The Brain Booth Initiative: Recent Trends in Mindfulness and Contemplative Pedagogy in High School and University

Presentation Year: 2020 Library

“The Brain Booth Initiative: Recent Trends in Mindfulness and Contemplative Pedagogy in High School and University” examines the relationship between mindfulness and stress reduction to optimize learning in both high school and university settings. It outlines the most common trends based on a systematic review of articles from the past eight years. The majority of the studies use a self-reporting approach and show that mindfulness training reduces overall stress. The main limitation for most studies is small sample sizes due to voluntary involvement. The presentation then describes how the HSU Brain Booth is applying this research as they teach mindfulness and contemplative pedagogy.

A Geospatial Inventory of the Jacoby Creek Forest & Potential for Restoration Thinning

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Second-growth stands of conifers are increasingly being looked to for timber production and ecosystem services across the Pacific Northwest. These stands, regenerated after old-growth logging in the mid-20th century, have the potential to provide timber products, watershed protection and wildlife habitat. However, for these stands to function to their fullest potential, they often require silvicultural treatments such as variable density or restoration thinning. This project conducted a preliminary inventory of the Jacoby Creek Forest using geospatial analysis. Previous silviculture, stand conditions, road networks and watercourses were all compiled to create inventory maps of the forest.

A History of Competitive Speech and Debate at Humboldt State University

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

In 1947, at the West Point Military Academy, the first ever National Debate Championship pitted dozens of students from numerous colleges and universities across America against each other in a contest of research, notation, listening skills, and advocacy. Every year since schools world-wide have utilized "competitive forensics" to develop these crucial capabilities. Starting in 1955, HSU has one of America's best-known programs, yet few at HSU know much about it - this presentation will explore the justification, founding, history, methodologies and current status of this nationally-recognized program.

A Modified Anaerobic Treadmill Test Based On A Calculation Of Total Work In Collegiate and Recreational Athletes

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Professional Studies

Anaerobic capacity is defined as the maximal amount of energy used during high intensity exercise by means of anaerobic energy systems. For decades, the primary way to test anaerobic capacity is the Wingate Anaerobic Power Test (WAT), however, it is not sports-specific to a majority of athletes. Subjects will be tested on the WAT and three completed three Anaerobic Speed Test (AST) treadmill protocols; the Cunningham and Faulkner AST (20%, 8mph), Murao modified AST (15% grade, 9.1mph) and a new proposed mAST (20% grade, 10.6mph). Time to fatigue and work output will be compared to each other for each AST and compared to Peak, Relative, and Average Power in the WAT.

A Symbol of Hope: An Ethnographic Analysis of Religion and Disaster following the Camp Fire

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

What support do survivors turn to after environmental disasters? This research examines how survivors of the Camp Fire, one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California’s history, draw upon religion in the aftermath of disaster. Specifically, this research asks: What role does religion play in rebuilding a community post-disaster? During the summer of 2019, I conducted ethnographic observations, interviews and surveys with individuals affected by the Camp Fire. I documented material, social and spiritual forms of support that religions organizations offered to residents of Paradise and consider how these factors relate to building the town.

Abstinence-Centered Comprehensive Sexual Education

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Within the United States, especially with California's new sexual education model, parents are pushing back due beliefs of abstinence. While these believes should be honored, most abstinence only sexual education curriculums are rooted in misinformation and can harm a child's development. Within this project, I will be exploring the possibility of a comprehensive sexual education program that can be abstinence centered.

Acts of Uncovering: Compiling Data on MMIW to Address a Hidden Crisis

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Professional Studies

Sovereign Bodies Institute (SBI) maintains the largest and most comprehensive database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in the US and Canada. Due to the high number of cases and the desire to have comprehensive information on each individual case, we were honored to work with SBI to compile case files for 107 MMIWG in Northern California. SBI will use this information to have a clearer picture of what is known, what is unknown, and what has been written about or publicly shared about each missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls in Northern California.

Alienhood Rhetoric: The Construction and Maintenance of Otherness in Alien Film

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

The Rhetoric of Otherness: The Alien Movie Project is a 91-part podcast exploring the narrative and affective politics of alien cinema. The purpose is to expose the symbolic and performative practices that make up "Alien" Others and the contexts of Otherness. The AMP has covered nearly 200 peer-reviewed texts and nearly 90 alien films - this presentation will explore some of the broader justifications, implications, and themes.

Analysis of Language Surrounding Sexual Consent in College Human Sexuality Textbooks

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Professional Studies

Using corpus linguistics, we created an initial analysis on how consent is presented in undergraduate human sexuality textbooks. We investigated how consent was represented semantically, descriptively and contextually. These initial findings will inform future steps and provide us with a baseline to compare to grassroots initiatives.

Analysis of Post Mortem Human Muscle Proteome via Gel Electrophoresis

Presentation Year: 2020 College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The changes in proteome human muscle tissue were analyzed using protein extraction and quantification techniques, SDS-PAGE, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Muscle tissue samples were collected at defined postmortem intervals from a single body at the Forensic Investigation Research Station (FIRS) in Grand Junction, CO. These techniques were used to identify decomposition products of the rectus femoris muscle proteins that occur ​post mortem. The ultimate goal of this research is to correlate protein decomposition product masses (via mass spectrometry analysis) to distinctive postmortem intervals measured in accumulated degree days (ADD).