The development of photovoltaic systems is increasing with growing demand for clean energy. Plant functional traits can be used to understand what plants are establishing in different microhabitats because traits respond to environmental constraints and fluctuations. We sampled three solar microgrids in coastal grasslands in Humboldt County for plant community composition and leaf traits. We found that plant traits varied by microhabitat indicating that microgrids apply an environmental filter in plant community assembly. Results from this study can be used to inform plant selection for habitat enhancement or restoration.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of selective harvest logging on mammal diversity and abundance in the Jacoby Creek Forest Tract in Humboldt County, California. The study compared two forest stands: one managed with selective harvest (recently harvested in October 2024) and one unmanaged (a 40-year-old even-aged forest). The goal was to assess how the recent selective harvest affects mammal diversity and abundance, and whether mammals are selective for certain habitat characteristics such as cover availability, understory vegetation, and forest structure.

Lumbriculus variegatus has great ability to regenerate from small fragments into a new worm. In this study, we expose the worms to the voltage-gated sodium channel blocker Tricaine (MS-222) and examine somatic regeneration of heads and tails following body transection. Images of regenerating worms under normal conditions and treated worms with (1700μm) of tricaine were examined after amputation through TEM, SEM, and light level. Regeneration of both new head and tail body segments was reduced in the presence of tricaine, especially in the tail regeneration. Therefore, voltage- gated sodium channels showed to affect regeneration in the blackworms.

My service learning project addresses the issue of food insecurity in Arcata. Through the benefits of community gardens, greater socio-economic development can be achieved. At Open Door Health and Wellness Garden, I am maintaining and managing the beds in the garden for spring harvest, for the people of Arcata, so they can have easier access to organically grown healthier foods. I am interested in support networks of community gardeners as resources to sustain locally grown organic food and the health benefits that community gardens offer.

Organic Guru is an organic food company and sustainable village. The food company replaces Sysco, and US Foods as a restaurant and small market supply, supplying Humboldt's restaurants, schools and general population with organic food. The profits in turn support a sustainable/ecovillage which provide quality sustainable housing such as tee pee's, yurts, for either permeant or transitional housing. allowing for a large segment of the population to have food shelter clothing and income. We also have planned to create a product line of food to sell at the retail stores, and restaurants, such as kombucha, teas, superfood cookies, pasta sauces. Like Newmans own.

The Blue Lake Rancheria community has had visibly polluted air and matter emitted from the local biomass plant over the recent past. The Rancheria is concerned about the negative health impact the biomass plant could be having on the environment and community. This literary review hopes to establish an understanding of the impact of the Blue Lake biomass energy plant’s impact on air quality, determine standards of emissions which it operates and examine the gaps between current healthy standards of emission and that of the Blue Lake biomass plant. The findings will inform the Blue Lake Rancheria and will raise public awareness of the air quality and health impact of the biomass energy plant.

Ladder training is a form of multidirectional lower limb plyometric training utilized by coaches and athletes in a variety of sports. Researchers have not examined how ladder training improves sprint and COD performance. The addition of 4 weeks of LT to a conventional pre-season strength and conditioning program seems to represent a time-efficient stimulus for improvement in sprint performance, stride frequency, and ground contact time. LT should be implemented as a warm up or neural priming exercise. These findings offer practitioners and athletes the ability to improve performance and induce kinematic adaptations at a desired period within the macrocycle.

There are many attempts to “solve” the homelessness problem in Humboldt County, but most have been unsuccessful, and they have not properly assessed the environmental impact that has been a result of human habitation in urban areas, particularly within riparian zones. Because homeless individuals are not considered within the traditional census boundaries, there isn’t reliable population statistics and the estimates vary widely. Within this research, I will examine environmental and socio-economic relationships within homeless population, including societal cost and environmental destruction.

There is more that differentiates students who succeed in school from those who do not, and focusing on differences in IQ will yield little to no knowledge about why some succeed and others fall behind. Research on growth and fixed mindset has shown that the way students perceive their intelligence, skills, and/or abilities has the potential to impact their academic performance (Dweck, 2006) . This study investigates the immediate impact of being presented with fixed or growth mindset information and uses time spent on problem questions as a measure of mindset.

Niemann Pick Disease Type C1 (NPC1) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder that affects 1:150,000 people. The disease is characterized by cholesterol accumulation within lysosomes, as well as clinical cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. These symptoms can be attributed to a mutation in the NPC1 gene that leads to the interruption of the intracellular cholesterol transport. Using CRISPR Cas9 technology, the ability to make a cellular model with inducible CRISPR gene regulation can give researchers considerable insight into the cellular pathology of Niemann Pick Disease Type C1 as well as the ability to apply targeted drug therapy and potentially lead to drug discovery.