The Response of Breeding Western Snowy Plovers to Habitat Restoration and Sea Level Rise in Coastal Northern California

The Western Snowy Plover is threatened by habitat loss from invasive European Beachgrass. Habitat restoration is implemented to counteract this threat. A second threat to this beach-nesting bird is flooding from sea level rise due to global warming. To inform managers, we evaluated these threats using GIS geospatial analyses to compare nesting habitat features in restored areas and evaluate sea level inundation. In this preliminary study, we found plovers nested on wider beaches with more woody debris, open sand, and other nests than at random. Most nests (84%) were in restored habitat, and a two meter increase from mean sea level would result in 53% of plover nests becoming inundated.

The Reversing of Roe: A Dialogue at Humboldt State University

The 2018 documentary Reversing Roe illustrated the heartfelt and often intense debate of abortion care in the U.S. today, highlighting the history of the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, the contemporary forces opposed to such legislation, and the individuals dedicated to defending reproductive freedom. This past April, HSU students from across disciplines held a public screening of this documentary and opened a dialogue for the community to tackle the issues at hand: why are the rights of Roe v. Wade still important today, how could overturning such legislation endanger the health of Americans across the country, and what is the role of the Humboldt county community going forward?

The Rhetoric of Immigration

Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in the U.S. As such, this VoiceThread will focus on the rhetoric of immigration in American culture. To do so, we compare multiple dimensions of this rhetoric from the scholarly perspective of our intercultural communication course. Specifically, we incorporate intercultural communication scholarship as a vantage point off which to compare the framing of immigration in news coverage with the framing of immigration in popular culture. We conclude by emphasizing the power of rhetoric to shape public opinion.

The Road So Far: How "Carry On Wayward Son" Forged a Bond Between a Story's Creators and Their Audience

Over the past 14 years, the classic rock song “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas has been adopted by the television show "Supernatural" as its unofficial anthem. The song bridges the gap between story and audience, inviting viewers to participate rather than simply observe. My research will examine how this song serves the purpose of identity formation within the creator-audience relationship. The song helps to construct cultural identity, inspires creativity, and works as a persuasive element that affects not only the audience, but also the production crew of "Supernatural."

The Role of Encoding Specificity in Incidental Learning: Implications for Explicit and Implicit False Memories

This project investigated false memories via spreading activation and the influence of encoding specificity on explicit and implicit memory tests in incidental learning situations. An interaction for memory condition and font color was found; the implicit condition had more false memories for when in the incongruent font color condition, and the explicit condition had more false memories when in the congruent font color condition. Regarding memory accuracy, both the implicit and explicit conditions had more accurate memories when in the congruent font color condition. Overall, the explicit condition had more false memories and more accurate memories than the implicit condition.

The Role of Exercise Addiction and Overtraining in Collegiate Athletics and the Effects on Collegiate Athletes

Carmella Baldassarre, School of Applied Health Undergraduate Student

My research poster is on Exercise Addiction in college athletes and is a collection of my findings from different research articles on the subject, as well as what is missing and is needed in further research.

THE ROLE OF INVOLVEMENT AND CAMPUS CLIMATE ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF BLACK COLLEGE STUDENTS

There has been an increasing number of Black students entering into higher education, but they continue to have greater disparities in academic achievement when compared to White students. An institution's campus climate has been found to influence student success. This study seeks to examine the factor of campus climate, specifically negative campus racial climate (NCRC), as it relates to the GPA and university satisfaction of Black students at a rural institution. The study adds to the literature by exploring the degree to which involvement (Student-Faculty Involvement (SFI) and Club/Organization involvement (COI)) may act as a moderating force within the relationship.

The Role of Lgl1 in Tumor Forming Properties of Mouse Neural/Progenitor cells

In the Sprowles lab we are interested in understanding the cellular mechanisms involved in development and disease. One of the main projects in our lab is understanding the stem cell origin of glioblastoma, an aggressive and highly malignant form of brain cancer. We are investigating the role of Lethal Giant Larvae homolog 1 (Lgl1), a cell polarity protein and its role in tumor initiation and maintenance. Through the use of transgenic Lgl1 knockout mice we have isolated and propagated neural stem/progenitor cells from different region of the adult mouse brain and are investigating the functional consequences of Lgl1 deletion on signaling pathways often see to be dysregulated in cancer.

The Role of Polyhedral Dice

Intuitive to use, polyhedral dice hold meaning in the nerd and geek communities as a storytelling tool for tabletop games. Dice are rolled to advance a game’s plot by limiting the action of a scene and opening options for the story to move forward. The artifact is a product, and its image is used to advertise to the nerd and geek communities. Further research would explore polyhedral dice in relation to history, psychology, and marketing.

The Role of the Accounting Profession in Advancing Corporate Social Reporting Practices

Given the significant increase in the production of corporate social responsibility and sustainability reports within the private sector, the demand for quality information has become paramount for stakeholders. As quality assurance professionals, the accounting profession serves in the unique position to become stewards and standard-setters in the deployment of such data. This research explores the contribution academic accounting, within the research realm, can make towards addressing perfecting reporting practices within the sustainability field.