The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Category: Science

  • Flesh-eating Dermestid beetles serve a functional purpose

    Flesh-eating Dermestid beetles serve a functional purpose

    Often called skin beetles, carpet beetles or flesh-eating beetles, Dermestid beetles, from the family Dermestidae, are commonly used to safely clean bones. Consuming the tissue of a carcass, they leave behind a relatively untouched skeleton.

    There are other methods of removing dead tissue from bones, such as applying chemicals and heat. However, these methods can degrade the bones, potentially damaging important structures. Museum curators, wildlife law enforcement and other officials use Dermestid beetles to clean bones.

    Thorvald Holmes, the collections manager at HSU’s Vertebrate Museum, believes the Dermestid beetles are the best way to remove the tissues.

    “Anybody that doesn’t have their head in their armpit knows bugs are the way to go,” Holmes said. “They’re better than any other organism at taking off tissues.”

    “They’re the best way,” HSU curator of the Wildlife Museum Tamar Danufsky said.

    Dermestid beetles are efficient workers. The beetles and their larvae are small enough to wriggle their way inside the smallest of skulls to find tissues that other animals can’t.

    “They work best on small bones,” Danufsky said.

    If the colony is large enough, they can easily feast their way through the tissues of a mouse in just a day. However, caution is advised. If the specimen is left in for too long, the beetles won’t hesitate to devour the rest of it.

    “You have to periodically check in on them,” Holmes said. “They will eat everything.”

    Along with their voracious appetite, they have a variety of particular behaviors that keep maintaining a colony a challenge.

    “They have a lot of rules,” Holmes said. “They don’t like it too cold, they don’t like it too hot or dry.”

    Angela Jones, an HSU graduate, has experience maintaining a Dermestid beetle colony.

    “Spiders are the enemy,” Jones said. “We do daily checks to make sure there are no predators. They will decimate the colony.”

    Any of these issues could cause the colony to crash, but if you know what you are doing, they can easily be cared for.

    “They’re fairly easy to take care of though,” Jones said. “We just make sure the temperature and humidity is at a constant and they’re good to go.”

     

  • Viewing a Super Blue Blood Moon

    Viewing a Super Blue Blood Moon

    Once in a blue moon an event occurs that brings us even closer to our nearest solar companion: the moon.

    A blue moon and supermoon will occur early Tuesday morning on Jan. 30, followed by a total lunar eclipse, or what some call a “blood moon,” in the early hours of Wednesday, Jan. 31.

    A blue moon is the second full moon that occurs within the same month. The blue moon on Jan. 30 at 5:28 a.m. is special, because it is also a supermoon.

    A supermoon is when a full moon occurs at the same time the moon reaches its closest position to the earth within its orbit. It has the nearest approach to Earth by our moon that causes it to appear 14 percent larger than the furthest distance. The difference is barely noticeable, but it can be quite amazing paired with other astronomical occurrences.

    Tyler Mitchell, a physics professor at Humboldt State who holds a Ph.D in astrophysical and planetary sciences, along with a masters in astronomy, was able to help explain a total lunar eclipse.

    “One way to think about it is that during the lunar eclipse, the majority of the sunlight is blocked by the earth, and the only light that can get to the moon is that which is coming through the edge,” Mitchell said.

    During a total lunar eclipse, the moon slips into the inner shadow of the earth, called the umbra, creating the appearance of deep “blood” red moon. During a partial lunar eclipse, the moon is only partially covered by the umbra shadow. During a penumbral eclipse, the moon only slightly enters the penumbra: the outer shadow of the earth.

    The total lunar eclipse that occurs early on Wednesday will go through all these different phases. The times for the eclipse are below in Pacific Standard Time:

    • Penumbral eclipse begins: 2:51am
    • Partial eclipse begins: 3:48am
    • Total eclipse begins: 4:52am
    • Mid-eclipse: 5:30am
    • Total eclipse ends: 6:08am
    • Partial eclipse ends: 7:11am

    The last total eclipse of a blue moon occurred more than 150 years ago. If you look to the sky in the morning on Wednesday, you can see a once in a lifetime event, a super blue blood moon.

    Noelle Sully, an environmental studies major minoring in Native American studies at HSU, is the president of the Healing Vibrations Club on campus.

    “There is the energy of the moon and the planets, and that energy affects us as well because everything is a frequency,” Sully said. “Everything is in motion: the earth spinning on its axis, the moon circling around us, planets and the sun pulling us through our galaxy.”

    The moon’s motion measures a consistent passage of time. Sully said that astronomical and lunar events are worth celebrating, contemplating, a time to practice healing and bring about a connection to change.

    “The full moon represents heightened emotion,” Sully said. “The moon, I feel, gives emotional aspects of the inner self.”

    The moon has come to mean a great deal throughout human evolution, spiritually representing many different things. For example, the moon has been tied to a woman’s menstrual time and fertility, of ovulating, of conception, of growth and the cycle in which a woman’s body goes through.

    Whether you have a spiritual or scientific connection to the moon, you won’t want to miss the events occurring on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    “Personally I look forward to these things because they bring astronomy and science to the forefront of the public,” Mitchell said. “And to me that is really important, keeping the public interested in science.”

    With Trump signing the Space Policy Directive 1 back in December and NASA planning to release the details of their next trip to the Moon in February, humanity’s curiosity with the moon is as strong as it’s ever been.

  • Plant trees while you search the web

    Plant trees while you search the web

    Working to combat deforestation around the world, Ecosia is a search engine that plants a tree for every 45 searches the user makes.

    In an effort to balance out the harsh effects of deforestation around the world, certified “social business” Ecosia was born. Ecosia is a search engine that benefits the environment with just a click. For every 45 searches, a tree is planted.

    Evan Gamman, HSU environmental science and management major, thinks using this search engine is an easy way to help save the planet while browsing the web.

    “I heard about this site a while ago and it makes me feel productive while I’m searching,” Gamman said. “I do hella searches. It’s sick to see my number go up and know that there are trees being planted somewhere.”

    Since its inception in 2009, over 20 million trees have been planted. Their goal is to reach 20 billion by 2020. The revenue from advertisements are then donated to non-profit tree-planting organizations. The company publishes their monthly financial reports so users can hold them accountable and see where the profits are actually going.

    Lyla Godfryd, HSU senior studying international studies, believes there are multi-faceted advantages in using a search engine that isn’t facilitated by a large corporation.

    “It feels good not supporting a monopoly, like Google,” Godfryd said. “At the same time, you’re supporting reforestation on a global scale.”

    The website encourages users to consciously consume the internet.

    Their mission statement states that they, “believe in everyone’s power to do good.”

    They want to empower people to end deforestation in a way that suits anyone’s lifestyle.

    According to Google, over five billion searches happen each day. Imagine how many trees could be planted if Ecosia was as large as Google.

    Arcata artist Xenia Robles, 21, likes that this website is a way to subconsciously benefit the environment.

    “In a time of complete selfishness, it is refreshing to find an organization that chooses to run in a way that benefits the greater good,” Robles said. “This site in particular is really easy to use and easy to understand what they are doing. We get to see real results from our participation.”

  • Finding an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability

    Finding an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability

    Armed with their usual commitment to sustainability and an updated mission statement, the Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP) is starting to integrate intersectionality into their brand of environmentalism.

    WRRAP started as an on-campus recycling program in 1989. Their goal has always been to reduce waste coming from HSU through environmental education. Since its inception, the organization has expanded into compost diversion, water quality assurance and a reusable office supply exchange.

    This semester, the organization is attempting to bring together two important fields of activism by designing this semester’s projects with inclusive sustainability in mind.

    “Environmentalist” is a label that comes with a dark history of eugenics, exclusivity and barriers that WRRAP is attempting to dismantle on a local level. The campus-based organization WRRAP recently hired an environmental justice intern with the intention of making sustainability more accessible for all HSU students.

    Lauren Wardle, the newly hired environmental justice intern, has experience running an intersectional feminist club and wants to bring those concepts to her position.

    “Social issues go hand in hand with environmental problems,” Wardle said. “Environmental justice and intersectionality will bring in the voices of the communities that are most affected.”

    The program’s main goal is to ensure that HSU students are using their available resources to the fullest extent. WRRAP’s first environmental justice project will be a campus-wide survey to assess students’ access and understanding of sustainability.

    Shanti Belaustegui Pockell, an environmental studies major, WRRAP’s education director and intern coordinator, hopes the internship will help shift environmentalism into something more accommodating for everyone.

    “Instead of trying to get more people into this little space we have created, we want to expand the circle,” Pockell said. “We are reimagining what sustainability can look like, because a lot of people are living sustainably, just without the label.”

    Irán Ortiz, environmental studies major and director of the student-led campaign Take Back the Tap, credits WRRAP’s leadership and innovations for social justice.

    “We need to bring together the communities that are affected, but ignored,” Ortiz said. “I hope this new position helps address the problems we see in our institution by creating a new perspective and understanding of intersectionality.”

    When environmentalism is executed with an intersectional lens, social and environmental issues are looked at as one. To put it another way, it is the understanding that all oppressions exist under the same hegemonic systems.

    Ryan Sendejas, environmental studies major and community garden coordinator at Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, realizes the importance of incorporating environmental justice into an institution.

    “In society and bureaucracies specifically, we tend to compartmentalize everything in an attempt to understand it,” Sendejas said. “Nothing is truly singular. So, we need to start thinking in terms of interconnectedness.”

    WRRAP will be hosting a Zero Waste Conference on Feb. 9 and 10. Look out for flyers around campus for more details!

    For more information about WRRAP, visit their website HERE.

  • The North Coast Crab Fleet is geared up

    The North Coast Crab Fleet is geared up

    Standing at the fish counter at Katy’s Smokehouse, you get a sense of the sea around you. The breeze and the roar of the sea is right outside, while the inside is warm. The experience is accompanied by the aroma of smoked fish. If you like fish and crab, there is no place like Katy’s.

    Bob Lake is the owner of Katy’s Smokehouse in Trinidad. He makes his living off of the sea, selling fish at his market. Lake’s routine involves loading and unloading boats and supplying bait to the Trinidad Crab Fleet at the pier, which is located just down the street from his market.

    The North Coast Crab Fleet consists of Eureka, Trinidad and Crescent City combined. The ideal Dungeness crabs have a 25 percent to 28 percent meat-to-shell ratio, but crabs can even get as big as 30 percent, meat per shell. The official ratio for the commercial crab fleet is set at 25 percent meat to shell. People pay good money for Dungeness crabs, and fishermen don’t want to sell anything but the best. A crab with a 25 percent to 28 percent meat-to-shell ratio means a happy customer.

    Fisherman went out Tuesday, Jan. 23 to catch some crabs to send to the processor for meat-to-shell ratio tests. Up until now, the crabs have had a 19 to 20 percent meat-to-shell ratio this season.

    “It would be a waste of a resource, and a travesty, to take these crabs in the condition they are currently in,” Lake said.

    Crab developmental problems have been due to the possibilities of a late molting period and less available food on the ocean floor. The competition for food is a big factor. When crabs get into this state, cannibalism becomes prevalent, and the weak get eaten by the strong.

    “There is just not enough food to keep every crab full,” Lake said.

    Testing protocol states strict testing sites and no selecting of the catch. If the fishermen were to bring in poor crabs and delude the processor, the observers themselves could not afford the cost of doing business. The yield, quality and customers’ perceptions of the crabs are worth the substantial amount of money it costs. These details are all taken into account before the crab season begins. Crab fisherman have to protect the resource and their customers.

    As fishing officially begins, the market sets the price. If the fleet catches a lot of crabs, the price goes down. If more crabs are being caught than can be sold at market, the price will be lowered to allow more people to buy the abundant crabs. If at some point there are not enough crabs, or if the market is sucking them up faster than the fisherman can bring the crabs in, then the price will go up.

    The locally agreed upon ex-vessel price is set by the large buyers and the Fisherman’s Market Association that represents the North Coast Crab Fleet’s three ports in Eureka, Trinidad and Crescent City.

    “The retail price will be around $4.99 per pound,” Lake said. “Canneries and processors pay fish taxes, loading fees, transportation and the employees get paid to cook the crabs.”

    Lake and the crew of the F/V Joie-Lynn, Cary Meyer and Clark Ward, all expect a very good year for crab lovers and the fleet alike.

    “I was born with optimism,” Ward said.

    Optimism swirls aboard Meyer and Ward’s crab fishing vessel, Joie-Lynn. Meyer and Ward said the crabs were caught, tested and showed 25 percent meat-to-shell last week, meaning the crab season can get under way as soon as a dock price per pound for Dungeness crab is set.

    This story was updated on Feb. 1, 2018 from its original publication on Jan. 23, 2018 per request by the author.

  • Sea levels rising in Humboldt County

    Sea levels rising in Humboldt County

    Jennifer Kalt of Humboldt Baykeeper released a community call-to-action through the Northeast Environmental Center in Feb. 2017 to discuss the need for preparation against sea level rise within the area. In the press release, she compares the California Coastal Commission Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance, adopted on Aug. 12, 2015, with the policy plans for the cities of Eureka and Arcata.

    The California Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 and was made permanent by the California Coastal Act of 1976. Their goal is to protect and enhance California’s coast.

    Cristin Kenyon, a local Supervising Analyst with the California Coastal Commission, was able to explain some of the responsibilities of the organization.

    “So the Coastal Commission, we basically permit development in the coastal zone but we also certify local governments, policies and regulations as local coastal programs,” Kenyon said. “We can delegate jurisdiction to them so that within their jurisdiction they get to issue the coastal development permits, and we just serve an appeal function.”

    When the local governments are certified, it allows for them to control their own development of coastal areas. However, their decisions still have to be in accordance with the Coastal Commission’s regulations and must go through the proper channels to be approved. Analysts like Kenyon help to evaluate development applications and process them on to the Coastal Commision.

    “The Coastal Commission is the body that actually makes the decisions,” Kenyon said. “So I get applications for development, review them and write a staff report… recommending approval… denial or approval with conditions to the commission.”

    The Coastal Commission’s 2015 Sea Level Rise Guidance report was created as a set of interpretive guidelines and examples to help communities and governments prepare for sea level rise.

    They are not a set of regulations, but a well-compiled source of information provided by the “best available science” in order to help communities make more educated development and policy plans.

    In Kalt’s press release, she also discusses parts of the Coastal Commission’s 2015 Sea Level Rise Guidance report.

    “The Coastal Commission’s 2015 Sea Level Rise Guidance is based on the best available science, and forecasts sea level rise of 0.5m (1.6’) by 2050 and 1.5m (4.9’) by 2100,” Kalt writes.

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with the most updated global scale assessment of sea level rise in 2013. These projections may be updated soon based on more recent information, according to Kenyon. But when the Coastal Commission’s 2015 Sea Level Rise Guidance came out, the 5th Assessment Report (AR5) was the most factual prediction. Because the IPCC altered the model inputs between AR4 and AR5, this model was the most updated. Additionally, the IPCC AR5 accounted for melting ice sheets as an increase in sea level rise.

    The IPPC 5th Assessment report concluded, “a rise in global average sea level by 10-39 in [26 to 98 cm] by the year 2100 [relative to mean sea level from 1985 to 2005] depending on the emissions scenario.”

    With different studies continuing to show an increase in sea level rise, more communities are working to establish plans and policies to prepare. In Kalt’s press release, she identifies the three basic strategies in preparing for sea level rise:

    1. Protection with higher levees, dikes or seawalls

    2. Adaptation by elevating structures, increasing setbacks along streams and floodplains, and restoring coastal wetlands to absorb wave energy

    3. Relocation of buildings and infrastructure, while prohibiting new development in areas at risk

    These main strategies are the base of most sea level rise planning projects. The Coastal Commision uses these adaptation strategies when assessing coastal resources.

    “It’s just going to be a really tricky situation along the coast of California, because there’s so much development in these vulnerable areas,” Kenyon said. “And with sea level rise there’s going to be even more areas that are highly vulnerable.”

    The Humboldt County coastline is particularly vulnerable, because in addition to the sea level rising, the ground beneath the area is sinking deeper due to tectonic subsidence.

    “We know that Humboldt Bay is subsiding, so the Humboldt Bay is actually going to be impacted greater than other places,” Kenyon said.

    Over the last couple years, Environmental Planner Aldaron Laird has been working on creating sea level rise risk assessments for the Humboldt Bay, the cities of Eureka, Arcata and other areas of Humboldt County. He has extensively researched the area and how it can be expected to respond to sea level rise considering our unique location and vulnerability to the rising waters.

    “Humboldt Bay has subsided from tectonic activity and the open ocean has expanded through thermal expansion,” Laird said. “With the two together, we have had the highest rate of sea level change on the entire west coast of the United States right here in Humboldt Bay.”

    Because we are in a higher risk area, Humboldt County as a whole have received state funding to help them prepare for sea levels rising. Laird has completed risk assessments to help the local governments determine how to best prepare.

    “The vulnerability assessments that have been completed are essentially an inventory of what is at risk and in what areas are they at risk, and when they may be impacted by sea level rise,” Laird said.

    Kant continues to summarize parts of Laird’s Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment for Eureka in the press release.

    “Environmental planner Aldaron Laird recently completed Eureka’s Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment, which found that by 2050, sewer lift stations, sewer lines, and the Murray Field airport will be the most at-risk public assets,” Kalt wrote. “By 2100, the Chevron Fuel Terminal, bulk cargo docks, drinking water and stormwater systems and contaminated sites will be most vulnerable.”

    Kalt then goes on to use Laird’s research as well as the Coastal Commission’s Guidance report to evaluate the policy plans made by the City of Eureka in their latest general plan update draft.

    “In mid-December, the City of Eureka’s staff unveiled draft sea level rise policies that recommend planning for only six inches of sea level rise by 2050—in defiance of Coastal Commission guidance,” Kalt wrote. “This approach is at odds with common-sense strategies to plan for the future and could result in costly damage by putting new development in areas vulnerable to flooding.”

    While it may be disheartening to read that the City of Eureka is not planning on following the guidance of the Coastal Commission, it is not the end of the policy debate. The general plan for Eureka is still in its draft form, but it is expected to be completed in the fall of 2018. Until it is fully completed, the public has a say in what is in the plan and can work to change the sea level rise preparation policies.

    Kristen Goetz is a senior planner with the City of Eureka working on the city’s General Plan Update.

    “There will be public hearings prior to the general plan update which will include the sea level rise goals and policies,” Goetz said. “Then there will be the process with the coastal commission, during which time there will be at least one public hearing and maybe more, depending on how that process goes with them.”

    “We’re looking at a planning horizon right now of 2040,” Goetz said. “So in 18ish more years, the planners who are with the city at that point in time are going to be doing another general plan update. They are going to be 20 years closer to that 2100 point in time and they will have a much better idea of what the forecasted levels are for sea level rise… and how they are going to affect the City of Eureka.”

    With Eureka planning for 2040, there is a chance the community may not be prepared to deal with the situation well. Unless something dramatic happens to demonstrate that sea levels are rising faster than already anticipated, the city plans to continue with their original plan.

    “If something happens between now and the next general plan update, for example, and sea level rise is increasing faster than what the studies are showing right now… then I think that the City of Eureka would speed up our review and our planning for the protection of infrastructure or retreat,” Goetz said.

    However, if you don’t want to wait for some random natural disaster that increases the rate of sea level rise there are simple things you can do as a member of the community to impact the policy around sea level rise. Almost a year ago Humboldt Baykeeper Jennifer Kalt wrote the press release asking the public to get involved, in which she urged community members listen to the science that is telling us our home is vulnerable.

    The time to get involved is now.

    The Humboldt Bay Sea level Rise Adaptation Planning Project was released in two phases the first in January of 2013 and then the second phase in February 2015, then Laird completed the assessments for the cities of Eureka and Arcata.

    Most recently Laird finished the assessment for Humboldt County, “the Humboldt Bay area plan that covers all the unincorporated area on Humboldt Bay,” said Laird. Laird just completed the Sea Level Rise Assessment for the rest of Humboldt County, planning to send the final assessment over to the Coastal Commission on Jan. 12, the document can be expected to be released to the public within the next week.

    With all of the risk assessments done and about to be available to the general public, community members now have more resources than ever to help determine how the area needs to prepare for sea level rise. It also means that the local governments will be working on new policies based off of the new information. Sea level rise is happening and it seems slow. But a prediction of 10-39 in. by 2100 could happen faster than we think. Further, accounting for six inches of sea level rise for the year 2040 may not be enough.

  • Endangered species lives in Arcata

    Endangered species lives in Arcata

    Did you know there are nine endangered species that live around Arcata? Every species is important for a habitat to thrive. The food chain is more like a food pyramid that every species has a specific role to maintain. Of course, some play larger roles than others.

    Some species play a crucial role in keeping the habitat healthy. These species are called keystone species. They are named after a keystone of an arch – without it, the structure would be unstable. Keystone species can be any species no matter the genus or size, as long as it plays a specific important role in helping the environment thrive. That is why it is important to maintain biodiversity in ecosystems, because each play an important part in letting the whole system thrive. Areas known as critical habitats represent zones of where a specific species thrives best and areas important to protect.

    The Point Arena mountain beaver is thought of as one of the most primitive living rodent species, because it has similar behavior and characteristics to some ancient mammalian species. They have been referred to as a living fossil.

    The Point Arena mountain beaver has no designated critical habitat, but they are known to survive along the Pacific coast of North America and thrive in moist forests. They survive mostly underground and tend to be more active at night than during the day. These beavers differ from normal beavers in that they are not aquatic, although they do swim. The most obvious and unique characteristic special to this type of beaver is its black color.

    Gregory Schmidt, biologist at Arcata’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was able to provide more detail on the Point Arena mountain beaver.

    “They’re pretty unique in that they can eat almost any plant, even poisonous ones,” Schmidt said. “They can survive on plants that would kill most other mammals. For example, poison hemlock.”

    Their bodies have a high tolerance for toxins and heavy metals in their bloodstream that allows them to consume a variety of poisonous plants. They require a large variety of different plant species considering they get most of their water from vegetation.

    “Habitat loss due to agriculture and urbanization are the two main threats to their long-time liability,” Schmidt said.

    Their reproduction rate has slowed immensely due to deforestation, causing loss of habitat and urbanization of the area. All the loud noises and human activity scares the beavers, causing them to run and hide, rather than mate and reproduce like they normally would.

    Another threat to the mountain beaver is livestock. Cattle farming threatens beavers, because they tend to crush the beaver burrows, which can be as deep as two feet underground.

    The Arcata Fish and Wildlife website says, “Activities that produce loud noise or ground vibration, such as directional boring, road or building construction, timber harvest, and mineral extraction, that are to occur in or near occupied mountain beaver habitat should be conducted outside of the mountain beaver breeding season.”

    They also say to carefully manage livestock grazing in areas near potential beaver burrows. The current population of the species is unknown, and they are more rare in urban habitats. Some places, such as the Arcata Marsh, ask visitors to report the sighting of any beaver in the area for research and statistical purposes.

    The Point Arena mountain beavers were placed on the endangered species list in 1991 and again in 1995, when a fire killed approximately 98 percent of their species. A recovery plan for the species was published in 1998. According to The UICN Red List of Endangered Species, their population was under five thousand individuals after the fire, but its current population ranges from ten thousand individuals to one million. It is still on the endangered species list under least concern.

    The Behren’s Silverspot Butterfly and the Lotis Blue Butterfly are both endangered species that live within the local Arcata habitat.

    The Behren’s Silverspot Butterfly: Speyeria zerene behrensii, has a yellow-brown color with black and silver dots. They live along the northwest pacific coast, extending to Mendocino County, areas south of Salt Point, and around some parts of Sonoma County. This species has been endangered since Dec. 5, 1997, but the latest recovery plan was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services March 2016. Within the plan there are four main goals, “1. Protect habitat, 2. Determine ecological requirements, population constraints, and management needs, 3. Monitor population status and habitat, 4. Undertake public information and outreach programs.”

    Clint Pogue, Botanist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services said, “Partially due to the rarity of the subspecies, the ecological role of Behren’s silverspot butterfly is poorly understood. However, butterflies are essential components of their natural communities by acting as pollinators.”

    This species is being threatened by overcollection, mass livestock grazing, and loss of habitat due to invasive plant species and human urbanization.

    “These butterflies play a vital role for conservationists, because the presence and trends of these butterflies help indicate health of the ecosystems and natural communities in which this subspecies is found,” said Pogue.

    The endangered Lotis Blue Butterfly: Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis, has been listed since June of 1976 and not much is known about this rare species.

    “The true distribution of the Lotis Blue Butterfly prior to European settlement of North America is not known, however records of the subspecies indicate that it had previously existed in Mendocino, Sonoma, and possibly Marin counties,” Pogue said. “The last detection of lotis blue was in Mendocino county in 1983.”

    Their bodies are small and blue, outlined slightly with black, and with a furry yellow border around its wings. It is thought that the Lotis Blue Butterfly thrives in wet bogs and around pine trees. However, specific details about the conditions in which this butterfly thrives have yet to be determined because the lack of knowledge of the plants consumed by them, particularly as caterpillars. Knowing what the caterpillars eat can help in finding a habitat. If researchers knew more about the lotis’ diet, scientists could better predict the surrounding conditions in which both the plant and butterfly thrive in.

    According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Lotis Blue Butterfly may be the rarest butterfly species in North America. Due to how little is known about the Lotis Blue Butterfly, the main threats to this population remain somewhat unknown as well. It is predicted its largest threats are drying climate, fires, and disturbances caused by urbanization and construction. The most important thing to do regarding the conservation of this species is to find a critical habitat for the species. When a habitat is found, it can be studied and protected to start the conservation of the species. The latest recovery plan for the Lotis Blue Butterfly was initiated in April 2016 and calls for identification of a crucial habitat for this butterfly species.

    There are six endangered species of plants listed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website specific to Arcata: The Kneeland Prairie penny-cress, the McDonald’s rock-cress, the Western Lily, the Beach Layia, the Menzies’ Wallflower, and the Howell’s Spineflower. Some plants play a huge part in maintaining a stable ecosystem. Many plant species are being affected by invasive species that often cause ecological damage because they out-compete native species. A highly invasive species that is located along the coastlines of Humboldt County is the European Beachgrass,

    Dr. Matt Johnson, Wildlife professor at Humboldt State University, said “The beachgrass totally takes over and grows as a thick dense grass that just out-competes everything else. Almost nothing else grows there.”

    The Kneeland Penny-cress: Noccaea fendleri, was listed under the Endangered Species Act in February 2000. The designated critical habitat for this species of plant spans across 74 acres of Humboldt County and they are estimated to have almost 9,000 individuals. The penny-cress is an herb related to mustard grass and it has white flowers that rest on skinny green stalks around three to five inches in height. The latest recovery plan was updated in April 2012.

    According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the plant only grows on serpentine soils derived by certain rocks along the coast of Northern California. Characteristics of the soil make it almost impossible for species to grow, unless they have adapted to do so, like the Kneeland penny-cress.

    One of the largest threats to this species is loss of habitat due to construction. The habitat for this plant has been steadily in decline. A main goal in conservation efforts for the penny-cress calls for the restoration of serpentine soil to give the species somewhere to thrive. Other threats include overgrazing and wildfires. One roadblock for the conservation process is landowners. There has been trouble in the past getting permission from landowners to study and develop a conservation plan. The species was last surveyed in 2002 due to the landowners not allowing people to study the plant.

    Another local endangered species of the mustard family is the McDonald’s rockcress: Arabis macdonaldiana. This species has been endangered since Sep. 1978, and was first discovered in Mendocino County in 1902. One interesting characteristic of the McDonald’s rockcress is its lifespan, they can live to be 30-50 years old.

    This plant thrives in soil that from certain rocks as well. These soils tend to have high concentrations of nickel, copper, chromium, and iron. For this reason, they became threatened by mining industries. Nickel mining became a huge threat because it took the soils in which these plants thrive. This species also lacks a designated critical habitat and because of that, there is difficulty estimating their population.

    On top of all that, this is a rare species. This species’ recovery plan calls for protection of land where this specific species can thrive. This plan was last updated in 2013.

    The Western Lily is yet another endangered species without a specific known critical habitat. The Western Lily: Lilium occidentale, can grow to be five feet and has red and pink petals that bulb down over the flower.

    “Plants such as the Western Lily help stabilize soil and function within natural communities by providing nectar for insects and birds,” said Pogue. “For conservationists, Western Lily helps indicate areas of high ecological integrity.”

    They have been on the endangered species list since 1994, and their estimated population is around 7,500 individuals, with their largest population currently residing in Crescent City. Many scrubs and trees have begun to dominate their habitat making it impossible for the Western Lily to thrive in certain areas.

    “Western lilies occur in early successional bogs, poorly drained coastal scrub, and spruce forests within a few miles of the coast from south-central Oregon to just south of Eureka, CA,” said Pogue.

    Urban development and agriculture in our area have posed a threat to this lily as well. Cranberry agriculture has become one of its most significant threats. In 1991, unpermitted cranberry agriculture significantly destroyed populations around Brookings, Oregon. Overgrazing by livestock and wildlife also threaten the species and its population is estimated to remain in decline.

    Greg O’Connell, Co-chair of the North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, was able to speak on the issue of overgrazing.

    “One of the restoration efforts that have been done for the western lily was goat grazing,” said O’Connell.

    They were brought in to chew back shrubs to create open habitat again. The latest recovery plan, published in 1994, intends to protect areas in which the Western Lily thrives. The plan hopes to set up 20 populations of protected land with at least one thousand plants each.

    The Beach Layia: Layia carnosa, is a succulent that lives along the coast of northern California. This short, thick plant has small flowers that bloom white and yellow, flowering more in moist habitats. Not very much is known about the reproduction of these plants and their population numbers tend to fluctuate a lot throughout the year.

    The Humboldt Bay hosts the largest population, due to the area having the best quality conditions for this plant to thrive. There have been no official estimations regarding the species’ total population. One big threat to the beach layia is invasive species.

    Certain non-native plants, such as European beachgrass, dominate critical areas where the beach layia normally thrives. Construction and traffic on the beach also damage habitats where this species is supposed to thrive. The last update to its’ recovery plan was in 2012 and it calls for the protection of designated areas along the beach, and the elimination of invasive populations of species like European beachgrass.

    The Humboldt Bay Wallflower, or the Menzies’ Wallflower: Erysimum menziesii, thrives along the coast of northern California as well. This species was discovered in the late 1700s, and was listed as endangered in 1992. These plants tend to be short and have short lifespans as well. The wallflower dies after it releases its seed which contributes to their short life. It’s a member of the mustard family and has one subspecies specific to the Humboldt Bay.

    The Humboldt Bay wallflower is pollinated by local solidarity bees that do not live in a hive, instead they make burrows under the sand. The Humboldt Bay wallflower thrives in dune habitats, where the solidarity bees thrive as well.

    This subspecies is estimated to have 30 thousand individuals. Threats include invasive species, herbivore grazing, mining along the beach, and offroad vehicles. Studies show that the threats to the Humboldt Bay wallflower have decreased a decent amount, meaning this subspecies has a chance and it is making a comeback.

    The latest update to its recovery plan was in 2008 and calls for partnerships between California State Parks and other managements, so that organizations can work together to create more suitable habitats. This collaboration would plan for the management of invasive species, designated habitats, and a way to reduce the impact of deer predation.

    Howell’s spineflower: Chorizanthe howellii, is a member of the buckwheat family and is found within parts of Humboldt and Mendocino counties. This plant has a very distinct appearance, growing only to be one to four inches tall. The small plants have a spherical appearance similar to a dandelion, with spikey-looking flowers that are tan and light brown. The rounded flower spreads its seeds relying on passing animals, wind, and other things that the seeds can catch onto, land somewhere and grow. No official estimate for the population of this species has been established, but through studies the species’ population is believed to have had three million individuals in 2002.

    The main threat to Howell’s spineflower is the invasiveness of iceplant, Carpobrotus spp tend to thrive and take over areas where the spineflower should thrive. Other dangerous plants to this species include European beachgrass and burclover. Human disturbance has had a huge impact on their population as well. Small disturbance is good for the population because it can potentially help spread seeds, but larger disturbances often disrupt the habitat.

    Due to the impact of human disturbance, people tend to do more damage to the spineflower’s habitat. In 2011, the Howell’s spineflower recovery plan was updated. It calls for protection of important ecosystem in which the spineflower thrives, removal of invasive species, regulation on disturbances, and an accurate estimation of their remaining population.

    While it may seem like there are a larger amount of endangered species specifically within our small area but,recovery plans are set up and people are working to restore proper ecosystems; because of this, some of these species are making a comeback.

    Support for species through collaboration between parks, organizations, agriculture, and private owners, these species still have the ability to thrive. People need to know about the importance of biodiversity and its role in creating a healthy, sustainable ecosystem where more species can succeed. With recovery plans set in place, many of these species have the chance to repopulate. If humans go about it the right way, it doesn’t have to be too late for any of these unique species.

  • Dunes Climate Ready Study gains ground

    Dunes Climate Ready Study gains ground

    In only the second half of the second year of the Dunes Climate Ready Study, the project is already providing researchers with interesting data. This projected five-year study is expected to provide a better understanding of sediment movement along the Eureka littoral cell, a 32-mile stretch of coastline from Little River north of McKinleyville, down to Centerville beach.

    Friends of the Dunes’ director Kim McFarland provided insight into how the project originated and what stage the study is at currently.

    McFarland explained how collecting topographical data in specific locations along the transect will allow researchers to map sand movement through the dunes under different vegetative conditions, and eventually determine how this affects dune structure.

    “They are able to put all of this [data] into a computer and see the actual contour of the dune and how it changes over time,” McFarland said.

    Andrea Pickart, a coastal ecologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Ian Walker, a geomorphologist teaching at Arizona State University, are leading the Dunes Climate Ready Study.

    They wanted to do “a bigger picture study on dune restoration and the implications of that for climate change, climate variability impacts and resilience of the dune system to ongoing erosion and future sea level rise,” Walker said.

    Pickart and Walker started out by doing a few basic experiments on air flow and sand transport and how those maintain the dune systems. From there, they worked to get funding to expand their studies on dune restoration applying to multiple institutions in the hopes of starting a new in depth study.

    In 2015, the California State Coastal Conservancy awarded Friends of the Dunes a $249,000 grant to fund the first two years of the Dunes Climate Ready Study.

    “The objective was to better understand the effects of climate change and sea level rise on coastal dunes…to assess vulnerabilities arising from the impacts of sea level rise and assist the community in preparing for those impacts,” Pickart said.

    Originally, the main focus was to establish a monitoring system for the regional beach-dune environment. The first step was to determine the placement and setup close to 60 transects along the 32-mile stretch of coast.

    “We are taking these profiles of dunes all along that 32-mile stretch of dunes… we are taking topographic vegetation profiles,” Walker said. “It’s a way of looking at the beach and the foredune…just behind the foredune, the real land-ocean interface and seeing what kind of sand movements or sand exchange happens between the beach and the fordune.”

    At the end of the five-year study the data will be used as a model response to sea level rise under different circumstances.

    The first survey began on Jan. 4, 2016, and will continue for the duration of the study. Measuring the wind flow and sediment transport is one of the main focuses of the study, but examining how the native versus non-native plants interact with the dunes is also extremely important in order to understand the relationship between these two variables in the dunes environment.

    “There’s different components to this research, and one component of it is how native plants versus non-native plants affect the movement of sand from the beach into the foredune and then the backdune,” Pickart said.

    Invasive plants play an interesting role in altering the physical processes of wind flow and sediment transport. Foredunes produced from invasive vegetation are different than foredunes with native vegetation.

    “The primary non-native species we have here is a non-native beachgrass, which grows much more densely than our [California] native dune grass,” Pickart said. “But they are both grasses that trap sand and allow dunes to build.”

    Data from this study is still being collected and will be a part of the research over the next couple of years.

    “What we’ve seen to date is that after removing the over-stabilizing European beach grass, we have, in fact, observed that the sand budget has been reconnected between the beach and the backdune,” Pickart said.

    “In other words, we’re seeing movement of sand all along the beach and into the back dunes, and that was part of our hypothesis, that native plants would allow for more free movement of sand over the top of the foredune and into the backdune.”

    European beachgrass is the main inhibitor of sand movement. For this reason, Friends of the Dunes works to have volunteers remove the invasive species, allowing sand to move more freely between the beach and the foredune.

    The sands freedom will allow the translation of the foredune: “which is the movement of the foredune inland and up in elevation as sea level rises,” Walker said.

    “Basically, we know that the European beachgrass traps more sand. The experiment is whether having the native plants allow more sand to bypass is going to facilitate this inland translation of the foredune,” Pickart said.

    European beach grass, also known as Ammophila, is a main inhibitor of sand movement. Because of this, Friends of the Dunes works to have volunteers come and remove the invasive species allowing sand to move more freely between the beach and the foredune.

    Another branch of the study has been the creation and monitoring of two different adaptation sites. These sites are meant to help determine the desirable planting composition that allows for sand transport.

    “The experiment is whether having the native plants allow more sand to bypass is going to facilitate this inland translation of the foredune,” Pickart said.

    The sites are often used as to house smaller pilot studies to provide answers to some of the more specific detailed questions, for example, how grain size affects sand movement, the impacts of the upward migration of a foredune, how herbivory affects sand transport and multiple other experiments.

    There are many different collaborators such as the Wildlands Conservancy, students from the University of Victoria and HSU students and staff. The adaptation sites will continue to provide a wealth of information throughout the study, helping to answer specific questions on dune structure and sand movement.

    With the study still less than halfway into their five-year projection, there is still a lot of research to be done. But from the data seen so far, the Dunes Climate Ready Study has the potential to alter how researchers view dune restoration and the impacts of climate change.

    To learn more about the Dunes Climate Ready Study, you can visit the page dedicated to the study on the Friends of the Dunes site HERE! The page contains an archive of quarterly updates on the study if you are interested in learning more about it, or if you simply want to stay updated on the most recent research.

    If you would like to be apart of the dune restoration projects to combat native species and climate change visit the Friends of the Dunes volunteer page, HERE!

    This story was updated on Feb. 1, 2018 from its original publication on Jan. 15, 2018 per request by the author.

  • Let’s shrink our impact over the break

    Let’s shrink our impact over the break

    With winter break fast approaching some of you may have big plans for the semester gap, but in our excitement lets not forget the importance of minimizing our waste and our environmental impact.

    Students on the HSU campus have a few ideas on how minimize our environmental footprint this break.

    Kyla Toole’Wells, a kinesiology major in her third year at HSU says that when we travel we should, “go in groups.”

    “Usually I carpool or take a bus,” said Kyla Tool’Wells.

    Molly Cribari, a Chemistry major at HSU also suggests carpooling or other less impactful forms of transportation when traveling.

    Humboldt State offers a Homeward Bound bus program for HSU students that live in California. Students going back to the bay area or down to LA can go into their student center to sign up for this bus when seats are available. (Seats are no longer available on this bus for the trip down over winter break.)

    Another way to travel efficiently if you don’t already have a fun carpool plan is to use Zimride, the ride sharing service HSU partnered with back in 2013.

    Besides your travel plans there are other things to keep in mind this break. The holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, the Solstice, and other sacred/special days that are celebrated can increase waste in a few ways.

    Brian Simpson, a forestry major in his last semester encourages those who partake in getting a Christmas tree, to purchase an actual tree.

    Brian Simpson
    Brian Simpson, a forestry major in his last semester encourages those who partake in getting a Christmas tree, to purchase an actual tree. Photo credit: Kyra Skylark

    “Getting an actual tree from a forest seems like its not environmentally friendly, but trees are in fact a renewable resource,” said Simpson. “Getting an actual tree from a tree farm or a forest helps with carbon sequestration.

    The tradition of giving holiday presents can also create a large amount of waste for some families. Both Simpson and Toole’Wells recommend reusing wrapping paper.

    “Wrapping paper and presents creates a lot of trash, so recycle, and I always like to save bags and reuse bags,” said Toole’Wells.

    Reusing bags, using reusable bags, or wrapping in newspaper can be alternatives to simply buying more paper to immediately throw away.

    “Maybe make cute newspaper ones ones and be crafty,” said Toole’Wells.

    Jessica Ramirez, general biology major’s family has reused the same present bags for most of her life.

    “We reuse any christmas bags every year, we’ve probably had the same ones since we were born,” said Ramirez. “We don’t really buy too many presents.”

    Ramirez also thinks we should think about our gifts more and make sure they mean something.

    “Maybe try to just reduce how many presents people actually need,” Ramirez. “I feel like people overbuy because there’s so many deals, but you know it’s not about the deals, it’s just about the thought really.”

     

  • A tournament to save the future

    A tournament to save the future

    For a topic to be special, it needs to have special qualities. The Environmental Resource Engineering department is providing a competition-based classroom for students to work on self improvement. ENGR 480 is a special topic course that involves two topics for students to compete in, water filtration and creating sustainable renewable energy housing operations.

     

    Peter Alstone and Elizabeth A. Eschenbach are professors in the Environmental Resource Engineering department that are advising for the Race to Zero competition and American Society of Civil Engineer’s MidPac competition.

     

    This competition is pertinent to the times as Zero Energy Ready Buildings have started to be readily achievable and cost-effective, according the the United States Department of Energy who sponsors the competition. These buildings are incredibly energy-efficient as their renewable power can offset either most or all of the annual energy consumption.

     

    “The idea behind the net zero thing is that, on net overall, you’re zero,” Alstone said. “Sometimes you’re pushing energy onto the grid. Sometimes you’re using electricity from the grid. But the overall net is that you have zero at your meter.”

     

    Alstone operates as the advisor for the class and is excited for the competition as it gives students more creative freedom.

     

    “It motivates students to turn themselves into self-learners,” Alstone said.

     

    Instead of instructing, Alstone plans to be more hands off with his students, letting them come to him for advice but otherwise staying open to help the students with their ideas.

     

    “There aren’t a whole lot of rules of how they should be doing it,” Alstone said. “I try to be hands off more than I’d normally do.”

     

    In the other special topics class where students prepare to compete in the MidPac competition, Eschenbach finds that Humboldt State’s students consistently perform well and place in the top three for their innovated water filtration ideas.

     

    “If you were to look for the news last year, you’d see that we’d came in first for the water treatment, and we came in second overall,” Eschenbach said.

     

    These competition based classrooms are actually based off of a Wildlife competition class known as the Wildlife Conclave. The classes like these are designed to direct students for how they would work in the real world.

     

    “Just as with the Wildlife Conclave and the Forestry Conclave, these are opportunities for our students to actually practice, to have hands on opportunities to apply what they’ve learned in their classrooms in a setting where they can see how they stand up to other students at a similar place in their education from other institutions,” Eschenbach said. “It’s a great learning opportunity and it’s one that we can’t provide in a more tradition setting.”

     

    These two classes are open to anyone who wishes to join, no matter what their major may be, but applications have already been sent in. For more information on these two competitions, contact Dr. Eschenbach and Dr. Alstone in the Environmental Resource Engineering department.

  • This week in STEM

    This week in STEM

    By | Bryan Donoghue

    Embed from Getty Images

    A computer chip currently being developed by NASA could be the toughest piece of technology ever sent into space. The chip is designed to be sent to Venus, a planet that is a host to active volcanoes, sweltering heat, and a surface that suggests that the planet may have once had oceans and continents. NASA hasn’t sent a mission to Venus since 1989, and no spaceship has landed there since 1985. The planet’s sulfur clouds, incredible pressure, and extreme heat made space craft navigation borderline impossible for scientists. Now, navigation of Venus has become a possibility. Researchers for NASA working on this product decided to introduce silicon carbide into the equation, which is a compound of silicon and carbon used to make things like fake diamonds. To test the durability, NASA researchers put the silicon carbide chip into something called the Glenn Extreme Environments Rig. This simulates the conditions on Venus artificially to see if the chip can hold up. The chips worked for an entire 33 days in the machine, and could have run longer. NASA scientists working on the project are sure that one day the device will make it’s way to Venus.

    Source: Science Magazine, Popular Mechanics, NASA

     

    Embed from Getty Images

    Bali is an Indonesian island and resort center popular with tourists around the world. Recently, it’s been under red alert. Mount Agung is a volcano on the island that has recently erupted, and residents have been evacuated in an effort to conserve public health. The deep smoke clouded the sky, and by last Monday morning, the smoke had reached a height of 9,100 meters (5.6 miles.) At Bali’s main airport, Ngurah Rai International Airport, flights were cancelled from 24 hours that Monday, and 59,000 citizens were stranded, with 24,000 citizens evacuated. As the soot and ash continue to spread across Bali and Pulau Lombok, masks are being distributed among residents.

    Source: CNN, ABC, BBC

     

    Embed from Getty Images

    There’s always a possibility of food poisoning when it comes to what you eat. Recently, the key ingredient in any kind of baking is the culprit of bacterial baddies. E. Coli bacteria has been found in more than 250 flour-containing products. All of the products have been recalled.The bacteria can be reactivated with water, and in a dry food item like flour, that dormant bacteria can revitalize and start replicating. There are multiple to ways to kill bacteria, and the two most common ways to do this are using heat and irradiation. E. Coli bacteria is hard to kill, as higher doses of irritation and heat are needed to fend of bacteria. Next time you reach for the cookie dough this holiday season, you should think twice.

    Source: Science News, CNN, New York Times

     

    Embed from Getty Images

    The future is here. We can now have hallucinogenic trips without needing to put chemicals into our body. Researchers at Sussex University have developed a machine that lets you have a trip similar to magic mushrooms. The machine integrates both virtual reality and Google’s Deep Dream system. The Deep Dream system identifies patterns and features in images using our brain’s neural network. Volunteers who participated in testing the machine were asked if they ever started to lose control of themselves or their senses. The answers ended up looking similar to a 2013 study on the effects and experience of taking psilocybin. The people involved in this project think this is a great example of how virtual reality can help science. This is not only because of it’s ability to mimic reality so closely, but because this technology tricks our brains. The challenge technology presents to our brains could help reveal more of the important secrets still undiscovered about the brain.

    Source: Science Alert, Newsweek, Nature

  • CCAT’s new hydroponics system

    CCAT’s new hydroponics system

    Video by Kyra Skylark.

    CCAT, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology at HSU has installed a new hydroponics system at the house. The system was installed this semester and everyone at CCAT is excited to see how the project develops.

  • Let the deceased rest in peace

    Let the deceased rest in peace

    By | Bryan Donoghue

    The Humboldt State University Biological Sciences department rents out four cadavers at a time from UC Davis’s Body Donation Program. John Reiss, a professor of the Anatomy Lab at Humboldt State University explains that cadavers on campus are not allowed to be photographed or shot on video. However, Reiss expresses that he’s seen some interesting things with his class.

    Cadaver Lab-5.jpg
    Skulls of HSU’s Anatomy Lab.

    “Most of the anatomy class here is focused on just learning the normal anatomy, but when something shows up it’s interesting,” Reiss said. “Some of the things we’ve seen are enlarged hearts, associated with congestive heart failure. The heart is extra big.”

    Christopher Mardis-Ruelas is a student who believes in the right to privacy after seeing bodies be dissected. He’s seen some of the private things like an enlarged heart be presented from a donated body.

    “If I was dead, I wouldn’t want people taking pictures of my dead body.” Mardis-Ruelas said.

    Kimberley H. Pipe, the assistant director for the Body Donation Program at UC Davis, talked about why confidentiality is so important. She expresses it in the way of the deceased being a member of your family.

    Cadaver Lab-1.jpg
    John Reiss in HSU’s Anatomy Lab with classroom skeleton. Photo credit: Tyler Boydstun

    “So, think about this. Your loved one, for example let’s say you have a mom who donated to our program, and someone decides to take a picture of your dead mother and then put it up on social media and it’s out there,” Pipe said. “Your deceased mother is, images of her deceased body, are out there on the internet. It’s disrespectful.”

    Videography and photography are strictly forbidden in the

    Cadaver Lab-7.jpg
    John Reiss and Phillip Robinson in the Anatomy Lab at HSU. Photo credit: Tyler Boydstun

    Anatomy Lab. If you visit the lab to see the cadavers, make sure it’s only to pay your respects.

  • Weed for warriors

    Weed for warriors

    Back in November of last year, California passed Proposition 64 legalizing the recreational use of cannabis for adults. The legislation will fully come into effect with the the opening of recreational dispensaries within the state as of Jan. 1, 2018. Since the legislation passed, advocates for medical marijuana have been fighting to inform the public of the some of the unforeseen repercussions of Prop. 64.

    The legislation has eliminated access to many patients who have been prescribed medical marijuana for serious physical and psychological issues. Most affected within the population are the war veterans who use medical marijuana.

    “With Weed for Warriors it’s about access,” said Sean Kiernan, one of the three veterans who run Weed for Warriors.

    The Weed for Warriors Project helps to provide veterans with safe access to free medical marijuana and works to create an open community for the vets.

    “Kevin started it with the idea that, ‘Hey, cannabis works, I just tried to commit suicide and now I’m smoking cannabis and I feel alot better than the pharmaceuticals that were given to me by the VA.’” said Kiernan.

    The program was founded in 2014 by Kevin Richardson, a San Jose Marine Veteran who personally benefited from using medical marijuana to aid his disabilities that arose after his service.

    “We’re all combat disabled vets, the guys who run it, and what we’re trying to do is help our brothers and sisters because we’ve been through this experience,” said Kiernan.

    Currently, the project is run by three veterans Kevin Richardson, Mark Carrillo and Sean Kiernan. Richardson founded the project, Carrillo ran the first WFW chapter in Sacramento and helps lead other chapter branches.

    “Kevin and I are both suicide survivors and Mark is 100+ disabled vet who has various issues,” said Kiernan.

    Richardson founded the project and Kiernan is the president of the organization, while Carrillo is the CO and controls the different organization chapters.

    The program is run by veterans for veterans, which creates a different level of understanding and trust within the program unlike similar organizations.

    “We were free to do the right thing, not the thing that a sponsor wanted us to do, not the thing that the person financing us wanted to do, but just the right thing by our brothers and sisters.

    The WFW mission statement on their website states, “The Weed For Warriors Project’s sole purpose is to advocate to the Veteran Affairs Administration on behalf of all Veterans.”

    “So much of the problem with the VA, (The U.S. Veterans Affairs Administration) is that vets don’t feel like they can be who they are or be honest because it’s a system that is very binary,” said Kiernan. “It’s black and white and there are a lot of vets who try to get help there and end up coming out worse.”

    WFW is fighting to increase the accessibility of medicine for veterans that have run out of options and have been turned away by other resources.

    Sean Kiernan, the president of Weed for Warriors, was brought into WFW by Kevin Richardson in 2015. Kiernan joined the army out of LA in 1989 and was sent to Central America, where he was an airborne infantry soldier. After getting out, Kiernan lost a comrade in a helicopter shoot down in El Salvador.

    After leaving the military Kiernan attended and graduated from UC Berkeley, and went on to work on wall street.

    “There was this history of functionality to an extent,” said Kiernan.

    Then Kiernan lost another friend to an AK47 assault rifle where he was shot 24 times in combat. When his Kyle’s death became a political landmine during the Obama administration, Kiernan’s trauma reached a breaking point and he looked to western medicine for the solution.

    “I started to going psychiatric doctors, where they put me on all of these different medicines and pharmaceuticals, which sent me over the edge,” said Kiernan.

    The prescribed medicines were not working for Kiernan and he only got worse. Seeing no other option Kiernan attempted to take his own life.

    “I had a suicide attempt in 2011, that I blame on all of the pharmaceuticals,” said Kiernan.

    After losing his medical insurance and being unable to regain coverage after his suicide attempt, Kiernan’s father encouraged him to seek out help from the VA. Kiernan described the line at the La Jolla VA Healthcare center as similar to the uncompassionate and systematic reception at the DMV.

    “I walk in, the doctor hears my story and looks at me,” said Kiernan. “I come from a very different demographic than most of these vets because I’m coming from money, from working on wall street for almost two decades; so I have many things that these guys don’t have.

    But walking into the VA that day Kiernan looked like any other vet who walks into the VA for help: homeless, troubled, and personally medicated.

    Kiernan started to cry as he waited in the crowd to be seen by a medical professional. A nurse seeing him breakdown took him back to the emergency room and ran some tests. She then asked him if he would like to stay for voluntary observation, to which Kiernan responded, “Why would I want to do that?”

    The nurse then informed Kiernan that his other option was to stay there for 72 hours for involuntary observation.

    “In that moment right there you can learn a lot about the VA,” said Kiernan.

    At this time, it had been three months since Kiernan’s friend Kyle had been shot and he was an active duty soldier, who had a file, and a previous suicide attempt.

    “So they decided to keep me,” said Kiernan.

    While he was being held by the VA under observation he met another veteran who had smuggled THC pills into the ward. For the three days Kiernan was at the VA he was helped and medicated not by the doctors and nurses attending him, but by another veteran within the ward.

    “That’s really what catapulted me from being a screwed up dysfunctional vet going through all of my issues,” said Kiernan.

    Using THC helped him more than any other medication had and he received it not from a professional, but from another veteran, someone he trusted.

    The WFW chapters work to provide help and understanding the same way that Kiernan received help in the ward. Each chapter has monthly meetings where the veterans can come together in an inclusive and safe space, where they are supplied with medicine from the donations of local growers and dispensaries.

    “These are veterans [referring to those who attend meeting]) who are medicating with cannabis daily, have suicide attempts, have pain; we have amputees who use it instead of thirty pills,” said Kiernan.

    The meetings are different within different chapters but each provides a space for the vets to support each other and in return be supported themselves.

    “At those meetings it’s not even about cannabis so much, although in the states where we can we get free meds to these vets [during the meetings] to help them medicate because it gets extremely expensive, but what it’s about is comradery,” said Kiernan.

    The support aspect of the project is just as vital as the access to medicine. The meetings create a space where the vets can go and meet people who have experienced some of the same challenges.

    “It’s about the comradery of coming together and helping each other, of knowing you’re not alone,” said Kiernan. “It’s not only the vets that come to these meetings, it’s the spouses and its family members who learn they’re not alone as well, it becomes one big support structure thats real.”

    The local chapter here in Humboldt was created two years ago by Art Gutierrez and is now being run by a WFW member Gutierrez brought in, Pete O.

    “Weed for Warriors for me, has brought hope,” said Pete O.

    O was homeless and was spending all of the money he was supposed to be saving on marijuana simply so that he could function. More than anything all O wanted at that time was to get a full night’s sleep uninterrupted by nightmares.

    Many of the WFW members here in Humboldt are homeless and/or are living off disability, and they wouldn’t have access to medicine without O and WFW providing it for them.

    “It’s amazing, some of the guys look forward to our meetings all month,” said O. “We meet at 4:20 once a month on Wednesdays and some of the same guys show up early every time, just waiting for me to get there.”

     

  • Living with PTSD

    Living with PTSD

    By | Bryan Donoghue

    Walking down a street of their hometown, a veteran smells the essence of diesel emitted from a nearby gas station. Their brain remembers it as the same smell from when they were riding into combat. Immediately, their body goes into a fight-or-flight response and reacts as if their life is on the line. Although this is a hypothetical situation, it is all too real for numerous veterans afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

    The US National Library of Medicine’s National Institutes of Health stated that 500,000 American troops who served in wars over the past 13 years have been diagnosed with PTSD, and even more, it affects about eight million American adults annually. About 7 to 8 percent of the population will have PTSD at some point in their lives.

    For the Director of the Eureka Veteran’s Center, Deborah Reeves, it’s a condition that’s occurred throughout her family.

    “I personally choose to work with veterans because I have a family system that’s been impacted by military trauma for many generations.” Reeves said. “My grandfather had post traumatic stress disorder, my father has post traumatic stress disorder, my siblings have post traumatic stress disorder, my husband has post traumatic stress disorder— all from various different experiences at different times.”

    Reeves devotion to helping veterans is an influence for her to educate herself on PTSD, and other topics pertaining to veteran care.

    “The first thing that people need to understand if they’re looking at it from an uneducated perspective is to get educated.” Reeves said.

    The sentiment is shared by Rob Hepburn, a 70-year-old Vietnam War veteran and local gardener for the Veteran Memorial Park between G street and F street in Arcata. He was in the war part of 1966, all of 1967, and part of 1968. Within his 13 months of service, he participated in the Tet Offensive, which was one of the most crucial battles of the Vietnam War.

    “Most people, the only thing they get to hear about vets is what they read in the papers or on social media, so most people don’t even know a vet personally.” Hepburn said. “You get pigeon-holed by a lot of people right away, they have this stereotype of what you are.”

    Education is necessary to understanding the topic of PTSD, and according to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, there are four types of symptoms when reviewing whether someone is afflicted by the disorder.

    First, an individual re-experiences the event almost like they’re re-living it. Each person with PTSD has triggers, which is when they sense something that causes them to have flashbacks and nightmares.

    “Post traumatic is pretty hard to define in and of itself, it’s an experiencing type of disorder.” Reeves said. “It’s an external event that has happened that has caused lingering internal experiences.”

    Flashbacks or nightmares can be triggered by anything. It all depends on the individual as PTSD varies between people.

    “I’ve had flashbacks, luckily i haven’t had a flashback in a couple years, but you’re always thinking something really bad is going to happen.” Hepburn said.

    Sight, smell, and sound are all components of what can trigger a person’s flashbacks. Triggers are about how external variables effect someone internally.

    “I can’t stand to hear anything crying, I mean a lot of people get upset when they hear crying, but for me, I totally freak. If a cat’s meowing, I have to get away, or a dog when it barks.” Hepburn said. “Anything like that just triggers something in me. So you imagine those things happen everyday to people, but to me with PTSD, everyday is kind of a challenge to keep my cool.”

    The trigger is like the body’s natural way of protecting itself, flashbacks happen as a response to a need for safety.

    “It is a diagnosis that any and everyone can get by experiencing an external situation that causes them to fear for their safety or someone else’s.” Reeves said.

    Secondly, people with PTSD may avoid situations that remind them of the trauma. For veterans, that could mean anything. To help himself avoid those kind of situations, Hepburn tends to his garden.

    “Gardening is my meditation. I mellow out.” Hepburn said. “I have a service dog that I usually have with me, I don’t have him right now. He helps me stay mellow and grounded, just holding him and carrying him around.”

    Along with gardening and his dog, Hepburn goes out into to nature as a way to help himself. He takes walks in the community forest and goes to the beach. When it comes to taking medication to help him with his condition, he decides to take as little as a possible.

    “They just make me feel like a zombie.” Hepburn said.

  • Sick in the ashes

    Sick in the ashes

    By | Michelle N. Meyers

    Threats to public and environmental health and safety continue to persist in the wake of the most destructive wildfire in California’s history.

    As part of an ongoing joint response to multiple wildfires in Northern California, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins what officials are referring to as the largest wildfire cleanup in California’s history.

    Since Sunday, Oct. 8, at the peak of the wildfires there were 21 major wildfires that burned over 245,000 acres in total, forcing around 100,000 people to evacuate. While the damage assessment is still ongoing, so far the blazes have destroyed an estimated 8,700 structures and devastatingly taken the lives of 42 people.

    The Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County alone broke the record as California’s most destructive wildfire in history. So far, the Tubbs Fire has scorched 36,807 acres, destroyed 5,300 structures, and taken 22 lives.

    “It worried me, not knowing what was going to happen to my friends,” says Damian Jimenez, former Sonoma County resident and Communications Major at HSU. “Friends whose houses have been engulfed by the fires.”

    “They lost a lot of family memories,” says Jimenez

    In the last few weeks, cooler temperatures and higher humidity across Northern California have aided firefighters in their efforts. As of now, temperatures across the state remain warm and dry. Yet despite unfavorable conditions, all fires in Sonoma County are at least 92 percent contained according to Cal Fire.

    While the dangers of a powerful active wildfire fire are beginning to pass, environmental and health concerns associated with the aftermath of a wildfire continue to threaten local communities and emergency personnel.

    One of the main concerns for residents returning to a damaged or destroyed home is the presence of hazardous materials such as household hazardous waste or HHW. Household hazardous waste include, “leftover household products that can catch fire, react, or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive or toxic,” said Michele Huitric, EPA Public Information Officer, in a press release. “Products such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides can contain hazardous ingredients and require special handling and disposal.”

    In order to ensure the safety of residents, local authorities continue to warn residents returning to what is left of their homes to beware of these possible hazards. Residents are required to read and sign a form that is intended to ensure that the homeowner acknowledges these dangers before entering the property. That form is called a Debris Removal Right-of-Entry Permit and can be found on the County of Sonoma website. In addition, the State of California has declared a state of emergency in the area.

    Cleanup efforts of hazardous and non-hazardous materials are also now underway in what is being referred to as the largest wildfire cleanup in California’s history.

    The EPA, in coordination with representatives from Sonoma and Napa Counties and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its state and local partners began conducting surveys to identify the locations of household hazardous waste and other hazardous materials as of Oct. 25. These surveys are being conducted on residential properties in the neighborhoods of Coffey Park in Santa Rosa as well as Soda Canyon and Silverado in Napa.

    Once these properties are surveyed, collection teams will begin the safe removal, transport, and disposal of hazardous and nonhazardous materials.

    Wildfire cleanup efforts also include the removal of contaminated soil and stabilization of the creek bed according to the EPA.

    In addition, as part of the EPA’s response effort, they are “working with California and tribal governments to track the status of more than 150 public drinking water systems, some of which have been damaged, destroyed or otherwise affected by the fires,” says Huitric.

    The extensive cooperative effort is intended to reduce potential threats to public health and safety.

    Officials are aiming to, “Have all that damage debris cleaned up by early 2018,” says Kathleen Hie, Cal Fire Information Officer.

    “We’re in the rebuilding stages,” says Jimenez. “I think caring for one another is really important right now.”

     

     

     

  • Spooky Dunes

    Spooky Dunes

    Going out to the Humboldt Dunes for Halloween is an exciting and educational adventure for many families. Friends of the Dunes have hosted Spooky Dunes for over five years. Upon arriving, the kids are shown to the crafts tables where they wait until their Spooky Dune Tour begins.

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    The Humboldt Menzies Wallflower at the last stop on the Spooky Dunes tour. Photo credit: Kyra Skylark

    On the Spooky Dune Tour, the kids are led on a short hike around the dunes where they meet some spooky characters that teach them about the dunes. Each of the children are given a “passport” to be stamped at each station on the tour. Once the card is full at the end of the tour, they get to choose a prize upon returning to the Nature Center. The passport also has Creepy Dune Bingo on the back for the kids to fill out along the tour.

    Ashley Hansen, the outreach coordinator for Friends of the Dunes, enjoys Spooky Dunes because it “helps spread the word about the dunes.” Hansen also said, “It’s a fun way to get kids outdoors learning about the dunes.”

    With five stops on the tour, the kids and their parents were first lead to the Beach Pine Palace where they were met by Franny Fox and Misty the Moss Queen. Franny and Misty taught the kids about different moss, fungi and lichens that live in the dunes environment.

    At the second stop, they met Dante the Wind Wizard and Ginger the Grey Fox. They gave the kids animal track booklets and were shown how to identify a few different kinds of tracks.

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    Franny Fox and Misty the Moss Queen at the Beach Pine Palace

    At the third station, they were introduced to Captain Howard, a pirate looking for his treasure. At this stop, the kids were able to use a telescope to look out over the dunes.

    For the fourth spot on the tour, the kids were able to help Flora the fairy remember some of the flowers that live on the dunes. Flora and her friend Daisy the flower handed out flower identification books so that the kids could find and learn what kinds of flowers were in the area.

    After leaving Daisy and Flora, we ran into the Beachgrass Monster. At the final station, the Humboldt Wallflower asked the kids to help him fight the Beachgrass Monster by pulling out beachgrass. They learned that beachgrass was an invasive plant that has to be removed from the dunes.

    One of the the tour guides let the kids know that because they had helped in the effort to remove beachgrass from the dunes that they were now members of the Dune Hero’s crew.

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    Kids at Spooky Dunes Photo credit: Kyra Skylark

    After helping fight the Beachgrass dune monster the kids returned were led back to the nature center to collect prizes. Some walked away talking about their prize bug box or their beautiful new shell, but many were talking about something else.

    “I liked the Dune Monster,” said Shannon Smith, a witch who had gone on the tour for the first time.

    Shannon’s mom Jessica Smith was glad they had come, she thought that the tour was both fun and educational.

    In agreement with Jessica, April Moreland was happy she brought her three children to Spooky Dunes.

    “I thought it was really great, it was super educational,” said April Mooreland.

     

  • This week in STEM

    This week in STEM

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    Imagine one day, your neighborhood and everyone you knew has been lost. Your world has become barren and now all that’s left is a desert. That’s what’s been happening to the coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean. The Trump administration wants to take away federal protection for 10 national monuments in the Pacific. This could lead to more commercial fishing that will further harm what’s left of the coral reefs. Scientists studying these marine monuments find that they’re the last of their kind, as they are not impacted by overfishing or pollution.

    Source: New York Times, NOAA

     

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    An alien object visiting Earth left before it could even trick-or-treat. The object is less than a quarter mile long, going 15 miles per second, and cut into our solar system perpendicularly. It even approached Earth at only a distance of 15 million miles away! So far, we can tell it’s not a comet, but it’s closer to an asteroid. We can learn even more when the next interstellar object passes by Earth because of a new telescope that is in production. It will give astronomers a more in depth perception of these incredibly fast objects zooming through our solar system.

    Source: Popular Science, The Guardian, Washington Post

     

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    One day you’re hanging out in the sun, and the next you’re trapped under ice. Although it does sound scary, it did happen for one plant species. On Canada’s Baffin Island, there’s a strain of ancient moss that’s being thawed out for the first time in 45,000 years. Researchers found the age of the moss using radiocarbon dating, although some of the moss had no radiocarbon left. This discovery is leading researchers to believe that the hot atmospheric temperatures could melt all the ice in the east Canadian Arctic.

    Source: Science Magazine, National Geographic, Science News, NBC

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    Climate change is real, and it’s getting worse considering how we treat our planet. In the Paris Agreement of 2014, countries gathered together and agreed upon only letting the planet get warmer by two degrees Celsius. That’s not happening anymore, we’re reaching a goal of three degrees Celsius now. It is noted that although some greenhouse gas emissions have remained steady, like carbon dioxide, others have increased dramatically, such as methane. The UN’s environment chief, Eric Solheim, is calling for countries to take action as these conditions are unacceptable for our planets future.

    Source: ABC, The Guardian, The Daily Herald

  • Goodbye Moonstone, hello rising sea levels

    Goodbye Moonstone, hello rising sea levels

    Picture Moonstone Beach. The sun is setting, creating a silhouette of Camel Rock against a watercolor sky of vibrant pinks and oranges. The ocean is at peace, beautifully calm and picturesque. Now imagine the beach in fifty years or so.

    Moonstone Beach is gone.

    Due to rising sea levels and changing weather patterns, the beach at Moonstone no longer exists.

    Jennifer Savage, the California Policy Manager for Surfrider Foundation, was able to paint a picture of what Moonstone Beach will look like when we fast forward a couple years.

    “It’s not miles and miles of wide open beach on the north side, so I’d imagine that the modeling would predict that the Camel Rock area and the Moonstone area would be the first to disappear,” said Savage. “Then Clam Beach going down toward the Mad River mouth, because it’s wider and broader, may last a little bit longer.”

    moonstone
    Graphic by Kyra Skylark

    A representative for the Surfrider Foundation and an avid surfer and wave lover herself, Savage works to keep the waves clean and preserve the oceans and coastlines worldwide.

    “Essentially, even if we have just a few inches of sea level rise, it’s a vertical. It’s not just the oceans getting closer, it’s that they’re getting taller,” said Savage. “How that affects different places depends on the geography, the weather patterns, the ocean’s current patterns, and a lot of different things.”

    The repercussions of climate change can only be predicted to a certain extent, but there are numerous studies and research constantly happening to determine how our oceans are being influenced and how the could be affected in the future.

    “With Moonstone Beach, we already know that during the King tides the beach is completely covered,” said Savage. “The King tides give us a pretty good preview of what the future will look like.”

    Daniel O’Shea an Oceanography professor specializing in Geological Oceanography was able to provide greater insight on the King tides.

    “The King tides are a play on the words spring tides,” said O’Shea. “Every two weeks, we get what are referred to as spring tides around the new and the full moon, where the tides spring up higher.”

    “Around the winter and summer solstice, we get the highest and the lowest tides of the year, and those are called the King tides,” said O’Shea.

    The King tides show the physical changes to the coastline we can expect in the coming years as climate change continues to alter sea levels.

    “They’re [the King tides] going to be the normal high tide in 15-30 years,” said O’Shea.

    What we currently consider the extreme high tides will become our new normal, and the changes are coming faster than we can anticipate.

    Kim McFarland, the Executive Director of Friends of the Dunes explains how the dunes are being impacted by climate change.

    “We’re doing a climate ready study through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife services, it’s a climate change resiliency study,” said McFarland.

    By measuring how the sand dunes are moving and reacting to changes in the climate, researchers can predict how the environment will change and how far back the dunes will travel.

    “What they’re looking for is how the sand moves through the dunes, because during the winter time when it is wet the sand doesn’t move as much,” said McFarland. “What does happen is we have winter storms, and the storm surges are getting more frequent and more intense and that’s most likely a result of climate change.”

    As the climate changes and sand is continually displaced and moved from the foredune backwards, the dunes themselves will move backwards, potentially displacing buildings and homes near the area.

    As sea levels rise it’s not just the beaches and the local natural environment that will be affected, homes and businesses will be greatly impacted.

    Eventually, individuals with homes and business in the Humboldt Bay will have to be relocated. Homes within the King Salmon area are often flooded during the winter high tide times, so as sea levels rise, those residing within the area and areas nearby will have to move.

    “The key thing is to identify the most vulnerable places and what kind of infrastructure exists in those places and then figuring out what can be moved,” said Savage.

    As we continue to impact the environment, predicting the outcomes of climate change in the ocean and along the coast is very imprecise.

    “What we do know is that the sea is rising and we are not going to be able to stop it, at best we will be able to slow it down,” said Savage. “We’re not preparing for it fast enough.”

     

  • La Loba Loca vists CCAT

    La Loba Loca vists CCAT

    Sitting in silence with our eyes closed, we listened to Loba guiding us through the mediation, instructing us to allow the seed to tell us what it needed to communicate.

    La Loba Loca, a queer herbalist visited CCAT (the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology,) this past Wednesday guiding students on an herbalist knowledge share centered around herbal Medicina Feminista.

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    Some students and community members that attended La Loba Loca’s Herbalism knowledge share at CCAT on Oct. 18, 2017. Loba requested to take a photo with everyone who attended the workshop. Photo credit: Mariza Ocampo

    Erick Garcia, a Sociology major, was right at home in the herbalist knowledge share.

    “I’m queer and I enjoy herbalism, so it was the perfect thing for me,” said Garcia.

    Loba is from Arequipa, Peru, but currently resides in LA teaching herbal medicine, conscious mooning (classes on menstruation,) the oral history surrounding the healing practices as well as many other topics and practical tools. Loba identifies as “a queer, Chocolla, Andina, South American migrant, artist, researcher, writer, handpoke tattooist, full spectrum companion/doula, aspiring midwife student, seed-saver, gardener and yerbetera,” on La Loba Loca’s website.

    The knowledge Loba shares with audiences is Abuelita Knowledge, the wisdom and practices passed down through generations of women and femmes. Leading the knowledge share with a seed meditation, Loba gave each individual a seed to hold. Loba then introduced the idea of seeds as technology.

    “Literally to me, seeds are the most reliable technology that we have,” said La Loba Loca.

    From there everyone was led through a meditation in which we held the seed in our hands and were guided to open ourselves to anything the seedling wanted to tell us. In a room packed so that only standing room remained, everyone there simply closed their eyes and focused on the knowledge that the seeds had to share.

    One attendee said that their seed was old, “not necessarily the seed itself, but the information it holds.”

    Other individuals attending the workshop simply reflected on the importance and process of a singular seed, noting that we often don’t stop to appreciate the work and undertaking of one simple seed.

    Loba then encouraged everyone attending to research seeds and plants important and cherished within our own heritage and cultures. Different plants used for healing and nurturing native to one’s own history that we could incorporate into our diet and/or daily life. The coca plant, specifically the coca leaf holds special significance to Loba as a grounding and energizing plant native to Peru. Loba_loca_4.jpg

    From there, Loba went into the oral history and roots of some of the healing practices of herbalism today. Discussing the power of Medicina Feminista, its origins, certain tools and practices, as well as the history of the witch trials and how that has affected women/femme interactions and healing.

    “To me, feminism is the magic that happens when women and femmes have resisted the patriarchy,” said Loba.

    Loba delved into the topic of women/femmes as the traditional caregivers and healers in comparison to the male and masculine dominated health fields of western medicine. In a field composed of primarily white males, Loba works to take back and teach the traditions and knowledge to healing through herbalism. Loba honored the acts of women and femmes who for centuries have healed and cared for individuals, sharing their knowledge and healing as an act of free labor.

    Aliah Bueno’Strong, a Rangeland major at HSU felt a strong connection to the dialogue surrounding feminism and Loba’s

    “Hearing her talk about feminism, that’s what I really resonated with the most,” said Bueno’Strong. “I’m one of those people that doesn’t believe that you have to have equality of the genders, but simply the equality for everyone. It was good to hear it come from someone else.”

    Loba discussed the current inequality between the genders, allowing for discussion on historical events that influence us now, such as the witch trials.

    Viewing the witch trials as an intentional act of the church and state, the patriarchy, as a way to take away women’s power. The healers, midwives, doulas, herbalists, and any woman or femme who practiced traditional non-westernized healing were persecuted. Even women who were not as versed in Medicina Feminista and Abuelita Knowledge were under suspicion.

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    Loba showing and explaining some of the items that were brought for the knowledge share. Photo credit: Mariza Ocampo

    “The witch hunts were toxic masculinity at its best,” said Loba.

     

    The witch hunts eliminated much of the trust and communication between women, turning one another against each other to prevent their own persecution. This robbed women and femmes of spaces to share information and stories, places to come together in healing and discussion.

     

    “They took away the bond and unity between women and femmes,” said Loba.

     

    Loba discussed the effects of the trials in the way women and femmes bond and communicate with one another today. These historical events are still very much with us in that they affect the perception and acceptance of woman interaction and healing today.

    The systematic goal of mainstream society is to prosper as individuals, to rise up alone. Herbalism and Medicina Feminista work to bring up everyone and benefit everyone collectively.

    To learn more on Abuelita Knowledge you can read Loba’s article, “Reclaiming Abuelita Knowledge as a Brown Ecofeminista.” The article discusses the roots of Loba’s knowledge and works to take back the knowledge and practices that have been westernized and claimed by many white hippies as new eco-friendly practices.

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    Diving into the history and the roots of herbalism, La Loba Loca explains some of the benefits and properties of certain plants during the herbalism knowledge share at CCAT. Photo credit: Mariza Ocampo

    “Specially all these white supremacist ideas that make people believe that conscious mooning is a white hippie thing, that giving birth to a baby under a tree is white, that gardening organically is white, that meditating is white,” Loba writes in the article.

    Deconstructing common misconceptions on this passed down cherished knowledge and working to reclaim these ancestral practices is one of Loba’s main goals. Knowledge shares like the one held at CCAT is another incentive for Loba to continue educating and sharing knowledge.

     

    One of Loba’s goals laid out on the La Loba Loca website is to create safe spaces and resources for “Spanish-speaking communities of color as well as queer and trans communities of color.”

     

    Vanessa Cota, a Political Science major at HSU, left the knowledge share at CCAT house feeling nourished and refueled.

     

    “It’s a space that was very needed,” said Cota.

     

    After going over some of the oral history and recalling the origins of some of the practices, Loba moved on to share knowledge as an herbalist discussing certain plants and their beneficial properties.

     

    Passing around borage, fennel, rosemary, lemon balm, calendula, tulsi, and a Mexican Marigold, Loba shared knowledge on each plant, explaining their healing properties and some of the ways incorporating them into our lives could beneficial.

     

    Each plant was discussed in-depth with an open dialogue between Loba and the audience as everyone shared their experience and knowledge with the different plants.

     

    “It takes what I’m learning about in Botany out of the confines of academia and back to the down to earth roots on how people actually interact with plants,” said Kevin Riley.

    Riley, an Environmental Science and Management major, loved attending the knowledge share, both for the knowledge he gained and because of the space CCAT and those in attendance created.

     

    “It was very positive and uplifting, we were talking about life and health together,” said Riley.

     

    After the workshop, Riley said, “I have the biggest smile on my face I’ve had all week.”

     

    The knowledge share concluded with a tea meditation, in which all of the attendees were given a cup of tea that had been brewing throughout the event.

     

    A simple mixture of lemon balm and rose prompted the ending discussion on what the tea could do for our bodies and minds. With each individual in the audience feeling and focusing on the tea, we concluded the knowledge share explaining what the tea brought up for us, both physically and emotionally.

     

    Erick Garcia was glad to have attended the event.

     

    “A whole bunch of people ready to learn came together, if you wanted to be here you were,” said Garcia. “We came in here with love and joy and we are leaving with love and joy. Some of us don’t have that on a day to day basis, so it was nice to know that there is a community filled with that.”

     

    Aliah Bueno’Strong is in the herbalism class on campus at CCAT, and knew a good deal of what Loba went over. Bueno’Strong had a strong appreciation for the dialogues on feminism, gender, race, and equality as well as the herbal discussions.

     

    “I’m heterosexual, but to be in a room with a lot of people who are not necessarily like me was amazing,” said Bueno’Strong.

     

    Loba succeeded in creating a safe space to discuss the power of plants, the history of healing and herbalist practices, the effects of the patriarchy and white supremacy, as well as many other topics that come up when a large group tells stories and shares ideas.

     

    “I was very happy by the turnout, I left to go get food and when I came back the room was full,” said Bueno’Strong. “It shows how diverse and inclusive the school is as a whole, and our students.”

     

    Everyone in attendance stayed until the very end, soaking up all of the knowledge Loba had to share. While each individual gained something different from the workshop, everyone left feeling different from when they entered CCAT.

     

    “Rooted.”

     

    “Rooted is the best word to explain it,” said Cota.

     

  • This week in STEM Oct. 24

    This week in STEM Oct. 24

    By | Bryan Donoghue

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    One of the things that makes weed worrisome is its impact on developing brains. A new study presented at the World Psychiatric Association found that teens who smoke pot are more likely to suffer from psychosis. The results show that people who used cannabis before 18 developed schizophrenia 10 years earlier than other people who didn’t smoke. For every year the teens smoked weed, symptoms of psychosis rose 21 percent annually.

    Source: Scientific American, Newsweek, Vice

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    You can really use Google Earth to find anything, even discovering something ancient. Over the past decade, Google Earth has been used to identify thousands of burial sites dispersed around Saudi Arabia. Recently, archaeologists used the application to uncover around 400 stone structures called “gates” in the Arabian desert. The researchers believe it may have been built by nomadic tribes anywhere from 2,000 to 9,000 years ago.

    Source: New York Times, Popular Mechanics, Forbes

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    Climate change isn’t just affecting sea level, but it’s also harming coffee production. Coffee needs specific temperatures to grow properly and is highly likely to have pests. To combat diminishing coffee production, researchers are cross-breeding coffee plants to create a brand new strain. With most of the coffee around the world grown close to the equator, the newest coffee strain resists climate change and is named after the countries that produce our espresso beans. Out of seven new variety hybrids, Centroamericano is the new breed of coffee bean that can best withstand rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall while still producing a large quantity of quality coffee.

    Source: The Times, The Denver Post, Phys.org

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    Soldiers stuck in the snow will soon have some high tech underwear made of special fabric to combat the threat of sweat freezing. The light fabric uses nanowires, tiny wires of silver, to form a mesh across cotton. The silver reflects body heat back to someone’s skin helping with insulation. To help with sweat, the underwear also has hydrogel beads, a polymer that absorb up to 40 times their weight in water. This will help keep the troops warm for the winter.

    Source: Science News for Students, Business Insider

  • Voices of students in STEM

    Voices of students in STEM

    Travis Farwell is a Wildlife major with an emphasis in Conservation and Management. Farwell is back at HSU after taking a semester off to participate in a three-month field study working to identifying and track birds through bird banding. Bird banding is the practice of tagging birds with a plastic or metal band in order to number them so that they can then be tracked and studied for different research projects.

    The Wildlife Techniques class here at HSU helped to prepare Farwell for the work he did during the study.

    “I learned a lot just from the Wildlife Techniques professor, he’s been banding for a long time,” said Farwell.

    Farwell ended up processing and banding over 200 birds, so the techniques he learned in his Wildlife class really ended up benefiting him.

    “We would wake up at 4-something in the morning every day and set up everything so that we could catch birds, and it was a huge, migration that goes through a specific area right on this river,” said Farwell. “We caught what I believe is a threatened species, the Willow Fly Catcher.”

    During their study, they found the threatened birds nesting within a specific invasive plant that a conservation group was working to remove from the area. Because the field study was able to identify the birds as a threatened species, they were able to stop the removal of the plants to allow the habitat to remain for the birds.

    Alex Jamal
    Alex Jamal, a wildlife major, plans to join the Peace Corps after graduating. Photo credit: Kyra Skylark

    Alex Jamal is also a Wildlife major with an emphasis in Conservation and Management in his second year. Jamal is in the beginning of his time here at HSU and he is excited to learn the situational protocols and how to interact and handle the animals he will work with.

    Jamal has learned some of the basics that he hopes to carry with him as he moves on to harder classes, and in his future career after he graduates.

    “The amount of persistence you need to put into it and the amount of efficiency and protocol that you need to take within every step of what you are doing, that is something that I hope to take into whatever field I go into, just that type of consistency,” said Jamal.

    After leaving HSU, Jamal hopes to join the Peace Corps to help educate individuals on the reality of what is happening to the environment, and how that is affecting the animals.

    “I would like to go out and do public education, just let people know about how severe everything is becoming and what we could do for the species that we still have here,” said Jamal.

    Daisy Valencia
    Daisy Valencia, a general biology major, will be apart of a directed study with Prof. Steele where they will be researching gene mutations and antibiotic resistance. Photo credit: Kyra Skylark

    Daisy Valencia is a General Biology major that hopes to pursue a career in Veterinary Medicine after she graduates. Valencia is currently about to start a directed study with one of her professors, John Steele, where they will be looking into gene mutations.

    Valencia took professor Steele’s Introductory Biology course last semester, which spiked her curiosity on gene mutations and antibiotic resistance.

    “We looked at bacterial resistance and we tested multiple water resources here in Humboldt County, like the Humboldt Bay and Allen’s Marsh, we found that there was some antibiotic resistant bacteria in the water,” said Valencia.

    After learning about the antibiotic resistant bacteria, Valencia wanted to know more about antibiotic resistance.

    “That got me really interested in studying antibiotic resistance, how we can harvest it from natural resources and develop antibiotics that can help us battle antibiotic resistance, which is a really big problem now,” said Valencia.

  • Don’t lose your head

    Don’t lose your head

    By | Bryan Donoghue

    A concussion doesn’t entirely mean hitting your head hard. Concussions happen often, and there are a multitude of adverse side effects from a concussion that can disable a person biologically. In cases where a concussion needs to be thoroughly examined and diagnosed, the North Coast Concussion Program (NCCP) at Humboldt State University is there.

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    Graphic by Lora Neshovska

    A statement from the program’s homepage says that the NCCP treats thousands of Humboldt and Del Norte residents every year. This not only includes local community members and Humboldt State residents, it extends to 11 regional high schools, as well as youth and adult sport leagues.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that a concussion is a, “type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works.”

    It continues to state that although concussions are not usually life threatening, their effects can be serious. Those effects are what the NCCP primarily study, and based of the needs of different concussed patients, the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) is willing to accommodate each student individually.

    “We do work well together,” said Kevin O’Brien, the director of Student Access Services.

    O’Brien explains that students are usually first seen at the health center at Humboldt State and then referred to the North Coast Concussion Program. Based off the assessment report, O’Brien and the SDRC evaluate the impact of the concussion of the student’s academic work and authorize specific accommodations based on the results.

    “It’s going to vary according to the severity of the concussion, the impact of that on a student, whether it causes them headaches, visual disturbance, it depends on the issues that arise from the concussion and the length of time,” O’Brien said.

    O’ Brien says generally with a concussion, the basics to help yourself are to reduce reading, bright lighting, and to increase the amount of rest you get.

    “Basically you are trying to rest the brain so it can heal itself,” O’ Brien said. “So reduce cognitive activity, studying, reading, bright lights, all of those things.”

    If you do have a concussion, it’s imperative to work with the SDRC advisors and your professors to construct a regimen. They collaborate to help build you back up and get you into regular study habits again.

    “They are going to need an accommodation maybe as simple as us conferring with their faculty,” O’Brien said. “Working with the faculty on what the expectations might be, and how long this is going to take, and how can we best ensure that the student can make up work missed.”

    Humboldt State recently hosted a guest from the University of Pittsburgh Medcial Center on Thursday, Sept. 28. Dr. Anthony Kontos spoke about research pertaining to psychological, neurocognitive, and neuro-motor aspects related to concussions. Most importantly, he advocates safety, as well as concussion prevention and treatment.

    “There’s risk in all activities, And then if somebody has something, they got to do something about it. It can’t just be, ‘okay, you have a concussion,’” Kontos said.

    Kontos says to seek whatever care and follow up, because that’s how we prevent the effects of an injury from becoming worse.

    “We do know that if you’re an adolescent and you get hit, there’s a likelihood that your developing brain is more at risk than, say, a really young kid or an adult,” Kontos said.

    According to Kontos, you shouldn’t let that affect your participation in sports. Mainly, you have to learn to play sports correctly and how to participate safely.

    “That’s really the key here, doing sports as safe as possible and allowing kids to be active,” Kontos said.