Individuals with physical disabilities have found that the Cal Poly Humboldt campus is difficult to navigate due to topography, aging infrastructure, and more. In order to make improvements to our campus, we need to have data on barriers that prevent physical accessibility. This map seeks to be a simple way to display physical accessibility data online to both aid navigation and promote physical and social change regarding accessibility.

This project explores how American Robins change their songs in response to human-made noise. I recorded robin songs across urban and quiet areas in Humboldt County to see if louder environments caused them to sing at higher pitches or volumes. Using sound analysis tools, I compared changes in song frequency and amplitude with background noise levels. This research helps us understand how noise pollution affects bird communication and can guide efforts to make urban spaces more wildlife-friendly.

This project examines the effects of weather on insect and arthropod diversity and abundance in Arcata, California. Data captured was keyed out to taxonomic family, then Jaccard's Index and beta diversity tests were used to identify differences between sites.

When it comes to coastal redwood forests, there aren’t many studies that focus on insect abundance being affected by edge effects. The focus of this study is to see what species of insects are being affected by the forest edge. I will assess this question using pitfalls and sticky traps to trap ground insects and flying insects, respectively. I hypothesize that the closer distance from the edge habitat will positively influence insect diversity. This study will allow future researchers to see if there’s a correlation between insect abundance and other species that use insects as a food source.

How Do Anthropogenic Disturbances Affect Marbled Godwits in Humboldt Bay? I looked into how different types of human disturbances effect responses and vigilance in marbled godwits.

California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), the state flower, varies in lifespan and phenotype across its range. It's widely used in restoration, yet local adaptation is poorly understood. We conducted two common garden studies in coastal and inland California using seeds from seven locations. After greenhouse germination, plants were grown in Santa Cruz and Davis. We measured survival, growth, reproduction, and leaf traits. Results show evidence of local adaptation in fitness (survival and seed production), though not always in morphology. This suggests local seed sourcing is crucial for maintaining genetic diversity in restoration amid climate change.

Iron is an essential nutrient in biological systems, and is the limiting nutrient in about ⅓ of the surface ocean. We investigate the flow injection method of Lohan et al., 2006, with modifications described in Biller et al., 2013 to analyze nanomolar concentrations of iron in seawater. In this work we focus on quantifying and understanding the uncertainties in the measurements and the signal of the blank by adjusting the method in four distinct ways.

This project looks at yearly temperature ranges and growth metrics for fish sampled at three sites along the klamath basin.

Particular prey preferences observed from the feeding behavior of captive raptors

My research is done on Ensatina and California slender salamander microhabitat selection in the Arcata Community Forest. Soil moisture, canopy cover, soil temperature, cover object length/width, foliage cover and salamander length and weight were all recorded. This data was used to determine if Ensatina and California slender salamanders show microhabitat selection for certain soil temperature, soil moisture, canopy cover or foliage cover.