May 2, 2025
Reception & Presentations 2pm to 5pm
Cal Poly Humboldt Library
Search Presenters & Abstracts
Presenters & Abstracts: Search
Examining the role of the ADCY5 point mutation p.R418W on cellular cAMP levels and how cAMP affects neuronal differentiation of murine stem cells
Elizabeth Zepeda
Biological Sciences
Graduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
ADCY5-related Dyskinesia is a rare movement disorder, with early onset in childhood and adolescence. Previous studies have linked this disease to various point mutations in the ADCY5 gene. One study has demonstrated two of these mutations cause an increase in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). However, the molecular basis of this disease phenotype has yet to be fully understood. Our study seeks to characterize the effects of one specific point mutation, p.R418W, on cellular cAMP levels using HEK293T cells, and to determine if increased cAMP levels affect neuronal differentiation using mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs).
Barriers to LGBTQ+ Transition Age Youth in Humboldt County
Eugene Williams
Social Work
Graduate Student
College of Professional Studies
My community partner is the Humboldt County Transition Age Youth Collaboration (HCTAYC). The project is a preliminary research project that looks at the barriers in systems serving the LGBTQ+ transition age youth (16-26) population in Humboldt County. The outcomes from the research are the base for policy recommendations that will be used at HCTAYC. The results from the research done will address the specific question: “How are systems serving the LGBTQ+ transition age youth community in Humboldt County?”
Ten Tribes Partnership and the Colorado River Basin
Zachary McClellan
anthropology
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
My project will discuss the role and influence the Ten tribes Partnership plays in the Colorado River Basin's water management and policy and how it affects the communities of it's member tribes as well as their surrounding non-native communities.
Bitches Been Mad
Denise Tomkinson
Film
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Society shies away from emotions like rage, because it is scary and uncomfortable, however rage is and always has been a part of the human experience. Especially women, queer and BIPOC women, do not have safety in society to be anything but gentle. All people deserve a safe space to see that we are not crazy, we are just like everyone else, and express our rage through art. Through art we can experience, release and heal. While all identities should be welcome, it is important to center the feminine, as society has less space for this. I believe there is opportunity to collaborate between departments like counseling and gender studies to create a safe, healing, educational, and FUN space.
Land-Based Healing Toolkit
Sara
Goodrich
Social Work
Graduate Student
College of Professional Studies
The land-based healing toolkit contains 16 therapeutic interventions, written in service of Sorrel Leaf Healing Center’s vision of serving young people and their support people towards healing. The toolkit draws on ecotherapy, dialectical behavioral therapy and the Work that Reconnects. Its purpose is to connect young people and their support people to themselves, the earth, and each other. The project is space-specific, drawing on the ecosystems and seasons of Humboldt county. The toolkit is an open resource available to the community via Sorrel Leaf Healing Center (SLHC).
A picture worth a thousand words: Factors influencing faculty in disability accommodations
Mari
Sanchez
Psychology
Faculty
Alicia
Martin
Psychology
Matias
Solorzano
Psychology
Graduate Student
Jim
Nguyen
Psychology
Graduate Student
College of Professional Studies
Not all disabilities are apparent; you cannot identify a person with disabilities just by looking at them. This study aims to address whether professors’ disability-related attitudes, perceptions of accommodation reasonableness, and willingness to provide accommodations differ when a student’s disability is recognizable (student is pictured in a wheelchair), unrecognizable (student is pictured in a chair), or when no visual is present (standard documentation control) and whether the professor’s level of disability-related knowledge and perceptions of institutional support mediates this relationship.
A Picture Worth a Thousand Words: Factors Influencing Disability Accommodations
Alicia
Martin
Psychology
Staff
Matias
Solorzano
Psychology
Graduate Student
Kauyumari
Sanchez
Psychology
Faculty
Jim
Nguyen
Psychology
Graduate Student
College of Professional Studies
Not all disabilities are apparent; you cannot identify a person with disabilities just by looking at them. This study aims to address whether professors’ disability-related attitudes, perceptions of accommodation reasonableness, and willingness to provide accommodations differ when a student’s disability is recognizable (student is pictured in a wheelchair), unrecognizable (student is pictured in a chair), or when no visual is present (standard documentation control) and whether the professor’s level of disability-related knowledge and perceptions of institutional support mediates this relationship.
Through The Eyes of Liberian Americans: The Post-Civil War Consequences on Liberia
Joy
Mehn
Politics
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
The research will focus on the experiences of Liberian Americans while fleeing the civil wars, that took place 1989-2003. The displacement was shaped by the human security policies made by the Liberian Government and the United States government. The relevance of this study is the placement of value on the experiences of those who experienced displacement. More often than not, the focus of migration in the global south is the economic factors and how those factors affect the Western world. This research is a way to project the stories of those who are often not heard, the Liberian people.
The Impact of Autistic Traits on Student Evaluations of Professors of Different Genders
Kauyumari
Sanchez
Psychology
Faculty
Matias
Solorzano
Psychology
Graduate Student
Jim
Nguyen
Psychology
Graduate Student
Phoenix
Spoor
Psychology
Graduate Student
College of Professional Studies
Instructor evaluations are critical to the tenure process but are known to be biased with respect to gender (e.g. males are rated higher than females) and other identities (e.g. autism). This study aims to address the following question: Are male and female professors evaluated differently by male and female students when the professor’s autism identity is revealed compared to not revealed? This research highlights the impact of disclosing or failing to disclose one’s autism identity and its impact on student evaluations.
Forage Site Selection of Woodpecker in Relation to Tree Species and Stage of Decay
Jeffrey
Soltero
Wildlife
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
The main objectives of this study are to determine the variation in forage habitat selection of each of these species located in the Arcata Community Forest, and to see what might influence their forage site selection. I hypothesize that forage site selection for woodpeckers will be influenced by their prey choosing certain tree species and trees in moderate to high stages of decay. The data collected and used to complete my objectives as gathered by surveying multiple trails throughout the Arcata Community Forest, taking note of any woodpeckers engaging in foraging activity along with the species of woodpecker, the species of tree, and the stage of decay the tree was in.