Mazes and Memory: Does lifestyle affect spatial memory and ability?

College of Professional Studies

This study aims to address whether differences in spatial ability and memory will be found among those who have active lifestyles, inactive lifestyles, and those who play video games. Spatial ability was examined by having participants become familiarized and then tested on a 3-D computerized maze. Participants were tested on memory and spatial components when asked to recollect the spatial layout of the computerized map.

McGirt v. Oklahoma: the case that showed America how to give power back to the tribes

Rainer Shea, Politics Undergraduate Student

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

This poster's goal is to explain, through simple presentation of facts, how the legal framework established by the 2020 Supreme Court case McGirt v. Oklahoma represented a working example of how the United States can give power back to the tribes. Namely, by recognizing all the traditional territories of the tribes as Indian country, subject to the jurisdiction of the tribes rather than to that of the U.S. government.

Measurements of Sub-Milliradian Angles Using a Modified Michelson Interferometer

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

At Humboldt State University, a group of undergraduate students and faculty have been investigating the effects of gravity at very short distances. Due to the need to measure very small amounts of motion during these experiments, a separate group of students and faculty have been designing an optical system to measure very small rotational movement, down to the sub-milliradian scale. This system, a modified Michelson interferometer, utilizes the optical path length difference of two branches of a split laser beam to measure almost imperceptible rotations of a mirror by observing constructive and destructive interference of the two branches.

Measuring a Nations Fragility in Relation to Climate Change

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Concluding the 21st century, changing atmospheric processes will alter regional resource availability increasing a nation’s fragility. To examine the interconnected nature among socioeconomic structures and ecosystem services, a model was developed that measures a nation’s fragility in six categories: political, economic, social, agriculture, water resources, and culture. The model was then applied to the 10th most fragile nation, The Republic of Iraq, and the 158th most fragile nation, The United States of America. The United States will too experience great changes in the environment, but accessibility to mitigate greatly reduces their progression to a fragile state in contrast to Iraq.

Measuring Success of Adaptive Management of European Soaring Birds

Nick Salgado-Stanley, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

While there has been an expansion of investment into renewable energy sources, less research has emerged concerning how to balance the economic benefit and conservation costs of new developments. One of the most economically productive wind developments in Europe rests to the north of the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, Spain. This is also one of the largest annual migration points for migratory birds traveling between Africa and Europe. Using historical data of bird collisions and employee reports of turbine stops, this study investigates the success of human observers protocol in preventing avian fatalities across a decade of migration seasons.

Media Coverage of the Klamath Dam Removal

Jessie Cretser-Hartenstein, Journalism & Mass Communication Faculty

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

This study examines media representations of the removal of the Klamath Dam, a development in Northern California's Indigenous land restoration efforts. Recognizing the historical underrepresentation of Indigenous voices in mainstream media, this research analyzes local coverage of the Klamath dam removal project by Humboldt County's leading news organizations: North Coast Journal, Times-Standard, and Lost Coast Outpost.

Media Coverage of the Opioid Epidemic in Humboldt County

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

This study focuses on media coverage of the opioid epidemic. We analyzed local media coverage from 2013-2018 in the Times-Standard, North Coast Journal, and Lost Coast Outpost. The study is inspired by cultivation theory, which indicates that prolonged exposure to mediated messages influence how people perceive reality. Results indicate that the majority of articles containing the term “heroin” are focused on crime rather than a health, legislation, community engagement, or other key factors that could potentially affect the future outcome of this epidemic.

Mediated Representations of Romance in Popular Culture

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

The concept of romance is mass produced in American popular culture. Television audiences consume a myriad of mediated representations of courtships and relationships in fictional, and often unrealistic, tales of true love. Over the past 25 years, reality dating shows have blurred the line between fact & fiction, creating a new platform for delivering the mediated messages that shape the hearts and minds of viewers across the country. This study utilizes content analysis and survey research to examine portrayals of romance on reality TV.

Meds to Beds

College of Professional Studies

Hospital readmissions that occur within 30 days of discharge due to medication adherence are largely preventable. CMS, the largest insurance payer, does not cover hospital admissions that occur within 30 days of discharge. Our rural area lacks critical access to pharmacies. Frequent hospitalizations and medication non-adherence increase patient mortality and reduce the quality of life for the patients and their families. Providing patients with a 30-day supply of their medications prior to leaving the hospital, along with patient education and a nurse follow-up phone call 48 hours later, can reduce ER visits and 30-day hospital readmissions.

Meet and Eat

Julia Top, Social Work Graduate Student

College of Professional Studies

Meet and Eat was a project created to educate high school students from the grade tenth to twelfth. Workshops were created to educate students about what options they have post graduation. Examples consisted of helping students understand how to apply for FASFA, job resources available to students, and learning about resources on college campuses as well as learning about the benefits of a 2 year and 4 year college. This project took place in Del Norte County’s school District and was open to students within the McKinney Vento and Foster Youth program.