon redd surveyor, CRFS sampler, and he even did a stint back in the Bay Area with the Santa Clara Valley Water District as a Biologist for their Stream Maintenance Program. It was back in Santa Clara County where he realized his fondness for urban ecosystems and the hardy species that are able to exploit them. Currently Chad is working in California's Central Valley and the Sacramento Metropolitan Area using camera traps to investigate how mammalian mesopredators (coyotes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and domestic cats and dogs) may be shifting their temporal activity patterns across an urbanization gradient (from city center to suburbs to exurban communities and rural farmlands). Further, he is looking into how mesopredator interactions compare between years during and after one of California's major droughts in order to understand how species may respond in future drought scenarios. Chad hopes that his experiences here at Humboldt will help further his drive to understand how humans and wildlife impact each other and how we can best find solutions to mediate the costs of climate change, urban sprawl, and unsustainable land use on our joined ecosystems.

Alon Averbuj, 2025

Thesis:

Common Raven Habitat Selection Along the Northern California Coast

While my family is from Santa Fe, Argentina, I was born in Haifa, Israel. We moved to San Diego, California when I was very young, where I explored the diverse chaparral, marine, and desert ecosystems around me. I fell in love with birds the first time my brother identified a mourning dove by its song. That sparked in me a love for ecology that led me to Cal Poly SLO where I got my degree in biology. My first field work job was studying California condors, bats, and mesocarnivores in central California at the High Mountain Condor Lookout Tower. From there I went to Hawai'i to study endangered honeycreepers and the cryptic thrush, the puaiohi. I spent a year on Kaua'i untangling the messy interactions of numerous invasive species with the native birds and how to best manage their populations. Most recently, I've come from Hood River, Oregon where I worked in the Forest Service managing a plethora of native and invasive flora and fauna. I am thrilled to be here at Cal Poly Humboldt to study ravens and their interactions with snowy plovers all under the lens of GIS analysis. I hope to refine my skills with spatial ecology and learn as much as I can. My zeal for the outdoors leads me to surfing, rock climbing, trail running, and playing many sports like soccer, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball! I also love to embroider in my free time.

Leigh J. Marshall, 2021

Thesis:

Recreation, vegetation management, and disease impact sympatric carnivore activity in California's East Bay parks

Leigh used camera traps to survey urban parkland in California’s East Bay Area for mammalian carnivore presence to investigate the potentially additive effects of development, non-consumptive recreation, and invasive vegetation management on spatiotemporal dimensions of carnivore habitat use, apparent disease prevalence, and intraguild competition.

Travis Farwell, 2022

Thesis:

Geographic and seasonal variation of flying squirrel vocalizations in California

ABSTRACT: Advancements in bioacoustics field studies have further elucidated spatial, temporal, and behavioral aspects of otherwise-cryptic species, as well as offering insights into species communication. The discovery of high-frequency vocalizations in North American flying squirrels in particular has allowed researchers to use ultrasonic acoustic recorders to detect these cryptic species in the wild. Investigations into vocalizations of northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) and southern flying squirrels (G. volans) have highlighted call type variation between species and the potential use of recorders as a tool to examine vocal activity patterns. However, high-frequency vocalizations had yet to be quantitatively analyzed for the recently discovered Humboldt’s flying squirrel (G. oregonensis). Using ultrasonic acoustic recorders, I recorded flying squirrels in Humboldt and San Bernardino counties, California to: 1) measure and compare call properties and call types of Humboldt’s flying squirrels and the San Bernardino subspecies (G. o. californicus) and test for geographic variation, 2) determine the extent of seasonal variation that exists between call type rates, and 3) test for seasonal differences in their nightly vocal activity patterns within and between counties. I hypothesized that variation in call properties may exist between Humboldt’s flying squirrel and the San Bernardino subspecies, and that nightly call rates and vocal activity patterns would differ between summer and winter. I collected over 27,000 calls from 2018-2021 from different areas in Humboldt and San Bernardino counties and identified four previously described call types in flying squirrels: arcs, upsweeps, chirps, and trills. I found significant geographic variation in arc and trill call types when comparing call properties between counties, but these call properties were not significantly different across areas within each county. Additionally, I found that vocal activity patterns were similar between seasons within each county as well as between counties, but I found significant differences in the timing of call types across seasons within both counties. I also demonstrate the usefulness of ultrasonic recorders as a minimally-invasive tool for surveying for flying squirrels and their potential for assisting in future investigations into the behavior, ecology, and conservation of these enigmatic, forest-dwelling species.

Trinity Smith, 2019

Thesis:

Elucidating Patterns of Bat Species Occupancy Across a Disturbed Landscape in California’s Central Valley