Bake the World a Better Place: 501(c)3 Development

College of Professional Studies

Bake the World a Better Place is a non-profit organization based out of Denver, Colorado that aims to holistically improve the community. Presently, the organization engages in job training and job placement of marginalized populations such as those experiencing homelessness. Additionally, continuing collaborations are being made with local hotels to assist with housing individuals during the job training process. Products made during the classes are shared with individuals living on the streets. Through building community partnerships between business, social service agencies, and vulnerable populations, each entity is taking an active role in helping improve their community.

Balance and Wellness in First Responder Agencies

College of Professional Studies

This project fulfills the requirements for the Masters degree in Social Work. The design of the project is informed by a relational worldview, specifically the work of Terry Cross who suggests that a circular experience of the world intersects with more linear representations of reality. It is at the places of intersection that opportunities for dialogue occur and the intent of the project is to make the experiences of first responders visible to those who do not have access to this knowledge and experience. The creative work is the construction of an empathic bridge between the community and first responders through poetry in honor of the belief that we are all connected.

Balance, Mobility, and Fall Risk in Indigenous Rural-Dwelling Older Adults and Urban Dwelling Older Adults in Humboldt and Del Norte County

College of Professional Studies

By 2030, 20% of the U.S. population will be over the age of 65. Among this age group, falls are the leading cause of injuries, hospitalizations, and fatalities in the United States. Within California, rural community dwelling communities have higher rates of falls than urban. Indigenous populations fall more than the national average (34-40.3% vs. 30%), suggesting the rates of falls, and thus physiological declines, may be greatest among Indigenous rural community-dwelling populations. The purpose of this study is to examine intrinsic, extrinsic, and the incidence of falls among rural dwelling Indigenous older adults and urban dwelling older adults in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Bio-Renewable Hydrogel Polymers from Modified Chitosan: Progress Toward Three Dimensional Cell Growth Scaffolds

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Hydrogels are water-containing gels that have a hydrophilic polymer network and can absorb a large quantity of water without the dissolution of the polymer network. The current research focuses on producing hydrogels from chitosan, a bio-renewable polymer, and trans-cinnamic acid. The resulting solutions are photo-crosslinked in a catalyst-free environment under broad band ultra-violet (UV) radiation to produce hydrogels. The hydrogels show an average 75% swelling capacity in H2O. Initial cell growth studies have been carried out on sterilized hydrogels. Current efforts are being directed towards optimization of gels towards cell growth.

Bones Grow, but Do They Shrink: A Taphonomic Study on Postmortem Bone Shrinkage

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

An important aspect in biological anthropology and forensic cases is determining an individual’s stature in life. Stature estimation involves the use of formulas that have been derived from measurements taken from an individual’s bones. Bones, in life, are encased in the body, which is a wet environment. Our research looks at the postmortem taphonomic processes which may lead to the bone shrinking after death, in the relatively dryer outside environment. Bone shrinkage could have an impact on stature estimations in forensic and other anthropological cases. Our preliminary findings indicate that environment and time affect bone shrinkage rates.

Bridging the Gap in Education: At-Risk Students in Court Community Schools

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

This project aims to demonstrate to educators about students being a product of their own environment by observing the Humboldt Office of Education’s-Court Community Schools’ classroom environments. These observations will be compared to a variety of different learning styles that work best with at-risk youth. These learning styles would be recommended ways for educators to help bridge the gap between at-risk students’ academic and social skills in traditional-learning classroom settings.

Cannabis Carbon Accounting Model

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Humboldt County is home to a uniquely large and diverse Cannabis industry comprised of a variety of operation styles, leading to different associated energy intensities and carbon emissions. This project aimed to deploy a detailed, accessible carbon accounting model for Cannabis operations - one which is adaptable to various operation styles and industry practices. Our Cannabis Carbon Accounting Model, is a fully-functional user-friendly tool for the rapid assessment of Cannabis operations carbon footprints. Understanding the extent of Cannabis operation emissions and their source will allow governments, businesses, and the general public to find ways to lower their environmental impact.

Charity Over Corrections

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Youth programs like the Boys and Girls Club of America are important institutions that help the communities youth more rather than Governor Brown's proposal to increase the spending across the state’s youth correctional system.

Chemical Fingerprinting of Sanidine from Long Canyon Dome, Sierra Nevada, California

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The Long Canyon Dome (LCD) is a 185 ka rhyolite dome in south-central Sierra Nevada, California. The rhyolite pumice from the pre-eruption contains less SiO2 and a different mineralogy, than the rhyolite magma erupted from LCD. This suggests the dome was tapping into two different rhyolite magma bodies during one eruption, or a hotter rhyolitic magma intruded into a cooler magma, triggering the eruption. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy’s (EDS) point and shoot method was used to measure the chemical signature of sanidine crystals in pre and post eruption sample. The rhyolite pumices’ at LCD represents similar but slightly different magmas compositions.

Cohort Effectiveness Amongst Criminology and Sociology Freshman

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Research presenting the effectiveness of cohorts as a means for improving freshman retention and academic performance amongst Sociology and Criminology courses.