The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Category: Science

  • Science Behind Brewing Beer

    Science Behind Brewing Beer

    Crowded in a warmly lit apartment, I sat huddled over a great big steaming silver pot with my friends, Seamus Begley and Sam Kirby, as we waited in anticipation to brew another batch of beer.

    Since the brewing process takes a few hours, we started early in the evening. Begley had gathered the four basic ingredients: malted barley, hops, yeast and water.

    According to the the Youtube channel It’s Okay to Be Smart, the basic beer is any alcoholic beverage made from fermented cereal grains, usually preserved and flavored with hops. It was a good guide to start, but Begley and Kirby recommend reading books to master the process.

    To begin, we mixed up a batch of wheat and barley, threw it into a giant tea-bag like grain pouch and set it to steep. This is mash. We were activating enzymes in the grain, which turn the grain starches into fermentable sugars. Within a piece of grain, enzymes are proteins which, when activated, accelerate the deconstruction of starch. A starch is a complex molecule which, when divided into its component bits, becomes a sugar called glucose. The glucose will turn into alcohol later.

    beerrrrr

    The product of the steeped (not boiled) mash is a tea-like liquid called wort. Wort is essentially sugar water which will be the home and food for yeast. It also tastes delicious. We rinsed the grain sack to collect any residual glucose, drained the thing into our cooking pot and set it aside. We were left with a pot full of wort.

    Wort, immediately after rinsing the grain pouch, was not as concentrated as we would like it. Ideally a wort is super saturated with sugar, meaning there is a really high ratio of sugar to water. Concentrating the sugars will make the wort tastier and nutritious for the yeast. To achieve this concentration, boil the wort between 15 to 90 minutes. Excess water evaporates and leaves behind concentrated sugar water. Boiling also provides an essential service to the beer making process, sanitation.

    Sanitation is an essential part of brewing. The grain itself is covered in different bacteria and other yeast that eat sugar, but their byproducts taint the flavor of beer. We sanitized everything from the pots to the bottles to the stirring sticks with a chemical called Starsun, but diluted bleach works as well. Beyond that, boiling the wort kills off these other organisms. Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize.

    During the boil, we add hops. If you drink beer, you’ve probably heard of hops, and if you drink IPA’s, you’ve definitely tasted hops. They’re the bitter, flowery, citrusy flavors in beer. Hops contribute to the flavor of beer, the shelf life of beer and the scent of beer. We had many options to choose from, but this particular batch of hops was grown by Begley’s grandmother.

    Next, the beer needs cooled as quickly as possible so we could add the yeast without killing them. Yeast is a critical ingredient because it is a fermenter. Fermentation is the process when yeast converts to glucose in the wort to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas — giving the beer both its alcohol content and its carbonation. When the yeast are first added to the wort, Begley took a sample and measured its specific gravity using a hydrometer. The tool told Begley the density of sugar in the water, and how much alcohol would be created by yeast.

    The yeast and wort mixture is then poured into a sanitized fermenter or carboy. An airlock is attached to the top of the fermenter to allow CO2 to escape from the bottle. The fermenter is then stored in a dark spot where the temperature is desirable for the yeast to do its thing. We left it there for a couple of weeks before bottling.

    Once the fermentation was completely finished, we prepared to bottle. We poured the beer into a second sanitized jug, added a small amount of sugar and yeast for carbonation, and then siphoned the final beer mixture into bottles. The siphon is important because we didn’t want too much air in our beer. Finally, we crimped a sanitized cap on the bottles and let them sit for a couple more weeks.

    After that tediously long wait, we popped them open and enjoyed the sweet, sweet product of our labor. It was definitely worth it.

  • PSPS Events Showcase Reliance on Fossil Fuels

    PSPS Events Showcase Reliance on Fossil Fuels

    With the recent Public Safety Power Shutoffs, blackouts may be a big push toward renewable energy

    Public Safety Power Shutoff, blackouts could aid the push toward renewable energy. Solar micro-grids, local offshore wind farms or more well maintained power lines could be the answer to back-to-back outages. 

    Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s PSPS events are triggered by environmental conditions that threaten parts of their power grid. For example, a third consecutive power shutoff was originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, but changing weather patterns pushed back the timing. On Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. the county was removed from the PSPS affected counties list.

    PG&E’s PSPS events are triggered by environmental conditions that threaten parts of their power grid.

    “Due to diminished weather conditions, Humboldt County is no longer in the scope for a Public Safety Power Shutoff tonight and power will remain on,” said Humboldt OES in an email alert. “There are still communities without power but PG&E advises they hope to have those areas re-energized tonight.”

    The nature of the power grid in Northern California renders Arcata and Eureka subject to power outages if other areas of the grid are at risk. The energy used in Northern Humboldt is imported through transmission lines to the Eureka Humboldt Bay Generating Plant, where it’s amplified for local use. If energy stops flowing through the lines to Humboldt, there is no source of energy and therefore, no electricity. 

    Terra-Gen, a Manhattan-based wind power company, has proposed a wind generation project for the Monument and Bear River Ridges that could provide nearly half of Humboldt’s energy. A panel discussion on the project will be held Nov. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in Founders Hall 118.

    “Anticipated project features include a significant contribution to North Coast renewable energy generation and to California’s clean energy mandate,” the panel flyer says.

    According to Terra-Gen, benefits of the project could include the creation of local green jobs and Humboldt Bay development. However, some local community members see the project as more consequential than not. 

    As California’s dry and windy seasons become the new normal, power shutoffs will likely become common occurrence.

    The proposed area of development, Monument and Bear River Ridges, sit on Wiyot territory. According to the Wiyot Tribe and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Monument and Bear River Ridges aren’t appropriate for wind development. The turbines could harm or destroy some of the rare and protected species that call the area home.

    “Concerns raised include impacts on bat and bird deaths; tree removal; effects on sites with cultural and ecological significance to Native American Tribes; erosion and sedimentation from sub-river drilling and road expansion; visual impacts; light and noise pollution; and traffic congestion,” the flyer says.

    The upcoming panel lists some of these concerns as additional talking points, but it is unclear if the company or the county have come to a conclusion on how to proceed with this particular option of alternative energy. 

    Alternatively, PG&E maintains that shutoffs are necessary to prevent dangerous wildfires like the Camp Fire of 2018. Any at-risk transmission line can be shut off. As California’s dry and windy seasons become the new normal, power shutoffs will likely become common occurrence. However, some individuals are taking advantage of the winds, rather than suffering from them. 

    Blue Lake Rancheria has tested local energy generation since 2011. The Rancheria has yet to be seriously impacted by the power shutoffs because they have solar electricity and battery storage, forming a microgrid. 

    Their microgrid works as a system of solar panels which power the Casino and other buildings during the day while also charging up a bank of Tesla batteries for the night. The grid can be connected or disconnected from PG&E’s grid as needed, making them sustainable without any power from the utility.

    The primary barrier to building offshore wind turbines and micro grids or improving PG&E’s transmission lines is cost. Alternative energy projects cost significantly more upfront that traditional fossil fuels. The economic costs of the recent power shutoffs, however, may be enough to kickstart real conversations about alternatives.

  • Pollution Plagues California’s Biggest Industry

    Pollution Plagues California’s Biggest Industry

    Students learn how agriculture and water intersect, and how water can be impacted from outside sources

    Agriculture is the foundation of modern society. California’s Central Valley keeps millions of people fed from its acres of cultivation, but that much land, and work, requires a lot of water.

    Matthew Lotakoon, the president of the Water Resources Club at Humboldt State University, worked as a youth leader with the Tulare County Farm Bureau. The program provided local students with agricultural work in Tulare County and sometimes across the state of California. Lotakoon said his big take away was that agriculture is the economic backbone of the state.

    “No other industry in California matches agriculture’s economic productivity,” Lotakoon said. “There is a complex environmental solution to maintain biodiversity and economic livelihood.”

    Lotakoon said that the landscape of the Central Valley changed throughout its history. Most of the Central Valley has been soaked with water flowing off the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Since then, the agriculture industry has worked to serve the need for reliable food, a need that has been persistent and dominant.

    “No other industry in California matches agriculture’s economic productivity. There is a complex environmental solution to maintain biodiversity and economic livelihood.”

    Matthew Lotakoon

    “Historically, the Central Valley has been very productive,” Lotakoon said. “Most of the Central Valley was riparian areas, lots of swamps and reoccurring wetlands. Vast herds of elk and pronghorn lived on the landscape. And now, little towns like Porterville and Tulare have appeared and agriculture fields are everywhere.”

    To support a growing population of people, cities and roads were built on land that had previously been underwater, or at least waterlogged. The fertile ground was ideal for the agriculture industry. A decision was made in the 19th century to develop the Central Valley into a bread basket. A thirsty bread basket.

    “For the limited amount of water we have, we have to consider how to use it to preserve biodiversity while farmers are trying to maintain their livelihood,” Lotakoon said. “The farmers are good people, it is water policy in the Central Valley that is the challenge. Once partisan politics gets involved, it gets very messy.”

    Sustainable agriculture practices are the North Coast’s solution for feeding people in an appropriate way. To farm sustainably, resources including water, land and feed are used responsibly to prevent them from being depleted. The goal is to produce food forever. But farmers have to be conscious of where they get their water from, to avoid polluted crops.

    Shail Pec-Crouse feeds her kunekune pigs. Pec-Crouse owns and manages a farm which practices sustainable farming, meaning she will be able to farm how she does today, forever. | Photo by August Davidson

    Shail Pec-Crouse owns Tule Fog Farm, a sustainable animal farm in the bottoms of Arcata. Her 22-acre property is home to pigs, sheep, turkeys and cows raised in a way that won’t damage the land they live on. Her operation is not very resource-intensive, although she did say working on the farm is a full-time job.

    At the moment, Pec-Crouse’s farm is hooked up to the municipal water system. It is an expensive alternative, but considering the local Sun Valley Floral Farm uses the herbicide RoundUp on nearby fields to prepare them for growing flowers, it is a safe alternative.

    “The field will be green one day,” Pec-Crouse said. “And orange the next.”

    It isn’t unreasonable to believe the toxic herbicides infiltrate the soil and work down into the groundwater. Infiltration is when soil absorbs water that falls on its surface. The water fills in crevices and pores between soil particles to create something of an underground lake called an aquifer. Depending on the chemical, infiltrating water can carry toxins into the aquifer.

    Watershed professor Joe Seney said groundwater contamination is a big management challenge. The use of herbicides, industrial waste, poorly constructed septic systems and urban runoff often pollute groundwater. Pollution poisons drinking water, destroys local ecosystems and can cause land to be infertile.

    Emma Flewell is studying environmental policy and planning at Humboldt State and worked with Ahtna Facilities Services to clean up a former Naval petroleum reserve in Bakersfield. The oil field contaminated a nearby aquifer and will take decades to clean up. The groundwater in the aquifer was used as tap water by a nearby neighborhood until people started getting sick.

    “The farmers are good people, it is water policy in the Central Valley that is the challenge. Once partisan politics gets involved, it gets very messy.”

    Matthew Lotakoon

    “There are a lot of aquifers that have the potential to be used for municipal water, but it’s sad because some of them are polluted,” Flewell said. “Being in environmental science and management, cleanup jobs are common. There have to be people who clean up the messes we make.”

    Flewell said there should have been legislation long ago to prevent aquifer pollution. She said it would be less expensive to not pollute in the first place than pay for the cleanup. Since the process to restore toxic sites takes years, the work needs to start as soon as possible.

    The Tule Fog Farm is an example of how a polluted landscape can be restored to be productive again. The farm is a remediation site, which means the ground the farm is on was once polluted but has since been restored. It takes knowledge and technology to restore land, and it should be an inspiration for future remediation.

    Lotakoon said consultation and collaboration with farmers is important moving forward. He stressed nobody is evil and it’s important to accommodate people and consider cultural differences and mannerisms.

    “Farmers are decent people trying their best to do good,” Lotakoon said.

  • Blackouts Blow

    Blackouts Blow

    Dry vegetation and high winds were a major factor in PG&E shutoff

    The morning of Oct. 8, Humboldt County residents were notified that Pacific Gas & Electric may shut off power county-wide. HSU students and faculty began rapidly preparing for the possible outages, but some wondered what forced the utility giant to turn off the power.

    Leading up to the blackout, rumors spread as people speculated why PG&E decided shutting off power was the best option, and others wondered how long the outage could last. It seemed there was a lack of communication, as only some local professionals seemed to know the details.

    On the night of Oct. 9, HSU Facilities and Management employee Brian Wheeler was responsible for filling up HSU’s generator. The diesel generator was the only thing standing between powerless students and the cold, dark night.

    Wheeler said he had heard about an algorithm PG&E made to inform them when to shut off the power. This was confirmed by Megan McFarland, a spokesperson for the company. McFarland said no single factor drives a Public Safety Power Shutoff since each situation is unique.

    PG&E carefully reviews many criteria when determining if power should be turned off for safety. These factors generally include, but are not limited to:

      • A Red Flag Warning declared by the National Weather Service.
      • Low humidity levels, generally 20% and below.
      • Forecasted sustained winds above 25 mph and wind gusts in excess of approximately 45 mph, depending on location and site-specific conditions such as temperature, terrain and local climate.
      • Condition of dry fuel on the ground and live vegetation (moisture content).
      • On-the-ground, real-time observations from PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center and observations from PG&E field crews.

    To get a better grasp on the situation and its factors, The Lumberjack contacted the Woodley Island National Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration. Meteorologist Jeff Tonkin understood the specifics and why PG&E could be forced to make such a decision, but believed that Humboldt County wasn’t initially a part of the plan for a reason.

    “PG&E shuts down based on wind speed if it is projected to cause a disruption or a failure,” Tonkin said. “Locally in Eureka, the power wasn’t shut down because of local high winds. We’re just collateral damage.”

    Tonkin said NOAA had meetings with PG&E meteorologists in the past, but PG&E doesn’t consult NOAA for weather information. While getting in contact with one of PG&E’s scientists would likely be key to understanding why the power was shutoff officially, Deanna Contreras, another PG&E spokesperson, answered the call instead.

    Contreras said, for this particular shutoff, the weather patterns were somewhat unique and widespread. Many forecasters compared the conditions to the devastating conditions from October 2017.

    In response to the rapidly changing environmental conditions in our state, beginning with this year’s wildfire season, PG&E expanded its Public Safety Power Shutoff program to include all electric lines that pass through high fire-threat areas – both distribution and transmission.

    Cotreras said there weren’t any PG&E meteorologists available but had plenty of details about PG&E’s weather system.

    “Beyond PSPS information, weather geeks will find a lot to love about the new weather page,” Contreras said. “With PG&E’s weather map at your fingertips you’ll be able to check humidity, precipitation, temperatures, wind speeds and wind gusts across 70,000 square miles of Northern and Central California.”

    Contreras said the page offers a seven-day regional forecast. PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center team monitors all these conditions and evaluates whether to proactively turn off electric power lines, in the interest of public safety, if extreme fire danger conditions are forecasted.

    McFarland said a lot of PG&E employees live and work in regions that are affected by the shutoff and that she understands how frustrating it is to have the power turned off. She said the decision was not made lightly.

    “We want customers to know that although you may not live or work in a high fire-threat area,” McFarland said, “Your power may be shut off if the line serving your community relies upon a line that runs through an area experiencing extreme fire danger conditions.”

  • Sea Level Raises Risks in Humboldt Bay

    Sea Level Raises Risks in Humboldt Bay

    Humboldt is experiencing the fastest rate of water elevation on the West Coast

    Humboldt Bay is ground zero for sea level rise. In the last 100 years, the sea level rose 18 inches. This the most rapid rate of sea level rise on the West Coast.

    Humboldt County Environmental planner Aldaron Laird has 30 years of experience and spent ten years mapping and analyzing Humboldt Bay through a series of vulnerability assessments to help prepare our community for the inevitable impacts of sea level rise.

    “All the damage is going to occur with two and three feet of sea level rise,” Laird said. “It doesn’t really matter when that’s going to occur. We basically have to prepare for that now.”

    Laird reported that the rate of rise will continue to increase. A two or three foot increase in the average elevation of high water will breach the miles of diked shoreline as early as 2030.

    “All the damage is going to occur with two and three feet of sea level rise. It doesn’t really matter when that’s going to occur. We basically have to prepare for that now.”

    Aldaron Laird, Humboldt County Environmental Planner

    “When we go from two feet to three feet of water elevation change, it’s the tipping point in Humboldt Bay,” Laird said. “The 23 diked hydro logic units that we have on the Bay, all of them will be over topped when we go from 2 to 3 feet. So everything behind that will be impacted.”

    The land behind the dikes is privately owned agriculture, residential areas, business parks and industrial assets, not to mention municipal water lines, PG&E gas lines, waste-water treatment lines and electrical transmission towers. The threat is legitimate and significant.

    “The major urban areas that are most at risk are King Salmon and Fields Landing,” Laird said. “They are at risk straight from sea level rise. Half a meter to a meter, and those areas will be underwater. They aren’t behind dikes.”

    Linda Gill is the manager of Gill’s by the Bay, a restaurant located on the King Salmon waterfront. Gill said she hadn’t thought too much about the threat her restaurant faced as sea levels continue to rise.

    Projected Inundation Area (Stillwater) on Humboldt Bay for Mean Monthly Maximum Tide with 6.6 feet (2.0 meters) of Sea Level Rise. | Photo from Humboldt Bay Area Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment

    “Right now we are just going with the flow,” she said in a phone interview.

    Wave energy had been diverted by the north and south jetties to an area called Booner Point, the site of an old PG&E nuclear power plant. There are still nuclear fuel rods stored there.

    “They decommissioned it, and they stored all the nuclear fuel rods 115 feet back from the bluff on their property with all that wave energy focused on that bluff,” Laird said. “It’s experiencing the highest rate of erosion anywhere on Humboldt Bay, and those nuclear fuel rods are going to be there forever. It’s probably the stupidest place on Humboldt Bay to locate a nuclear fuel storage site.”

    Jennifer Kalt, the director of Humboldt Baykeeper, said the county needs to be prioritizing protection rather than considering potential hazards.

    “Instead of fighting, local governments and state agencies need to work together to make a plan,” Kalt said.

    “Instead of fighting, local governments and state agencies need to work together to make a plan.”

    Jennifer Kalt, Director of Humboldt Baykeeper

    Kalt said the planning process seems to have reached a stalemate as local and state jurisdictions fail to agree on a comprehensive plan. The unique issue about Humboldt Bay is that the California Coastal Commission has first and final say on improvements to the shoreline.

    “So we have this conundrum on Humboldt Bay that I think the Coastal Commission has really never faced anywhere else in California,” Laird said. “The entire shoreline of Humboldt Bay is in state jurisdiction. If the county said they wanted to rebuild all the dikes, they couldn’t. They would have to ask the Coastal Commission and the Coastal Commission could say no.”

    Laird has submitted the final sea level vulnerability assessments. Now the individual actors need to come together in unison to take action and move beyond the planning phase and into the action phase.

    “Anything that can be moved should be moved,” Laird said. “Anything that can be hardened, redone or redesigned so that it can accommodate being submerged in saltwater should happen.”

  • Get Ahead of the Humboldt Hack

    Get Ahead of the Humboldt Hack

    Vitamin D and zinc can help the immune system battle the common cold and the flu

    In addition to getting your annual flu shot, there are other things to do to protect yourself from the flu virus.

    The flu spreads most commonly through the air, which is why sneezing and coughing, in a hygienic way, help to prevent the sickness from spreading. A study published in the journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infection has concluded that the flu virus can stay on unwashed human hands for up to 30 minutes.

    “It was possible to recover infectious influenza A (H3N2) and A (H1N1) 2009 viruses for a period of time extending up to 30 min,” Yves Thomas, the lead researcher, wrote.

    The likelihood of contracting the flu virus rises significantly with hand-to-face contact, allowing the virus access to mucous membranes.

    As always, eating fruits and vegetables and moderate exercise will give you the best odds to beat sickness, but once you start feeling the symptoms, what can you do?

    Vitamin C, in conjunction with other vitamins and minerals such as zinc and vitamin D, can be used to strengthen the immune system for a small period of time, but over long stretches proved no more effective than placebo.

    Harri Hemilä, Ph.D. tested 1-2 grams/day of Vitamin C and found that the likelihood of catching a cold dropped.

    “The duration of colds was reduced by 8% (3% to 12%),” Hemilä wrote. “The severity of colds was also reduced by regular vitamin C administration.”

    Athletes can especially benefit from regular vitamin C supplementation. The vitamin C acts as an antioxidant for athletes as it works to potentially reverse oxidative damage that occurs with exercising. The article states that vitamin C may be useful for those exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise.

    Mariangelea Rondanelli and other researchers investigated the effects three compounds have on colds. Vitamin C, zinc and vitamin D seem to be the holy trinity of risk reduction for cold and flu. Once symptoms occur, these have been shown to lessen the severity and length of sickness.

    “Considering zinc, the supplementation may shorten the duration of colds by approximately 33%,” Rondanelli wrote. “Common cold patients may be instructed to try zinc within 24 hours of onset of symptoms. As for vitamin D, the supplementation protected against the common cold overall, considering baseline levels and age.”

    Of course, not everyone has the same reaction to dosages, and it’s possible these might not help everyone fight sickness. A change in diet can increase zinc levels easily. Eating an extra serving of nuts or seeds at breakfast is more inviting and customizable compared to buying zinc lozenges, packets or pills.

    Vitamin D can be obtained through the sun, but here in Arcata that option leaves just as the worst of the flu season hits. A small supplement of vitamin D may help with more than just immune issues, and many Americans are vitamin D deficient without even realizing it.

    Beyond that, one would have to eat a lot of oranges to match the one to two grams of daily vitamin C that was tested in the study, but an increased intake of any amount wouldn’t be wasted. EmergenC, Airborne and other supplements will deliver a dense dose of the vitamin. Hemilä said patients should try out an increase in vitamin C.

    “Nevertheless, given the consistent effect of vitamin C on the duration and severity of colds in the regular supplementation studies, and the low cost and safety,” Hemilä wrote. “It may be worthwhile for common cold patients to test on an individual basis whether therapeutic vitamin C is beneficial for them.”

  • PC Gaming Club Installs Flight Simulator

    PC Gaming Club Installs Flight Simulator

    Bing! Flight attendants, please prepare for take-off

    We are now departing from the Humboldt State University library.

    Since fall 2018, Humboldt State University’s PC Gaming Club planned, fundraised and constructed a flight simulator for anyone to use. Students, faculty, staff and community members can learn how to fly an airplane by practicing in the simulator on the third floor of the library.

    “The amazing thing about simulations is that it’s designed to simulate real life,” Sarah Livingstone, president of the PC Gaming Club, said. “You are still having the same neural connections and the same wavelengths in your brain to replicate that. So then when you do step inside a real airplane, you are doing all the exact same things; you know how to do everything correctly.”

    The control wheel or “yoke,” juts out from the instrument panel of the flight simulator. | Photo by Michael Weber

    The simulator features all the levers, buttons, instruments, windows and pedals that one would see in a real-life cockpit. Library pilots can choose their airplane model, airport location, flight conditions and other variables within the software, Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

    Step-by-step instructions are posted nearby so that anyone may start the simulation solo. Livingstone said the club wants to hire a trained student to teach the public to operate the simulator and hire a flight instructor to allow anyone to obtain a real pilot license.

    “We’re looking into working with extended education to bring forward this flat ground school program that would help students get their pilot’s license at HSU.”

    Sarah Livingstone

    “We’re looking into working with extended education to bring forward this flat ground school program that would help students get their pilot’s license at HSU,” Livingstone said.

    Just like getting a license to drive a car, the two requirements for a pilot’s license—as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration—are to pass a written test and record 40 hours of flight practice with a professional.

    David Marshall, the advisor to the PC Gaming Club, said a pilot-in-training may save a significant amount of money for the 40 hours of practice by using a simulator rather than a real, gasoline-consuming airplane.

    A nearby supplemental book for pleasure reading rests on the flight simulator desk at the Humboldt State University Library on Sept. 23. | Photo by Michael Weber

    “The cheapest airplane is right around $100 an hour. On top of that, you get another $30 an hour for your instructor,” Marshall said. “So every hour, an airplane costs $130. In the simulator, if somebody else builds it for you, it’s just an instructor and it’s $30 an hour to put book time.”

    The club is searching for more funding to provide a classroom to study the written test and a professional instructor for the simulator.

    Livingstone said they are looking into purchasing the final flight instruments, headphones, a new cover for the chair and a pillow for younger pilots-in-training to access the simulator.

    The project started one year ago when Marshall said he required the club to create a project with a positive, meaningful and educational experience.

    “I suggested gently that gaming is really simulation,” Marshall said. “And there’s a lot of stuff we can do in simulation.”

    The club then raised $10,000 for the furniture, chairs, equipment, computer and software by writing grants, fundraising and working with community members that provided some equipment and furniture.

    Livingstone said the simulator caught the attention of HSU President Tom Jackson, Jr. and Provost Alex Enyedi, who are both aviators. Livingstone encountered unexpected enthusiasm when she met with Jackson.

    “It was supposed to only be a 40-minute meeting, but it ended up being an hour and a half,” Livingstone said. “He was having so much fun.”

  • Alaska Wildlife Refuge Vulnerable to Drilling

    Alaska Wildlife Refuge Vulnerable to Drilling

    The Department of the Interior finalizes the plan for leasing out the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain

    The Federal Government has finalized the Environmental Impact Statement to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil drilling.

    The hands of industry and development have clawed at wilderness since pioneers began pushing westward. Oil has tempted landowners for decades, but the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve denied the resource to industry interests in order to preserve its unique, ancient landscape.

    gwichin_streering_committe-07

    That landscape is threatened. In the perpetual words of writer and wilderness activist Robert Marshall, “And so the path of empire proceeded to substitute for the undisturbed seclusion of nature the conquering accomplishments of man.”

    “[The Oil and Gas] Leasing Program will help meet the long-term energy needs of the nation, support job creation and economic growth of rural Alaskan communities,” The Department of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management, announced on September 12. “The [Tax Cuts and Jobs] Act directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to establish two area-wide leasing sales, not less than 400,000 acres each, along the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”

    The legal authority for the Oil and Gas Program is found in Public Law 115-97, otherwise known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Written into Title II, section 20001(page 184) are simple yet powerful exemptions for the oil industry’s special interests. For example, “Section 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3143) shall not apply to the Coastal Plain.”

    The intent of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is clearly to honeypot Alaska into opening up the refuge to industrial interests. The Act sets aside standards in the Mineral Leasing Act as the Federal Government plans on claiming royalties at a rate of 16.67%, when standard royalties are 10%.

    While the Mineral Leasing Act Section 35 gives 37.5% of money made from sales, bonuses, royalties and rentals of public lands to the State, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act declares 50% of the money made will go to the State Treasury.

    The Trump Administration declared $1.8 billion dollars of oil could be mined, essentially promising Alaska $900 million in revenue. The latest federal report suggests the potential income is half of that, approximately $905 million in revenue for the government and significantly less for Alaska.

    The pristine wilderness within the Alaskan Arctic Wildlife Refuge. | Photo by Greg Wiler, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

    The projections continue to fall as independent studies conclude significantly lower revenue opportunities based on other local lease sales. How low can you go? Alaska’s governor is prepared to open up the wildlife refuge no matter the cost.

    “Forty years after Congress selected the Arctic Coastal Plain for potential energy development, the Trump Administration is making good on that decades old potential,” Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said. “I join with all Alaska Governors since 1980 in assuring the nation and the world that we develop our natural resources responsibly. I look forward to the lease sale scheduled for later this year.”

    In 1929, a 28-year-old forester named Robert Marshall visited the landscape which would eventually become Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on summer vacation. He chose that area because it was the most remote section of Alaska.

    Marshall published an essay titled The Problem of the Wilderness where he describes the extraordinary benefits of the wilderness, considers the drawbacks of preserving wild lands and calls wilderness allies to action in the face of society’s aggressive advance into nature.

    “Within the next few years the fate of the wilderness must be decided,” Marshall wrote. “This is a problem to be settled by deliberate rationality and not by personal prejudice. Fundamentally, the question is one of balancing the total happiness which will be obtainable if the few undesecrated areas are perpetuated against that which will prevail if they are destroyed.”

    Alaska Governor Mike Dunlevy is prepared to open up the wildlife refuge no matter the cost.

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the network of protected lands in the United State’s National Wildlife Refuge System. The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is “to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management and, where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.”

    The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been referred to as “The American Serengeti” for its rich biodiversity and untouched landscape. The ANWR is home to a caribou herd nearly 170,000 strong and other beasts including polar and grizzly bears, snow hares, mink and beavers. None of the revenue from Oil and Gas sales will go toward reserve restoration efforts.

    The Coastal Plain is “Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit,” the sacred place where life begins, to the native Gwich’in people. Both the Gwich’in and Inupuat people have depended on caribou and the land for food, clothing and resources to support their way of life. Gwich’in Elder Jonathon Soloman acknowledged his people’s connection to the land.

    “It is our belief that the future of the Gwich’in and the future of the Caribou are the same.” Solomon said. “Harm to the Porcupine Caribou Herd is harm to the Gwich’in culture and millennia-old way of life.”

    It seems, despite the 89 year difference, Robert Marshall’s word still ring true.

    “There is just one hope of repulsing the tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth,” Marshall wrote. “That hope is the organization of spirited people who will fight for the freedom of the wilderness.”

  • CCAT Poised to Pig Out

    CCAT Poised to Pig Out

    CCAT plans to keep pigs on campus to reduce food waste

    Humboldt State University’s Campus Center for Appropriate Technology plans to house two pigs on campus as soon as next week.

    CCAT will loan the pigs from the Tule Fog Farm in Arcata for the duration of the fall semester. CCAT plans to feed the pigs food waste from HSU’s J dining hall.

    Jacob Gellatly, environmental resources engineering major and former CCAT Co-Director, helped lead the project from concept to reality.

    “We want to show how animals can be raised in a residential environment, and how you can use urban byproducts such as food waste to raise animals in an urban setting,” Gellatly said.

    EnvironmentalRresource Engineering majors Jacob Gellatly (right) and Kong Vang (left) prepare a log on Sept. 6 to be used for the roof of a pig pen. | Photo by James Wilde

    The plan to house the pigs began last fall when students in the CCAT Student Club vocalized interest in keeping animals on campus. CCAT contacted Shail Pec-Crouse from the Tule Fog Farm in Arcata. Pec-Crouse recommended pigs as the most viable animal.

    “The easiest animal for us to raise would be pigs,” Gellatly said. “The reasoning for that is—a big thing is predators. So it’s a lot harder for something to come and get a hold of a pig as opposed to a chicken.”

    As part of their plan, CCAT realized they could feed the pigs food waste from the J. While CCAT couldn’t feed the pigs food thrown away by customers of the J, CCAT could feed the pigs pre-consumer waste, such as food trimmings or spoiled foods not suitable for people.

    “Another goal with the project was how can we divert food waste on campus,” Gellatly said. “And with that we can feed almost, and in some cases, their entire diet from food waste that’s at the school here.”

    Once CCAT decided to loan the pigs from the Tule Fog Farm it needed approval from HSU’s Associated Students, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Facilities Management, Risk Management and an environmental health and safety specialist.

    The pig pen-in-progress on Sept. 6. CCAT plans to house two pigs in the pen for the duration of the fall semester. | Photo by James Wilde

    Humboldt State’s IACUC reviews the use of animals on campus to ensure the animals are treated humanely under the requirements of federal and state law. College of Natural Resources Associate Dean Rick Zechman, who chairs IACUC, said the IACUC proactively reviews and inspects over 100 animal-involved projects on campus each year.

    “There’s varying kinds of emotional feelings about the use of animals, and that’s respected and honored in the system of review,” Zechman said. “And that’s why the Animal Welfare Act was developed, to prevent mistreatment of animals. And I think, you know, in our committee, that’s sort of our first principle.”

    While Zechman could not comment on the details of CCAT’s proposal, which is still pending, CCAT has worked over the last year to assuage concerns raised by various HSU faculty.

    CCAT started by building a pig pen out of reclaimed wood from a local logging operation in Fieldbrook. CCAT has since integrated plans for a roof to prevent flooding of the pen and security to prevent people from getting harmed by the pigs.

    In the long run, Gellatly hopes the project might convince the University to keep animals around for good.

    “Big picture, I would like the school to see this and see, with what we’re having to deal with—getting rid of all this food—we could be raising meat for the school and have locally-produced meat with a byproduct of our current dining system,” Gellatly said.

    Environmental Rresource Engineering majors Jacob Gellatly (right) and Kong Vang (left) working with a log for the pen. | Photo by James Wilde

    CCAT’s plan to house pigs has only recently become known to the wider HSU campus. Saraí Escalante, psychology graduate student and president of HSU’s Vegan Club, sees the value of reducing food waste but wonders about the sustainability of the project.

    “I think the underlying problem is that we see them as a convenience, as objects, so we see them as a tool to help us fix a problem or make our problems or our lives easier,” Escalante said. “And from a sustainability point of view, you still waste a lot of water in all of the slaughter process and the cleaning up of the meat. In that way, it wouldn’t be sustainable.”

    Escalante said she’s considering starting a fundraiser to purchase the pigs and send them to a sanctuary instead of a slaughterhouse. However, Escalante said she plans to talk with CCAT to exchange thoughts, as she does like the idea of reducing food waste on campus.

    Gellatly, for his part, noted that the current plan as registered with Tule Fog Farm and IACUC is for CCAT to house the pigs only for the rest of the semester.

    “I think it’s, in theory, possible for them to buy the animals from the farmer if that’s something they’re inclined to do,” Gellatly said. “But, as far as our scope goes with the IACUC, once the project’s done, we’re taking the animals back to the farm and that’s where it ends for us.”

    The project’s beginnings are dependent on approval from IACUC, but the pigs could arrive at CCAT as early as the week of Sept. 8 through 14.

  • Sleeping Strategies

    Sleeping Strategies

    A few ways to get to sleep easier according to science

    Being relaxed, refreshed and clear-minded are common themes for getting to sleep. Going to sleep and waking up at the same time each day is touted as the most effective way to ensure good sleep. Beyond that, here are seven other great strategies for passing out.

    1. Sleep in a colder room: To initiate sleep, your body has to cool down a couple of degrees. A colder room will get you there faster.

    2. Take a hot shower or bath before bed: When you’re exposed to hot temperature, blood vessels on your skin’s surface swell to release heat. This will help you cool down.

    3. Avoid stimulants and sugar late in the day: Nicotine, caffeine and sugar can energize your body and make it tough to fall asleep.

    4. Don’t nap too late in the day: A late-day nap can make it harder to fall asleep at night, since your brain’s already had some rest and may want to stay up.

    5. Relax before bed: Relaxing before bed will prepare your brain for bedtime. Doing a relaxing activity such as reading or yoga for an hour or so before bed will prepare you for sleep.

    6. Avoid bright screens at night: Screens emit blue light, a wavelength of light which tricks our brain into thinking it’s daytime. Putting the phone away an hour or two before you go to sleep will make it easier to fall asleep.

    We all have our own methods for falling asleep. Personally, I like to lay on my belly and cover myself in pillows, but I’m weird like that. I asked students on campus what their methods were for falling asleep. Here is what they said:

    Stephanie Rodriguez and Krystal Padilla both have pre-sleep rituals that prepare them to crash.

    “I feel like de-stressing,” Rodriguez said. “Taking a shower, doing a face mask, smoking a bowl. You have to turn off your brain before actually going to sleep. I hate going to bed actually thinking about stuff.”

    “I have these Christmas lights in my bedroom and I turn those on, I smoke a blunt, I listen to music,” Padilla said. “I’m just relaxing, I feel refreshed and I just brush my hair. It helps me go to sleep.”

    Gigo Derderian and Seamus Begley have straightforward methods for getting to sleep. Allowing sleep to wash over them, they lay in bed either meditating through discomfort or rolling around until maximum coziness is achieved.

    “One thing I do is I lie down and try to stay as still as possible,” Derderian said. “Even if I feel an itch or something I just ignore it. I will kinda start with my toes and work my way up. I try to make sure I’m comfortable and relaxed in every point in my body. By the time I get to the top, I’ll already be dozing off.”

    “Whenever I’m going to sleep, I’ll lay down and I just need to get really comfortable,” Begley said. “I’m always rolling around for the first five minutes and then I find a spot where I’m like ‘yeah, that’s it,’ and then I’m just out.”

    School demands a lot from students. We can be pushed to a limit as project deadlines approach. The stress we face is definitely real, but we shouldn’t let that get in the way of some shut-eye. Sleep is just as important as eating and exercising when it comes to health. Get some.

  • Redwoods Growing at Remarkable Rates

    Redwoods Growing at Remarkable Rates

    Some coastal redwoods are growing faster than expected and scientists aren’t certain why

    Many redwoods in Northern California are growing at unexpected—even record-breaking—rates. While redwoods only remain in a tiny portion of the world, they appear to be in good health.

    “People talk about saving the redwoods,” Humboldt State University Professor of Forest Ecology Steve Sillett said. “The redwoods, as long as we don’t cut them down, are doing just fine. The question is, can they help save us?”

    The answer is complicated.

    “The Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative found that one Del Norte County redwood put on 2,811 pounds in 2014, a record-breaking annual growth.”

    Many coastal redwoods are growing faster today than they have in the last thousand years, according to a 2019 report from the ongoing Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative.

    The RCCI, a research partnership studying redwood health since 2013, found surprising growth in redwoods located away from dry forest fringes or recent fires.

    By estimating tree weight based on the tree’s measured width, height and volume, the RCCI found one Del Norte County redwood put on 2,811 pounds in 2014, a record-breaking annual growth.

    The cause of the increased growth is uncertain. Sillett, who sat in his lab beside tree rings which he used to measure age and growth, said climate change may or may not play a role in the increased growth. Sillett said the Clean Air Act of 1970 may have cleaned the air enough to allow more sunlight on the trees.

    “What happened is, the air cleared,” Sillett said. “And with clear air, you get more light, and so it could very well be that this increase in growth rate that we see very strikingly in some of these trees, starting in the late 60s and early 70s to present, is just because of increasing air quality.”

    Beyond climate and air quality, Sillett said multiple factors likely contribute to increased growth. Sillett also said the growth won’t necessarily last.

    “I think that there’s very much a limit to what redwoods or any vegetation can achieve,” Sillett said.

    A redwood tree ring in HSU Professor Stephen Sillett’s lab Aug. 28. | Photo by James Wilde

    A sudden spread of redwood forest also seems unlikely, Lucy Kerhoulas, an assistant professor of forest physiology, said. Kerhoulas said redwoods already have to work hard to reproduce via seed. Climate change might make reproduction even more difficult.

    “Successful seedling germination and establishment might be really challenging under a warming and drying climate,” Kerhoulas said.

    In other words, redwoods are doing well, but they’re not about to reclaim their lost forests.

    Sillett emphasized that many living redwoods are maintaining their normal growth despite less successful reproduction.

    “It’s not the case that they’re responding uniformly,” Sillett said. “But what we do see is that in the prime parts of their range, which is, say, north of San Francisco and relatively close to the coast, the rates of wood production are higher than they were in the not-too-distant past.”

    Redwoods store large amounts of carbon, especially in their prime ranges, but Sillett said that won’t offset the carbon dioxide produced by humans.

    “There’s not enough land in the world to plant with redwood forest,” Sillett said, “that would allow them to save us from what we’re doing to the atmosphere’s chemistry.”

  • Pollinator Predicaments

    Pollinator Predicaments

    Climate change affects the lives of birds, butterflies and bees

    Pollinators matter! Right under our noses a huge community of ants, butterflies and bees are hard at work to make sure the world gets fed. The climate crisis is turning up the heat on these poor guys, and our many-legged friends are at risk. Here’s some information on how pollinators are still doing their best to help us out.

    A solitary silver bee perches on a yellow flower to drink nectar. Notice the yellow pollen on its legs which it will bring to the next flower it drinks from. | Photo by Rand Rudland

    Flowering plants and pollinators have a unique relationship with one another. Ecologists and biologists pay attention to special events in these organisms’ lives which mark growth and development. The science of studying life events is called phenology.

    Ideally a pollinator will hatch from its egg or develop from its pupa and leave the hive around the same time its flower of choice blooms. The timing of these life events is important because if a bug emerges too early or late, it may miss a plant’s flowering completely. No flower equals no food, and that’s no good.

    After emerging, the pollinator goes searching for nectar. The sweet liquid is energy-packed food for bugs. When a pollinator lands on a flower, it picks up pollen. As it continues to look for nectar, the pollen is shaken off and sticks to other flower’s pistils, the female organ of the plant. Pollen travels down a shaft to fertilize the ovary, which begins to go through mitosis and eventually produces fruit.

    Tayloranne Finch and Melanie Honda are two farmers working on the Bayside Park Farm in Sunny Brae who get to interact with pollinators every day. Without pollinators, their farm would be a bunch of fruitless bushes.

    Finch said the farm was working with the City of Arcata to build a permanent solution, a perennial native pollinator garden. The garden would have year-round plants that local pollinators prefer, supporting the local habitat organically.

    Tayloranne Finch, left, and Melanie Honda, right, are farmers at Bayside Park Farm. They spent a sunny afternoon pollinating corn by walking through the rows, swaying their arms back and forth. Every week is a volunteer friday at Bayside Park Farm on Old Arcata Road in Arcata, CA 95521. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    “We’re installing plants that will be there forever. It makes it easier for pollinators to establish themselves on the farm and it is mutually beneficial for us,” Finch said.

    Small changes in abiotic, or physical non-living factors, can alter life events. There are many changes in an ecosystem that can affect how a plant or pollinator does its job. Dr. Rachael L. Olliff-Yang and Dr. Michael R. Mesler published a paper in 2018 titled The potential for phenological mismatch between a perennial herb and its ground-nesting bee pollinator.

    In the paper they investigate how temperature affects the phenology of the silky beach pea (Lathyrus littoralis) and its main pollinator, the ground-nesting solitary silver bee (Habropoda miserabilis).

    “Temperature best predicted both flowering and bee activity, although soil moisture influenced the timing as well,” the paper said.

    Their findings imply that in the face of the climate crisis, an average increase in temperature may cause the silky beach pea and the solitary silver bee to fall out of sync.

    “Comparison of linear regression slopes of phenology against temperature suggests that bee nesting time is more sensitive to differences in seasonal maximum temperatures, and may advance more rapidly than flowering with temperature increases,” the paper said.

    A bumblebee looking for lunch landed on this flower to get a drink of nectar. The bee will help pollinate nearby flowers as it continues on its flight. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    Olliff-Yang and Mesler said that it’s important to understand what factors influence flowering and pollinator activity. Their investigation into the bee and the pea is just an example of a broader issue in the world.

    Building habitat is invaluable to local animal communities, as shelter, food and water are critical needs for every living organism. The most simple thing to do is to plant native plants in the front yard, as this will attract local pollinators.

    Local nurseries like Mad River Gardens will be more than happy to teach you about native plants and how you can attract and support our flying friends. As active members of the ecosystem, we all need to do our part.

  • Take the plunge with HSU’s Dive Program

    Take the plunge with HSU’s Dive Program

    HSU’s scientific diving program is an opportunity for any student to get their face underwater and see one of the most spectacular coasts in the world

    Ten-foot-high waves crash onto the Mendocino Coast. The rocky shore does its best to quell the energy of the waves but the swell is relentless. A group of suited divers slip on their fins and walk toward the frigid water. Students hold their masks and take the plunge.

    Students in Humboldt State’s Scientific Diving Program were tense with anticipation, but they were not nervous. This was the last dive of the semester and they felt safe and prepared. The conditions were challenging but not overwhelming. Plus, they had Jessica Doyle and the Dive Program leadership at their side. They were stoked.

    “The students were brave their first time,” Doyle said. “At 100 dives, I knew the conditions were bad. There was very low visibility. Regardless, the beginners were still excited about seeing even a sea star.”

    Doyle is passionate about diving. She is studying Environmental Interpretation and Education, but the dive minor opens new doors of opportunity. Doyle gets to help teach all the classes, which go on weekend long dive trips down to Van Damme State Park. Divers in the program are involved in research ranging from studying the impacts of sea urchins eating kelp to monitoring marine protected areas up and down the north coast to counting fish and plants.

    [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”Jessica Doyle” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”17″]”The Humboldt Dive Program is very prestigious. That’s like getting a law degree from Harvard. And any student can participate!”[/perfectpullquote]

    To teach students about the HSU Dive Program, Doyle helped put on Ocean Night on May 1, 2019 at the Arcata Theater Lounge. It was a night of fundraising, underwater video and picture presentations and raffles. All the money raised went to the diving program to support their future trips. Doyle and the Dive Program taught attendees about the dive program and shared some really neat videos from recent dives.

    Doyle said she wants to make it clear the HSU Dive Program is open to everyone. She said certification and education from HSU Dive is a big deal. McKenna Rayburn took advantage of the program two years ago, changing her major to Oceanography and jumping into the HSU Dive minor. Both of the divers had a lot of good things to say about the program.

    “Generally diving is not a common experience,” Doyle said. “The Humboldt Dive Program is very prestigious. That’s like getting a law degree from Harvard. And any student can participate! We want everyone to know you don’t need to be in marine biology to be a part of the dive program.”

    “The dive program is a great experience,” Rayburn said. “Diving builds character and pushes limits. Once I am under the water, I feel calm. After I get my buoyancy figured out, being in the water is my favorite feeling. It’s glorious.”

    Photo courtesy Jessica Doyle

    The HSU Dive Program comes with a lifetime diving certification. Equipped with this certification, the opportunities for underwater exploration are endless. Diving Safety Officer Richard Alvarez helps organize and approve all dive plans and research missions. Alvarez said the HSU Dive program prepares their divers for any conditions they may face worldwide.

    “Diving here is super challenging,” Alvarez said. “We have low visibility and are constantly exposed to the elements. The program takes people and prepares them for a lot. We are training in rigorous conditions. The main theme of the program is safety.”

    “Diving builds character and pushes limits. Once I am under the water, I feel calm. After I get my buoyancy figured out, being in the water is my favorite feeling. It’s glorious.”

    McKenna Rayburn

    Alvarez said it was important to prepare divers for an emergency. He said the divers in the program practiced safety and were highly skilled. This ensures they do high quality science. Alvarez said it can be easy to get distracted from the basics when counting fish, so rigorous training was necessary.

    Rayburn has not taken the scientific diving course yet, but said she was looking forward to it. In the program, she will get to how to identify fish and plants underwater. She will also have the opportunity to collect her own data for any project she wants to do, as long as Alvarez approves it.

    “When HSU students dive at other spots, they get really excited,” Alvarez said. “The stoke to get in the water is enthusiasm. Diving the north coast can be challenging but it’s worth all the effort. The coast is phenomenal. We have the most beautiful coast. Diving here is mind blowing.”

  • #Trashtag is still happening

    #Trashtag is still happening

    The viral clean up challenge is going strong across the world

    The viral challenge to pick up nasty littered areas hasn’t been tossed out. #Trashtag is still going!

    In case you haven’t heard about the challenge, #trashtag challenge has a few simple steps. First, locate an area of your community covered in trash. Second, equip a team of people with gloves and trashbags. Third, bag it.

    Be sure to take a before and after photo to show what a difference you made for your community and upload it on social media like Twitter or Reddit with the hashtag #trashtag.

    The trashtag hashtag has been on the internet for some time now, the trend got popular in March 2019 after a guy named Byron Román made a post on Facebook about it. His post is a photo of a man in a littered area before and after he cleaned it up. Román challenged teens to do the same.

    “Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens,” Román wrote. “Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it.”

    IMG_5231.PNG.jpeg
    Photo Courtesy of Jadarlin

    Román made it viral. After more than 100,000 likes and shares on Facebook, #trashtag had it in the bag. The movement spread online like the pacific garbage patch has spread in the ocean.

    All across the world from Bali to Brooklyn trashtaggers are cleaning up their backyards. Reddit user misoxx even submitted their #trashtag contributions from Nepal!

    Littering has serious impacts on humans and the environment we live in. According to a study published by the Royal Society, fish may actively seek out and eat plastic waste because it smells and looks like food.

    This kills fish. As humans, in turn, eat plastic filled fish the plastic accumulates in our bodies. This is “litter-ally” as dangerous as eating tide pods.

    As far as viral internet memes go, #trashtag is probably the most wholesome one yet. It’s relevant, it’s productive and it encourages an awesome behavior, picking up trash.

    The Story of Stuff, founded by Annie Leonard, an investigator who took the lid off of manufacturing in the world, teaches its viewers about where all this waste comes from.

    Leonard explains how consumerism is all about that “buy buy buy” attitude. The problem with this attitude is the fact that we end up with way too much stuff. As soon as we realize that fact, anything we don’t need or want gets tossed. That’s one reason there is so much trash that ends up on our beaches, in our rivers and on our streets.

    IMG_5228.jpg
    Photo Courtesy of misoxx

    Litter is a serious issue in our modern age. Our society depends on cheap production and disposable items to make life convenient. Unfortunately, these behaviors “externalize” the real impacts of plastics, including litter.

    Trash becomes a problem, real quick. Although our waste quickly piles up in landfills, at least it’s a heck of a lot better than it piling up on our beaches. #trashtag is a great reason to make sure nasty trash ends up where it belongs.

    So let’s pick up a trash bag, put on a pair of gloves and start bagging that trash. Our communities will appreciate and out planet will appreciate it. Remember to take a picture and #trashtag.

  • April showers bring May flowers

    April showers bring May flowers

    Upbeat music filled the air on campus. May Day, the springtime celebration of fertility and joy, was in full swing at CCAT. Smiling faces crowned in flower wreaths welcomed visitors to the house. Anticipation was building.

    The front lawn of the Campus Center for Appropriate Technologies was covered in yellow hay. The sun shone over people gathered there, warming hearts and heads. Funky music rolled across the yard, digging deep into people’s souls. There was a pep in everybody’s step as they danced around the yard. May Day is a celebration of rebirth and revitalization. Students and families crowded around tables to weave themselves flower crowns, dressing themselves in natural beauty.

    Sean Armstrong introduced May Day with passion. He stood above the crowd with his corn blond hair blowing in the wind as he wove an image of May Day. Armstrong said humans have been celebrating May Day for five thousand years. May Day is a celebration of fertility and rebirth, of sexuality and community. May Day marks the beginning of spring and traditionally pays homage to Eostre, the pagan goddess of spring. May Day is ultimately a celebration of one and all.

    “Spring is a non-optional time of renewal,” Armstrong said. “Today is a moment of optimism. This place is about regeneration and optimism. We have a ‘world gets better perspective’ and we trust in a future of growth.”

    CCAT offered a whole bouquet of May Day themed activities. Piles of flower clippings were set out on tables so people could make themselves a wreath of flowers to wear. The wreaths were crowns accentuating natural beauty. Bright blues, fiery reds and striking yellows were set in rings of ivy and grass. Abigail Lowell shared why flowers were celebrated on May Day.

    “A flower is beauty,” Lowell said. “Flowers are one of humans definitions of beauty. Humans have always considered flowers to be the foundation of beauty.”

    Lowell wore a light blue dress to match her light blue eyes at the May Day festival. The weather was kind enough to copy Lowell and grace the celebration with a bright blue sky to boot. Girls danced and twirled in flowery dresses to the funky music. After a while a hush fell over the crowd, the music slowed down when Armstrong took the stage to introduce the May Pole.

    The May Pole is a symbol of the potency of the god. For lack of a better term it is a phallic birch pole set straight into the ground. Attached to the top of the pole green, red, yellow, blue and orange ribbons streamed down into the hands of excited people around the base.

    “I met my wife at a May Day celebration right here on CCAT’s lawn,” Armstrong said. “The whole day build up to this great release. You know, there’s flirting, there’s drinking, there’s feasting. We can pay attention to the spring season and celebrate it.”

    The music kicked up again. Half of the dancers began to skip around the pole. Every other person walked towards the center of the pole and danced in the other direction. The inner circle and the outer circle wove in and out between one another. At the climax of the dance the May Pole was wrapped in an intricate lattice of color. As the weave tightened around the pole, flowers were tucked into the ribbons. What resulted was a rainbow braid adorned with bright flowers and surrounded by smiling faces.

    If only the sensation of May Day could be pressed and preserved forever. Alas, just as the celebration recognizes change the day’s sky began to change as the sun set. Sebastian Forward, CCAT’s organic gardener and future botanist, did his best to save the day. He was teaching CCAT’s visitors how to press plants and flowers.

    “Pressing plants gives you something tangible when photos and drawings just won’t cut it,” Forward said. “We can preserve plants for over 100 years. Pressed plants show us what the plant was like the day it was pressed. We can still see what the little hairs look like under the microscope.”

    May Day celebrated the transition of winter to spring. As plants bloom they herald fruits to come. Chirping birds and buzzing bees sat on branches while they watched humans dance around a field of hay celebrating life and joy. Celebrate this time of year with happiness and love. Show compassion to those around you. Stop and smell the roses, spring has come.

    “It was heartfelt,” Lowell said. “Everybody was talking to one another. There were no inhibitions. The bright colors livened everybody up. We felt community. I liked it.”

  • Every day can be Earth Day

    Every day can be Earth Day

    Green Campus, CCAT, WRRAP and Associated Students have organized an Earth Week

    A buzz is on campus as Earth Week begins, a celebration of progress towards a bright green tomorrow. The theme is “Building Resilience in a Time of Climate Crisis.”

    In the Kate Buchanan Room, Green Campus took reduce, reuse, recycle to a whole new level, kicking off Earth Week with a ‘Trashion’ show. Participants used recycled rugs, sheets and even toilet paper rolls to create one-of-a-kind fashion masterpieces. The goal was simply to bring awareness to waste.

    Kassidy Fosdick of Green Campus said the Trashion Show was a great way to get people involved in Earth Week.

    “Trashion Show is a great communal gathering,” Fosdick said. “We have a big message and we need a lot of time to communicate it.”

    Building resilience in a time of climate crisis is a bold, challenging initiative. It requires people to start paying attention and adapting to a reality that will otherwise be a rude awakening.

    To be resilient to climate change, people must be prepared to use less water, buy food grown closer to home and turn the lights on later in the evening.

    Mark Farrell, a student studying energy and climate encourages anyone who hasn’t began to be conservation-minded to catch up.

    “If you haven’t realized how to live a less wasteful life by now, it’s time to figure it out,” Farrell said. “Earth Day isn’t the only day to be environmentally friendly. We should be living that way every day. Make every day Earth Day.”

    Earth Day, April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans turned their faces towards the warm spring sun. Sweet-smelling flowers were tucked behind the ears of beautiful humans.

    Fifth Avenue, New York, NY was closed off to celebrate the very first Earth Day. Rolling music wafted through the streets as thousands of people marched to advocate for action to heal a sick planet.

    Gaylord Nelson was the founder of the Earth Day movement. His will caused the first Earth Day to happen. In 1970, on a stage in Denver Colorado, here is what he had to say.

    “Earth Day is dramatic evidence of a broad new national concern that cuts across generations and ideologies,” Nelson said. “It may be symbolic of a new communication between young and old about our values and priorities.”

    Nelson had witnessed the ravages of the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California and demanded something be done about it. The United States was rocked with disaster after ecological disaster as the Cuyahoga River caught on fire, also in 1969. Unrestrained and unregulated smoke stacks poured smog into the atmosphere, poisoning the citizens of the United States.

    “Establishing [environmental] quality on a par with quantity is going to require new national policies that quite frankly will interfere with what many have considered their right to use and abuse the air, the water, the land, just because that is what we have always done,” Nelson said.

    Today, the planet continues to face an assault from humanity. Pollution is more subtle now, but the impacts on Earth are just as severe. Society’s demand for things requires massive amounts of natural resources to be extracted, processed and consumed.

    These processes release Carbon Dioxide in excessive amounts, which has been proven time and time again to create a destructive warming effect on the planet.

    Dillon Anderson with the Energy and Climate Professionals Club on campus went over some ways to decarbonize your life.

    “One low-cost change would be to switch your electricity service to a 100% renewable source, with Redwood Coast Energy Authority for example,” Anderson said. “Beyond that, make small adjustments to your lifestyle.”

    Every single human can give a helping hand to Earth. Any great American should want to protect the unique and precious landscape we’re blessed with. From sea to shining sea, citizens have the opportunity to make change. It’s simple. Biking or riding the bus to school may be a little less convenient than a car, but it can save buckets of money and will improve health while also reducing emissions.

    On Wednesday April, 24 in Nelson Hall East there will be a Humboldt County Climate Action Plan Forum. All are encouraged to attend.

    CCAT co-director Karina Coronado said it was important to get everybody involved in the climate conversation.

    “When it comes to the Earth, as inhabitants, we are collaborating towards a shared vision,” Coronado said. “With events on the quad, we get to meet people beyond those in science. Climate needs to be an inter-sectional issue. All inhabitants are part of the community.”

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  • Saltwater tanks are for everyone

    Saltwater tanks are for everyone

    Fish tank care can be a fun and healthful hobby to pick up

    Aquariums, from home built to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, are a great way to relieve stress and learn a little about ocean science. Jason McCormick has loved being around fish tanks since they were a kid. They explain their favorite part about their aquarium.

    “The joy of taking care of the animals,” McCormick said.

    Chris Kellawan is the sales manager at Arcata Pet Supply. Kellawan has been working with saltwater tanks for almost 30 years.

    “Get the biggest tank you can afford,” Kellawan said.

    The large tank will make the conditions more stable for the fish. Plus it will be easier to grow the tank as time goes on. The tank should be kept out of direct sunlight and in a well ventilated area. This keeps toxic algae from taking the tank over and getting the fish sick.

    There are other supplies necessary, such as a substrate, a heater, power-heads, and lighting equipment. However, the most fun supplies are the aquascaping materials. Aquascaping is just landscaping, but underwater. People use plants, rocks, or driftwood to aquascape within their tank. Aquascaping is the most creative part of setting up an aquarium.

    Fish can also be a fun, creative part of setting up a saltwater tank. Research is the first step in knowing what fish are right for beginners and for specific tank sizes. Local pet stores and the internet are a good place to start. Although, there can be some conflicting answers during the research process.

    “Context around the answers changes,” Kellawan said.

    Kellawan recommends finding out why the answers are conflicting. This encourages a better understanding of saltwater tanks.

    Saltwater tanks have three main chemical processes to pay attention to. The first is the tank’s alkalinity level. The alkalinity of a tank is most important to measure the bicarbonate levels. Those bicarbonates in a tank are an essential part of corals’ skeleton.

    It is also important to pay attention to the tank’s level of ammonia. The levels of this chemical should be zero. If the levels of ammonia become too high, the tank can become toxic to the fish. Ammonia can come from rotting food and the fish pee. This can be controlled with a proper filtration system.

    The third most important piece to pay attention to is the calcium levels. Calcium helps keep corals’ skeletons healthy and growing.

    Kellawan finds that getting in the zone with their fish tanks has a calming effect on everyone they encounter.

    “Shut out the periphery,” Kellawan said.

  • OPINION: Let that yellow mellow

    OPINION: Let that yellow mellow

    Flushing your toilet has a larger impact on the environment than you may think

    Many homes across the country have a motto, “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.” This saying encourages water conservation when it comes to flushing the toilet.

    The amount of water a toilet uses depends on how old it is. If your toilet was made before 1982, then it could be using anywhere from five to seven gallons of water each flush. Newer toilets use about two gallons per flush. The average person flushes about five times each day. That is 10 gallons of water thrown out every day.

    You can check how much water your toilet uses by looking at the little block right behind the seat or under the tank lid, or you can check for the year in the tank of the toilet which could give you a good idea of how much it is using.

    Flushing can also be very dirty. Each flush can spew water as far as six feet. That could reach your toothbrush! So letting the yellow mellow may help you avoid having your toothbrush become more covered in germs.

    Saving your flush also saves water. Water usage is projected to increase by 55% from 2000 to 2050. This increase creates problems as 21 of 37 aquifers across India and China, and the U.S. and France are draining at an alarming rate.

    CA is a good example of overuse of water. The state’s aquifers receded about 16 trillion acre-feet per year. That caused CA to have 1,900 wells dry up from 2011-2016. Letting the yellow mellow could have helped save some of that water.

    Each time you flush your yellow down the toilet, it’s like flushing three tenths of a cent with it. This adds up to about $10.95 per year. You can save $7.66 each year by letting the yellow mellow. Not only does saving your flush save water, but it also saves money.

    If you were to flush every third time you used the restroom, you would be saving about six gallons of water each day. That means more clean water for drinking, or showering, or even future flushing.

  • April showers bring May flowers

    April showers bring May flowers

    This past week flowers on Humboldt State’s campus have come into full bloom

    Rhododendron, azalea, coltsfoot and more plants have begun flowering. Don’t forget to stop and smell the rosemary. Flowers’ sweet smelling perfume waft across campus, attracting a host of pollinators and people to their petals. Our biologists are on a buzz researching flowers on campus.

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    Stefani Brandt pointing to the date of the first flowering plant. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    Stefani Brandt is one such biologist. Brandt teaches plant taxonomy on campus, the branch of science concerned with classification of organisms. She said flowers serve one function: sex.

    “Flowers have evolved to be the perfect fix for their pollinators,” Brandt said. “If no pollinator showed up, there would be no flowers. The flower uses scent, color and shape to attract pollinators that spread sperm and pollen from one flower to the egg of another. Once fertilized, every flower produces a fruit.”

    Casey Albarran is a co-director for CCAT and a biology student who is investigating Petasites frigidus var. palmatus, otherwise known as Arctic sweet coltsfoot. Albarann is working with Michael Messlet to learn about what pollinates the mysterious plant. Together they are hoping to discover what pollinates the plants.

    “Petasites is a complicated plant,” Albarran said. “It is dioecious, meaning there are male plants and female plants. It is native to this region and there is not much we know about it. We’ll check on it for ten minutes at a time and try to learn what pollinates it.”

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    Casey Albarran posing with the Arctic colts foot he is studying. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    Albarran said the research group has already began collecting pollinators. Some flies and bumblebees have been captured to be studied. Keep an eye out on campus for pollinators like the bumblebee and treat them nicely. Those bumblebees are responsible for making sure the beautiful flowers come back year after year.

    Biologists keep track of when flowers bloom each year. Phenology is the study of periodic life cycle events such as a plant’s first flower. These life cycle events are often sensitive to climate and temperature and are used as indicators for climate changes.

    Our grounds crew takes care of plants on campus as they grow and change. Skye Freitas prunes the campus trees to prepare them for flowering. Freitas cuts away dead branches and shapes trees to help the tree thrive.

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    Sky Freitas hanging out with some plants. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    She said she enjoys working with plants every day. Since the bloom has happened on campus, Freitas is more than happy to take care of the plant life.

    “It never feels like I’m actually working,” Freitas said. “It’s very therapeutic to work with the trees. I get to help make sure all the nutrients get to the right place.”

    Petasites, however, is not waiting for Freitas to visit. It displays its white flowers, beckoning pollinators to its petals. Albarran and his team monitor the plant as pollinators begin to fly towards it, landing on the flower in search of Petasites sweet nectar.

    In due time the plant shall be fertilized to create fruit, restarting its life cycle so it may live on to flower another day.

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    A blooming trillium flower. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    “There are over 300,000 species of angiosperms, flowering plants, in the world,” Brandt said. “There are probably over a hundred on campus. There is a reason they smell good and look pretty.”

  • The fungi among us

    The fungi among us

    Mushroom week is in full swing at HSU

    Humboldt State is home to a variety of mushrooms that are sprouting as the rain comes and goes. CCAT held a series of presentations and workshops to further educate more students on mycology this week, and it came with a lot of educational fun facts about mushrooms. The most interesting being the things that can be made from mushrooms.

    Casey Albarran, the internal co-director of CCAT said mushrooms can be more than just food.

    “There are so many applications of mushrooms that are revolutionizing different things in the world,” Albarran said.

    According to students at CCAT mushrooms can be made into bricks, buildings, leather and of course food. They can be medicinal as well. These discoveries of mushrooms have led to so many innovations with what can be made from them. There is still a lot of testing that needs to be made, though. The use of mushrooms traces back to traditional Chinese medicine, and that’s the kind of information that CCAT wanted to display to the students.

    Michelle Stone, president of CCAT said that her favorite thing about mushrooms is identifying them.

    “It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt without knowing what you’ll find,” Stone said.

    Stone explained that with making something like leather out of mushrooms, it would support the vegan movement and revolutionize the industry making leather. She also explained that over-producing mushrooms can be a problem with all these innovations, and the goal would be to create a more sustainable form of production.

    “We wouldn’t be able to just completely switch to myco-building, but it’s still an interesting idea,” Albarran said.

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    Mushroom growing locally in Humboldt County. | Photo by Amanda Schultz

    One big thing about mycology is that it is incredibly complex. Just when you think you know a good amount of information there turns out to be a whole new array of facts and information.

    JT Abbott, a student involved with CCAT, explained that despite his knowledge on mushrooms that there is still so much he doesn’t know.

    “I love substituting my groceries by finding mushrooms, they’re a really fun addition to my forest walks,” Abbott said. “But eat them only if you are good at foraging.”

    Mushrooms are notorious for their role in breaking things down in the ecosystem, and it’s myco-remediation that draws so many students to learning more about them.

    Ben Nguyen is another student that is apart of CCAT.

    “Nothing would be possible without them because they’re the natural digesters of Earth,” Nguyen said.

  • Thorns hurt but friends are forever

    Thorns hurt but friends are forever

    These three campus clubs serve the community for good

    Humboldt State University has a multitude of clubs who participate in community service. This week’s focus is on the Natural Resources Club, Campus Center for Appropriate Technologies and the Redwood Chapter of Environmental Educators and Interpreters.

    Environmental Science student and Natural Resources ‘Club Homie’ Alexander Mouriten talked about a recent invasive Himalayan blackberry removal project at Fern Canyon.

    “I gotta say, the thorns hurt but getting to work with my friends made that nothing,” Mouriten said. “I enjoyed it. I always enjoy volunteering.”

    Mouriten said he volunteers for the field work, the experience and the gratification of a good honest job.

    Early on Saturday mornings, the Natural Resources Club meets in front of the Natural Resources building before heading out for their weekly restoration service project. The Natural Resources Club does invasive plant removal, trail building and habitat restoration on a regular basis. Food and coffee are provided to keep up morale, and the club welcomes all students to join.

    The Campus Center for Appropriate Technologies, CCAT, is built on environmentally-friendly means. CCAT often creates opportunities to volunteer and provides students with hands-on experience with unique technology.

    Sebastian Forward is the sustainable gardener at CCAT. Forward is working on an ethnobotanical gardening project to educate people about the science and history of food domestication. Forward said he believes everybody who works at CCAT is here for the community.

    “CCAT is a source of information and education in the community,” Forward said. “Every Friday is our signature volunteer Friday. Everyone is always enjoying their talking and enjoying their time.”

    Volunteer Fridays are a really good opportunity to get involved with the CCAT community. CCAT invites environmentally conscious people who have sustainable technology ideas to come to the house and make their ideas come to life. Visitors will be met with a welcoming attitude. Just ask what you can do to help.

    To have a healthy community, the community must serve itself. Every weekend, community service projects pop up across the nation. Projects rely on volunteers who offer their time to improve habitats, clean up streets and improve their communities. Participating in community service gives volunteers the opportunity to help improve the place they live while offering the chance to create a special bond with whomever they serve.

    IMG_5099.jpg The Redwood Chapter of Environmental Educators cleans up for Coastal Clean Up Day. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    The Redwood Chapter of Environmental Educators and Interpreters, RCEEI, excells at explaining challenging topics to the community in approachable ways. The club serves young community members often, with events like their annual March 4 Parks.

    Brighton Hayashida is the vice president of RCEEI. He said March 4 Parks is an opportunity for students to serve young members of the community.

    “Kids are really excited about March 4 Parks,” Brighton said. “Just the fact they’re outside is important. The biggest thing is that we made nature relatable to kids.”

    RCEEI communicates environmental knowledge by interpreting it. Scientific interpretation is similar to language translation. Instead of language, RCEEI talk about science in a way everybody can understand. It’s a valuable tool for inspiring people to volunteer to serve their community.

    Service is one of the United State’s defining values. From the beginning of the nation, Americans have been volunteering their time and energy for selfless progress. In 1736, Benjamin Franklin founded the first volunteer fire department. In 1865 William and Catherine Booth form the Salvation Army, which would become one of the largest volunteer organizations in the nation. Finally in 1961, President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps which created volunteer opportunities across the world.

    “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,” President John F. Kennedy said.

  • Illuminating the dark

    Illuminating the dark

    Professor Derek F. Jackson Kimball sheds some light on his research into dark matter

    Gravity keeps us down, thermodynamics keep us warm and dark energy is getting big. CSU East Bay physics Professor Derek F. Jackson Kimball uncovers the nature of dark matter.

    Students from the physics department gathered in Science A 475 to listen to Kimball explain his research into the nature of dark matter. Kimball and his team hypothesized that dark matter is axion particles.

    Axion particles are hypothetical particles that are unbelievably small and weigh almost nothing. They’re classified as boson particles. This means multiple axion particles could occupy the same space without interfering with one another.

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    Professor Kimball pointing out equations used to determine the frequency of an axion’s rotation. | Photo by Collin Slavey

    Why does dark matter matter? Kimball used a colorful example to explain his pursuits in physics. His colleague Max Zolotorev, a former citizen of Soviet Russia, said that physicists care about dark matter because they “are curious to know how things work.”

    “Three percent of rats are physicists,” Zolotorev said. “In a Soviet experiment, an electrode is placed on top of a rat cage. Seventy percent of rats touch the electrode, get shocked and never touch the electrode again. Twenty-seven percent of rats watch 70 percent of rats touch the electrode, get shocked and never touch electrode in the first place. Three percent of rats touch the electrode and get shocked. Then the [three percent of rats] touch the electrode from the side, gets shocked. Then rats touch the top of electrode, also gets shocked. [Those] three percent of rats are physicists.”

    Kimball hopes to detect the axion particles in a rather unconventional way. Since the theoretical particle would be very small, Kimball’s team is going to try to detect them using magnetic resonance.

    Gynell Higby, a student of physics at HSU, attended the seminar. She was inspired by Kimball’s efforts.

    “Theories were taken from my modern physics class and made real,” Higby said. “That he can put together a new model from his mind and make it happen, it’s awesome.”

    Kimball is working together with physicists from around the world to figure out whether their axion hypothesis is valid. To detect axion particles using magnetic resonance, the GNOME program is a global network of sensors designed to record an event where the planet Earth passes through axion particles.

    The basic idea is to get a baseline recording of what space sounds like. When a sensor passes through dark matter, the axion particles in the air will change the baseline recording, appearing as a spike or a curve over the baseline data. Alas, so far there has been no such event.

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    Professor Derek Kimball | Photo by Collin Slavey

    Dark matter is a great mystery of nature. It won’t necessarily build a better toaster, but to discover what dark matter is will be a great human achievement. Kimball began his explanation of dark matter with a brief overview of what we know about it.

    First, we cannot see dark matter because it does not interact with light. That’s why dark matter is dark. Second, there is a lot of dark matter. Observations and a lot of complicated gravitational math inform us that dark matter makes up 26.8 percent of the observable universe.

    The remaining 63.8 percent of space is dark energy, an expanding force. And the remaining 4.9 percent of the universe is observable matter, stars, planets, galaxies etc. Finally, we know that we know just about nothing else about dark matter.

    Knowing so little drives Kimball’s research. Physicists know dark matter exists because of some significant astronomical observations. Primarily, the fact galaxies don’t spin themselves apart as they rotate tells us dark matter exists.

    If only the gravity from visible matter was holding galaxies together, galaxies would break apart and scatter stars across the universe. But they don’t. Gravity from dark matter and visible matter combined has enough force to hold galaxies together. The math works out to confirm dark matter exists.

    “We may be just swimming in dark matter,” Kimball said. “We could be able to detect it here from Earth today. Or maybe we are mostly sitting in nothing but every so often we run into dark matter. It may be clumped up in little dark matter balls or it may exist as massive dark matter walls. We will figure it out.”

  • HSU participates in the Math Modeling Competition

    HSU participates in the Math Modeling Competition

    The Mathematical Contest in Modeling is a chance for math fanatics around the world to flex their intellectual muscles

    Humboldt State students recently took part in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, a large undertaking with over 900 institutions around the world participating. Teams are challenged to solve a complex, open-ended real-world math problem.

    About half of the teams participating worldwide fail to even solve the problem. One of the teams from HSU received a hypothetical disaster situation, and was briefed on how to best provide surveillance and medical delivery to Puerto Rico following the recent hurricane. They figured they could supply three cities with two years of medical supplies.

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    Johnny Rasnic, a mathematics major at HSU, enjoys being active within the math department.

    “Here the department is small but they try to keep things active for the math majors,” Rasnic said.

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    Rasnic applied his knowledge fully to this competition. His favorite aspect of this competition is the collaboration.

    “People see things that you don’t. Two brains is better than one,” Rasnic said.

    To Rasnic, this competition is about making the impossible possible. It’s about taking a mathematical truth and applying it to certain situations to find more true statements.

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    There was one team from HSU who was tasked with finding out how to evacuate the Louvre in Paris as quickly as possible. They made their evacuation plan as specific as possible, and made different potential plans of evacuation for different potential solutions.

    Astrophysics and applied mathematics major at HSU, Gynell Higby gave advice to people looking to compete in the future.

    “Be prepared,” Higby said.

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    One group from HSU focused on the opioid crisis. They were given data on opioid incidents in five states: West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa.

    Briana Ramirez, applied mathematics major at HSU, was on the team tackling this problem.

    “Basically, the purpose of the problem was to see the driving drugs of the opioid crisis and the driving demographic that uses the most opioids,” Ramirez said.

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    The demographics for this crisis were shown on an excel sheet which the group looked over. They were given 96 hours to tackle the problem. They laid out code on a computer, but just as they were close to solving the problem, the power went out and all of their code got wiped clean.

    So, they started over with a sleepless night. After hours of grinding work, they found that Ohio has the biggest opioid crisis, but Kentucky has the largest demographics that use the most opioids.

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    The teams used different aspects of their intelligence. This was Ramirez’s second time participating in the competition.

    “We’re really using all of our education in one setting,” Ramirez said. “It’s an academia competition. But we’re not getting graded on it and we kind of have the full range of our creativity and all our knowledge to go into something productive.”

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    Photo courtesy of Humboldt State

    Ramirez went on to share the positive aspect of collaboration in this math modeling. she said that since the team os divided into groups of three, people can bring a lot of different skills to the table.

    “Bringing all of our education together was something really beneficial,” Ramirez said. “It kind of reinforces your learning through however many years of college you have.”