Improving Health Outcomes for Rural Parent Caregivers of Neurodiverse Children

College of Professional Studies

The prevalence of developmental disabilities (DD) is about 17% in the United States, with rates higher in rural communities (Robinson et al., 2017). Children with DD (also known as "neurodiverse") have individual strengths and face unique challenges. Due to adversity in accessing specific and much-needed support, parent caregivers often experience clinical levels of parenting stress (Davis & Carter, 2008, as cited in Roberts et al., 2019). Parents in rural communities are particularly affected. Chronic, unaddressed stress can lead to worsened mental and physical health including depression, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (Robinson et al., 2017). The goal is clear: to incr

Increase Cervical Cancer Screening Participation in a Rural FQHC

College of Professional Studies

Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common cancer and typically caused by human papillomaviruses (HPV). The American Cancer Society’s preferred screening method is HPV testing, which is detectable in the vagina. The FDA has not approved this test, but some private labs offer this screening with patients collecting their own vaginal swab. The goal is to increase participation in CC screening in patients who decline traditional testing. Most CC cases are in patients who are not up to date on screening frequency or never received screening before. If positive on self-swab, patients are more likely to follow up, receiving the care they would never have received if not given this option.

Influence of Canopy Cover on Artificial Refugia Color Selection in Pacific Tree Frogs (Pseudacris regilla)

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

I studied Pacific Tree Frogs (Pseudacris regilla) at the Arcata Marsh to observe how canopy cover in the environment would influence how the frogs select microhabitats. Pacific Tree Frogs actively use color cues when selecting microhabitats and will use artificial refugia when it is available. Using PVC pipes painted either white or brown as artificial refugia, I set up one white and one brown PVC pipe sample at four sites around the Butcher Slough Log Pond. Two sites had no canopy cover while the other two had high canopy cover. I then tested whether Pacific Tree Frogs would select white or brown artificial refugia under the influence of low or high canopy cover in the environment.

Influence of Human disturbance on the ranging patterns of wildlife on college campuses

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

In a world with increasing urban sprawl wildlife is finding habitat remnants of green spaces such as college campuses. These campuses provide many green spaces, anthropogenic food sources, and a unique set of challenges for wildlife to face. My study looked at how wildlife species on the campuses of Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwood are responding to the human disturbance rates across the two campuses.

Institutional Autonomy Support Predicts College Student's Achievement Goals Through Psychological Need Satisfaction

College of Professional Studies

We explored the role that instructors play in predicting college student's achievement goals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Achievement goals help us explain the motives behind engagement. Certain types of goals tend to be more adaptive than others. We predicted that greater institutional autonomy support would predict greater psychological need satisfaction. In turn, psychological need satisfaction would predict, respectively, greater mastery approach goals and lower performance-avoidance goals. We found partial support for our hypotheses, yet our findings highlight the importance of encouraging students to self-regulate and explore their own interests.

Investigating Shotgun shell and wad waste around Humboldt Bay

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Shotguns are often used for hunting and when they are fired, they produce a plastic wad and shell that are ejected and often left behind. In order to estimate the abundance of shotgun wads and shells, eight randomly selected sites around Humboldt Bay were sampled once each during the month of March 2022. The sites sampled included the beach and bay side of the Samoa Peninsula, Arcata, and Eureka. At these selected sites, 400-m2 was inspected for wads and shells. While sampling at each site, trash was collected and weighed. Only one shotgun wad and one shell was collected at two different sites, for an abundance of 0.25 wads and shells per 100 m2, and an average of 0.26 kg of trash per 100 m2

Investigation into Cyanide Levels at the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The City of Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility (AWTF) was issued a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit in 2019, which set a water quality objective for cyanide of 1.0 µg/L to protect saltwater ecosystems. Since enactment, the AWTF has exceeded the daily maximum effluent limit. This study used distillation and colorimetric analysis to investigate cyanide formation by comparing the cyanide levels in preserved and unpreserved samples taken concurrently with monitoring samples that were sent to a certified lab. Results found that found that unpreserved samples had no detectable levels of cyanide while preserved samples demonstrated a cyanide concentration of 0 to 1.7 µg/L.

Isolation & Nanodisc Assembly of Submitochondrial Particles

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The mitochondrion is a subcellular location for varied metabolic processes and pathways relevant to undergraduate biochemistry courses at Cal Poly Humboldt. At the core of such pathways are integral membrane proteins (IMPs) whose structure and enzymatic activity can be examined to better understand not only their overall function, but also the role of specific subunits. One such enzyme is cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV). Nanodiscs are invaluable tools for examining IMPs. In this experiment, we isolated mitochondria and submitochondrial particles for incorporation into nanodiscs. Future work will include purification and selection for nanodiscs containing only cytochrome c oxidase.

It's like, I have to feel guilty cuz I'm white' : Fear and Frenzy around Critical Race Theory in K12

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Since 2020, Critical Race Theory in schools has become a controversial topic nationwide, particularly among conservatives. Despite this, most public schools are not teaching or talking about CRT - So, where does this misinformation originate? This presentation explores the origin of this issue, common narratives of opposition and their sources, and examines who the people opposed to CRT are - behind the Facebook comments. This presentation expands on the roots of resistance to CRT to understand obstacles to implementing future liberatory, anti-racist curricula in predominantly conservative communities and learning environments.

Kenosha Mural Project

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Working with photographer Ron Larson from the Kenosha Creative Space, a nonprofit organization in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Following the BLM protests, artists took to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin to express their feelings and emotions. Ron Larson began photographing the art around the city. We are here to share an interactive story map created to showcase the art around the city.