Names, like rivers, carry stories. Names are powerful, and reflect countless layers of connection to land and place. Baduwa’t is the original Wiyot name for what is now known as the Mad River. It was flippantly dubbed “mad” after a party of white land surveyors got into a squabble while camped on the banks in 1849.
The river flows 113 miles from its headwaters in Trinity County to meet the sea just north of Arcata, providing water for over 90,000 Humboldt County residents. It is a biodiversity hotspot, sustaining habitat for Coho and Chinook salmon, beavers and countless other species of plants and animals. It is one of the most remote watersheds in Northern California and carries water from snow-topped Klamath peaks to your cup of morning coffee.
A legacy of exploitation began with the erasure of its true name. Over 150 years of mining, damming and diversion have impacted the watershed dramatically. Extensive logging activities take place throughout the river’s basin, including high-impact practices like clear-cutting and road building. The watershed’s lower reaches have largely been leveed to prevent flooding. Runoff, erosion and subsequent habitat loss are a few of the threats to the river’s ecosystem. The river was listed as sediment, temperature and turbidity impaired by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act in 1992 and 2006.
Through the lens of colonialism, rivers may be worth only what they provide that can be sold, and names may be mere lines on a map — but there are some who remember Baduwa’t as a crucial lifeline for the Wiyot people. Community members and local agencies are partnering to revive the river’s health and encourage cultural connection. The Baduwa’t Watershed Council, formerly known as the Mad River Alliance, is a nonprofit organization based out of Blue Lake dedicated to the reclamation, protection and restoration of the Baduwa’t River and its watershed. They host river cleanups, educational programs, and community outreach and are currently developing plans to protect tributaries across the county.
One cannot inspire change without first telling a story. The Baduwa’t Documentary will premiere at the Eureka Theatre on Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. The film, co-directed by Dave Feral and Michelle Hernandez, is a collaborative project exploring the watershed’s history and highlighting connections to the place. $12 tickets with proceeds supporting the Council can be purchased online, and students can receive a free ticket by emailing info@baduwatwatershedcouncil.org.
There is power in a name, and a brighter future for Baduwa’t begins with honoring her heritage.
One of the first flowers of the seasonis beginning to bloom in the redwood forest. Graze your eyes across the trail’s edge while walking along the banks of Jolly Giant Creek, and you may see this neat little lily poking out of the duff.
Look closely — this plant is only around six inches tall. Its few basal leaves are banana peel-shaped with long parallel veins and lightly spotted with faint green and purple splotches. One to several flowers balance atop long purple-green stalks, with a peculiar kind of symmetry to their blooms. Lily flowers always have parts in groups of three — the lance-like pointed sepals, white-and-purple petals, pollen-bearing stamens, and a three-branched style form neat alternating triangles. Its purple-veined petals have a sort of hand-drawn quality, as if Mother Nature herself took a pen to each bloom.
The small flowers exude a slightly sour odor — reminiscent of carrion — utilizing a tried and true strategy for attracting pollinators by imitating the stench of decaying flesh. It’s this funky smell that lends the plant its common name, fetid adder’s tongue.
Check in again in a few weeks and you will see oval-shaped seed pods drooping on their stalks, ready to drop their seeds right onto the forest floor to be dispersed by ants. Remember never to pick this plant, as it is sensitive and endemic to California’s coastal rainforests.
College students have sex. People have sex. With sex comes sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In 2021, the CDC estimated that on any given day, 1 in 5 people in the U.S. have an STI, and that 85% of sexually people will get HPV at some point in their lifetime. Despite their prevalence, there is often a stigma that STIs are embarrassing, or dirty, creating shame and confusion. This shame often spirals into spreading misinformation, or pressure to be dishonest with partners. But the truth is, honesty and education are the solution, and pave the way to a healthier life.
Peer Health Education (PHE) is a student-led organization at Cal Poly Humboldt, funded by the Student Health Center (SHC), that aims to reduce barriers to health education. It is the place to get free condoms and get answers in a supportive and safe environment. Student employees are trained in topics of mental health, sexual health, body wellness, and their intersections. During their office hours, anyone can stop by to ask health-related questions and obtain safe sex and harm reduction supplies.
Sydney Isaac, a psychology major and mental health educator at PHE, commented on the culture of Peer Health.
“It’s a very non-judgemental space,” Isaac said. “No question is dumb, no question is weird. Nothing is weird! We want to meet people where they are at.”
Isaac also talked about the stigma around STIs and sexual health in general.
“Shame is a big barrier [to education],” Isaac said. “If you come from the world of abstinence culture, once you get to college, it’s scary, and people will obviously be having sex.”
Isaac stressed the importance of education for reducing stigma and creating bodily autonomy.
“Sexual health comes from a place of comfortability with yourself and your partner,” Issac said.
STI testing and other reproductive care services are available at the SHC and other medical facilities in the area such as Planned Parenthood.
“At the SHC and Planned Parenthood, you can sign a thing to say you want to bring a friend, and you can hold hands if there’s any treatment or anything and you want some support.” Isaac said. “You can also request a female or male provider.”
To make an appointment for STI testing, you can call or stop by the student health building. STI testing is as simple as swabbing yourself, putting it in a cup, and moving on with your day. LJ Ferris is a studio art major and the sexual health educator at PHE. He recommends that sexually active people get tested regularly, and especially if you have a new partner or if someone you are seeing has a new partner. It is important to get tested even if there are no symptoms, or if you were told by partners that they did not have an STI. The truth is, you never really know, and getting tested and taking your sexual health seriously can only benefit you.
“Getting tested [for STIs] is harm reduction for yourself and for others,” Ferris said. “It is really necessary to take these steps now and getting in the habit can lead to better knowledge overall with STIs.”
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.
A 78-foot, green and gold catamaran boat left the dry dock and slid into the waters of Bellingham Bay, Washington on the morning of Jan. 22. Her name is the North Wind, and she is the latest addition to the line of scientific research vessels operated by Cal Poly Humboldt.
The R/V North Wind is the successor to the Coral Sea, the university’s current research vessel, which has serviced countless students and faculty for the last 25 years. The Coral Sea will sail alongside its heir for a time but is slated to retire in 2026, as it is half a century old and no longer meets California’s emissions standards.
The North Wind sports a catamaran-style segmented hull made of lightweight aluminum with twin engines that efficiently propel its body through choppy waters. The vessel is custom designed to handle the rugged character of the North Coast, inspiring her name.
“The vessel’s name refers to the physical process that defines this region, driving the Pacific current, and contributing to ocean upwelling which provides our mild climate and rich fisheries,” said Eric Riggs, Dean of the College of Natural Resources & Sciences, in an official statement to the university. “It drives the ocean swells that generate our rugged coastline and provides a steady stream of storms and moisture that lead to our temperate, wet climate, feeding our forests and grasslands.”
Along with updated lab equipment and living quarters for multi-day expeditions, the North Wind boasts diving platforms on its stern that will streamline the routines of scientific dive students. Thanks to updated industry-standard surveying equipment, oceanography, marine biology, and wildlife majors will have smoother experiences collecting data and learning about oceanographic techniques.
The North Wind will undergo further testing in Washington before making her maiden voyage south to Humboldt Bay sometime this month. It has taken a few years, but the university’s polytechnic budget jump is beginning to show face. Only time will tell whether this shiny new vessel will walk the plank toward obsolescence or earn its sea legs as a valued investment.
Southern California is facing one of the most detrimental natural disasters in recent history. Over 12,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed or damaged and at least 25 people have died in the wake of four wildfires that broke out across Los Angeles County early this year, as documented by The Los Angeles Times on Jan. 17.
A lack of rain coupled with extremely powerful Santa Ana winds created the perfect storm for flames to spread rapidly through vegetation and neighborhoods, overwhelming local firefighting resources and prompting mass evacuations. The Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire have added to the growing list of destructive wildfire incidents in California’s recent history, raising questions about why and how this disaster occurred at such a scale, especially with wildfire season still months away.
Data from the Scripps Institution shows that California is getting hotter, seeing an average annual temperature increase of about 3 degrees since the early 1900s. Warmer temperatures coincide with a lack of rainfall, creating dangerous wildfire conditions as vegetation dries out. This year, L.A. experienced record-breaking temperatures throughout the summer and a significantly drier-than-usual fall and winter, receiving a scant 0.16 inches of rain since June, as documented by the Los Angeles Almanac in 2025. The chamise and manzanita chaparral, live oak woodland, and coastal sage scrub of the Santa Monica Mountains and the foothills of Angeles National Forest are constituted by oily and highly flammable plants that have evolved with regular fire return intervals.
Controlled burning is a land management technique where accumulated vegetation is burned intentionally during weather windows of low fire risk. The Chumash and Tongva peoples native to the Los Angeles basin light fires as a land management technique and cultural practice, opening up land for hunting and promoting ecosystem regeneration. Despite the benefits, this practice was historically repressed and even banned by the state’s 1850 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. Many grassroots organizations and agencies, like the Cultural Fire Management Council or the Indigenous People’s Burning Network, are a part of an effort to reestablish burn cycles and cultural relationships to fire across the West. Controlled burning mitigates the buildup of dense vegetation, which in turn contributes to less fuel present when a fire comes through. However, according to the California Chaparral Institute, high intensity fires in chaparral environments are driven primarily by weather patterns and not by age or density of shrubland.
Cal Poly Humboldt fire science professor Jeff Kane notes that increasing the scale of controlled burns as a management technique may not be an easy solution to fighting wildfires in Southern California.
“The thing about chaparral is that if it burns once, it can be ready to burn again a few years later,” Kane said. “You don’t have fuel accumulation in quite the same way as we see in forests. It’s hard to say what else could have been done to prevent this situation. When you have winds that are that fast and strong, embers are blowing everywhere. The weather was so extreme that firefighters couldn’t fly planes to drop retardant, or even access some of the places that were burning.”
In all of California’s most destructive wildfires, the brunt of property loss occurs around the wildland-urban interface. Neighborhoods like Altadena and Pacific Palisades are located in hilly, brushy terrain adjacent to and intermixed with large tracts of vegetation. Danger arises when homes are surrounded by this fire-prone and fire-dependent environment, especially if those homes are built out of flammable materials like wood. The city of Los Angeles has strict building safety codes for new construction in high fire danger zones, yet most development occurred before these laws were enacted, leaving older neighborhoods vulnerable.
Since 1960, the population of Los Angeles County has doubled, making it now the most populated county in the country, contributing to a persistent demand for new housing. However, 72% of L.A.’s land is zoned for single family homes, as shown by city zoning maps collected by the Othering and Belonging Institute. This means that it is illegal for developers to build apartments, tenements, or mixed-use buildings in these zones that make up most of the county. This creates pressure for developers to extend suburban sprawl into the hills and fringe of the city as lowlands are already developed, creating neighborhoods with high fire risk.
A complicated array of factors combined to create these deadly fires, and as weather patterns become more extreme, it remains crucial to adopt preventative strategies now. Improvements in urban planning, fireproofing existing buildings and creating sufficient fuel breaks around neighborhoods can be significant steps towards safer communities.
“Events like this are going to keep happening,” Kane said. “And we need to come up with some creative solutions moving forward.”
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.
On Oct. 3 at 6 p.m., a group gathered in Siemens Hall for a cannabis forum led by cannabis studies lecturers William Dolphin and Michelle Newhart. The two led a lecture titled Cannabis & Mental Health: The Paradox, based on their book The Medicalization of Marijuana: Legitimacy Stigma and the Patient Experience.
The room was buzzing with chatter before the lecture began. Once Newhart started to talk, the room went silent as everyone’s attention fell on the projector screen.
The presentation started off by comparing laypersons’ — regular people — ideologies around weed to psychiatric and medical people’s ideology of it. One side says cannabis helps manage mental health, and the other says it’s detrimental to it.
They went on to present data that shows that in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, managing mental health is one of the top three reasons to use cannabis.
If that’s the case, then why do we see so many articles linking psychosis and schizophrenia to cannabis use?
Dolphin and Newhart explained that this is because most cannabis research, averaging around $1.2 billion, is funded by the National Institute of Health which is a huge federal umbrella company. When you look a little deeper, you can see that under the umbrella, it’s really the National Institute of Drug Abuse who spends $1 billion on it.
‘Correlation is not causation’ is one of those phrases that your 6th-grade science teacher would be droning on about. It is also the same way they decided cannabis has a negative effect on mental health. They use something called a black box theory; you have an input — a black box — and an output. The system is described by its inputs and outputs, yet you cannot know how it works internally or in other words, what’s going on in the black box.
This idea that weed harms mental health is based on faulty research that a mid-19th-century physician performed on himself. Jacques-Joseph Moreu, a European physician found out about cannabis on a trip to Egypt, where he was given hashish. He brought a ton of it back with him to Europe and began to do experiments on himself with doses of hashish from 700 to 2,000 milligrams.
Mareu developed a hypothesis that when he would take these doses of cannabis, he would find himself in a state of psychosis. This is where we see the words abuse and use get mixed up. 700 mg is way too much for the average person and would probably make most feel like they are going crazy.
So, now you have all this research on one side going against cannabis as a way to treat mental health.
“Neutral research was suppressed for 100 years, and now there’s this sticky problem of what do you do with an entire body of research that’s only on one side,” Newhart said. “How do you fix that? And there is not a clear answer. You can’t just throw out everything that everyones done so far, but you also can’t treat that like it’s an equal balance of information that’s available either.”
It comes down to finding there aren’t enough researchers dedicated or even open to pushing the bar in terms of cannabis. Either because they are not interested or because they wouldn’t be taken seriously in their field of work.
The presentation ended with some final words that really seemed to stick with the crowd.
“Claims to mental health harm are the last linchpin in the drug war,” the final slide on the projector screen read.
Noah Pond is a Junior at Cal Poly Humboldt and a reporter and opinion editor for the Lumberjack. During his free time, he enjoys cold beer and his skateboard.
After earning a chemical engineering degree from the University of California, San Diego in 2014, Andrew Wolff spent four years in the chemical industry before switching gears to wildlife management in Japan. Today, as a graduate student in environmental resources engineering [ERE] at Cal Poly Humboldt, Wolff is surveying community members through research on the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary — a wetland ecosystem that is also a wastewater treatment system. His thesis integrates his diverse experiences, from engineering to wildlife conservation, to explore how this unique marsh not only enhances water quality but also provides critical environmental and community benefits.
Wolff found out about the ERE program and the Arcata Marsh through a YouTube video and reached out to Cal Poly Humboldt while he was in Nagano, Japan working on bear management. He began his graduate studies in Fall 2022 and plans to complete his grad program this fall.
Tesfa Yacob, an associate professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, helped Wolff transition into the program and introduced him to the Arcata Marsh Research Institute. Wolff was inspired by his own previous experiences in chemical engineering and wildlife management, which shaped his current research focus. Wolff’s initial thesis concept was to list beneficial uses of the Arcata Marsh, which evolved into a comprehensive project involving data analysis and community engagement.
“My project was a big meta-analysis of what’s been done at the marsh,” Wolff said. “Bringing it all together, and making it make sense for everyone that involves water quality, the wastewater treatment, and habitat creation.”
Andrew explains his motivation to pursue a master’s in engineering is driven by his dislike for the environmental impact of the chemical industry. He was impressed by the Arcata Marsh treatment system, especially its integration of wildlife habitat creation and wastewater treatment.
“I really respected wildlife management, the job I did, and the people like my director there — his passions about wildlife, like bear management — I really respected that,” Wolff said. “All those experiences kind of shaped me into what I’m studying right now. When I first started working at the Arcata Marsh Research Institute, I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do first.”
On any given day, Jack McCann can be found tending to the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology’s (CCAT) native plant garden, hosting Mycology Club hikes in the Arcata Community Forest, or strumming his guitar in a neon tie-dye shirt on campus. As an environmental science major with a focus on ecological restoration, McCann holds a lively passion for all things nature-related. He strives to live this passion through the lens of decolonization, which has translated into his latest project, a native plant zine.
McCann first got his foot in the door through learning about mycology and native mushroom species with the help of tools like iNaturalist, a wildlife identifying app. However, his passion for gardening was uninspired at this time, due to his interest in fungi. He recalls being uninterested in planting fruit and vegetable gardens because of the easy access to fresh produce in local grocery stores. It wasn’t until later, when McCann learned about native plant and wildflower gardens and the benefits they can have on local ecology, that he started to become involved in advocating for the process of radical ecological decolonization.
“I can feed myself fine, but the creatures that really need help are native pollinators, and all these insects that make up a base of the food web that are essential for ecosystems to function,” McCann said. “Native plants are so underrepresented in gardens wherever you are, so it’s really unique to have a native garden, especially if you collect the seeds yourself and grow local ecotones.”
Ecotones are the area of land, flora, and fauna between two biological ecosystems that serve as a transitional zone between the two regions. A large part of McCann’s radicalization has been educating himself on ways of easing the damage done to the environment and restoring land to its natural state. Native plant gardening has opened up the door for McCann to learn and educate people on the effects that colonization has had on the environment.
“Decolonizing our relationship [with nature] is essential to the idea behind native plant revolution,” McCann said. “Decolonizing our relationships with the natural world —for me — that is native plant gardening.”
One of the ways McCann is educating people is through the distribution of his zine detailing native plant gardening through a decolonial perspective. The first edition of his zine acknowledges the work he is willing to do to educate himself, and also invites its readers to contact him with any comments or suggestions. The contents explain the history behind the colonization of nature and ecological systems, as well as how many of these current systems were put in place as an attempt to erase indigenous culture and practices.
The zine calls for readers to become involved in the native plant revolution through planting native species and educating people on the ecological dangers of upholding eurocentric practices. As of now, McCann has been distributing the zines by hand on campus. However, he is looking into dropping some off at several local businesses such as Northtown Coffee on G Street. McCann also has plans of possibly uploading a free pdf online.
“Everything is built on the people that came before us,” McCann said. “No one is free until we are all free. If you can take care of the smallest insect that seems so insignificant to someone who doesn’t care, then you can ensure the basis of survival. In a world that doesn’t give much credit or see those things as important, it can be a political act to garden native plants if that’s your intention.”
Mia is a journalism major at Cal Poly Humboldt. She is a reporter and the Life & Arts editor for the Lumberjack. In her freetime she loves attending shows and music events in town.
As the first day of the 2024 North Country fair came to an end, the inaugural Fungi Festival came alive with its ambient lighting, cozy seating areas, craft beverages, interactive workshops and air filled with the warm sounds of laughter and a live DJ spinning records. Mycology connoisseurs from all walks of life and states gathered to celebrate both community and nature at this one of a kind event hosted by Culture Shrooms Humboldt.
Culture Shrooms was founded in Long Beach, CA by Omar Otham in 2020. He was joined by Maximillian Esparza and Axai Hernandez, founders of Mycelium Matters, a nationwide educational mycology collective. As well as Justin and Melissa Wallace, owners of Humboldt based Twisted Trees Nursery, in opening up a Humboldt County location this past April. They emphasize creating and educating others on their various products that include adaptogenic mushrooms, such as lion’s mane and reishi. These mushrooms contain bioactive compounds which assists in boosting one’s immune system, stress release and enhancing mental clarity. The shop includes a craft-drink bar, various snacks, merchandise, and sells soils from various companies within the mycology industry to get you started on your own sprouts.
Anushka Pawashe is a Portland local with a psychology background who was in town visiting a friend for their annual reunion. They spontaneously stumbled upon the Fungi Festival, and were glad they did. Their favorite part of the event was the energy and vibes from the people attending the event. Pawashe prefers the friendly positives and enlightening energies to the energies she encounters upon visiting a bar that serves alcohol. She advocates for the ongoing clinical trials of mushrooms to help with various mental health issues.
“I feel like it’s getting to this bright usage where we’re not just popping pills everyday,” Pawashe said. “We might just need one little session and we’re good for the year, which insurance companies don’t like.”
Mellisa Wallace is one of Culture Shroom Humboldt’s owners and co-founder of local DinoSoils producing Twisted Trees Nursery with her husband Justin just a few years ago after adopting two tortoises. They started in their backyard and it grew into what it is now — a larger company with its soils sold in various states. She shared that the industry has taught them so much about themselves, the importance of kindness, networking and communication, the people and world around them, and ultimately changed their entire lives.
“It taught us a lot, I was an entirely different human being when I started twisted trees and so was my husband,” Wallace said. “Just being in the mushroom industry is one of the most beautiful blessings we could have ever experienced in our whole lives and all the trials and tribulations that came with it were with every single ounce of knowledge I’ve gained about myself, the people around me, nature and our world as a whole. We’re very grateful to be in Humboldt.”
Culture Shrooms Humboldt and their hours, products, events, and workshops are highlighted on their instagram @cultureshroomshumboldt.
Squirrel Nests Potentially Disturbed By New Building Construction
By: Emma Wilson and Andres Felix Romero
A little after 4 p.m. on Aug. 30, Harper Lacey, a California Polytechnic Humboldt Graduate Student, walked out of their wildlife lab ready to ride home on their bike. Nearby the trees along the fence of the new construction site for the Engineering and Technology building, at the corner of 17th and B street, Lacey noticed a worried staff member had discovered an injured baby Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii). Lacey acted quickly to find and provide aid to the squirrel.
“I was on the phone with the [Humboldt] Wildlife [Care] Center (HWCC),” Lacey said. “I asked, ‘Hey, do you guys take baby squirrels? I currently have one. It looks like its nose is bleeding.’ [The HWCC said], ‘We take squirrels, can you drive it to us right now?’”
Acting quickly, Lacey wrapped the squirrel in a shirt and held it in the sun to warm up. Lacey was able to flag down a student they had never met and convinced the student to help drive Lacey to the HWCC in Manila. There, Lacey found out that this wasn’t the first baby squirrel to be found near the construction site.
The day before, on Aug. 29, senior wildlife student Amelia Hilburn rescued a baby squirrel found near Lacey’s squirrel. Luckily, Hilburn is a volunteer at the Wildlife Center, and knew how to act, but was still worried about the infant’s chance at rehabilitation — a wild animal being able to return to their habitat and live on their own.
“[The baby Douglas Squirrel’s] eyes were closed, meaning it was still receiving mom’s milk,” Hilburn said. “If you do have a baby animal, it’s harder to rehab them. What they need is their mom [and habitat], but with construction going on and how loud it is, it’s almost impossible to reunite them.”
Some trees surrounding the construction site of the upcoming Engineering and Technology building were cut down. Although the trees where the squirrels were nesting weren’t cut, there are still concerns that the activity nearby is disturbing the wildlife.
Lacey was able to follow up with the HWCC the week after they found the squirrel, and found that it was making a good recovery, and it had just opened its eyes. Hilburn shared tips on what to do if wildlife is found and in need of aid before bringing the animal to the HWCC.
“First assess to see if parents are nearby,” Hilburn said. “If [they aren’t], put the critter in a box. Don’t make it too big or too small. Put in a blanket or heating pad so [the critter] doesn’t lose heat. Do not feed or water the animal, they are way too stressed to even begin to think of eating. Make sure the [box] lid is closed so they can’t escape and are less disturbed by visual stimuli, but provide air in the box.”
Other Impacts of Construction
Students had some surprises when they returned to the campus for the Fall 2024 semester. By that point, construction and groundbreaking were underway. One of the results of the construction was the removal of several trees alongside the roads of Wildlife Way and 17th Street.
Several exotic trees, some dead redwoods, and a live redwood were removed. As of writing this article, two exotic trees remain. One, from New Zealand, will stay. The other will be transplanted.
Staff parking and several street parking spots are temporarily unavailable, and through access for vehicles on 17th Street is also temporarily unavailable.
Campus’ measures to examine environmental impact
Before breaking ground, the Cal Poly Humboldt campus worked with the environmental consulting agency Ascent to fulfill California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements for the construction of the Engineering and Technology building.
The addendum prepared indicates that Ascent and the campus took intense measures to examine the potential environmental impact such as the air quality, greenhouse emissions, (etc.), and California-protected species, such as the white-tailed kite. However, common species such as the Douglas Squirrel are not granted the same level of protection in the state and are considered game by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Aileen Yoo of the Marketing and Communications department confirms that the contractors keep an eye on wildlife activities during projects, and she encourages the community to reach out if there are concerns about capital projects such as the Engineering and Technology building.
“University contractors take precaution when removing trees or landscape by identifying nests or dens and notifying the University whenever possible,” Yoo said. “We encourage any observations of construction-related activities or issues with our buildings and grounds to be reported to Facilities Management at fmservice@humboldt.edu.”
The Project details
According to the Cal Poly Humboldt website, Planned Construction: 2024-2026, Project Budget: $100,000,000, Funding Source: CSU Chancellor’s Office, Humboldt Project Manager: Kassidy Banducci, Jason Baugh, Project Architect: AC Martin, Project CEQA Consultant: Ascent Environmental, Project Contractor: Swinerton Builders.
It was a sunny Tuesday morning at Cal Poly Humboldt, and students were gathered in the library eager to hear about NASA’s (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) installation of a state-of-the-art instrument, the Aeronet.
Elena Lind, the scientist from NASA who assisted with the installation of the technology, gave a one-hour presentation on how the Aeronet worked and what NASA would use it for.
Lind is a part of the co-lead of NASA’s Aeronet program and was on campus on Sept. 3 to assist in the setup of the instrument.
The Aeronet device’s purpose is to measure aerosol properties in the atmosphere, which is captured every 15 minutes. There now are over 500 active sites worldwide capturing this data.
Sara Hanna is the forestry lecturer that helped orchestrate the process to get the Aeronet onto Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus.
“We’re pulling down data right now, our area is very clean here,” Hanna said.
The data collected from the Aeronet reflects the air quality in our area, which according to the data is very good.
Hanna primarily lectures for Cal Poly Humboldt in the Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources. She holds an M.S. from Cal Poly Humboldt in natural resources and a B.S. in environmental systems from UC San Diego.
Hanna also explained that the data collected from the Aeronet would be accessible to any interested student.
“That’s really what I’m most excited about, is just getting students in on it,” Hanna said. “Having stuff that’s actually happening here on campus — and us being able to contribute to part of this larger mission of NASA.”
Students who were there at the presentation also seemed eager to use the collected data from the Aeronet project.
Christina Bewley is a geology major with a minor in applied mathematics and geospatial programming at Cal Poly Humboldt. Bewley thinks the data from the Aeronet could be beneficial to her research with her ongoing work with CalTrans and the California Coastal Commission related to climate change and sea levels.
“Hearing about this opportunity, that they’re installing a new sensor on top of the library,” Bewley said. “That can particularly help with measuring things related to climate change and ecosystems off the coast was particularly interesting to me.”
The Aeronet site should be a worthwhile piece of technology for years to come—as long as there’s always someone to take care of the site.
Hanna explained that the Aeronet needs regular maintenance to ensure that the site stays operable. This means interest in the project is vital for it to stay functioning.
“I do wanna get a sort of solid network of other professors and researchers on campus that are interested in doing it,” Hanna said. “That way it doesn’t get lost.”
If you’re interested in viewing the data collected by the Aeronet please view the link below.
Despite Cal Poly Humboldt’s expansive network of green compost bins and a history of leading the charge towards sustainability, nearly all of the green compost bins on campus eventually end up in landfill, according to two student recycling assistants. Committed to sustainability in the face of its difficulties, the university purchased a new composter (technically referred to as a dehydrator) for $147,017 in October 2023. However, the composter has not been functional since its first couple of weeks on campus due to a pungent, bothersome smell.
The compost machine works as sold, according to Liz Whitchurch, director of facilities operations at Cal Poly Humboldt, but emitted a heinous smell that sparked complaints from several residents of the nearby Cypress and surrounding dorms. The machine is located behind The J dining hall.
“We immediately shut it down when we started getting those complaints,” Whitchurch said. “And so, we’ve been searching with the vendor for a solution to that smell problem and we haven’t implemented anything yet, but we’re looking at different options.”
Once functional, the dehydrator will reduce the volume of biological waste by 90% over the course of its 24-hour cycle, according to Whitchurch.
“Every three days or so, we would extrude the output of the dehydrator,” Whitchurch said.
The machine is halfway between a dehydrator and a digester, according to Whitchurch.
Due to the powerful odor, the machine has not been able to stretch its wings yet and prove its usefulness. As soon as a solution to the dreadful smell is found, the machine will allow the university to generate its own compost with the food waste created on campus. That will then be used all across the campus grounds and replace the need to outsource fertilizer.
“We haven’t gotten to the stage, so I can’t confirm that it actually works as EcoRich has sold it to us,” Whitchurch said.
Currently, the university uses a shipping container that has been retrofitted to store food waste for about four weeks. The waste created at dining halls and housing, for those who’ve opted into an optional food waste program, is stored in the modified shipping container. The university currently pays Recology Humboldt County to transport the food waste to the Local Worm Guy, a local composter.
When the dehydrator’s stink is solved, the university’s ability to generate compost completely in-house will both save money and reduce campus pollution.
While the dehydrators’ dreadful scent is a problem, it is actually not the biggest issue with campus composting on campus. Compost contamination, according to student employees, is rampant across campus.
Jacob York, a recycling student assistant at the university, explained the compost contamination on campus is so pervasive, that nearly all of the green compost bins eventually end up in landfill.
“Well, besides the food waste that is created by the J and The Depot for example, which doesn’t generally have a substantial amount of contaminants, everything else in the green topped bins around campus, probably 90% of it has to be thrown out,” said York.
In fact, the constant contamination has resulted in the student assistants leaving behind the larger compost transfer bins all together when making their rounds on campus.
“We used to carry a compost bin around in the truck as well,” said Zack Baker, a recycling student assistant. “But like, we just don’t carry it around anymore, just because it’s all contaminated.”
California Assembly Bill 1383, which mandates a significant reduction in organic waste sent to landfills, became enforceable on Jan. 1 of this year. This requires campus food provider Chartwells Higher Ed to provide training to their staff, adequate signage, and uniform bins, according to Morgan King, lead climate analyst and Cal Poly Humboldt. Additionally, King highlighted that the university now has compost bins in departmental break rooms. Chartwells Higher Ed did not respond to an interview request.
In response to how the university could decrease its compost contamination rate across campus, CalRecycle highlighted education programs underway at other universities, like CSU Dominguez Hills and Sacramento State University. Importantly, Cal Poly Humboldt already has well-funded waste reduction outreach programs, such as Waste-Reduction & Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP.) Outreach programs like WRRAP educate and expand awareness about the basics of composting as well as engage the campus community at regular waste themed events throughout the semester.
While education, clear signage, and accessible compost bins locations improve the probability of proper composting, it ultimately depends on the care of individuals to sort their waste properly. King acknowledged that there is a lack of incentives and disincentives for proper waste sorting on campus, and that education can only help so much.
“The hard part is moving that awareness into action,” King said.
At the end of the day, Whitchurch explained, the university does not have the capacity to sort through every single compost bin. Sorting must be done by the individual.
“It’s a huge problem,” Whitchurch said. “We don’t have anyone whose job it is to sort through people’s food waste. That’s not a job description. It’s not what we do.”
Eventually, each plastic jug of vodka enjoyed the night before a midterm and recycled in a blue bin on Cal Poly Humbodlt campus grounds will be on a freightliner traversing the great Atlantic ocean, en route to a recycling facility in Southeast Asia. From there, it is processed and turned into Amazon packaging and may end up right back on your doorstep. The nearly 6,000 Lumberjacks on campus produced 169 tons of recycling in 2023. While the sheer tonnage is impressive, it signals a marked improvement compared to years past and has contributed to the university’s new bronze level Plastics Reduction Partner award from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).
The NWF website explains the badge as, “[An] introductory badge, your university is newer to the plastics reduction space, and trying to get the word out about the need for change.”
Only one other university has achieved the bronze level certification, and no university has yet achieved silver or green levels of certification. To obtain the award, the university undertook action items which propel towards less overall plastic usage, for which they were awarded points by the NWF. Under the direction of Morgan King, lead climate analyst, the university engaged the campus community in outreach/education events, banned single-use plastics on campus, increased water bottle fill stations on campus, and worked with Chartwells Higher Ed to reduce unrecyclable materials used in the campus food service. Chartwells Higher Ed did not respond to an interview request.
“Over the past year, myself and Katie [Koscielak] in the sustainability office have been working with some people in dining services to identify alternatives to single use plastics, such as utensils,” King said.
The sustainability office’s efforts have had notable success, with a large increase in the number of locally compostable plates, utensils, and containers used across campus. An area that still needs improvement is the university’s purchasing of goods with packaging that is not recyclable, according to King.
“We can put some pressure to require that the packaging is either returnable or is made of a reusable, recyclable or compostable product,” King said. “So, that’s something that we need to start. We haven’t done much around that yet.”
Liz Whitchurch, Director of Facilities Operations shared that the university’s current mixed recycling contamination rate is between 14 and 16%. Using other local municipalities as benchmarks, this is a relatively low rate of contamination, according to both Whitchurch and Frank Nelson, assistant general manager at Recology. A Dec. 2023 study conducted by Harrison Chubb and Morgan King found that a recycling bin outside of the College Creek Marketplace contained (by volume) 57.8% recyclables, 15.7% compostables, and 26.5% landfill waste. A separate study led by King in Feb. measured the contents of recycling bins outside of the Behavioral and Social Sciences building after a one week collection period and found (by volume): 51% recyclables, 20% landfill waste, 25% compostables, 3% liquids, and 1% ‘hard to recycle’ (HTR) items.
In an effort to lower the contamination rate, the university is working to color coordinate all recycle bins across campus, as well as continuing to improve signage, according to Whitchurch.
As most consumers are aware, it is far from straightforward to understand whether or not your trash is recyclable. Like many of us, King can struggle at times with what bin to toss waste into.
“It’s extremely challenging,” King said. “I would consider myself pretty well versed. In recycling, but even I don’t know some of the items that are out there and whether or not they can actually be recycled.”
To add to the confusion, many technically recyclable items, like plastic berry containers and plastic cups (referred to as clamshell plastics), are eventually put into the landfill, as the cost of recycling the item outweighs the end value of the product.
“They’re not a commodity that can be sold,” Nelson said. “It costs more to process them than you can sell them for.”
Pizza boxes require preparation before they are considered recyclable. The wax paper, box support, and pizza leftovers must be removed before tossing into a blue recycling bin.
On campus, the massive task of sorting waste is done by just four individuals, according to Whitchurch, who added that she is looking to hire another person to tackle the widespread contamination issue.
“We try to pull out contamination,” Whitchurch said. “Our guys jump in and dumpster dive sometimes if they see something [obvious], like a big bag of garbage that someone put in the recycling dumpster instead of into the garbage dumpster.”
Realistically though, the responsibility of sorting waste into the proper bin is up to the campus community.
“Nowhere in the process do we pour everything out and sift through it and figure out what goes where,” said Whitchurch. “That’s just not a service that the university is equipped or staffed to do.”
Acknowledging the difficulty of proper recycling informed King’s ultimate goal for campus waste, plastics in particular: avoid generating or bringing these items onto campus in the first place. Paradoxically, this may be both the simplest solution and the toughest to implement, as it involves changing the behavior and consumption norms of an entire campus.
One successful example on this front is the university’s reusable water bottle fill stations located in nearly every campus building. Recently, the university has begun posting a Water Quality Report, accessible via QR code at water fill stations. King hopes this will build confidence in the campus community that the tap water being dispensed is high quality. Likewise, starting in 2013, the school’s dining hall, the J, began participating in the PlanetOZZI reusable boxes. These to-go boxes aim to reduce the amount of disposable to-go containers. The final cost of the OZZI box implementation in 2014 was $35,450.
While great strides are being taken towards a more sustainable campus, King acknowledges that the university is far from its overall grand green goals.
The tons of recycling generated by the university is eventually sorted by hand by 21 recology workers at Recology Humboldt County in Samoa. Humboldt County doesn’t have the high tech sorting machines that bigger cities like San Francisco and Santa Rosa do.
“We don’t have photo-eye technology,” Nelson said. “You’re not gonna get the latest technologies, because there’s not a lot of people in this area that are actually trained to install or fix [the machine].”
After the waste is hand-sorted, the glass is shipped to the Bay area and is eventually used to make insulation. Glass is one of the few full-circle products that is both recycled in California and then eventually sold again in the Golden State. Unfortunately, according to Nelson, aluminum, paper, cardboard, and plastic typically embark on much longer journeys to either pulp mills on the West Coast or to East and Southeast Asia. Once abroad, the waste is processed and turned into items like Amazon boxes. Nelson mentioned that pulp milling used to be done largely within California, but is mostly shipped across oceans to foreign countries currently.
“Through successive environmental regulations, we’ve reduced our ability to do what’s best for the environment, unfortunately, in California,” Nelson said. “I’ve got to load a container full of paper and send it to Southeast Asia. Even though they’re gonna be doing it ethically and responsibly, for me it’s like, why can’t we do it here?”
In any case, the university is making significant and methodical efforts to reduce waste of all kinds on campus, an achievement that is well worth celebrating.
“Cal Poly Humboldt’s certification is a truly significant achievement,” Kristy Jones, Director of Higher Education programs at NWF said. “With plastic pollution at an all-time high, the need for solutions has never been more pressing. Humboldt is showing firsthand that progress is possible, offering a blueprint for other colleges and universities across the country to follow. Kudos to the entire Lumberjack community for their hard work and demonstrated commitment to sustainability.”
A concerted, committed community wide effort is needed to reduce plastic use and recycling contamination across campus. Sustainability leaders like King and Whitchurch are giving the campus community a road map for success, but the protection of our ecosystem relies upon the participation of all.
“We don’t exist in a vacuum, we exist in an ecosystem,” Whitchurch said. “A very large ecosystem that has inputs and outputs within the system, but we are a closed system. We are one planet with limited resources, limited space.”
326 million years ago, Arkansas was underwater and teeming with an unusual, gill-covered shark, a shark that is now called Cosmoselachus mehlingi after a years-long project led by Dr. Allison Bronson, a Cal Poly Humboldt professor. The unique conditions in the Fayetteville Shale preserved the precious cartilage that was critical in digitally reconstructing an accurate image of the ancient shark, which was named to honor Carl Mehling, a senior museum specialist for the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). The shark’s ancient origins and recent identification have been made possible by CT scans, digital reconstruction, and years of careful work carried out by Bronson alongside Alan Pradel, John Denton, and John Maisey. The findings were recently published by the journal Geodiversitas.
Cosmoselachus mehlingi is distinctly important, according to Bronson, due to the fact that its ancestors survived a catastrophic mass extinction that killed 95% of the fish population in the Devonian period.
“In the wake of these extinctions, we often have what we call an adaptive radiation where the groups that make it through can then diversify into all these niches that were left open,” Bronson said.
The acidic and anoxic environment of Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale preserved the shark’s delicate cartilage for millions of years until the 1970’s, when Royal and Gene Mapes, the husband and wife duo, discovered the fossil. The Mapes would eventually donate the specimen to the AMNH.
“Cartilage is really rare in the fossil record, because it’s soft and squishy, and usually microbes break it down before it can fossilize,” Bronson said.
The rare preservation of the shark’s cartilage allowed Bronson and her collaborators to use CT scanning to digitally reconstruct the ancient shark’s biological structure and identify one of its most unique attributes, gill covers.
“It’s made of little rays of cartilage that grow off of its gill arches,” Bronson said. “In our shark, unlike anything that’s been described in any cartilaginous fish, they’re all fused together.”
The gill covers may have functioned to help close the gill openings, according to Bronson. Though gill covers are found today in ratfish, Bronson and her colleagues’ statistical testing showed that it is unlikely that ratfish are descendents of the group of fishes that includes Cosmoselachus mehlingi. Additionally, the digital reconstruction revealed that the ancient shark had widely spaced teeth with tooth-like scales in between.
Bronson and her colleagues’ work to identify Cosmoselachus mehlingi gives scientists a valuable glimpse into our ancient world and another datapoint that aids in our understanding of evolution over time.
“Once you have an understanding of the long branching pattern of evolution, you can reconstruct the way that traits evolved over time with a group like cartilaginous fishes that’s been successful for more than 400 million years, and made it through multiple mass extinction events to now be the dominant predators of the ocean,” Bronson said. “A lot of evolution is just like, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Cal Poly Humboldt fisheries professor is working with local tribes to create better fishing stewardship practices.
By Gabriel Zucker
Jose Marin Jarrin is a new assistant professor in the department of fisheries biology at Cal Poly Humboldt. He is leading a new form of fishery science in Northern California, using empathy and understanding when talking with impoverished communities. He is originally from South America and he never forgets where he came from.
“Being Latinx, I’m also from a historically excluded community,” Marin Jarrin said. “So I saw a lot of similarities.”
Marin Jarrin was recently awarded a little over $1.1 million from the California Climate Action Seed Grant to research climate change resilience by looking at tribal fishery practices. His goal is to reinvigorate Northern California fishery research, while also building a center that will last for years.
He is working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and multiple local tribes, such as The Blue Lake Rancheria, Resighini Rancheria, Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation, and other smaller indigenous communities. Each native group was able to pick a fish that has historical and cultural value to their tribe. The fish that are being mainly researched are green sturgeon and smelt. Five grad students are working with Marin Jarrin, acting as liaisons for the different Rancherias. On top of doing research all over Northern California, the tribes and researchers have a monthly meeting where they go over the progress and find where they can improve.
Creating a trusting relationship with the Indigenous communities is important. To solidify this relationship, Marin Jarrin signed a data sharing agreement with all of the tribes, giving them final say on what information is published. Historically this has not been the case, and some even admitted they had never been asked to do this before.
“The researchers would go in, ask the tribes to participate, and then the tribes don’t get a say on how the data is used,” Marin Jarrin said. “And so, one of the things we wanted to ensure is that the tribes had complete ownership of that data. For the most part, they’re not too concerned about fishery species, they’re more interested in preserving their cultural data and history. What they don’t want is for people to just take information from them and disseminate in ways that are sometimes not correct or hurtful to the tribe.”
Laurie Richmond is an environmental science and management professor at Cal Poly Humboldt. She has worked with the tribes for years, working a quarter time for California Sea Grant as an extension specialist. Where she connects local communities with coastal science knowledge. Her role for the study is in a partner advisory role, where she offers advice and direction when grad students need a new perspective. She has been working with Marin Jarrin since the beginning of the grant and is elated at the way he is going about his research.
“I think it’s a really new way to be a scientist that I think [Marin Jarrin] is pursuing,” Richmond said. “It’s really exciting and it requires a lot of skills that scientists don’t always have, like building partnerships and facilitating and thinking about ethics. He’s done a great job of trying to learn those things, and he has some of those because of his unique background that he brings as a scientist.”
To record the biodiversity of the fish in different areas, grad students are using environmental DNA metabarcoding techniques, giving them data about all of the animals that have come into that area.
“If a fish swims by, it’ll leave its DNA in the water column,” Marin Jarrin said. “If you were to collect a sample and filter out the DNA from that, you can identify what species of fish was there. The idea is that if you then go around taking samples throughout the whole coast, you can identify all the fish – actually, not just fish. From bacteria all the way to mammals.”
Before conducting this research, they had to work with the California Fish and Wildlife department. The advisor on the grant is Kenneth Oda, a former Humboldt State University student, who is with the Marine Region and works on the State Managed Finfish Research and Management Project. Oda gives advice and helps review the proposals before they are submitted.
“I was just asked to be an advisor… we approve protocols, if they’re gonna be taking fish, we need to have that spelled out, and the methodologies as well,” Oda said. “We review their permit application and then approve it. I also help them with protocols regarding surf perch and red tail.”
Olivia Boeberitz, one of the graduate students on the team, just moved to Humboldt. She chose Humboldt partly because of this research project, and the opportunity to work closely with Indigenous tribes. She has been studying fisheries since 2020, focusing on fish that inhabit both freshwater and green water. This made the transition from inland to coastal easier.
“I’m working specifically with Blue Lake Rancheria on green sturgeon… I’m designing a project to get some baseline information on how green sturgeon are using Humboldt Bay,” she said. “There hasn’t been much of any research, at all, of green sturgeons in this area.”
Boeberitz is in the methods phase of her research project. She is running through a couple ideas for data collection. She wants to use acoustic receivers, alerting if any previously tagged fish are using these areas. She is also planning to use satellite tags on fish off the coast. None of the actual research will be conducted until the summer.
Right now, she is most excited about working and meeting with the tribes. She has worked with tribes before, but never one on one.
“I see and talk to them very frequently,” Boeberitz said. “As soon as I produce any drafts for my proposal, as soon as I come up with a schedule, they’re going to be incorporated every step of the way. Their feedback is both incredible and extremely valuable. I’m working on this project for them, they’re the center of this project. They’re guiding me – giving the guidance they need to start putting together what our goals are.”
Marin Jarrin is changing how people view the scientific process. He is finding paths of communication that are not usually seen in western science. He is not just doing research, he is creating positive social change.
“I want to help communities that have been historically excluded, to be better – better informed and the different techniques and methods they could be using to manage their fisheries,” Marin Jarrin said. “We want to empower people right. Our community to tribal communities, but to the community at large in the far north of California, so that they feel they are more capable of being stewards of their resources. But also, the students that we bring, we want to prepare the best students we can because they can go out… and bring this idea of diversity, equity, and inclusion to the next job that they take.”
The Willits bypass is a stretch of the U.S. Highway 101. After being proposed 60 years ago, it was finally finished less than a decade ago. It serves an important role in decongesting Willits, diverting drivers around the small town. The bypass is also home to the largest public wetlands mitigation project in the state of California, the Willits Bypass Offsite Mitigation Project.
This mitigation project has been joined by Justin C. Luong, a rangeland resource science professor at Cal Poly Humboldt. Recently he was awarded a $520,000 grant from the California Bountiful Foundation. He is conducting a case study on the impact of cattle grazing on grasslands. This research is important because wetlands help with carbon cycling, host thousands of endemic species, and play a key role in cattle production.
“Federal government policies don’t allow for any grazing on any top of habitat classified as any kind of wetland at all,” Luong said. “Even though California state laws and science show sometimes grazing can be beneficial for managing natural systems if utilized properly.”
Luong is doing this study to better understand if cows actually play a vital role in grassland ecosystems. He is using historical data from the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District to look at the impact of removing grazing in the grasslands. Luong is also using aerial images from Google and drone images to better understand the environmental differences between grazed and ungrazed grasslands. While looking at all of these images, Luong is also taking samples at the site, inspecting the biology of the plants, trying to better understand the best traits needed for a changing environment.
“My job is to essentially go in and evaluate how the removal of cattle grazing from these areas affected these habitats and their ecosystem properties and services, especially thinking about some of the threatened species we have out there,” Luong said. “The North Coast semaphore grass, the baker’s meadow phone. Both of these species typically require more open habitat and bare ground in order to establish well.”
Luong is trying to find the perfect combination of native plant species for grasslands to thrive. Plants like Reed Canary grass are taking over most of the space in the habitat, leaving little room for the important species mentioned above.
“The managers on the ground have noted that oftentimes, cattle grazing is really important to remove some of that cover, open up some of that space to facilitate some of the recovery or establishment of those kinds of threatened plant species, while still supporting cattle production,” Luong said.
The reason Luong is focusing on grasslands is to highlight the importance they have. They not only support the entire cattle economy, but they hold a key role in controlling carbon emissions. In a process called carbon sequestration. They hold pockets of carbon in their roots, reducing global carbon emissions. In a study by The Conservation Fund, they discovered that wetlands store 18 to 216 metric tons of carbon per acre. Making grassland restoration an important fixture in climate conservation.
“Grasslands are really important for carbon storage and sequestration, especially with future climate risks. Because oftentimes when you have mass plant mortality, which happens in grasslands or forests you lose that carbon back to the atmosphere.” Luong said. “In grasslands, a lot of that is fibrous roots underground. We know that some native grasses that we have dug up can go up to 18 feet deep, so that carbon stays stable in the ground and helps with more stable carbon sequestration with climate change.”
Luong is going to work on this project for the next five years with Mendocino Resource Conservation District. He is hoping to reinvigorate grassland restoration by updating the data and information people have for grassland restoration. He believes that once people have the right tools, grassland restoration will be more informed and focused.
“My work often is really geared at being applied, and so I’m always trying to find real world issues that need solving now and try to work towards those solutions, those applied solutions,” Luong said.
“Wrap it before you tap it.” We’ve all heard that before.
Condoms and other forms of contraceptives help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections and diseases. However, condoms don’t protect you from all STIs, such as herpes, genital warts, syphilis and mpox, which can be spread from skin-to-skin contact.
According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported in the United States in 2022.
Humboldt’s Student Health Center offers information and counseling in a safe, confidential setting. They offer PAP smears, breast exams, and other sexual health screenings, pregnancy tests and even medication abortions. At the health center, they screen, test, and treat sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well. As far as keeping safe, they also provide many contraceptive options such as long acting contraception, birth control pills, patches, rings, condoms, and much more.
If you’re concerned about privacy with sexual health and need resources, you can sign up for the family pact card to access these services in person at the health center.
Cal Poly Humboldt also has the Peer Health Education Center in the Recreation and Wellness center (RWC). They offer free harm reduction supplies, condoms of all kinds, emergency contraception, narcan and test strips, menstrual products and more.
There are many ways you can maintain sexual health. Practice consent; remember an enthusiastic and informed yes means yes. Communicate with your partner and explore your body, discover what you like and share that with your partner(s). Be safe and protect yourself and your partner(s) against sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy.
Most importantly, get yourself tested and educate yourself about the risks of having unprotected sex. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and communicate with your partner(s).
On Aug. 23, 2023, the University of California and the state of California announced they would be awarding over $80 million in climate action grants. These grants will find solutions that directly address state climate problems. In total, the grant is funding 38 projects across California, involving over 130 communities, California Universities and industries, while also taking perspectives from local tribes.
Justin C. Luong, is a new forestry, fire, and rangeland professor at Cal Poly Humboldt. He previously worked as a restoration coordinator at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, where he is still currently a research affiliate. He is also a leader in the conservation community, working in key leadership positions in the California Native Grassland Associated, Big Sur Land Trust, and the Ecological Society of America’s Restoration Ecology Section. He was awarded a $1.5 million California Climate Action Seed Grant. He named his grant proposal, “Establishing drought resilient grassland restoration networks in California.”
According to Luong’s grant proposal, biodiverse grasslands are a key part of California’s ecosystem and economy. These habitats take up 25% of California, offering services like flood mitigation, ecotourism and forage production, while also being the foundation of the ranching economy. Currently, most grassland restoration projects use easily cultivated species that are known to work, but do not give any future benefits. This not only creates biodiversity loss, but also ignores the need for adaptation in a changing climate.
“We find that practitioners across the entire state tend to be using the same seven species, even though California Grasslands support thousands of native species,” Luong said. “The reason people use these same seven species is because they know they’ll do well and that they’ll be successful… they have to use those species because there’s no other information about these less common species.”
Luong is taking a three pronged approach to his research. First he is creating an online database called, The Grassland Restoration Action, Science, and Stewardship Network (GRASS-Net) focused on seed sharing and education. He is also studying three different grassland sights around California, taking data from the soils, looking at climate adaptive characteristics, and finding out what the best combination of plants are for the location. Lastly, he is conducting greenhouse studies by looking at samples from the sights, and is conducting research on different grassland species’ ability to survive a changing climate. His goal is to create a climate aware toolbox to help future projects with drought resilient plant selection and site assessment.
“Those three things all go together to help inform restoration projects across the state,” Luong said. “To better understand when we should use climate adaptive plant sourcing or when we should use locally sourced plants.”
Luong is working in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Chico, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Hedgerow Farms, Mattole Restoration Council, Pepperwood Preserve and California Native Grassland Association, Point Blue Conservation Science, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the Wiyot Tribe. He is also working with another Cal Poly Humboldt professor Kerry Byrne, and is taking on five graduate and undergraduate students to help him with his research.
Graphic by Griffin Mancuso
Field study
Luong is conducting field studies across three sites in California. Focusing on lesser known species that are currently not used in grassland restoration.
“I am working with my grad student to evaluate site characteristics, the climate, the soil, and all the plants that occur at those different sites at three different Grasslands across the state,” Luong said.
Byrne, an associate professor in applied ecology at Cal Poly Humboldt is working closely with Luong on his field research.
“We’re going to be collecting information or characterizing both plants and roots and soils at three sites,” Byrne said. “The Coastal prairie from up here in Humboldt, our central site is going to be in Sonoma County, and then our southern site is down near San Luis Obispo.”
Ernesto Chavez-Velasco is a national resources graduate student at Cal Poly Humboldt. He has worked with Luong before when they both attended UC Santa Cruz and is working on his graduate thesis while working with his old mentor.
“We’re looking at soil and climate and their neighboring plants essentially. We’re seeing how all of those three things affect the plants we’re studying,” Chavez-Velasco said. “The goal of this is to generate a lot more information for plants that aren’t really used in restoration.”
Byrne’s said that they will be using a standardized protocol across all three sights.
“We’ll collect some soils that we bring back to the lab for analysis,” Byrne said. “We’re going to look at root production or root biomass across all those sights.”
The goal of this research, according to Chavez-Velasco, is to understand how the species react in different environments across a giant gradient.
Greenhouse study
Luong is also doing greenhouse research on campus. By focusing on environmentally resistant species, he is finding the best species for an ever changing climate and environment. Specifically, he is conducting a Lethal Drought 50 (LD50) Experiment.
“Essentially, when 50% of the plants in a pot die from drought, we measure their soil moisture levels and we see at what level do these plants experience death?” Luong said.
Byrne is a big part of the greenhouse study, focusing on plant traits and culturally relevant plants to the local tribes.
“We’ll collect some soils that we bring back to the lab for analysis,” Byrne said. “Then we’re going to look at root production or root biomass across all those sights, using a standardized protocol.”
The Grassland Restoration Action, Science, and Stewardship Network (GRASS-Net)
GRASS-Net is the final step in Justin Luong’s project. He wants to create a website with information that all grassland restoration projects can use, no matter the location. The website will include climate-smart protocols, information and tools to help with drought-resilient plant selection, and an increased access to rarer plants, native to the area.
“We’re working with that Grassland Restoration Network to do essentially interdisciplinary work,” Luong said. “We’re first starting with conducting interviews and surveys with practitioners from across the state to best understand engagement methods to engage people in a network, and how to get people to actively participate for the network to continue to persist over time. We also talked to them about how we could share knowledge and about species selection; about what species do well.”
A problem a lot of scientists have is how to communicate their findings to the masses, while also collaborating with multiple agencies and people.
For Chavez-Velasco, this is the first time he is engaging with people in the field as a graduate student, not just conducting research.
“I feel more involved with engaging practitioners and communicating and sharing,” Chavez-Velasco said.
The idea of communication in the field is not new to Luong. He understands the shortcomings of scientific communication and teaches his students how to communicate their ideas.
“When you get into the workforce, you can’t choose who you’re interacting with,” Luong said. “You have to know how and learn how to interact with everyone to be effective in your position. Ecology is [the] absence of people, and we can’t understand ecological responses without understanding human responses.”
University expects the new microgrid will provide about 25-30% of current annual campus electricity needs
by Brad Butterfield
Striving for sustainability and nestled in among the indomitable redwood giants of Northern California, California’s new polytechnic signed a contract on Feb. 2 for two megawatts of solar and three Tesla megapack batteries, which are expected to supply 25-30% of the university’s current annual electricity usage. Not yet immune from fossil fuel energy dependence, the university used 13,723,403 kWh of electricity and 922,559 Therms of natural gas, resulting in a combined 8,215.37 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE) of emissions during the 2022-23 academic year. The new microgrid/solar project is a tremendous step towards the university’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2045 and will change Cal Poly Humboldt’s energy portfolio for decades to come.
Where does Cal Poly Humboldt currently get its electricity?
Where a significant portion of Humboldt County purchases its energy from Redwood Coast Energy Association, Cal Poly Humboldt has opted to purchase electricity from Shell Energy, North America. This choice in energy procurement by the university is made possible by Cal Poly Humboldt’s direct access (DA) purchase of electricity, in congruence with 13 other DA CSU’s. “DA provides retail choice to customers by allowing them to purchase electricity directly from an Electric Service Provider (ESP),” according to the California Public Utilities Commission website. With DA, Shell, North America provides the energy, then that energy is transported by PG&E to Cal Poly Humboldt campus. DA is lottery based and allows universities to choose the most cost efficient energy option, rather than the county supplied utility in any given area. The negotiation of this DA energy procurement is handled by the chancellor’s office and allows Cal Poly Humboldt to access electricity at a competitive rate thanks to the aggregated 13-campus negotiation carried out by the CSU. While renewable energy sourcing is important, it has to be carefully balanced against the university’s broad range of financial needs, according to Cal Poly Humboldt’s Energy Manager Andrea Alstone. “As the Energy Manager, obviously, I want to use as little energy as possible and make it as renewable as possible. But, I also realize that costs are real and it’s kind of a zero sum game,” Alstone said. “What we’re spending on electricity means that we’re not spending on other things that the campus needs; we really want to be conscientious of that fact.”Importantly, CA Senate Bill 100 will require renewable energy and zero-carbon resources to supply 100 percent of electric retail sales to end-use customers by 2045. Californian’s are on a one-way road to renewable energy.“[Energy] use in California has to be 100% renewable by 2045. So, as a direct access customer, we will meet those standards, but there are other entities that are doing that sooner. “The choice to purchase from Shell, North America comes, primarily, down to cost – a fact not surprising nor impressive to environmental science and management senior Rain Lopez. “This school is a government institution, which is basically a business that is clearly more interested in maximizing its profits and reducing meaningful spending… so, it’s not surprising that the school made this choice,” Lopez said. Environmental science and management Junior Brooke Douglass put things more bluntly. “Shell is an evil company that has committed many environmental injustices,” Douglass said.
The Carbon Cost of Purchasing Energy from Shell
The university’s choice to purchase from Shell, North America has real world impact, as they do not source as much of their energy from renewables as Redwood Coast Energy Authority. Shell, North America sources its electricity from 34% renewables, (Biomass & Biowaste, Geothermal, Eligible Hydroelectric, Solar, Wind) whereas RCEA sources from 50% renewables. This gap is in large part due to the differing goals of each energy provider. Shell, North America looks to obtain the cheapest electricity possible for its customers, while still meeting California’s current renewable energy requirements, according to Alstone.“Whereas RCEA is more community focused and it’s like, ‘what does our community want and how can we meet that?’” Alstone said. “Cost is important, but it’s not the only factor in their decision.”
A (natural) gas need
Importantly, when talking about total campus energy consumption, electricity is only half the equation – actually, it’s exactly 35% of the equation, with the majority of energy consumption on campus coming from natural gas. The university’s main account for natural gas is with the Department of General Services, a branch of the CA government. Perhaps surprisingly, campus use and cost of electricityis a near perfect mirror image of its natural gas use and cost in 2022-2023, where electricity accounted for 35% of total energy usage on campus, but 61% of total energy cost. Natural gas accounted for 65% of total energy used but only 39% of overall energy cost. Cal Poly Humboldt, being the northernmost CSU, has a much greater need to heat its buildings as compared to other CSU’s. The necessity of heating its buildings nearly year round contributes to Cal Poly Humboldt’s ranking as 2nd highest in ‘campus gas purchased’ out of the 23 CSU’s, for the ‘22-’23 academic year, (when natural gas usage is normalized per-square-foot) according to the CSU energy dashboard. This equates to 0.46 therms/SF natural gas usage at Cal Poly Humboldt, only out-gassed by Cal State Fullerton. When thinking about MTCDE emissions, it’s incredibly important to factor energy efficiency into the equation. “If someone told me I had an infinite amount of money to spend on things, before I started spending them on more renewable energy, I would make things more efficient,” Alstone said. Meaning, the best way to obtain sustainability is to not require said energy in the first place. A better insulated building with triple pane windows requires less overall energy to heat and is thus more energy efficient, which of course leads to the dilemma of whether to allocate money towards infrastructure efficiency projects or towards renewable energy generation, i.e. solar panels. In 2022-23, Cal Poly Humboldt used 6.8kwh of electricity per square foot at a rate of $1.49/SF. Totalcampus emission for ‘22-’23 was 13,787.34 MTCDE, equivalent to 31,889 barrels of oil, according to university Climate Action Analyst Morgan King.That’s a substantial consumption of fossil fuels, no matter how one looks at it. For some students, this speaks to a disconnect between the university’s green-marketing and the campus’ actions. “Humboldt likes to claim it’s green though and it’s superficial… I think that being ‘green’ is a political buzzword,” Lopez said. “An institution of this size, regardless of having a relatively ‘small student body’ should have more resources to support its ‘green programs.’”
Solar energy on the horizon
The contract signed with EDP Renewables North America Distributed Energy on Feb. 2 means the university will not own, maintain nor pay for the installation of the solar system, however there will still be initial costs. Roof replacements are necessary for buildings that will be receiving solar panels, and sites on campus receiving the microgrid components will need to be prepared. The facilities yard, for example, is going to house three Tesla shipping-container-sized batteries. In total, the campus will have two megawatts of solar when the project is complete, which is about the max number of panels the university can physically support, currently.“I want as much as [solar] we can have, and that’s kind of the max given the roofs in the parking lots and the fact that we’re kind of physically constrained,” said Alstone.The battery will provide a peak power of 5.8MW and a total energy of 11.5MWh. Battery capacity is crucial to the systems function as a reliable microgrid.“If everything went out, we’d need a battery which can start our energy system from zero, so we’ve oversized the battery,” Alstone said.Annually, the solar system is expected to produce 3,300MWh of solar – with a guaranteed production of 2,866MWh. This equates to about 25-30% of the university’s current annual electricity usage. In addition to making strides to lower campus greenhouse gas emission, the solar is also expected to save the university money, in multiple ways. As per the contract with EDPR, the university will pay the company for the electricity generated by the solar, but at a much lower rate than the university currently pays for electricity from Shell, North America.“It will end up lowering our bill,” Alstone said.Additionally, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the solar system will also save the university money through hand-me-down tax benefits.“The [tax] benefit will be passed on to the owners of the solar, EDPR, and they in turn pass it on to us in the form of lower electricity costs,” Alstone said. Another positive aspect to the contract with EDPR is a guaranteed minimum amount of electricity. If they don’t meet the minimum, then EDPR will pay the difference to the university, according to Alstone.Due to the need to install the solar arrays in multiple parking lots across campus, the installation will likely need to take place during the summer break, so as not to irritate the difficult parking situation on campus any further.“We anticipate the canopies will be installed over existing parking spaces Summer 2025 when classes aren’t in session with temporary, minimal impact to parking, “ said Aileen Yoo, Director of News and Information for the university.Cost savings, reduced reliance on fossil fuels for energy, no installation or maintenance cost – this is sounding like a killer deal. Naturally, there are two ways of looking at things.“In an ideal, ethical world, the university would invest in these solar panels as owners, [then] source and promote local unionized workforce for photovoltaic product repair, which would boost your local economy and probably reduce overall maintenance costs…” Lopez said. “But again, universities are businesses and will not operate from a place of long-term vision, just immediate costs.”In any case, the contract signing and soon-to-come microgrid and solar system seem a justified time for Cal Poly Humboldt to raise arms in victory – and that they are. “The microgrid project not only showcases Cal Poly Humboldt’s longstanding commitment and investment into sustainability, but it captures the spirit of what we do here: educate students who can help solve the world’s most pressing problems by providing a real-world example of the benefits of microgrids and how they work,” Yoo said.
Last Thursday, on the third floor of Cal Poly Humboldt’s library, a very important first birthday was celebrated. Students, faculty and community members gathered to enjoy cake, pizza, pie and refreshments to celebrate the launch of the world’s first 3D herbarium.
Hosted at 3dherbarium.org, the 3D herbarium has digitized 3D models of various plants with information on each species. At time of publication, 39 models are available to view. From the seaside daisy, Erigeron glaucus, to the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, each plant’s page has a classification breakdown, profile and information on the model itself.
Library Dean Cyril Oberlander started the opening speech for the event, thanking everyone for attending and emphasizing the project’s testament to hard work, dedication and collaborative efforts.
“We chose 3D modeling of plants because, well, not really anybody was doing it,” Oberlander said. “You can imagine how hard it is to do a three-dimensional shape of a two-dimensional leaf. While creating the 3D digital herbarium has never been done — and because plants are so crucial to life on Earth, and for our understanding of plants — this was incredibly important.”
The project has been in development for over a year and students have been anticipating its release, including botany major Juniper Beke.
“Last semester, I believe it was teased at the end of a session on satellite information using satellite data,” Beke said. “[The teaser] had appeared there at the end and so I was hyped up for it.”
Many students, like engineering and community practices major Filip Amborski, had ideas for what the program could accomplish. Amborski thinks the herbarium will be a great resource.
“I’m hoping that they have notes on anything that’s been identified as culturally significant to Native tribes,” Amborski said.
The seeds of inspiration
The 3D herbarium was created by Team Flora, which is comprised of computer science and botany students. Botany graduate student Heather Davis, undergraduate botany student Grayson Prater and computer science major David Yaranon helped create the website under the management of computer science graduate AJ Bealum.
AJ Bealum, computer science graduate and manager of Team Flora, credited the idea for the 3D herbarium to Oberlander. The university library was the sole sponsor for this project.
“His main source of inspiration was the anatomage table downstairs and he thought, ‘Why isn’t anyone doing this with plants?’” Bealum said.
Located on the second floor of the library, the anatomage table is a 3D human anatomy system where users can simulate cadaver dissection.
Prater wanted to join Team Flora to bring botany to those unfamiliar with the topic and introduce them to scientific language. Through this project, he has learned about programming and the difficulties that come with scanning plants.
“I really love writing about plants. This was a great job to start doing that and practicing that skill, especially science communication, making botany accessible to other non-botanists,” Prater said.
Davis accepted the position on Team Flora to satiate her passion for bringing the joy of botany to others. Her decision to join the team was inspired by Oscar Vargas of the botany department. Vargas is an assistant professor at Cal Poly Humboldt and director of the university’s Vascular Plant Herbarium.
“Dr. Oscar Vargas has been my professor, mentor and boss for the last couple of years,” Davis said. “Over the summer last year, the job got posted and he had been talking to AJ, so he reached out to me and sent me the link for the herbarium. I applied for it after that and joined the team.”
Current growth
The 3D herbarium website currently has a collection of 3D plant models, plant photos contributed from around the world and a plant identification component.
Each 3D model was created using a process called photogrammetry. Photogrammetry requires around 100 to 300 photos of a single plant from many different angles in order to convert it into a 3D model. Yaranon created many of the plant models for the 3D herbarium.
“As you take more photos, the processing time increases exponentially,” Yaranon said. “In the beginning, we were running these off of rented laptops from the library, so we would have to wait a couple of days per model. Now we’re on a server, so we can put these out a lot quicker.”
Davis collaborated with the computer scientists on Team Flora to annotate each plant model. She collected plant specimens for Bealum and Yaranon to photograph and create a model from. Then, she annotated different parts of the plant model with information for people with all levels of experience.
“It’s a really challenging subject for many people when they’re first introduced to it, especially with the names and all of the different scientific terms you have to learn,” Davis said. “So this project has been [a] really fun [way] to be able to give access to that knowledge and to make it a fun, engaging activity, instead of challenging and being afraid of a new topic.”
The herbarium also adds to its database with photos from iNaturalist, a website that allows users to upload photos of plants and animals to create a public database. Visitors can search up the common or scientific name of a plant and peruse a gallery with hundreds of photos taken around the world.
Additionally, the website has a plant identification program. Once a photo of a plant is uploaded, the program will provide a list of possible species and a short description. The program pulls from websites like Wikipedia, iNaturalist and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
From left to right, Team Flora members Grayson Prater, Heater Davis, David Yaranon and AJ Bealum stand in front of a touchscreen monitor displaying the 3D herbarium in the Cal Poly Humboldt library on Jan. 25. Photo by Savana Robinson.
Plan(ts) for the future
During the opening speech, Oberlander announced a planned second version of the 3D herbarium. The day before the ceremony, Team Flora got approval to start a full grant proposal to the Institute for Museum Library Services to get funding for further development of the program. Version two will include models that are applicable for other majors like anthropology or zoology. Oberlander mentioned that Team Flora hopes to receive the funding this summer.
“Our next version is going to be something that is anything that wants to be a 3D model, whether it’s art or something else. People can do all sorts of things with this 3D exhibit tool,” Oberlander said. “It’s either intended for students with projects or a classroom that wants to use this as a lab notebook, as opposed to the print version.”
Team Flora also hopes for other groups on campus to contribute to the 3D herbarium. They plan to make the process of photogrammetry more accessible so that clubs or classes can add to the website’s model collection. Bealum described meeting with the mycology club to help them learn how to use photogrammetry software so they could produce a fungus model for the website.
“Our ultimate goal with this [website] is to make it a school-incorporated tool,” Bealum said. “So that instead of us sitting in our office trying to pump out these 3D models and working with the botany students as assistants, the botany department can ultimately kind of take this over. [They can] make it a part of their classes, make it so that students can submit models as part of a class.”
By 2065, sea levels in Humboldt Bay are projected to rise by 3.3 feet, which would turn the Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation — a decommissioned nuclear plant — on Buhne Point into an island. This would make it exponentially more difficult to relocate the underground nuclear waste storage and, if the salt water reaches the nuclear waste, potentially contaminate the nearby environment.
While 2065 may seem far away, preventative environmental activism is critical for situations regarding nuclear waste. The potential environmental impacts of this nuclear plant resulted in the creation of the 44 Feet Project. The nuclear waste is located 44 feet above mean high tide, which the project was named after.
What is the 44 Feet Project?
According to the 44 Feet Project website, the project’s main goals are to improve current safety analysis to take into account future risks to Humboldt Bay, and uplift the voices of local tribes and community members in decision-making. Another goal is to place trust, communication and public awareness at the same level as scientific analysis in regards to responsible long-term management of decommissioned nuclear fuel sites.
Jennifer Marlow, an assistant professor of environmental law, environmental science and management, founded the 44 Feet Project. The project was created in 2021, with two graduate students working full-time and several undergraduate students working as research assistants.
“So, the 44 feet project is a coalition of community collectives that [are] trying to understand the risks of climate and coastal hazards to the spent nuclear fuel site on Humboldt Bay,” Marlow said. “And to gather perspectives and values on responsible long-term management of that fuel, and then to direct — hopefully — some of the decision making regarding the fate of the fuel and where it ends or how it’s managed.”
Waves crashing against the seawall along Buhne Point. | photo by Griffin Mancuso
Concerns About The ISFSI
The Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, also known as ISFSI, sits in a precarious area. If sea levels do rise by at least 3.3 feet by 2065, the water will reach the underground casks containing the nuclear waste and potentially erode the metal. The nuclear plant is also vulnerable to natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes, being located near the active King Salmon fault.
Marlow had concerns about PG&E’s timeline for removing the nuclear waste from the ISFSI. She also emphasized the need to consider local concerns and the use of outdated science in safety reporting. According to Marlow, PG&E plans to move the waste by 2032 or 2033, but she has concerns about their lack of a concrete timeline.
“We’re not wanting to cause unnecessary alarm, but we are concerned that the timelines assumed for the life of the project will be exceeded,” Marlow said. “And then, in those future states, there will be increased climate and coastal hazards. And those increased risks aren’t really being adequately considered. So, our project focuses on trying to center that discrepancy and try to bring new science and perspectives around that so that we can have a better understanding as a community about potential safety risks, and ways to mitigate and manage those.”
Julie Sorfleet, a graduate student who joined the 44 Feet Project this semester, plans to analyze public opinion and concerns regarding the decommissioned plant’s license in perpetuity, meaning there is no set plan to relocate the nuclear waste.
“So obviously, you know, you’ve got the spent nuclear fuel site, and the NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] deemed it safe,” Sorfleet said. “It’s just kind of looking at future planning — how can we ensure that coastal and climate hazards and community voices are taken into account when ensuring that this site might be here in perpetuity? Because that’s what it’s licensed for. My specific work is going to be looking at the viewpoints and attitudes towards, ‘What if the fuel wasn’t licensed in perpetuity?’”
Alec Brown, a graduate student who has been involved with the project since its creation, has visited the ISFSI several times and reported that the casks were very secure, but PG&E needs to take into account the uncertainty of our climate’s future.
“They’re engineered pretty well, but those are human-made things and we can fix them,” Brown said. “I mean, we just really can’t maintain the natural world as well, and so those are things we have to adapt to. We can’t like force them into our little black box of like, ‘Oh, we got this and we’re controlling it.’”
Community Involvement
Brown has been trying to foster community engagement through a variety of channels, including focus group workshops, panels and community events.
Last year, staff members attended a play called “The Children,” directed by Cal Poly Humboldt lecturer Craig Benson and originally written by Lucy Kirkwood. The play explored possible outcomes of a nuclear meltdown and themes of intergenerational equity, which afterwards was followed by a feedback panel.
“These are just the events that are happening in the community,” Brown said. “And it’s melding art and science and trying to reach a broad audience, [which] is — I think — really critical.”
The project has also collaborated with local tribes like the Wiyot people.
“They’re really interested in the [nuclear plant] site, because it is their ancestral part of their ancestral territory,” Brown said. “Preceding the focus group workshops, we actually did a little site tour with a lot of those people that were attending the focus group workshops.”
The visit was led by former tribal chair Cheryl Seidner, who led the attendees through her experience and the importance of the land the nuclear plant sits on.
“It was just really moving,” Brown said. “We sat there and we kind of closed our eyes and listened to the wind and the waves and the sand. And we’re just like, ‘Could you imagine if this was undeveloped? And if we still had control over this, and maybe it wouldn’t be a potential toxic site.’”
Community involvement is a critical component of the 44 Feet project. It is important to engage and gather as a community to keep action moving by spreading awareness and making impactful decisions through education.
“That has sort of been, you know, the crux of this entire project,” Brown said. “How do we engage, you know, a diverse group of people to put our minds together and embrace that uncertainty?”
Accomplishments and Setbacks
Alongside community engagement, the 44 Feet Project has been advocating for policy changes that implement security measures and other contingencies. The project has seen several successes in addressing outdated policies and scientific reporting. They’ve had the California Public Utility Commission request that PG&E update their Tsunami Hazard Assessment page on their website as part of a legal settlement. The update will be done by the end of 2024.
The 44 Feet Project has been trying to address outdated policies and scientific data that companies like PG&E and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are using for nuclear sites like the ISFSI.
“We are concerned that the timelines assumed for the life of the project will be exceeded, and then in those future states, there will be increased climate and coastal hazard, and those increased risks aren’t really being adequately considered,” Marlow said. “So, our project focuses on trying to center that discrepancy, and try to bring new science and perspectives around that so that we can have a better understanding as a community about potential safety risks and ways to mitigate and manage those.”
One of the major issues with addressing the nuclear waste at the ISFSI and main questions addressed in the project’s focus group workshops was whether the waste should be relocated, and if so, where. Brown said that determining what to do with the waste is dependent on a lot of factors and what communities will be affected by that waste.
“First of all, we don’t have the capacity to [relocate the waste], we don’t have the jurisdiction, but also morally and for reasons of equity, should we be taking this and giving it to someone else?” Brown said. “Equitably, can we give this to Nevada? Or can we give this to a desert community? Can we give this to a tribal community? Do they want our waste, and is that fair? We benefited from the electricity generation of this plant and that’s our waste. We can’t just go bury it in someone else’s backyard.”
Hopes for the Future
Sorfleet hopes to use her knowledge of GIS analysis and her experience with drones to monitor the area around the ISFSI.
“I feel like drones could have a really cool usage to maybe just look at the bluff in front of the sea,” Sorfleet said. “I’ll potentially monitor the riprap wall that’s right there, or the bluff for erosion. Maybe not us on the 44 feet project doing that, but it could be a cool use case for drones in relation to long-term management of the site.”
Marlow emphasized the project’s goal to take preventative measures against uncertainty, which means implementing security against all possible outcomes that could pose risks to the ISFSI, as well as the surrounding environment and community.
“There’s a lot of future change that we didn’t anticipate, because we chose to ignore the potential, right? So we have one official future,” Marlow said. “And that’s the future, and 44 Feet’s framework is that there’s more than one official future. That’s a scenario planning mindset, which is, ‘Let’s not plan for one official future, let’s plan for multiple futures,’ so that we’re robust in light of uncertain change.”
Brown hopes for the project to be involved in more community events in the future. Another Which Way The Wind festival will be taking place next year, which uses performance arts to bring awareness to climate change and the risks of nuclear weapons.
Since changing policy and addressing nuclear waste is a years-long process, the project is primarily focusing on awareness and education.
“Nuclear safety is a journey, because it’s so long-lived,” Brown said. “It’s a technology that’s really obscure for people and it’s out of sight, out of mind in a lot of ways. And it’s long, because some of these radio nucleotides live for like thousands of years, and we can’t just not think about them. But in that whole entire arc of safety, we just have to have little wins and continue to address this and like, ‘Okay, well, it’s better now. It’s better now.’ And that makes me feel good and hopeful.”
An unusual new guest was spotted on the northern end of Brackish Pond in the Arcata Bird Sanctuary last Friday. Brandishing purple, blue, and green feathers with chicken-like feet, an adult purple gallinule had somehow made its way to the marsh from its native territory in the southeast U.S. There had been no prior documented sightings in northern California, so birders flocked from all different counties to catch a glimpse. Among those birders was Cal Poly Humboldt’s brand-new birding club.
Photo courtesy of Cedrik von Briel. An adult purple gallinule walking among the reeds at Brackish Pond.
Cedrik von Briel, the president of the birding club, arrived at Brackish Pond around 7:30 a.m. last Sunday, in the hopes of spotting the purple gallinule. Describing the bird as a standard chicken on LSD, this was an opportunity he couldn’t miss. Much to his luck, he was the first person to spot it.
“The first thing I spotted was that you know, you see a bunch of reeds, a bunch of green,” von Briel said. “And then, a glint of purple and blue and green — it just all hits you at once. And then you’re like, ‘Yep, that’s the bird.’”
Von Briel recalled the audible gasps from the crowd of around 20 to 30 people as the purple gallinule came into view. The bird emerged from the reeds into an open clearing, then went up into the nearby willows to feed. It was a spectacle in more ways than one.
“It was up in the reeds, the willows, and the leaves, and it just fell at one point,” von Briel said. “You could hear the giggles and the audible gasps as people looked on, horrified. It’s a funny bird. It’s a stupid, stupid, funny bird.”
Photo by Griffin Mancuso. Birding Club President Cedrik von Briel watching for birds near Brackish Pond with John Marchwick.
The Origin Story
The birding club, not even two months old, was started out of a pre-established passion for birding. Birders use a variety of tools to spot and document birds, including binoculars, telescopes, cameras, and the naked eye. They also learn to identify and track birds by their calls. Birding is both a hobby and a form of citizen science.
The treasurer of the birding club, Kellen Apuna started his birding journey at a McDonald’s.
“There was a stream that ran kind of adjacent to the parking lot, and I was looking in and I recognized a bird in there. I was like, ‘Hey, that’s one of the birds from the class.’” Apuna said. “I guess from there, it was just a matter of getting a field guide and kind of going through that, and learning what was in the area and then it just snowballed from there.”
Vice President Sasha Cahill’s birding journey started with a western tanager at the Vista Vinita Park in Orange County. He went to his father’s birding book for answers, and his father helped him identify the bird. After that, he couldn’t help noticing the variety of bird species during his trips to the park.
“My dad tried to look up the rare bird hotline, which was a thing in the 90s, but by this point, it had shifted to eBird,” Cahill said. “And using eBird, you can see rare sightings from your area and any area you want. So then we were able to chase rare birds and you know, just spirals from there. You notice things, you see interesting things, and it’s continued to this day for sure.”
All three of the club’s officers were aware of each other through eBird in their freshman year. The popular birding app allows birders to upload their photographs to document sightings, creating a public database for researchers and fellow birders. Von Briel initially messaged Apuna through Facebook and invited him to go look for Allen’s hummingbirds in the bottlebrush plants near Founders Hall. They start pursuing a western flycatcher and try to coax the bird out with pishing.
“Pishing is like a sound you make to imitate an angry call from a bird,” von Briel said. “It kinda locks birds in because they’re attracted to that stuff. And then, down the steps comes Sasha with his friends. He’s like, ‘Did I just hear pishing?’”
Apuna recalled the moment when the two birders recognized each other.
“[Cahill said] ‘Are you Cedrik?’… and Cedrick went, ‘No way, I just pished out a birder,’” Apuna said.
Birding Tools
Along with pishing, there are various tools a birder can use to lure birds into the open. Some birders use playback, where they play a recording of a bird’s call from a speaker to entice the specific bird they’re seeking. However, it is considered unethical to use playback for vagrant birds, birds in their breeding season, or both. Some birders resort to flushing to get a good view, where they make just enough noise (usually by clapping) to drive a bird out of the brush or reeds.
Photo by Griffin Mancuso. A marsh wren resting in the trees near Brackish Pond.
“We’ve definitely had our ethical discussions [for flushing],” Apuna said. “Is it worth it for us to basically disturb the bird into showing itself? And I don’t really think we’ve ever reached a solid resolution.”
“It’s true that a bird doesn’t have an iron trap memory,” Cahill said. “It’s going to hear a slight disturbance, and then it’s going to go back to its busy-birding, but there’s a line you don’t wanna cross.”
The club officers hope to discuss the ethics of birding along with other topics at future club meetings.
“We want to host occasional meetings. We have people present on photography, ethical birding, trying to go out and find stuff, birding by ear — guest speakers or something like that,” von Briel said. “We can definitely make it what our eventual members want it to be, and that’s the beauty of it. We’re just starting; we have a future ahead.”
Birding Trips
The birding club goes looking for new birds almost every weekend. They spend most of their outings at the Arcata marsh or on campus, but they have also traveled to the lagoons, Ferndale, and the Jetty to complete their lists. They have also been lucky enough to go on several pelagic birding trips, where birders get on a boat and travel out to the open sea in search of that needle in a haystack.
“This is the first year in — I think — about 20 years that Humboldt has had regularly scheduled pelagic trips for birding,” Cahill said. “Thanks to Rob Fowler, our local birding legend, and a boat that another fellow birder was able to find, he’s chartered many trips off of there this fall.”
Cahill and Apuna witnessed the fifth documented sighting of Cory’s shearwater in the Pacific region on one of these trips.
“Lots of screaming, lots of freaking out because it was this huge,” Apuna said.
Cahill showed a world map of all documented sightings of Cory’s shearwater on eBird, where almost all sightings were in the Atlantic Ocean, so a sighting in the Pacific was a notable event.
“A lot of people who are usually soft-spoken were losing their minds,” Cahill said.
The officers emphasized the accessibility of birding to beginners. Even if an aspiring birder doesn’t have access to a diverse population of birds in their area or a professional long lens, all they need to start is curiosity and a good eye. Patience and motivation are rewarded in birding.
“It’s like what Ratatouille always said, ‘Anyone can bird,’” von Briel said. “You just gotta get out there and put your own spin on it and see some birds.”
In the depths of The Science C building, the Vertebrae Museum is home to carefully preserved specimens to help students understand the diversity and evolution of mammals.
Dr. Silvia Pavan, a professor at Cal Poly Humboldt and museum curator for the Vertebrae Museum, moved to Humboldt County in Jan. 2022.
“I teach mammalogy, which is a popular course a lot of students take in the natural science programs,” Pavan said. “Mammalogy is a class offered that covers lectures and labs. In the lectures, we cover general aspects of mammals, starting with the characteristics of mammals, origin and evolution of mammals. That’s the first part of the three main blocks along the semester.”
The second block is functional morphology, a branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of organisms and their features. These include integument (hairs, glands and nerves), movement, acquiring and processing food, environmental adaptations mammals have to live in different habitats and communication.
Finally, in the third part of mammalogy, the lecture covers more ecology, social systems and living in groups. In the mammalogy class, Pavan also talks about conservation and museum science. This includes what they do with museum specimens, and how museum specimens can inform us about diversity, evolution, conservation, ecology and aspects of mammals.
Photo by Emma Wilson | Ovis canadens also known as a bighorn sheep skull located in the vertebrate museum.Photo by Emma Wilson | Preserved monkey in a jar of alcohol.
Digitalization and making data available online is one goal curators like Pavan are organizing. At the museum, guests can look at which species they have a tissue sample of that could be used to assess DNA sequence and what tissue collections they have. This is going to be part of the database as well so the scientific community can use the museum’s collection.
“That’s what we are doing now. I think that’s the main thing for the museum, we are trying to make our collections broadly used for everybody,” Pavan said.
The vertebrae museum is also home to a colony of dermestid beetles. These are tiny little insects that feed on dead animal tissue and clean flesh to the core of the bone.
“When we prepare a specimen, and you get the flesh, it’s a way of getting the flesh out; they eat the flesh and they leave the bones,” Pavan said. “The beetle’s way of living off the bones and having the skeleton ready for being analyzed.”
Alyssa Semerdjian, the collections manager for the Vertebrae Museum, maintains the specimens and helps volunteers get their foot in the door.
Anyone can volunteer at the Vertebrae Museum on Friday, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. If someone wants to come work on something, Semerdjian can show them how to apply.
“If someone wants to come work on something, I’ll be the person that’s here to get them started and stuff,” Semerdjian said. “If they’ve never done it before, I’ll be the person to walk them through it. My job is general upkeep and database work,”
Semerdjian explains why mammalogy (study of mammals) and ornithology (study of birds) classes are important. Classes like these teach students about looking at details in a way that you don’t think about. This is true for anything where you’re looking at really fine-scale features.
“For birds, specifically, going into that class, the birds are brown, and they fly around. Then as you start to see them, you see that there’s so much more, there’s so much diversity and you can’t go back to thinking that they’re all the same once you’ve seen that they’re different,” Semerdjian said. “Even within that, there’s a couple of things when you look at a bird, you want to look for — big wing, bar, size, shape, whatever — there’s like a list of features and it really taught me to zoom in on those features. You can see the bird for a second and it flies away, and just from having glanced at it, you can figure it out.”
Having the skill of knowing what features to look for and how to apply them is useful in a lot of different contexts. If you can do that for one category, you can do that for any category. You just need to learn what features to focus on. There are some transferable skills like paying attention to the small details.
Knowing about the diversity that’s out there is important. There are people who didn’t know about some of the local species the university had until they checked out mammalogy. The really difficult mammals to find are some rare or endangered ones that people just don’t know about until they’re taught through these courses.
“If you want to do research or go into wildlife, taxonomy is important and is a big deal. In a lot of research fields, it ties into evolution and branches off into so many different niche fields that people can go into,” Semerdjian said.
Pricilla Ceja, a graduate student at the university, is in the biological science graduate program and is a TA for the mammalogy class with Silvia Pavan for the first time this semester.
One goal Ceja hopes for in the future of mammalogy classes is to have more animal fieldwork. In zoology, there isn’t much to do with animals other than invertebrates. For bigger mammals, there isn’t really any way to see these mammals up close and alive.
“People in my class say, ‘Oh, how come there aren’t live specimens?’ And I’m like, well, there’s no one to take care of them, there is no one to catch them and then there’s nowhere to put them,” Ceja said. “There’s just no room for people to bring in space. There’s just not enough resources for live mammals.”
Ceja wants the Vertebrae Museum to be recognized more at the university because they constantly need volunteers.
Anyone who finds dead animals that were hit by cars or found deceased can bring them into the museum for research and volunteers.
“You’re going to see all the weird little stuff we have. I’m surprised by every lab too. Like I didn’t know we had a fucking wolf!,” Ceja said. “I was like what the heck is this? That is so cool.”
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