Broken Spirits Rising: Grief Support Group for those Who Have Experinced the Murder of a Loved One

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

I am interning at the District Attorney's Victim Witness program located in Eureka California as an advocate. There has been a long standing need for a grief support group for those who have lost a loved one to murder. As a mother of a murdered daughter I understand how important a grief support group becomes for this population. This unique need has become my community project focus and passion for those who've experienced complicated grief related to homicide. Broken Spirits Rising can offer people who are grieving a supportive environment in which to work through their grief when,for many of them there may be few places in their lives in which they can get this support and be themselves

Brown Pelican Relative Abundance and Predation Frequency in Humboldt County Habitats

Gavin Lahr, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

I conducted point-count surveys for Brown Pelicans in three different Humboldt County Habitats: Beaches, Bays, and Lagoons. Across nine survey sites I compared Brown Pelican relative abundance and predation frequency to determine what habitat type in Humboldt County was more important to Brown Pelican survival and conservation. Since 2009 Brown Pelicans were delisted from the Endangered Species Act, a momentous achievement for Brown Pelicans and conservationists. However, I believe it is important to continue monitoring species that have been delisted to ensure they remain healthy.

Buddy Bench and Buddy Squad Programs

Maddie Pyles , Social Work Graduate Student

College of Professional Studies

Many students continually still face with adverse mental and social-emotional health around school educations today. The buddy bench and buddy squad programs address adverse mental and social-emotional health for pre-k to fifth-grade students (e.g., depression, anxiety, stigma, shyness, coping skills, bullying, loneliness, and social isolation). Both of the programs help with positive mental and social-emotional support, creating new friendships, building social skills (e.g., problem-solving, conflict resolution, and other coping skills), and fostering students’ community. Both of the programs are excellent ways to promote positive outreach for every school.

Build a Causal Diagram to Compare Calculus Outcomes Across CSU Campuses

Nathan Boone, Psychology Graduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

20% of CSU students received a failing grade in Calculus 1 between 2019 and 2021. As a required course for many STEM majors, Calculus 1 outcomes have an impact on many students. When staff discuss different teaching strategies and ways to use resources, it’s natural to compare failure rates between campuses. Different CSU campuses have different student populations, so a direct comparison of outcomes may be unfair. The proposed poster describes the process of designing an analysis that could carry out a standardized comparison of calculus outcomes across campuses. Attendees will be invited to interact with the poster by adding relevant variables and pathways with sticky notes and markers.

Building Community Through Academic Support: My College Corps Experience

Leighanna Jake, College Corp Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This work highlights my experience as a College Corps Fellow serving at Arcata High School. Being present in an academic setting allowed me to reflect on the importance of community support and mentorship. Through this experience, I gained a deeper understanding of how showing up for students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, can create a sense of belonging and motivation. Inspired by this, I plan to support my tribal community and Native students interested in higher education.

Building Community Through The Sustainable Practitioners Directory

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Climate change, the most pressing issue of our contemporary world, will not be addressed without coming up with local solutions to this global problem. My project focuses on creating an avenue that would allow the campus community and the local community to work together to tackle local concerns. In tandem with HSU’s sustainability office and Center for Community Based Learning we’ve been able to develop such a resource: The Sustainable Practitioners Directory. This directory will allow faculty to easily find community partners working to resolve critical economic, social and environmental challenges, and who are willing to bring their work to the classroom.

Building Support for Study Abroad at HSU

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

This project will investigate the current support mechanisms for students intending to study abroad and how HSU could both better prepare students for their experience and help re-acclimatize them on their return. This work would involve interviews with those working with students as faculty and staff as well as student interviews about what they would find valuable in terms of support. The aim for this work would be a set of practical proposals for the marketing and outreach to encourage more students to study abroad as well as more aware pre-departure preparation and return programming.

Burnout Syndrome an Occupational Hazard for Nurses

Erika Sterling, School of Applied Health Undergraduate Student

College of Professional Studies

Burnout syndrome is an occupational hazard that can affect healthcare professionals, especially bedside nurses that work in a hospital setting. It is comprised of three main components; emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced professional efficacy. It occurs when healthcare workers experience chronic stress. It can lead to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and PTSD. It negatively affects patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. It also increases nurse turnover which results in understaffing, therefore affecting patient safety. Improving working conditions for nurses, education and quality leadership will help decrease the prevalence of burnout syndrome.

Caffeine Supplementation and its Effects on Health and Performance in High School/College Aged Athletes

Jacob Allen, School of Applied Health Undergraduate Student

College of Professional Studies

This poster aims to summarize how caffeine supplementation affects health and performance in high school/college aged athletes. Furthermore this poster delves into how caffeine affects general health and anaerobic/aerobic performance. Following that how caffeine absorption is affected by genetics.

Cage Farm Fishing Restoration Project in South East Asia: Heavy Metals in the Surrounding Ecosystem

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The proposal for the study is to restore ecosystems near fish farms. Surrounded ecosystems have shown to be harmed by heavy pollutant (lead, mercury, and arsenic). In the long run the research team plans to stop more input of heavy metals into the water with the help of the Philippines community. The outcome for the project is to educate, care for the health of the community, and have cleaner and drinkable water.