Optimizing Resistance During Multiple-Set Weight Training to Increase Training Volume for Rural Firefighters

College of Professional Studies

We hypothesized that a greater training volume would be produced using a training protocol where resistance is decreased with each set (DR) compared to a constant resistance (CR) protocol. In order to develop DRs, we used the subject's fatigue ratio (using an individualized regression equation) from a CR training protocol where the number of repetitions declines with each set. 20 active-duty male firefighters (mean±SD, age = 32± 7yr, height = 180±5 cm, body mass = 96±16 kg, fire service = 9±7 yr) completed 4 sets at 65% of their 1RM CR and DR bench press, lat pulldown, and leg press exercises to failure with 30 second rest intervals.

Orchid Micropropagation and the Potential for Conservation

Rebecca Bendzick, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Orchidaceae is one of the most diverse flowering plant families. Despite the worldwide popularity of Phalaenopsis for floral aesthetics, many other ecologically important species are either endangered or threatened and require elaborate cultivation strategies. Currently one of the top conservation approaches utilizes clonal propagation techniques via tissue culture, resulting in vegetative propagation in mass numbers. We present successful sterile introduction, cultivation and maintenance of Phalaenopsis seedlings with the hope that this tissue culture method can be applied to native orchid species here in Humboldt County.

Osteoarthritis in Anglo-Saxon Groups

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

There are many cases of osteoarthritis observed in western England skeletal remains from the 5th to 9th century. I investigated the potential connections and causes of the high rates of osteoarthritis within Anglo-Saxon remains as described in case studies. Current research indicates there is a link between occupation and osteoarthritis. These data shed light on how lifestyle affects overall health. These findings are valuable because they can be used to describe the connections between lifestyles and diseases through the remains of Anglo-Saxons through the observation of osteoarthritis within their remains.

Outcomes of a Disconnected Society: Tough on Discipline and the School to Prison Pipeline

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

In this study a triangulation of teacher testimonies and school policies is used to address how systemic inequalities are maintained through institutional rules and individual understandings and how teachers understand their role in a system that unjustly criminalizes students of color. With a grounded theory approach, four main themes were identified: 1) causes of disproportionate discipline according to educators; 2) “tough on discipline”; 3)policing, surveillance, and intolerance of student misbehavior; 4) bureaucratization of school discipline. Possible solutions are discussed and other avenues for future research are addressed.

Outgroup Influence

College of Professional Studies

The research reveals the complex dynamics of intergroup context, particularly with the presence of extreme outgroups in comparison to moderate outgroups. Results supported the hypothesis that the presence of an extreme outgroup might pull perceivers’ perceptions more negative, possibly because it reminds them of the intergroup comparison process. In addition, results supported the hypothesis of lower perceptions of warmth than competence for relevant outgroups. The work has implications for many social and political situations where individuals may change their opinions of groups in a similar manner based on the presence of extreme outgroups in comparison to relevant and moderate outgroups.

Outreach at CCAT: Evolving, Facilitating, and Encouraging Local Activism

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

This ethnography focuses on how outreach is cultivated, idealized, and put into action by employees and volunteers at CCAT. The research takes place at Humboldt State University at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT). This project aims to ask how the outreach programs at this particular Associated Students organization are structured, interact, utilized, and overall encourage local activism. The methods conducted include participant observations, collected artifacts, naturally occurring conversations, surveys, formal and informal interviews. The findings of this research highlight the necessities for student run organizations and awareness-building communities.

Pacific Banana Slug Habitat Selection using occupied and paired-random microhabitat analysis in the Arcata Community Forest

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The Pacific banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus) is a key detrivore and herbivore in Pacific Northwest forests. Understanding how this species utilizes different habitats in a heterogenous forest is important from a management perspective due to their wide distribution, abundance in the Pacific Northwest, and significant ecological roles in nutrient cycling, seed dispersal, and endemic predators. I hypothesized that banana slugs will show habitat selection within a heterogenous forest and tested this using an occupied and paired-random sampling method in four sites within the Arcata Community Forest. My results showed evidence of selection for several habitat variables.

Pacific Purple Sea Urchin Movement Trends

Holly Elbert, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Pacific purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) have seemingly slow movement. I asked if it was possible for them to travel to uninhabited pools that neighbor their inhabited sites within a 6-week period occurring February through March of 2024. I used manual counting methods to determine sea urchin abundance in each pool. I utilized a divided quadrat to assess the percent of red algae cover of targeted sites to analyze whether adult urchin movement was correlated with food abundance. Overall, there was no evidence that sea urchin movement correlates with the algae cover percentage. Although, there was evidence that occasional colonization of pools occurred.

Painting the Medium: Digital Standardization of Archaeological Data

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

The bulk of archaeological notes taken in the field are hand-written, with pencil-sketched maps and diagrams, varying widely in legibility, clarity, and completeness of information. While this last point cannot easily be fixed in post, the former two can be through the development of a comprehensive “style guide” and tutorial for the digitization of archaeological field notes—using the free design program “Inkscape.” The guide is designed to be internally consistent and easily comprehensible, usable even by those with no experience with either the programs or raw data involved, guiding the user along the process of rendering previously inconsistent field data into a uniform visual style.

Paleo Facial Reconstruction

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Facial reconstruction is a method whereby the likeness of a person is reconstructed from the cranial skeleton. This projects involved researching facial reconstruction techniques and applying them to casts of hominin fossil skulls in the anthropology teaching collection. Species/specimens chosen to reconstruct include: (1) a juvenile Australopithecus africanus (the “Taung Child”), a 2.5 million-year-old hominin from South Africa; (2) an adult Paranthropus boisei skull; (3) also an adult Homo neanderthalensis found at the La Chapelle Aux-Saint, in France. To complete the reconstructions, we used a combination of tissue depth markers for humans and chimpanzees.