Combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills are used more commonly than any other method of contraception, with over 22 million users worldwide. Although many studies have investigated the potential health-related side effects of hormonal contraceptive use, relatively less research has investigated the potential psychological side effects of COCs despite the fact that many women anecdotally report such side effects. The current meta-analysis analyzes mood outcomes in the literature and finds a small but significant mood improvement following initiation of COCs.

I received the Undergraduate Research and Creative Award in Fall of 2015, and as per the requirements of the grant I am to present my work at IdeaFest this coming April. It is a children's story nearing the end of its production, and will mostly be a stationary display or booth where I'll gladly do Q&A about the process, where I'd like to see it go, and so forth.

This study aims to address whether differences in spatial ability and memory will be found among those who have active lifestyles, inactive lifestyles, and those who play video games. Spatial ability was examined by having participants become familiarized and then tested on a 3-D computerized maze. Participants were tested on memory and spatial components when asked to recollect the spatial layout of the computerized map.

It is ironic that scientific depictions of our hominin ancestors often overlook female representation, despite reproductive success being a major cornerstone of evolutionary theory. The story of evolution is instead told from male-centered, eurocentric perspectives, as in Rudolph Zallinger’s March of Progress (1965). My research employs a feminist critique on such popular models of human evolution in the form of an illustrated depiction of female hominid ancestors based on data from paleontological records and literature review. This research creates a balanced view of our evolutionary history, and encourages appropriate dialogue towards better understanding the evolution of humanity.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are not only an environmental hazard, they are hazardous to the animals confined in them and neighboring communities. In this project, I researched the consequential effects of CAFOs on the entire biotic community. The main effects discussed include but are not limited to: waste concentration, water quality, air quality, and public health. The interdisciplinarity of the issue at hand is brought to light by analyzing these detrimental effects through an Environmental Justice and Ecofeminist lens. Proposed areas of further research and community inclusion/empowerment are provided upon conclusion.

Mapping the worldviews and ideologies of Humboldt County

This project will look at recreational areas and discuss proper management techniques to reduce the impact of recreation in coastal environments.

Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) is a fraction of organic carbon with size less than 0.2 micrometers. DOC comes from decomposed plants, bacteria, and algae. Abundant in marine and freshwater systems, it serves as the primary food source for aquatic webs. Generally, rivers have higher concentrations of DOC than the ocean does. In the estuary, a linear relationship between salinity and DOC indicates that the DOC concentration is fully due to mixing of freshwater and saltwater, and not any significant additional source or removal terms. DOC concentrations decreased from river to ocean. Scholarly articles have pointed this to be normal. Interpretation of data will continue.

My topic is a history of giant serpent folklore within Humboldt county and how and why it evolved. Covering how and why the folklore formed in the first place, and how and why has the folklore changed throughout time. This includes how it relates to other serpent folklore and why it is special and unique compared to different regions' folklore on serpents. To support my topic I am trying to briefly touch on why are serpents/snakes are so prevalent in folklore, what makes Humboldt a likely place for such a deep serpent mythos, what real life creatures sparked inspiration

You will spend more time looking at faces than any other type of object in your lifetime. Because faces are such an important social signal, humans have developed a perceptual expertise for faces. Decades of research on the mechanisms of face processing have demonstrated we more heavily on configural processing strategies when viewing faces due to this expertise. However, this work has been done using almost exclusively adult facial stimuli. The current study uses a well-established configural disruption known as the Thatcher Effect to investigate the use of configural processing for infant faces. We find evidence that infant face processing may be less reliant on configural information.