May 2, 2025
Reception & Presentations 2pm to 5pm
Cal Poly Humboldt Library
Search Presenters & Abstracts
Presenters & Abstracts: Search
Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Waterfowl at the Arcata Marsh
Joseph
Meihak
Wildlife
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
A study was undertaken at the Arcata Marsh to determine how various anthropogenic disturbances affected waterfowl within ponds that have publicly accessible trails surrounding them. The disturbance types observed included walkers, walkers with dogs, bikers, and runners. A bird would be considered disturbed if it stopped its previous behavior to move away from a disturbance or become vigilant and observe the disturbance. The distance between the disturbance and the bird was then recorded to determine if a certain type of disturbance caused a disruption of behavior at further or closer distances. The type of waterfowl was recorded to determine if there was any difference in species or niche.
Rooftop farming in Hong Kong
Ka Ki Li
Enviornmental Science Management
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
The idea of this study is to conduct more research on farming in the city, to be specific, Hong Kong. As I grew up in Hong Kong, space is one of the biggest challenges in the city. While citizens are looking for ways to implement their lifestyle, rooftop farming can be one of the great opportunities to build up a community around the neighborhood, provide fruits and vegetables for the residents, and promote a healthy living lifestyle. While promoting the idea of rooftop farming, there are obstacles that the residents need to be overcome. Therefore, I will be analyzing the ecosystem, finance, and government policy that might help the city farmers in Hong Kong.
Cohort Effectiveness Amongst Criminology and Sociology Freshman
Samantha Silver
Sociology
Graduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Research presenting the effectiveness of cohorts as a means for improving freshman retention and academic performance amongst Sociology and Criminology courses.
The March of Our Mothers
Claire Walton
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
It is ironic that scientific depictions of our hominin ancestors often overlook female representation, despite reproductive success being a major cornerstone of evolutionary theory. The story of evolution is instead told from male-centered, eurocentric perspectives, as in Rudolph Zallinger’s March of Progress (1965). My research employs a feminist critique on such popular models of human evolution in the form of an illustrated depiction of female hominid ancestors based on data from paleontological records and literature review. This research creates a balanced view of our evolutionary history, and encourages appropriate dialogue towards better understanding the evolution of humanity.
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and their Consequential Effects on the Biotic Community
Elizabeth Russell
Environmental Studies
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are not only an environmental hazard, they are hazardous to the animals confined in them and neighboring communities. In this project, I researched the consequential effects of CAFOs on the entire biotic community. The main effects discussed include but are not limited to: waste concentration, water quality, air quality, and public health. The interdisciplinarity of the issue at hand is brought to light by analyzing these detrimental effects through an Environmental Justice and Ecofeminist lens. Proposed areas of further research and community inclusion/empowerment are provided upon conclusion.
Worldviews and Ideologies of Humboldt County
Michael Howell
Religious Studies
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Mapping the worldviews and ideologies of Humboldt County
Effects of Recreation on Wildlife
Jordan Schmidt
Recreation Administration
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
This project will look at recreational areas and discuss proper management techniques to reduce the impact of recreation in coastal environments.
DOC Sampling from Little River and Mad River
Mark A Moreno
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
David Zeitz
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
Claire Till
Chemistry
Faculty
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) is a fraction of organic carbon with size less than 0.2 micrometers. DOC comes from decomposed plants, bacteria, and algae. Abundant in marine and freshwater systems, it serves as the primary food source for aquatic webs. Generally, rivers have higher concentrations of DOC than the ocean does.
In the estuary, a linear relationship between salinity and DOC indicates that the DOC concentration is fully due to mixing of freshwater and saltwater, and not any significant additional source or removal terms. DOC concentrations decreased from river to ocean. Scholarly articles have pointed this to be normal. Interpretation of data will continue.
Giant Serpents Of Humboldt
Luis Penick
Penick
Department of Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
My topic is a history of giant serpent folklore within Humboldt county and how and why it evolved. Covering how and why the folklore formed in the first place, and how and why has the folklore changed throughout time. This includes how it relates to other serpent folklore and why it is special and unique compared to different regions' folklore on serpents. To support my topic I am trying to briefly touch on why are serpents/snakes are so prevalent in folklore, what makes Humboldt a likely place for such a deep serpent mythos, what real life creatures sparked inspiration
Does the Thatcher Effect Extend to Infant Faces?
Adnan
Alyna
Psychology
Undergraduate Student
Nathan
Boone
Psychology
Graduate Student
Amanda
Hahn
Psychology
Faculty
College of Professional Studies
You will spend more time looking at faces than any other type of object in your lifetime. Because faces are such an important social signal, humans have developed a perceptual expertise for faces. Decades of research on the mechanisms of face processing have demonstrated we more heavily on configural processing strategies when viewing faces due to this expertise. However, this work has been done using almost exclusively adult facial stimuli. The current study uses a well-established configural disruption known as the Thatcher Effect to investigate the use of configural processing for infant faces. We find evidence that infant face processing may be less reliant on configural information.