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.

I was one of the costume designers for HSU's production of Kiss Me Kate; in charge of the costumes of the lead characters, Fred/Petruchio and Lilli/Kate. I'll be presenting Kate's final dress for the finale of the show. After researching many paintings, I designed a dress that harkened to the Renaissance time period. The dress was built by a team of costume technicians, including myself.

My research seeks to examine the body hair experiences of female HSU students and pressures they face conforming to local normative gender expectations. Drawing on a random sample of 300 female HSU students, I administered an online survey. My survey questions focused on the factors influencing respondents to grow out armpit and leg hair, and how individual characteristics influence women`s body hair practices at HSU. I will present my methods, data, and concluding analysis.

The biocultural approach to anthropology recognizes that one cannot fully discuss human biology without a discussion of human culture as well, and vice-versa. The socially complex topic of breastfeeding is a perfect example of the intersection between biology and culture; while breastfeeding is a biological process, it has been observed cross-culturally that the way it is practiced and if it is practiced at all, is highly dependent on the culture where the mother belongs. Through this ethnography, an anthropological investigation of the unique culture of Humboldt County will be undertaken to understand if and how a positive cultural atmosphere is created for local breastfeeding mothers.

This is an evaluation of the awareness of the existence of the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) on HSU Campus. The purpose of this study is to better understand campus awareness of student services such as the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC). Though there are numerous resources on campus, our hypothesis is students are not fully aware of the Student Disability Resource Center on campus. Therefore, to better understand how students learn about the services our research question is: How can we improve campus wide awareness among the HSU community of the services of the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC).

Evidence suggests a lack of reintegration services in rural Humboldt County. In an effort to understand the disconnect between the clients and the services, we will conduct focus groups and interviews with current inmates at Humboldt County Correctional Facility, service providers and ex-offenders. We aim to promote communication between both parties that will ease the process of reentry and inhibit recidivism through empowerment and access to necessary resources. This research will serve as a guide in the planning and development of the new rehabilitation center. We will also create an easily accessible resource guide and certificates of achievement for those reentering the community.

As the campus population grows at Humboldt State University, so does the number of students who do not fit the male and female dichotomy. These folks who do not fit into this dichotomy are referred to as gender nonconforming. This is a small population on the HSU campus, and there is very little information on this particular group. In an effort to fill the gaps of what is unknown we propose to use three methods: a random survey of 900 HSU students, as well as semi-structures qualitative interviews, and a small number of oral histories from students who are gender nonconforming.

The goal of this project is to establish an ethnographic archive that documents Humboldt County women's stories and experiences. This archive will contain both historical and contemporary material and be devoted to making the stories, struggles, and achievements of women in Humboldt County known. The Rebekah's Lodge was a Independent Order Of the Oddfellows, whose main goal was to serve the community around Humboldt County through their services and volunteer work.

The scope of my research was to understand why Simmers created Sims and for what purpose. Ethnographic research took place over the course of 16 weeks on the Sims 3 and 4, forum sites, and YouTube videos. Through fieldnotes, participant observation, transcribed interviews, and surveys I was able to find three key evolving patterns, which was time investment, community building in game-play and participation in challenges and story-writing.Research findings reveal that the Simmers game-play is not only to pass time, but to achieve a goal that they have set for themselves which, allows them to connect with other Simmers, and creates a community based on shared interests.

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.