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Presenters & Abstracts: 2016
Mapping Ancient Maya Lowlands
- Aleck TanAnthropology/ArchaeologyUndergraduate Student
- Breana EsparzaAnthropology/ArchaeologyUndergraduate Student
- Marisol Cortes- Rincon PhDAnthropology/ArchaeologyFaculty
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Aleck Tan and Breana Esparza will assist Dr. Marisol Cortes-Rincon in mapping the areas between Dos Hombres and Gran Cacao using GIS and remote sensing techniques. Aleck Tan has been using satellite imagery to analyze the vegetation in the area in order to identify the extent of the causeways by applying remote sensing techniques of calculating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Breana Esparza has been applying different methods of spatial analysis to create topographic contours of quarries and water features near the site N950. The information gathered would help create a better understanding of how ancient Mayan rural communities lived within their environments.
Mapping Marijuana Cultivation Sites and Water Storage in the Redwood Creek Watershed, Southern Humboldt County
- Cristina BaussGeographyUndergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Impending regulation of California’s medical-marijuana industry demands a quantifiable understanding of the extent of cultivation on private lands long devoted to commercial-scale marijuana growing. This research aimed to quantify marijuana cultivation and water storage in the Redwood Creek watershed of southern Humboldt County, where critical changes have taken place since the advent of the back-to-the-land movement in the late 1960s. A GIS-based spatial analysis, following a visual search using Google Earth imagery, yielded 303 greenhouses, 100 outdoor cultivation scenes, 164 water tanks, and 51 installed ponds on assessor’s parcels located within or partly within the watershed.
Maximization of Sustainable Values in Real Estate
- Ryan DaleAnthropologyGraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Using applied anthropology to create sustainable models for real estate values, and hopefully prevent another great recession. The next phase is to determine the cultural implications of these models and to see how our cultural will react when their homes loses value on paper but are worth the same in terms of wages disposable income ratio.
Measurements of Sub-Milliradian Angles Using a Modified Michelson Interferometer
- Benjamin DalyPhysics and AstronomyUndergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
At Humboldt State University, a group of undergraduate students and faculty have been investigating the effects of gravity at very short distances. Due to the need to measure very small amounts of motion during these experiments, a separate group of students and faculty have been designing an optical system to measure very small rotational movement, down to the sub-milliradian scale. This system, a modified Michelson interferometer, utilizes the optical path length difference of two branches of a split laser beam to measure almost imperceptible rotations of a mirror by observing constructive and destructive interference of the two branches.
Millennials' Redefinition of "Career"
- Magdalena MartinezInternational StudiesUndergraduate Student
- Alison HolmesInternational StudiesFaculty
- Loren CollinsAcademic & Career AdvisingFaculty
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Today, as the Millennial Generation attend and complete college, enter the workforce and start their careers—research suggests that they are redefining the “traditional” values of individualism, entrepreneurship, and materialism that convey “success” in their chosen fields. The argument of this article is that the teaching of career preparation at the university level must also change. Therefore, this article will explore the question of how to teach “career” curriculum to a generation that arguably has very different values in the small, rural context of Humboldt State University.
Mindfulness: A physiological examination of mediation and alternate states of conciousness
- Raleigh TomlinsonBiologyUndergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
From Tibetan monks to college students in the U.S., meditation is a practice that has transcended cultural barriers and has been in existence for thousands of years. In addition to waking, dreaming, and non-dreaming, Davidson (1976) describes the practice of transcendental meditation (TM) as a fourth state of consciousness (as cited in Kanellakos & Lukas, 1974). This is due to the studies with brain wave lengths and EEGs that show what areas of the mind are being activated during meditation. My study will be a literature review of: the physiological changes during meditation, brain activity during meditation, and current clinical applications.
Nanodiscs Stabilize Anabaena Sensory Rhodopsin for Transcriptional Regulation Studies
- Joshua MasseyChemistryUndergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Anabaena Sensory Rhodopsin (ASR) is a retinal containing photoactive membrane protein from the cyanobacterium Anabaena. ASR is part of a protein complex which has been proposed, but never demonstrated, to control the transcription of the cpc-genes involved in chromatic adaption. We isolated and characterized ASR from engineered E. coli for construction of protein lipid nanodiscs. Our ASR nanodiscs were soluble and allow for protein access from the top and bottom of the bilayer. Our next steps will involve examination of the lipid environment and to investigate DNA binding. Results of these studies may allow for future use of these proteins as photo-active transcriptional regulators.
Natural Influences from Inside and Outside of the Classroom
- Amanda HenmanChild DevelopmentUndergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
The research project has been developed to investigate what the relationship is between early education students, teachers, living plants inside and outside the classroom, and the environment outside the windows. The research project surveys 32 center-based programs among rural and urban early education programs to produce quantitative and qualitative data for a research project that will support a blog site. The blog site will include curriculum plans, activities and images supporting incorporation of plants in children’s environments and children’s interactions with natural materials and playscapes.
Network Analysis of Individuals and Organizations Involved in Food Issues at Humboldt State University and Surrounding Communities (Phase 1)
- Anna Malia G. BarkerDepartment of CommunicationUndergraduate Student
- Michael S. BrunerDepartment of CommunicationFaculty
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
This applied research project is one attempt to contribute to the building and strengthening of partnerships among those involved with food issues at Humboldt State University and surrounding communities. While we report some information, we also seek to advocate for even more collaboration among local stakeholders.
Novel Tests of Gravity Below Fifty Microns
- Gabriela MartinezPhysics and AstronomyUndergraduate Student
- Jeremy JohnsonPhysics and AstronomyUndergraduate Student
- Ian GuerreroPhysics and AstronomyUndergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Due to inconsistencies between General Relativity and the Standard Model, tests of gravity remain at the forefront of experimental physics. At Humboldt State University, undergraduates and faculty are designing an experiment sensitive enough to detect gravitational interactions below the 50 micron scale. The experiment measures the twist of a torsion pendulum as an attractor mass is oscillated nearby in a parallel plate configuration, providing time varying gravitational torque on the pendulum. The size and distance dependence of the torque variation will provide a means to determine any deviation from current models of gravity on untested scales.