We examined the role of social support and perceptions of stress in predicting college students' degree commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students high in threat appraisals tend to interpret stressors as harmful or anxiety-inducing. These negative dispositional perceptions of stress are linked to lower motivation. Meanwhile, greater social support is related to greater college persistence, although students’ ability to cope can mitigate the beneficial effects of social support. We found support for a moderating effect of threat appraisals on the relationship between social support and degree commitment. Implications for student success and the importance of reappraisals are discussed.

From our time at the Jefferson Center we have been exposed to a new form of community. The Jefferson Project located on the Westside of Eureka is an inclusive space that allows for numerous activities, workshops, events, after school child care, and volunteering. This location has transformed from an abandoned elementary school to a “clean, safe neighborhood dedicated to combatting urban blight” and revitalizing the local environment by fostering a sense community. Our experience at the center has allowed us to expand our academic lenses to applicable social justice scenarios.

Beatniks, Free Spirits, Tree Huggers, Bohemians, and even Freaks some may say, are all words commonly used to describe what one might generalize as a “Hippy”. This subculture has been a highlighted group synonymous with fashion, mass media recognition, environmental conservationism, musical creation, music culture, nomadism, drugs, and various other connotative associations. This analysis seeks to identify the media correlation between the identified subculture of the “Hippy” from its conception to today and how the evolution of this culture has manifested itself in today’s mass media-flooded society as well as media of the past.

This project examines how edge effects influence the weight and snout-to-vent length (SVL) salamanders (Order Caudata) in the Arcata Community Forest. Effects, caused by habitat fragmentation, can alter environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and soil composition, potentially affecting salamander physiology and well-being. The study aims to investigate whether salamanders living near forest edges exhibit different morphological characteristics compared to those in interior habitats. If salamanders in the Arcata Community Forest are impacted by edge effects, then there will be a significant correlation between snout to vent lengths (SVL) and weight and distance from the edge.

Clouds affect terrestrial cooling by scattering solar radiation back to space. Particulate matter (PM) suspended in the air can initiate cloud seeding. This process is directly related to the relative humidity above the PM surface and water adsorption. In the initial stages of this process, PM collects sparingly small layers of water, known as monolayers. Details of water uptake at this level are still lacking in the literature and we desire to quantify water uptake on atmospheric PM to enhance literature values.

Taking a deeper look at teacher preparation programs (including our own) and finding the amount of exposure teacher candidates are given in regards to multicultural education, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and critical frameworks, and finding better ways to serve the youth in our K-12 schools. By checking our own biases, and exploring deeper into the world of education, including its racists and heteronormative structures, we take a closer look, and find some solutions to better support the community, and most importantly, the whole child.

The United States Census estimates that 20.9% surveyed in Humboldt qualify as impoverished. Poverty is experienced in a multitude of severity-homeless individuals often bare the greatest physical and psychological burdens. In a 2016 preliminary study, Jennifer Maguire of HSU found that over 15% of student participants experienced housing insecurity. The Bigfoot Fraternity is a research project I've developed in order to alleviate some of the hardships homeless students experience and alter perceptions of homelessness through participation, action and reflection. TBF criticizes dependency on socioeconomic norms and highlights the benefits of an "alternative housing movement" in Humboldt Co.

This poster will display the process and implications between the Nez Perce Tribe, state and federal government agencies in dealing with the settlement process of the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA). The SRBA can serve as an opening to discussing the relationship between the Nez Perce with the state and federal governments, particularly the U.S. serving as a trustee for the tribe and is suppose to protect the Nez Perce tribal treaty-based fishing rights. We will discuss the basis for their claims is within the fact that in stream flow is necessary for the salmon survival. Based within the treaties with the U.S., the Nez Perce holds the exclusive right to fish within the streams.

This project focuses on my work with Congressman Jared Huffman's office and their efforts regarding the upcoming Public Lands Bill. They are working on restoring and revitalizing forests and watersheds, conserving ecologically significant areas, and expanding recreation opportunities in the North Coast. My internship has allowed me to see the American political system in action and witness local community participation in drafting of bills and has provided a window into the political feasibility of bills around environmental issues in the current contemporary political arena.

Interactions of Mycorrhizae, Native Grasses and Quercus douglasii in California blue oak woodlands. California's endemic blue oak is not regenerating and despite many studies, no one has found any reasons as to why. The trees make lot's of acorns, the acorns germinate fine, but the saplings fail to properly establish and typically die before reaching maturity. This investigation looks at a potential reason as to why this is, focused on invasive annual grasses that have almost entirely replaced the native perennial species. H1: Grass species affects the rate of mycorrhizal infection in Q. douglasii seedlings. H0: Mycorrhizal infection rate of Q. douglasii is independent of grass species.