The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Peace Corps

  • Voices of students in STEM

    Voices of students in STEM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Lumberjacks continue to spread peace

    Lumberjacks continue to spread peace

    By Geneva Peppars

    Humboldt State made the Peace Corps list of Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges for the tenth year in a row.  This year HSU ranked fifth on the list of medium size colleges for its current 33 alumnus volunteering around the world. Since 1961, 841 Lumberjacks have served as volunteers, according to Humboldt Now.

    Kayla Mesangale, graduated from HSU  May 2015, and is currently serving in Timor-Leste, a 15 year-old country in Southeast Asia. She is apart of the first group back in the country since the Peace Corps evacuation in 2006 due to civil unrest.

    “Peace corps was in Timor from 2002 ,when they won their independence to 2006. I’m apart of the first group of volunteers since the evacuation in 2006. We arrived 2015.”

    She graduated from HSU with a degree in child development. Now she works as  a community development volunteer in Timor Leste.

    “Basically we are reestablishing the [Peace Corps] program and building relationships and trust with the locals,” Mesangale said. “Our focus is nutrition, water sanitation, agriculture and business, but we all do a variety of different projects. Really whatever our communities need.”

    Charles Truong also graduated from Humboldt State in 2015 with a degree in kinesiology education and he is currently living in rural Fiji. Truong teaches physical education and life skills at a nearby high school. Truong participated in throwing events for the HSU track and field teams and now coaches track and field throwing events in Fiji.

    Charles Truong said the ability to bring his students outside of their villages is a highlight for him.

    “Seeing the impact it had on all of my students was a proud moment for myself because I know I had sparked something inside of them. Now, in the new school year, I see the students more open and willing to try new things. It makes me proud that I could just be part of their growth,” Truong said.

    Katie Sidel served in Zambia for after she graduated in 2013 with a degree in Environmental science ecological restoration before she returned in March of 2016. Sidel worked as a  forestry extension agent where she promoted income generating activities such as beekeeping. Sidel also educated kids on malaria and HIV and planted trees for multipurpose such as cropping and nitrogen fixation. Sidel knows many HSU alumni Peace Corp volunteers and even ran into one she went to school with at a music festival in East Africa.

    “I met another PCV in Malawi who I went to HSU with”, Katie said. “We randomly met at a music festival in Malawi. [A]HSU alumni who would’ve thought”.

    Kayla’s advice to HSU students or alumni contemplating signing up to volunteer is to not romanticize the decision.

    “Really think about it realistically. It’s important not to romanticize it, because this will be one of the most challenging experiences, from loneliness and explosive diarrhea to harassment and  health problems” said Kayla. “ But ultimately, this will be a worthwhile and life changing experience. The relationships you build with people and the little changes you have an impact on, are worth it all”

    “If you’re willing to challenge yourself and sacrifice many of your privileges to grow, then Peace Corps is for you,” said Charles Truong. “The experience, relationships, and lessons you learn are all worth the hardships”

    If you are interested in learning more about joining the Peace Corps, the Humboldt State recruiter, Barbara Smith will be on campus holding an application workshop on April 21.