by Ryndi Greenwell

For the past couple of years, there has been no official botany club on campus. STEM students like botany majors are often so overwhelmed with classwork that mingling with their peers can fall on the back burner. The new campus botany club has the goal to remedy that issue.

While the president of the club is technically Holly Popplewell, a senior botany major, she emphasizes that the club structure is more like a council. She thinks that rather than a group with specific leaders, it would be better to ensure all club members feel they can contribute ideas equally. 

“We go through all our classes hardly knowing any botany students. It can be hard to connect,” Popplewell said. 

One of the first club meetings revolved around cutting and planting small succulent plants provided by club members, and the most recent meeting included a plant geography game. The club also wants to emphasize that non-botany majors are more than welcome to join. Club member Bianka Rodriguez, a third-year botany major, encourages plant lovers from all backgrounds to join. 

“We just want to talk to people who have similar interests, plants are very fun!” Rodriguez said. 

Not only do they chat and play games in this club, but they also plan to organize volunteer efforts and maybe have a section in the community garden. They also expressed interest in club outings, such as conference trips or even camping. 

“We are hoping to do volunteer work, and get outdoors more,” Rodriguez said. 

If someone has a green thumb, or wants it to be greener, the botany club welcomes them with open arms — no matter what one’s major or expertise level is.The club meets every other Friday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Natural Resources building, room 201. Check out the QR code below for more information. 

Ryndi is a reporter for LJ that also loves singing, cooking, and painting. Contact her rg315@humboldt.edu

Ptychocheilus oregonensis: the largest carp in North America

by Ariana Wilson

There is one fish that has been stressing scientists along the Pacific Northwest and Northern California — the unassuming pike minnow. Due to its approachable-sounding name, one may infer that it is a small fish no bigger than your hand. The largest reported northern pikeminnow according to the International Game Fish Association world record was seven pounds and 14 ounces. Its counterpart, the Colorado pikeminnow, is the largest North American minnow and is an endangered native of the Colorado River.

It has not always been known by its current name. In 1999, the American Fisheries Society made a significant change. They renamed the four species from their original derogatory term to the more respectful ‘northern pikeminnow.’ This change was made to respect the cultural sensitivity of the Native American community, as the term was originally an ethnic slur for Native American women. 

At around six years, female northern pikeminnow can reach sexual maturity and lay tens of thousands of eggs annually. Meanwhile, their male counterparts need only about half that time to mature. Northern pikeminnows are skilled predators, spending most of their time scouring the rivers along the west for salmon, which make up a large part of their diet. 

Pikeminnows are native to California but not local waterways like the Eel River. In Pacific Northwest rivers like the Columbia River, the northern pikeminnow population has seen a significant increase with the development of the hydropower system. This system, while beneficial for energy production, has inadvertently provided an advantage for the pikeminnows over the already struggling salmon and steelhead populations, disrupting the ecological balance.

Northern pikeminnows are of least concern according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species and are considered invasive in some areas.

Ari is a senior journalism major and the science editor this semester, with an adoration for the environment and conservation. She is currently pursuing her scientific diving certification and plans to meld her journalistic passions with scientific research in the future. For any science inquiries, please contact ajw167@humboldt.edu.

by Nick Escalada

Humboldt is a refuge for old-growth redwoods and progressive culture, as well as a seasonal pit stop for the largest animal on the planet. Blue whales are migratory marine mammals that occur in all the world’s oceans — except the Arctic — throughout the year. They convene with their grey and humpback cousins on the Northern California coast from late summer to early fall to feed, using their comb-like baleen plates to sieve krill and plankton from the water.

“All baleen whales have two parts of their lives: one part where they’re feeding extensively, and then the other part where they hardly feed and give birth and breed and then come back and feed,” said researcher Dawn Goley, Director of the HSU Marine Mammal Education and Research Program. “The animals up here are feeding where the cooler water is, which is going to be the most nutrient-rich, and it’s going to be the most productive with krill.”

The visiting whale community is en route to the warm lagoons of Baja California and Costa Rica to breed, fueling up for the journey in aggregations of 20 to 100 hunters. Goley and the Cascadia Research Collective are monitoring the pods with combinations of photo identification, suction-cupped satellite tags and aerial drone footage.

“We take photos of their dorsal surface, of their little tiny dorsal fin, and that’s individually identifiable,” Goley said. “So, we’re trying to track the blue whales that we see here and see if they’re coming back every year. And we do have some that come back every year, that are that we’re familiar with, and then others that we aren’t that familiar with, but we keep track of them in a collaborative catalog that’s shared between groups.”

Like many marine animals, behavioral data on blue whales is relatively sparse and scientists are still discovering new strange tendencies today. A major focus of Goley’s research is the methods the animals use to hunt the four tons of krill needed to sustain their up to 200-ton bodies. Her teams use special equipment to determine things like the structure of krill formations, how deep the whales dive and how quickly they turn.

“They can look to see how whales are actually foraging in this sort of three-dimensional prey cloud under the surface,” Goley said. “And then you can have a drone overhead that is looking at sort of the dimensions of the school of prey. Sometimes you can see the krill at the surface. Sometimes you can’t, but you can see how the whale is moving and feeding on the prey down there.”

Blue whales are currently listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The species has been on a steady rebound since the commercial whaling industry dissolved in 1966, but they continue to be threatened by warming ocean temperatures, which both diminish natal habitat and decimate krill populations.

“They were really heavily hit by the whaling industry because they’re big and they’re kind of slow, and they were easily targeted by whaling,” Goley said. “But I think that they’ve been recovering really well.”

A telescope at Sue Meg or another good vantage point might catch a breach from a humpback whale. Blue whales are more illusive, and require setting out on the water in a vessel for a good view. Krill feeding grounds can exist anywhere along the coast, but sightings often occur off of human-accessible harbors like Humboldt Bay, Trinidad and Crescent City.

While most distinguishable by their enormous size, blue whales have comparatively slender bodies and tiny dorsal fins. They have mottled bluish-grey skin that can be hard to make out from the water from a distance, but a blubbery mass the length of two school buses is unmistakable otherwise.  Encountering a being of this stature might be intimidating, but it’s an increasingly rare honor in the scientific world.

Nick is the news editor at The Lumberjack and studies wildlife and journalism with the goal of spreading his love of nature through media. Chat with him at ne53@humboldt.edu!

Oncorhynchus clarkii: the trout with many homes

by Ariana Wilson

The cutthroat trout is the state fish for several western states, including Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. There are 14 recognized subspecies of cutthroat trout, with distinct subspecies designated as the state fish for Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

Cutthroat trout are typically found in well-oxygenated, shallow rivers and they reproduce in cold, deep lakes. They are native to alluvial or freestone streams, which in fly-fishing terminology refers to areas with loose gravel or sand. Some coastal cutthroat trout exhibit semi-anadromous behavior, living in both freshwater and saltwater environments.

Fish hatcheries in Yellowstone National Park were established in the early 20th century to breed this game fish in waters that could support population growth. Approximately 818 million cutthroat trout eggs were distributed from Yellowstone to various hatcheries across the United States. 

This fish, in all its variations, is a favored target for anglers — particularly fly fishermen. However, some subspecies are currently listed as threatened in their native habitats due to habitat loss and the introduction of non-native species — two of which  are now extinct. To aid in the native species restoration, cutthroat trout are raised in hatcheries and stocked in non-native lake environments to support recreational fishing.

Ari is a senior journalism major and the science editor this semester, with an adoration for the environment and conservation. She is currently pursuing her scientific diving certification and plans to meld her journalistic passions with scientific research in the future. For any science inquiries, please contact ajw167@humboldt.edu.

by Carmen Ruiz Fernandez

Among flight simulators and earthquake tables in the library’s Hall of Simulation, students can now explore an interactive 3D herbarium. There, they can bring plants to life like never before.

Throughout September, interactive workshops were held every Monday on the library’s second floor to introduce students to the herbarium. Diego Rodrigez, organizer of the 3D workshop, said the events were important to remind students that the herbarium is available as a resource for classes or personal exploration, as well as to showcase its features. Currently, the herbarium contains approximately 86 plants, but the number continues to grow daily, and Rodriguez can already see the impact of integrating it into science classes.

“I already see science changing the way it is taught,” Rodriguez said. “Most of the participants who come to this workshop are part of wildlife classes. I can expect it to be integrated with some of the teaching methods from professors here about how to get students to interact with new technologies that might be beneficial for them in learning specifically about plants.”

The idea for the herbarium originated as a final project idea for a software engineering class three years ago. Cyril Oberlander, the library dean, and Dr. Shereen Bogles, professor of software engineering, proposed that the class of 2022 software engineering students create an interactive kiosk similar to the library’s other kiosks, but this time focusing on plants. AJ Bealium, now head of the 3D herbarium team and the project’s only programmer, was one of the students assigned to that project. 

After completing the project and graduating, he realized the herbarium’s potential and decided to continue with it. He hired and trained a student assistant to make the 3D models, which have undergone many modifications since they first started. However, Bealium is determined to continue improving the project, as he takes pride in it being one of the first of its kind in the world.

“We’ve evolved the process quite a bit,” Bealium said. “Over the course of the project, we’ve developed our own protocol and our own workflow to make the 3D models that exist nowhere else in the world, because nobody else does what we do yet.”

Hunter T. Philips, one of Bealium’s student employees, started working on the 3D herbarium last summer and handled the entire process of photographing and uploading plant models to the database. The process involves several steps: first, he and his co-worker go into the forest in search of a collection of specimens. Then they bring them to a room to photograph them on a rotating table, taking roughly 300 photos from multiple angles. After that, they upload all the photos through a program that converts images into a 3D model in about two hours. For the final step, Phillips goes into another app called Blender and refines the models to ensure they are accurate and visually clear.

Phillips sees the 3D herbarium as a forward-thinking way to preserve plants digitally and its innovative approach has already made it a popular resource for students online.

“It’s cool to say that I’m the only one in the world that has my job,” Phillips said, “I know our sites are really big in other foreign places, as our website receives a lot of views from countries like China and India, where I guess these plants aren’t accessible. It’s nice to have a unique form of storing knowledge, just as it’s cool to go around and look at the models.”

Carmen is a freshman journalism major whose passion is to write stories for newspapers. She is a writer and photographer, and likes to read and take walks through the forest in her free time. She can be reached at cr433@humboldt.edu 

by Nick Escalada

Environmentalism isn’t quite the first word in independent rock, but a group of Cal Poly Humboldt STEM undergrads seem to disagree. Meet Sporegasm, a band of natural sciences students who have shaken up the Humboldt scene for years by infusing a passion for the outdoors into unique blends of music.

Ecological restoration seniors Brandt Porteous and Jack McCann and senior forestry major Mark Ortiz have all known one another since 2022, as roommates and former bandmates. McCann was president of the Mycology Club back then, and an idea to form a mushroom-themed band sprouted from their shared nature-oriented vocations.

“There’s a mycologist, his name is William Padilla Brown and he’s known for breaking ground on cultivating the Cordyceps mushroom,” said McCann, the band’s guitarist and vocalist. “He talked about a ‘sporegasm,’ you know, just kind of like in a fun context. And that word stuck with me — I just thought it would be a good band name.”

The band played their first gig in December of 2022 for a fundraiser by the Department of Environmental Science & Management at the Redwood Curtain Brewing Company, which invited them back after a successful debut. Since then, the musicians have experimented heavily with compositions and fine-tuned them to adopt an identity they call, “mushroom rock.”

“Well, I would say [it’s] just bluesy rock,” said Ortiz, a bassist. “There’s a lot of jam involved, I think, in certain sections of our shows, but mostly bluesy rock, maybe psychedelic rock.”

“I think it’s just kind of a whimsical vibe,” McCann added. “Learning about mushrooms, you can start to get a little bit out of the mainstream, and start to see things from a different perspective.”

The artists shared their gratitude for the platform they’ve gained on campus and in the broader community from their few years in action, and how they’ve prioritized using it to shed light on issues they care about. In the spring of 2024, they appeared at midnight on the protest-occupied quad to lift the spirits of demonstrators.

“[We wanted to] inspire people and make people stand up and keep going throughout the night. Bring up the morale, get rid of the paranoia,” said Porteous, keyboardist and vocalist. “It’s like everyone just has this threat over their head of people coming from wherever to beat on them, and everyone was there just because they love people. So, it was cool. It felt special.”

Porteous is particularly invested in the way nature is integrated into Humboldt’s campus. The keyboardist is an advocate for the university to better embrace the temperate rainforest biome that surrounds its concrete halls.

“I know on Humboldt’s campus there is an attempt to integrate it, but I think we could do it 10 times better,” Porteous said. “ I think, in the world in general, if we integrated native plants and native ecosystems into the infrastructure that we use on a day-to-day basis, that we would preserve and protect and restore a future that is much more livable for us and for all the other creatures on the planet.”

The band has been on an indefinite hiatus since the middle of this year, with their drummer Kai Derego Frankel working in Paraguay for the Peace Corps. The members have recently begun exploring their group identity, hoping to emphasize a, ‘who is Sporegasm?’ message in their next public appearance.

“It’s not like we don’t keep in touch. These are some of my closest friends,” Ortiz said. “We always hang out. We’ve gotten naked together, platonically. We’re just really close buds, and if there’s an opportunity, I’m sure we’ll all be interested.”

Nick is the news editor at The Lumberjack, and studies wildlife and journalism with the goal of spreading his love of nature through media. A famous recluse, he is rarely seen at social functions, but you might dig him up in a SAC lounge beanbag chair. Chat with him at ne53@humboldt.edu!

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha: the fish king of the “Beaver State”

by  Ariana Wilson
This week, we welcome an out-of-state finned friend from the North — Oregon’s state fish, the chinook salmon. The most significant and valuable species of Pacific salmon, with its common name originating from the Chinookan peoples. Known by many other names, including king salmon, quinnat salmon, spring salmon, blackmouth, and tyee salmon.

These salt and freshwater dwellers are native to the North Pacific Ocean and the river systems of western North America, from California to Alaska, as well as rivers in Asia, from northern Japan to northeast Siberia. After hatching, these salmon typically spend one to eight years in the ocean before returning to their home rivers to spawn. Chinook salmon spawn in larger and deeper waters compared to other salmon species and can be found on their spawning nests from September to December.

Last year’s historic dam removal project on the Klamath River has resulted in a flourishing population of chinook salmon in Oregon’s river basin. The last time chinook salmon were seen in the Klamath was in 1912, over 100 years ago.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the chinook salmon population along the California coast is experiencing a decline due to overfishing, habitat loss in freshwater and estuarine areas, hydropower developments, unfavorable ocean conditions, and various hatchery practices.

For sport anglers, a large chinook salmon is a prized catch.These fish are known for their nutritional value, although some populations of chinook salmon are endangered, many others remain secure. The species has not yet been assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. 

Ari is a senior journalism major and the science editor this semester, with an adoration for the environment and conservation. She is currently pursuing her scientific diving certification and plans to meld her journalistic passions with scientific research in the future. For any science inquiries, please contact ajw167@humboldt.edu.

by Nick Escalada

Ask any campus-dwelling Cal Poly Humboldt student what kind of wildlife they spot at night, and nine answers out of ten will be none other than the humble striped skunk. Mephitis mephitis is a common sight across North America, easily identified by their bushy tails and distinct white V-shaped stripe along their backs. These nocturnal omnivores primarily feed on insects, but have been known to diversify toward eating vegetable plants and small reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and aquatic invertebrates.

Of course, the biggest cause for human concern within these animals is their ability to spray foul-smelling musk from their posterior scent glands when threatened. This tactic is a last-resort defense mechanism a skunk will likely only employ if you’re going out of your way to push its buttons. However, the forest-adjacent spaces across campus and greater Arcata see a lot of overlap with the home ranges of local skunks, so Humboldt students are at slightly greater risk of coming face-to-face with a skunk’s caboose.

The best way to avoid a skunk spray dowsing is to avoid an encounter altogether. Keep your night hikes in the Community Forest to a minimum, and stick to well-lit, paved pathways after dark. While technically carnivorous, skunks aren’t known to pick fights with animals larger or equal in size, so you shouldn’t worry about getting chased down.

The worst thing to do in a run-in is making the skunk feel like it’s backed into a corner. In cases where this somehow happens by accident, it might hiss or stomp before turning its back to you and raising its tail. Treat this less as a panic signal and more as a generous warning. The skunk will not spray a drop unless you give it reason to, so remove yourself calmly and slowly to avoid escalation.

You’ve read this far, so you’re probably still afraid of getting stinky. The only safety-related point to remember when getting sprayed is to close your eyes, as the oily musk can cause a burning sensation with direct contact. In regards to treating that putrid odor, perhaps you’ve heard of the tomato paste bath method. While this isn’t mere myth, it’s far from the neatest and most cost-effective way to remove the stench.

Skunk smell is characterized mostly by the sulfur-based thiols in the musk, which can be neutralized through oxidation. You should attempt this first by showering with deodorizing soap and oil-dissolving shampoo. If this doesn’t work — it probably won’t for a direct hit — soak for half an hour in a baking soda bath, and treat your stained clothes with a baking soda and hydrogen peroxide solution.

Skunks have developed a stigma among people for their one unflattering ability, but the extent of fear attached to the family seems unwarranted. Like most misunderstood nocturnal hunters, skunks are more afraid of people than we are of them, and peaceful coexistence with our woodland neighbors is possible if we see them for who they are.

Nick is the news editor at The Lumberjack, and studies wildlife and journalism with the goal of spreading his love of nature through media. A famous recluse, he is rarely seen at social functions, but you might dig him up in a SAC lounge beanbag chair. Chat with him at ne53@humboldt.edu!

By Nick Escalada
Ever since a deadly coronavirus strain swept the globe in 2020, mankind has grown more health-conscious in wildly different ways, from vaccine abstinence to varying degrees of germophobia.

In recent years following the original outbreak and the development of vaccines, COVID-19 has diminished conceptually from a world-threatening plague to a passing nuisance for most healthy people. Like all viruses, though, it is extremely volatile, and lingering variants still mutate, spread and sicken entire communities seemingly out of the blue.

So far in the post-pandemic era, Cal Poly Humboldt appears to be a breeding ground for a new variant each fall. With much of the student body returning from travels abroad, those laying ill as classes start will likely not be scratching their heads at the cause.

Missing out on course overviews and forming study groups does not often spell success, so taking caution around late August and early September has become a yearly ritual. 

The best way to maintain good health amid a COVID-19 outbreak is to prevent contracting the virus altogether. Wearing an N-95 face mask in crowded lecture halls gives protection from airborne particulate and droplet pathogens. Taking vitamin C packets and other immune support supplements adds extra security, and avoiding unnecessary social gatherings removes a lot of risk.

According to the CDC, the symptoms of COVID-19 include fatigue, headache, sore throat, occasional fever, cough and congestion. Testing is always advisable upon experiencing any of these, and test kits are available for 20 dollars in the health & wellness vending machines on campus and occasionally for free at Oh Snap. 

If a test comes back positive, the California Department of Public Health recommends an isolation period of around 5 days. A fever wearing off and symptoms improving isn’t bold confirmation of the virus’s absence, and it may have just entered a mild but still contagious state. Testing again just in case is never the wrong move.

Whether life-threatening or not, COVID-19 sucks, and taking measures to alleviate symptoms eases the mental toll while riding the sickness out. Ibuprofen or acetaminophen of any brand will reduce those fevers and splitting headaches, and over-the-counter mucus relief should free up congested airways.

At a time where navigating campus can feel like a disease-riddled game of survival, consulting an expert is in one’s best interest. The clinic in the Student Health Center provides information, resources and basic medical services at no cost to students.

Nick is the news editor at The Lumberjack, and studies wildlife and journalism with the goal of spreading his love of nature through media. A famous recluse, he is rarely seen at social functions, but you might dig him up in a SAC lounge beanbag chair. Chat with him at ne53@humboldt.edu!

By Mia Costales

Cal Poly Humboldt has made history as it becomes the first university in the state of California to earn an accreditation from the Society for Range Management (SRM) for the rangeland resource science (RRS) program. The program is now one of only 15 schools globally to earn this accreditation.  

The rangeland resource science program at Cal Poly Humboldt is a science-based major with an emphasis on botany, soil science and rangeland management of natural resources. The program offers a hands-on approach to local land management and grants students the opportunity to work with ranchers, conservationists, tribes, government agencies and Arcata’s local community at large. 

Justin Luong, an assistant professor in rangeland science and management at Cal Poly Humboldt, provided insight into some of the activities the program provides.

“Every year, the RRS program students have the opportunity to travel to the Society for Range Management where we compete in competitions related to plant identification and rangeland management,” Luong said. “The Range and Soils Club is a great student community that also further showcases career opportunities, resume workshops and relevant guest speakers. We are a great major for anyone who loves to be outdoors and work with plants, soils or animals.”

Earning the SRM accreditation elevates Cal Poly Humboldt’s status and credibility. It also gives the program graduates an advantage when entering the job market. 

According to the SRM website, “Granting of the status of ‘Certified Professionals in Rangeland Management’ by the Society for Range Management signifies that the individual so designated has met the basic qualifications to do professional work in this field and has not been found to engage in unprofessional conduct.” 

If a university desires this accreditation, they must first contact the SRM Executive Vice President for evaluation. The evaluation consists of meeting specific criteria, as well as an on-site visit by the SRM Program Accreditation Committee. There are seven accreditation standards that a university must meet in order to earn this title. Some of these standards include having a required curriculum, assigned academic advisors, faculty adept at teaching rangeland courses and suitable field instruction facilities. 

“During our accreditation specifically, I organized a community dinner which included our local ranchers, land managers, university officials and Range and Soils Club Officers,” Luong said. 

Luong noted that many local community businesses such as Jersey Scoops, Cattlewomen’s Association, Sigma Xi, Moonstone Crossing Winery, Septentrio, Eel River Brewery and Humboldt Distillery offered donations to the program. 

The accreditation took effect with the beginning of this fall semester. As for the future of the RRS program, faculty and students anticipate further support from the university.

“The accreditation bestows greater credence to our rangeland degree,” Luong said. “Often employers may prioritize people with degrees from accredited programs compared to the same degree from another university without accreditation. In addition, this helps further connect Cal Poly Humboldt with 14 other accredited programs across North America to provide additional opportunities and connections for students.”

Many RRS students also recognize the benefits of an accreditation and the competitive edge it will give their degree. Sage Brislen, a senior RRS major, stressed the importance of rangeland sciences and how RRS can be applied to many different types of environmentalism. 

“I think a range and soils B.S. is really practical,” Brislen said. “It can be applied to almost all environmental work, but having a niche makes you a more desirable or interesting candidate. Rangelands are some of the broadest yet most degraded environments in the world; we need more people studying them.”

Mia is a journalism major and the Editor in Chief of The Lumberjack. She hopes to give a platform to underrepresented communities through her writing and provide the public with thoughtful and informed stories. In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading and playing her violin. Contact Mia at mdc140@humboldt.edu

The species that made a girl start swimming with the fishies.

By Ariana Wilson

We stopped at a rest stop in Washington for the first time in what felt like a million years. Little did I know, that last stop of our cross-country roadtrip would alter my brain chemistry so much that it’d inspire a story in the Lumberjack. 

The green sturgeon. 

I was convinced that this fish could have swallowed me whole, and you would have been hard-pressed to change my mind that this magnificent fish was not, in fact, a shark. Looking back on my youth, this could also be the origin for my love for the ocean and scuba diving. Green sturgeon are anadromous fish meaning, like me, they can live or dive in both fresh and saltwater.

Twenty-seven species of sturgeon can be found in the Northern Hemisphere, with two that migrate along the west coast: the green sturgeon and the white sturgeon. The green sturgeon was first discovered in the San Francisco Bay in 1857. The white sturgeon was first scientifically observed in California in 1967.

These fish are gentle giants, taking time to reach sexual maturity around age 15 and living up to 60 to 70 years old. If you’re lucky, you may see an occasional green sturgeon in Humboldt County. Students in the fisheries and wildlife department are currently conducting research on their presence and activity in our local waters. 

These fish are often compared to sharks. While the two do share similar features, alas, sturgeon have some key differences — their lack of teeth, the ability to use their flexible “lips” to suck up food, and their skeleton which is composed of cartilage and a series of external plates called scutes, to name a few. Throughout their complex lives, green sturgeon will spawn multiple times and return to their home rivers every three to five years. 

Green sturgeon’s numbers have been rapidly declining due to anthropogenic harvest and destruction of spawning habitat. This prevents the reproduction of their offspring from leaving the rivers they are spawned in to explore the wide expanse of the ocean. With researchers and grants, Humboldt students can be active participants in sturgeon’s increasing population in Northern California.

Ariana Wilson is an incoming senior staring down her last year of undergrad. As a journalist and budding scientist borrowing words from Einstein, “The important thing is to never stop questioning.” With that, I am oFISHally done with this semester. 

By Jess Carey

Cal Poly Humboldt’s proximity to the ocean and on-campus resources like the fish hatchery and Telonicher Marine Lab make it an ideal place to study aquatic organisms. Biology graduate student Lucas Kebow is unraveling the evolutionary history of a local fish species through a lens of embracing queer perspectives in science. 

“The tubesnout is not the most important economically, but they’re interesting in the sense that there is so little information on them,” Kebow said. “They’re also a huge food source for a bunch of the animals we have here [in Humboldt Bay]. They’re super important for other animals’ diets and they nest on kelp and eelgrass, which is in decline.”

Despite their low intelligence and small size, tube snouts have notably complex behavioral tendencies. The male fish not only creates the nest, but also guards it like a stay-at-home dad. They act hostile toward invaders, although they are so tiny that it is not a very effective defense. The female fish lays her eggs and then moves on, not investing in the eggs’ development or safety. 

Historically in science, species that don’t fit heteronormative standards have been sidelined, especially with behavioral studies, as researchers often project their own personal biases onto what they are studying. The world of aquatic biology is full of exceptions to the dominant narratives of gender and sex, from male seahorses giving birth, to hermaphrodite slugs or sex-changing clownfish. 

“A lot of the queer folks I know find these particular topics interesting,” Kebow said. “It sort of illuminates the natural diversity of evolution and how things have evolved and continue to evolve in animal populations.” 

In addition to a sidelining of non-heteronormative behavior, there is a historical trend of overemphasizing competition in ecological studies. 

“You can think of everything as a competition or you can think of everything as just kind of happening by chance,” Kebow said. “Of course, evolutionary drivers are very important, and competition is important. But, I think there’s a lot to be said about just accepting nature as it is and meeting it halfway instead of trying to force competitiveness onto it.” 

He also noted that fish are notoriously difficult to study due to being underwater and difficult to access. In future projects, he hopes to fill in gaps in our understanding of diverse behaviors and life histories in fish and other organisms. 

“I think queer voices are really important in the sciences to expand our horizons,” Kebow said. “To have different views on what the hell is going on that’s not just so single-mindedly focused on one perspective.”

The tubesnout is a sister species of the stickleback, another ray-finned fish that is very well-studied. The stickleback is a type genus, a phenomenon in biology where a particular species is used as a reference point for other related organisms. There is an extensive understanding of stickleback development, evolutionary history and genetics. 

Unlike the stickleback, the lack of information on tubesnout’s biology and evolutionary history leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Despite being incredibly common — with a native range from Baja, California up to Alaska — little is understood about their anatomy and behavior. 

The tubesnout makes a nest and lays eggs by secreting glue from its kidneys onto a host kelp. However, the mechanisms of this glue production are not completely understood and not universally shared throughout all relatives of the stickleback.

“It’s a little unclear whether [tubesnouts] separately evolved the characteristic to create the glue, or if it’s from a shared ancestor and was lost a couple of times,” Kebow said. 

He explained that since genes for glue production have been identified in the stickleback, he is able to develop genetic probes that will indicate whether or not the same genes are present in the tubesnouts. Kebow is also developing a concise anatomical survey of the tubesnout, which is challenging due to the fish’s small size. He is constructing the first scientific drawings of the species’ anatomy by dissecting male and female fish of different age groups. 

“The more you know about a species, the better you can conserve what is important to that ecosystem,” Kebow said. 

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in ecology and minoring in journalism. They are passionate about telling stories that are inspiring to the community, branching their interests in science, music, and storytelling.

By Nick Escalada

The Union Street sidewalk between the Kinesiology and Behavioral and Social Science  buildings is a well-trodden path at Cal Poly Humboldt. Whether it’s their first or hundredth commute, students often divert their gazes to the fenced-off aquatic compound beside them, many having little idea of its purpose.

This is the university’s fish hatchery, a remarkable piece of infrastructure rarely seen on college campuses. The hatchery was constructed to serve the school’s equally unique fisheries curriculum. It acts as a small-scale representation of the wider ecological and aquacultural breeding programs that occur in commercial and government fisheries. 

Hatchery Manager Patrick Nero explained that this hatchery leans toward a conservation-based model, aimed to raise native species of fish that can be released into the wild to bolster populations. 

“There’s a lot of uncertainty with the climate and our biological systems coming up in the future, and we need this next generation to be able to help us,” Nero said. “[Students] need to be able to do what they can to mitigate the damage that we’re doing.”

Among these species are the Northern California steelhead trout and its close relative, the coastal cutthroat trout, who are both listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Versions of these fish that are bred in controlled environments like hatcheries may not receive the same protections under the act as their wild counterparts, but these programs still serve as a safety net for the ecosystems they contribute to.

“I want them to value the resource that we have, and appreciate nature,” Nero said. “But also to know that not everything is under human control.”

The first stop upon entering the hatchery is the spawning room, which features dozens of small tanks connected to a central filtration system. The occupancy of these tanks varies throughout the year, and currently the room only houses one group of newborn steelhead that are each just larger than a human thumbnail.

The back door of the spawning room leads to the larger outdoor section of the hatchery visible from the street. A wooden shade structure covers an elongated concrete raceway that loosely resembles a river. Here, adult steelhead and cutthroat are released to swim more freely until student researchers facilitate spawning by gently squeezing sperm out from males and mixing them with females’ eggs. Fisheries majors are taught other common practices with these adult subjects, such as marking, tagging, anesthetizing and even surgical procedures for those who need them.

Despite the hatchery appearing tailored to a very specific field of study, it offers resources for scholars well beyond the fisheries program. Fellow students in the College of Natural Resources and Sciences frequently conduct research in the compound, and even non-STEM undergrads are welcome to find project material in the outdoor ponds. 

Understanding fisheries can build foundational knowledge of government policy, business in the private sector and indigenous food sovereignty depending on which hatcheries are looked at. The one on campus is an especially calming and romantic spot for the arts and humanities.

Sharing a department, fisheries and wildlife management have close ties both academically and physically.

“We’ve had non-fisheries majors do independent research and their own studies here at the fish hatchery,” Nero said. “So the opportunities are not exclusive for fisheries majors,

and you get a good view of the game pens from our side of the fence as well.”

Perhaps the most striking features of the hatchery are the circular pools that occupy most of the yard. Juvenile trout are placed here to swim against a constant rotational current that will ensure healthy development and proper water quality. Up until a few months ago, the excess nutrients and waste from the pools were collected in a large man-made pond in the back, which gave rise to explosive duckweed growth on its surface. The duckweed has since been removed and the pond is now home to several orange koi.

The few fish visible from the outer sidewalk emerge as giant shark-like silhouettes from a dark rectangular pool. These are white sturgeons, which the university acquired from a local caviar farm and repurposed for student research. Nero easily caught each of the fish held at the hatchery for display in this article, but struggled to contain the immense tail strength of these bottom-feeding behemoths. These fish are only about a third of the way along their 15 to 20-year journey toward sexual maturity.

Aside from its professional and academic applications, the fish hatchery proves itself a source of inspiration and wonder to those curious enough to inquire about it. Nero expressed his desire for ordinary folk to feel welcome to explore the hatchery freely whenever they walk by.

“The doors are open Monday through Friday for visitors. Anybody who’s interested, come on in through the front doors,” Nero said. “It’s a beautiful part on campus where you can stroll through, admire the fish, ask questions and scratch your curiosity button.”

Nick is a sophomore minoring in journalism who reports on happenings of all sorts. As a wildlife major, he enjoys nature-related pieces. On his off days, you can find him taking a hike behind campus or collecting shiny stuff on the beach.

By Jess Carey

Salal berries are one of the most common and underappreciated woodland snacks in the North Coast. Blueberry-like in texture and flavor, with a much more sweet and floral taste; you can forget your bland mushy berries in little plastic tubs from the grocery store — these are the real deal. The joy of snacking on berries while on a walk in the woods is monumentally different compared to the soulless beeps of the self-checkout at Safeway. Ingesting a little bit of dirt or the occasional bug won’t hurt you — but a sterile relationship with food and nature might. Armed with a little bit of plant identification practice, you have nothing to fear. Foraging, to me, is a beautiful and accessible way to connect with nature while honoring indigenous knowledge.

Salal, or Gaultheria shallon, is a common shrub that can be found throughout the Arcata Community Forest and scattered around campus landscaping. The plant’s Wiyot name is viqhul. While its berries won’t be ready for picking until July or Aug., the plant is in full bloom now. Salal is in the Ericaceae family — a group characterized by adorable pink bell-shaped flowers in long clusters. They look like tiny lanterns that a fairy might carry, or perhaps wear as a hat. 

Its dull green oval leaves are slightly pointed, simple and usually two to four inches long. The plant grows in mats around the base of trees and in thickets throughout the woods. It is a humble shrubby plant, usually not more than two or three feet tall and is fairly inconspicuous until its flowers emerge in spring. 

Summer is approaching, and with it, the promise of berry season. The huckleberries, or Vaccinium, also have edible berries and look similar to salal, although with smaller leaves and denser bushier growth. Other common edible berries that will be ripe soon include blackberry, salmonberry and thimbleberry, all of the genus Rubus. If you are inspired to try them out for yourself, always keep in mind the principles of the honorable harvest — to only take what you need, respect the plants and embrace reciprocity with the land. 

 Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in ecology and minoring in journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science, music, and the arts.

A trip through the Dennis K. Walker Greenhouse’s extensive collection

By Jess Carey and Nick Escalada

Take a break from class and step into the lush island of life that is the Dennis K. Walker Greenhouse. The giant translucent dome sitting between Wildlife and Fisheries and the science buildings is a familiar landmark of Humboldt’s campus to most students, even if some have no idea what it contains. The greenhouse includes over 1,000 specimens from 187 families.

Specimens on display range from backyard garden favorites to potential once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunities. Each time you peruse the greenhouse collections, something new may be in bloom. 

Temperate Room

The largest room in the greenhouse other than the dome is the first stop on the right from the entrance, and it stores a myriad of fruiting plants from temperate regions. Several members of the Solanaceae family on display include Capsicum, the habanero, and devil’s trumpet, Datura. Affectionate types will fawn over the sweetheart plant, whose modified leaves indent at the tip to form an adorable heart shape. There are many specimens of cycads, unique plants that at first glance appear very similar to palms, but are actually conifers. This means that they are more closely related to trees with cones, like pines. 

Desert Room

Warm, parched air swells forth from the desert room whenever its door is opened. The section features dozens of impressive species of cacti, from the branching white Mammillaria magnifica to the beach ball-sized Grusonii. On both sides of a stylish cow skull are the delightfully hairy Indian comb cactus and the imposing Madagascar Palm. There are several specimens of Welwitschia, which is considered a living fossil as the only extant member of its lineage. Its unique trailing tendril-like leaves continue growing for its whole life, dying off near the ends. 

Aquatic Room

The aquatic room features several large concrete ponds teeming with life, not limited to plants. Look closely into the water and you can see many aquatic creatures, including worms and shrimps, sharing their habitat with the likes of Taro and water lilies. Dainty Azolla coats the surface of some ponds, floating on the water’s surface and following its rippling movement. 

Several carnivorous plants call this room home. Drosera and Pinguicula exude sticky droplets of a compound that attracts small bugs. Similar to the more well-known venus flytrap, the plants trap bugs. These plants send their flowers up on tall thin stalks, in order to prevent their pollinators from becoming prey. 

Tropical Room

The tropical room includes many Araceae like laceleaf and peace lily. These plants have unique stalk-like flowers called a spathe. Other fun, tropical characters are the carnivorous pitcher plant, and many common houseplant species like Philodendron and string-of-pearls. Many houseplant species are of tropical origin, because the warm and dimly lit conditions of most homes mimic tropical environments. 

Fern Room

Ferns are lush, leafy plants that lack the ability to produce seeds. Instead, they produce spores. Look under the leaves in this room and you’ll see small yellow-brown spots called sori that are the site of spore production. Species in this room range from native Polypody and Bracken fern to tropical giant fern. 

Dome

Stepping into the tropical dome on a cold rainy Humboldt day provides a lush respite from the gloom. The warm and humid room mimics a tropical climate, and the beautifully designed room is as aesthetically pleasing as it is scientifically informative. Tree ferns tower over a small waterfall, its banks lush with Pothos and other tropical understory plants. There are several pitcher plants, milkweeds and even a coffee tree. Air plants and orchids decorate the walls. There is even a rare corpse flower, although it only blooms every two to ten years. 

The greenhouse has open visiting hours from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Mouse Sloan is a senior in the Botany program at Cal Poly Humboldt, and works as a student assistant in the greenhouse. They say that the collection is an awesome resource for students. 

“It also serves the community as a place of solace amidst academic and life stress,” Sloan said. 

Click here to see the greenhouse map with room names.

Nick is a sophomore minoring in journalism who reports on happenings of all sorts. As a wildlife major, he enjoys nature-related pieces. On his off days, you can find him taking a hike behind campus or collecting shiny stuff on the beach.

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in biology and double minoring in botany and journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science, music, and the arts.

Claytonia sibirica – miner’s lettuce or candyflower

By Jess Carey

Spring is in full swing in the Arcata Community Forest. Look out for small pink blooms of Claytonia sibirica poking out from underneath shrubs and trees. The plant is in the family Montiaceae. The plant’s common name, miner’s lettuce, comes from its lettuce-like taste and texture. It was an important source of vitamin C for gold rush miners and helped to prevent scurvy. I like to call it trail salad, as it makes a great trailside snack. 

The young leaves have a bright spinach-like flavor that gets more bitter as the plant flowers and ages. Although it is very common, it is easily overlooked due to its small size. Most plants are less than a foot tall. Its flowers are usually less than a half inch across, and white, with bright pink stripes.

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in biology and double minoring in botany and journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science and the arts.

By Nick Escalada

What is your favorite part of being a Cal Poly Humboldt student? Is it the quirky and intimate local community, inspiring faculty body or exciting new fields of study? If your answer resembles any of these, you may be a boring bastard who needs some enlightening. We live in one of the most uniquely beautiful regions on the planet, and that can be hard to remember when your weekend excursions consist of Dutch runs, thrifting and laps around the farmer’s market.

For starters, our campus is home to an expansive community forest with a scenic marsh and wildlife sanctuary within walking distance, but if you want some fresh air that’s not laced with THC, a quick drive up north is your best shot. Between Orick and Crescent City are dozens of miles of pristine forest, grasslands and beaches all protected by the National and State Park Service. Below is a list of essential day and overnight trips in the area you would be remiss to pass up before you graduate.

Trillium Falls Trail Loop (40 min drive)

About 40 miles up the 101 lies a left turn onto Davidson Road, where you can pull over to watch the occasional elk herd graze in the surrounding meadows. Beyond that is a questionably narrow route to Gold Bluffs Beach, which offers car camping reservations, but you’re better off making another left at the junction which will lead you to the Trillium Falls Trail. The two-or-so-mile loop makes for a laid-back tour of Humboldt’s temperate rainforest ecosystem, featuring vibrant plant life like the crack willow and American skunk cabbage. The titular falls rest near the end, and I’ll prescribe a minimum of one splash to the face for a good time. Just be careful not to slip on the mossy rocks.

Sue Meg State Park (20 min drive)

Sue Meg, pronounced Soo-May, is a shorter trip not far past Trinidad, and it is popular among travelers for good reason. Apart from its maintained campgrounds, it contains some excellent views of the rocky coastlines which occur more up in southern Oregon. Chief among these vistas are Patrick’s Point, which becomes a great spot for humpback whale watching in the early summer, and Wedding Rock, which juts out into the sea with a medieval castle aesthetic, and can in fact be just as magical for proposals! In the shadow of these monoliths is a trail to the water line, and at low tide you can explore some immaculate pools of north coast sea life.

Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway (45 min drive)

A few minutes past Davidson Road will get you to Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. If you drive up to Humboldt from SoCal, this is like a souped-up version of the Avenue of the Giants, complete with bigger trees, a bike-friendly road and several diversions worth your time. The first and most interesting one is Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which welcomes you with a massive grassy clearing open to sightseeing, hiking and camping. This place holds your best chance of spotting Roosevelt elk, the largest subspecies of elk on the continent and native only to our area. If you’re headed up to Crescent City or Oregon, I highly recommend taking the full length of the parkway as a scenic alternate.

Redwood Creek Trail (30 min drive)

If you love nature enough, you will eventually go backpacking. It is an unfortunate pipeline, and hardcore outdoors enthusiasts need not look further than the Redwood Creek Trail just beyond Orick. The path runs along the bank of a sizable river, and certain parts may get flooded during the rainy season. But a few puddles never hurt a young adventurer like yourself, and once you push through, you will be rewarded with stellar photo ops and one or two guaranteed wildlife encounters. Two designated campsites lay partway down the trail, but the real gem of this locale is its permittance of dispersed camping anywhere on the river’s gravel bars. If civilization in Humboldt still somehow overwhelms you like it does me, you will delight in the total isolation of this forested retreat where no one will hear you scream.

Nick is a sophomore minoring in journalism who reports on happenings of all sorts. As a wildlife major, he enjoys nature-related pieces. On his off days, you can find him taking a hike behind campus or collecting shiny stuff on the beach.

Lystichon americanus- the skunk cabbage

By Jess Carey

Long ago, before there were salmon, the people of the Pacific Northwest coast had only leaves and roots to eat. Finally, the first salmon swam up the river to spawn. Fighting her way through the rapids, she heard a voice call out. 

“Finally, my relatives full of eggs have arrived to feed the people!” 

Salmon was happy to be welcomed with gratitude. 

“Who is it that calls?” Salmon asked. 

“It is your uncle, the skunk cabbage,” the response echoed through the canyon. 

The salmon climbed ashore to meet her uncle. As a reward for generously providing for the people, skunk cabbage received a club and an elk skin coat, and was given the nutrient-rich lowlands near the water. This legend traces back to the Kathlamet and Clackamas peoples, and was adapted here from Pojar and MacKinnon’s Plants of the Pacific Northwest. The story explains skunk cabbage’s strange appearance and affinity for swamps. 

The leaves and roots of skunk cabbage — when boiled — are edible. Uncooked, they burn the mouth and skin, due to high concentrations of needle-like calcium oxalate crystals. Its waxy leaves are also used for food storage and cups. The whole plant exudes a distinctive musty odor that lends it its name. Leaves and sheathed club-like flowers emerge from dormant roots called rhizomes every spring. While the plant sheds its flowers and leaves in the winter, its rhizome can live some 20 years, safely protected from winter frost in the cozy soil. Skunk cabbage’s strange and vaguely phallic flowers are the characteristic blooms of the Araceae family. Similar flowers are seen in the common landscaping plant, calla lily.

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in biology and double minoring in botany and journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science, music, and the arts.

Gardening community grows at 24th annual seed and plant exchange

By Jess Carey and Nick Escalada

The Humboldt Permaculture Guild hosted their 24th annual Seed and Plant Exchange last week on March 15. Thousands of agricultural enthusiasts gathered at the Arcata Community Center to trade seeds and build community around local permaculture. Hundreds of varieties of vegetable, fruit, herb and flower seeds were available for free, donated by community members with excess to share. Exchanging seeds reduces waste, as oftentimes plants produce many more seeds than gardeners are able to use. Vendors sold plants, herbal medicine, books and more. 

Somewhat unique to this convention was a scion exchange, which entails sharing varieties of fruit trees that can then be used to graft new varieties onto existing trees. In addition to grafting workshops, demonstrations of sustainable agricultural practices such as making biochar, and properly cleaning and saving seeds took place throughout the day.

Along with the myriad of plants and seeds for the taking, there was a raffle and several workshops. Community members and local organizations tabled around the perimeter of the event, sharing gardening tips and information about local environmental projects. 

Rosemary Meisler co-directs the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, Cal Poly Humboldt’s student-run and community-led sustainability education program, and was a fan of the event. 

“Exchanging seeds has so many benefits on so many levels,” Meisler said. “It is a great way to tangibly invest in keeping our gardens native and diverse while mutually supporting each other’s farms of all sizes.” 

The Humboldt Permaculture Guild organizes events like these year-round with shared themes of conservation and land stewardship through plant cultivation. In addition to gatherings like the seed exchange — which is the most ambitious and popular event of the year — they host gardening education workshops and community projects, such as building seed libraries.

“This event is a really wonderful opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds,” Meisler said. “I learned so much about farming techniques, growing food and medicine independently, and participating in our local economies and ecologies.” 

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in biology and double minoring in botany and journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science, music, and the arts.

Nick is a sophomore minoring in journalism who reports on happenings of all sorts. As a wildlife major, he enjoys nature-related pieces. On his off days, you can find him taking a hike behind campus or collecting shiny stuff on the beach.

The plant that once towered above the dinosaurs

By Jess Carey

Dinosaurs once roamed through forests of giant horsetails, large bamboo-like plants up to 100 feet tall. Today’s horsetails may seem tall to an insect. Plants in the genus Equisetum are the sole living representatives of their ancient lineage that towered over dinosaurs in the Jurassic age. Today, they grow in dense clusters in wet areas, as a microcosm of their former glory. A bank of Equisetum looks like a tiny forest. Every spring, long tapering green stalks poke through the understory, arising from underground roots specialized for hibernation through winter. Our local species, Equisetum telmateia, is in abundance in wet places on campus and around the Arcata Community Forest. A particularly robust community of horsetails thrive along the creek that runs by the College Creek soccer field. 

Equisetum’s ancient origin is reflected in its alien appearance. Bottlebrushy leaves spiral from green stalks, broken up into nodes that progressively get smaller as the plant grows higher. Fertile, leafless stalks are a lighter brown-green and culminate with a corncob-looking reproductive structure called the strobilus. The strobilus is basically similar to a pinecone, except this plant makes single-celled spores instead of seeds. This reproductive strategy is similar to how fungi reproduce. If you pop off a node and rub it in your fingers, you’ll notice a coarse texture, thanks to silica deposited in the plant’s cell walls. This brittle texture is the origin of the plant’s other common name, scouring rush, as the plant can be used to scour dishes clean.

Diving into the science behind consonance and dissonance in music

By Mia Costales

You watch as the actress cracks open the basement door. The camera pans down, revealing rickety wooden stairs leading to a pitch black abyss. As she descends down the steps, the soundtrack swells. The boom of timpani grows louder, mimicking the sound of a human heartbeat. The sharp shrill of violin strings send an involuntary chill down your spine. As the tempo picks up, you notice your pulse is steadily rising as well. Then, BOOM. A cacophony of noise blares through the speakers as a monster emerges from the dark. You may not have noticed, but that feeling of impending dread is thanks to the music. 

Music is a unique medium in that it has the power to replicate human emotion through sound. Music can influence mood, trigger memories and even shape emotional responses to experiences. To many, music in minor keys evokes feelings of sadness, longing and exhaustion. Major keys may evoke feelings of joy, jubilation and excitement. Music theory, the study of the fundamental elements of music — such as notation, rhythm and form — can offer scientific explanations as to why we associate particular sounds with emotions. 

Michael Fabian, a music professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, explained that in Western cultures, certain elements of music can sound consonant or dissonant. Typically, Western music that is considered consonant has a neutral or pleasing quality to it. On the other hand, dissonance is characterized by tension or unpleasantness.      

“Western music uses a tuning system based on ratios,” Fabian said. “The closer the ratio, the more dissonant the sound. There is an argument about the mathematical purity of the ratios being more ‘naturally’ pleasing to our ears, but that is a trend and not a guarantee.”

These ratios are also known as intervals. Intervals are the tonal distance between two notes. The term ratio concerns the proportional relationship of the frequencies of the sound waves between any two notes. The further apart each note’s sound wave frequency is from one another, the more pleasing to the ear it sounds.

In music theory, an interval such as a perfect fifth, is considered very consonant because the distance between each note is seven half steps — half steps being the smallest interval between two notes in Western music. Thus, the distance between each note’s sound wave  frequency is further apart. A popular example of a perfect fifth is the jump between the notes in the first two “twinkles” and the notes in the second two “twinkles” in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. 

Conversely, a minor second interval, which sounds tense, only contains one half step, making it sound dissonant. This is because the distance between each note’s sound wave frequency is much closer together. An example of a half-step is the difference in tone between an F# key on a piano, which is a black key, to the G key, the white key directly next to the black key.

The tempo, or speed, at which music is played also plays a large part in evoking human emotion. Rebekka Lopez, a 2023 music performance graduate, shared how she believes the tempo can affect the way a listener absorbs music. 

“The same exact melody can be played at different tempos and have a completely different effect on the listener depending on that,” Lopez said. “Even a super ‘happy’ melody can sound nostalgic or pensive if it’s performed more slowly. Vice versa, a normally slow melody can be sped up and take on a different meaning. As humans, we all experience higher heart rates for anxiety, excitement, fear and happiness, and much slower heart rates for calm, tired, empty, depressive and pensive moments.”

While elements like tempo, dynamics or phrasing definitely contribute to how a listener interprets the music, it’s important to note that no two people hear a piece of music exactly the same. Cultural, geographic and even generational differences hugely factor into how a person perceives music and what they perceive as ‘good’ or bad.’ For example, a 2016 study conducted by MIT and Brandeis University found that Westerners considered the interval between the notes C and F#, known as an augmented fourth, to be very dissonant, while members of the Tsimane’ tribe found the chord pleasing to the ear. 

“It’s crucial to remember that our perception of sound and music is hugely influenced by the musical culture we grow up listening to,” Fabian said. “To many people in my class, songs in minor keys sound ominous, tritones sound dissonant, et cetera. But for others, minor sounds melancholy, and tritones sound energetic. It really has so much to do with the music you heard growing up.”

By Jess Carey

Legend has it that long ago, a poor young man fell truly, tragically in love with the most beautiful princess in all the land. He scoured his savings and sold what little he owned to buy her gifts of slippers, jewelry and rabbits. He traveled many miles to her palace, where he confessed his love at her feet. She denied him reciprocity and took the gifts greedily. He was left alone and destitute. Heartbroken, he stabbed himself in the chest with his knife, and the first bleeding heart flower grew from the dirt where his corpse lay. The story traces back to a Japanese legend, as different species of Dicentra are native to California’s western neighbor. 

Dicentra formosa, or Pacific Bleeding Heart, will be blooming soon. The plant, of the poppy family,  flowers from March to early summer and dots the redwood forest with its delicate pink blooms. Its uniquely shaped inflorescences are a striking pink to lavender hue and balance in clusters atop long drooping stalks, like tiny hearts on a stick. A darker streak cuts each flower in half and looks suspiciously similar to dripping blood. The plant’s delicate and feathery leaves are cilantro-like in color and texture, but less tasty and unfortunately toxic. As summer approaches, the petals will wither away as a legume-like capsule fruit takes their place. The fruit will eventually dry up and split open, revealing seeds that have a special oil-rich coating that attract ants to aid in their dispersal. You can find Dicentra tracing up hillsides in the redwood forest, following trails of moisture in the troughs of streams. The plant also grows around campus, particularly abundant throughout the grounds of the residence halls that are nestled in the redwoods.

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in biology and double minoring in botany and journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science, music, and the arts.

By Nick Escalada

Picture this — you are suspended 100 feet in the air, overlooking a beautiful inlet of the Pacific Ocean teeming with wildlife. Shorebirds chirp down below, chorus frogs serenade you from all directions and crisp North Coast rainfall washes over your senses. Suddenly, a massive shadow enshrouds you, and your eyes dart up to meet the 7-foot wingspan of a brown and white raptor as it touches down within arm’s reach. While this might sound like every wildlife major’s perfect fantasy, you won’t have to limit this scene to your imagination for much longer.

Climbing Biologist and Sequoia Park Zoo Director Jim Campbell-Spickler partnered with Dr. Peter Sharpe of the Institute for Wildlife Studies to re-establish Humboldt’s locally renowned bald eagle nest cam livestream. Formerly known as Humboldt Bay Eagle Cam, the Faye Slough Eagle Cam is now situated at a promising new nest site by the wildlife area of the same name. 

The starring couple, known only as Mr. and Mrs. Humboldt Bald Eagle (HBE) were first observed in 2006 and were eventually the subjects of an initial livestream backed by the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center and Sequoia Park Zoo. The pair gained swaths of admirers on Facebook once they began rearing chicks, but they eventually abandoned their nest in 2016 and were not seen again. That was until two years ago, when a resembling couple was spotted building a home atop a 110-foot grand fir near Fay Slough.

 “It’s a great territory for them to hold,” Campbell-Spickler said. “And Fay Slough is amazing, so you can see they’re just hunting that area. It’s a great view.”

Like most birds, bald eagles are highly selective with the areas in which they choose to breed and raise their young. These doting parents often abandon fully built nests for reasons ranging from structural integrity to exposure to predators, but recent observations have the biologists hopeful that this pair is here to stay.

“This is about the time of year when we’d expect them to show up and start exhibiting courtship behavior,” Campbell-Spickler said. “[They’re] starting to really solidify that bond that they have for the breeding season, and we’re starting to see that behavior. It’s really early, so we’re watching very closely to see what happens. It’s like a soap opera.”

Even as apex predators, building a homefront in the treetops is no easy feat. A portion of the nest broke off during last week’s storm series, which has impeded the HBE’s construction progress a fair bit. On top of that, turf wars with other large birds of prey make early nest life a constant uphill battle.

“We watched the male who was roosting at the nest site one night get tagged pretty hard by a horned owl,” Campbell-Spickler said. “We are hearing red-shouldered hawks and red-tail hawks aggressively calling in the area, meaning that this is not just a territory held by bald eagles.” 

Despite sitting over 100-feet off the ground, both nests from the current and original livestream have occasionally housed numerous creatures beyond their original avian architects. So far, the phenomenon has brought up Pseudacris regilla, the Pacific chorus frog, and Aneides vagrans, the wandering salamander.

“A neat feature of our area is that these big nests just sponge up water and can support what are mostly considered terrestrial amphibians,” Campbell-Spickler said. “We did have our first frog observation the other night, with these warm, rainy conditions coming in. As far as I know, it’s not something that’s been discussed in literature yet. They seem to cohabitate, just unaware of each other.”

It’s apparent that bald eagle nests like these invoke as much joy and wonder in seasoned biologists as they do the casual birdwatcher or passerby. After all, the birds were a much rarer sight in Humboldt only a couple decades ago due to the uncontrolled logging and hazardous waste disposal of the county’s past.

“What we know is that in the lower 48 [states], Eagle numbers just crashed,” Campbell Spickler said. “Populations remain somewhat healthy in Alaska, but it’s some over the last several decades that we’ve seen this recovery in all of North America, so our region shows the same. There’s recovery. There’s a lot more young that are being produced, and it’s great to see. You wouldn’t see eagles flying around 20 years ago. But if you drive up to 101 North, you will see them at the lagoons, and they’re not uncommon anymore.”

The Fay Slough Eagle Cam is now live on Sequoia Park Zoo’s YouTube channel, Redwood Zoo. Highlight clips and pictures of the eagles are posted regularly to the Facebook page Fay Slough Bald Eagles, which boasts a lovely community of fans. You can even watch the drama unfold on a 65-inch screen on your next visit to the zoo in Eureka!

Nick Escalada is a sophomore minoring in journalism who reports on happenings of all sorts. As a wildlife major, he enjoys nature-related pieces. On his off days, you can find him taking a hike behind campus or collecting shiny stuff on the beach.