humboldt-state
Competition Highlights Student Research
May 14, 2013
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State L.A., graduate students, Humboldt State, student research
A Humboldt State student found that stem cells have the potential to help the bones of older individuals heal faster after breaking.
A team of Cal State L.A. engineering students developed new experimental designs for supersonic rockets.
A Cal Poly Pomona student is testing a new vaccine for the flu.
These are just a few of the nearly 200 student researchers who presented projects at the CSU’s 27th annual Student Research Competition at Cal Poly Pomona May 10-11.
Fusing Biology and Technology
January 11, 2013
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: agriculture, biology, Biotechnology, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State L.A., chemistry, CSU Fullerton, CSUPERB, health, Humboldt State, research, Sacramento State, science education, student research
The 25th Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium brought together students, faculty, alumni, administrators and partners from across the 23 campus university system to advance an intricate and cutting edge understanding of life. More than 700 current and future biotechnology researchers and professionals participated in this silver anniversary symposium held in Anaheim from January 3-5, 2013. The symposium was a showcase for the year-round work incubated by the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB). Read more »
Living for Science
January 12, 2012
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: biology, Biotechnology, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, CSUPERB, engineering, Fresno State, health, Humboldt State, Sacramento State, San Jose State, science education, stem cells, student research, workforce
The Twenty-Fourth Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium continued a proud tradition of bringing the CSU’s greatest minds in life science research, engineering and technological innovation. With more than 600 researchers, mentors, students and faculty from across the system, the yearly program provided an opportunity to build bridges on collaborative research, share educational practices and celebrate the achievements of CSU students and faculty.
No time went to waste during the symposium. Lunch featured faculty hosted topic tables, where a salad might be served with a side of bioengineering. Read more »
Turning CSU Innovation into Action
September 16, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CCST, education, Humboldt State, innovation, San Jose State, science education, Water, workforce, WRPI
The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) brought CSU experts together with other state science and education leaders to create the 2011 Innovate to Innovation (i2i) action plan. The report’s goal is to secure California’s role as an innovative leader in sciences.
The CCST coordinated the annual year-long plan, which was presented to California lawmakers in Sacramento last month. The CCST was established by the state legislature in 1988 to offer expert advice to the state government and to recommend solutions to science and technology related issues.
This year’s plan addresses two critical priorities for California—education and water resources—and CSU personnel made considerable contributions.
Final dispatch on tsunami in ‘Japan Reconnaissance’
May 27, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: earthquakes, geology, Humboldt State, tsunami
“The most important lesson is that underestimating the hazard has tragic consequences.”
That’s the kernel to remember, reports Lori Dengler, a geology professor at Humboldt State University, as she concludes her “Japan Reconnaissance” series of posts about her recent journey through tsunami-ravaged landscapes. Read more »
From tsunami wreckage in Japan, sobering lessons for California
May 20, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: earthquakes, geology, Humboldt State, research, tsunami
CSU geologist shares ‘recon’ in blog, photos
For the fourth time in less than two years, Lori Dengler has crossed the Pacific or the equator – or both – to explore in the wake of a devastating tsunami. She goes in search of scientific data and anecdotal evidence that will improve community preparedness for the next tsunami – whenever, wherever it hits.
Dengler, a Humboldt State geology professor oft-honored for tsunami awareness and earthquake-safety, just returned from a 10-day reconnaissance trip to Japan. As part of a contingent sponsored by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, she visited several cities that had been hit hard March 11 by the Tohoku-oki earthquake (or Great East Japan earthquake in its English translation), and by the fast-rising waters that quickly followed.
(She was among several CSU faculty who provided expertise – in the form of aid, advice and analysis – to benefit both Japan and California. Read the news story here. Click here for other tsunami posts in Science & the CSU. Mouse over photos for Dengler’s captions; click to enlarge them. For a gallery with 93 of Dengler’s reconnaissance photos from the trip to Japan, click here. )
Dengler describes her trip in a series of blog posts at the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group’s site: http://www.humboldt.edu/rctwg/blog. A “wrap-up” post will come soon. (Update: Click here for a report on her “Japan Reconnaissance” wrap-up.) Chronological excerpts follow below. First, from Day 7, this one explains why she goes there: Read more »
Stellar Roster: CSU’s White House honorees for science guidance
May 16, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: biology, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State L.A., chemistry, CSU Fullerton, CSU Northridge, Humboldt State, NSF, San Francisco State, San Jose State, science education
As Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Teacher-in-Residence Anne Marie Bergen receives the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching this week, she joins a select group of CSU individuals and programs to have been honored by the White House for science mentoring — including Frank Bayliss of San Francisco State University and CSU Northridge’s Steven Oppenheimer last year.
(In the photo above, Oppenheimer is in front row, second from left; Bayliss is in the back, third to the right of President Obama. Click to enlarge the photo.)
Nine CSU faculty members and two programs have received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), a similar honor, also administered by the National Science Foundation. It cites those who excel at enhancing the participation of underrepresented groups in all levels of science education.
In chronological order, here are the PAESMEM honorees from the CSU (with campus): Read more »
Illustrating an eon – or a frog
April 29, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal State L.A., community, CSU Chico, CSU East Bay, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU San Bernardino, Fresno State, Humboldt State, science education
Natural-history exhibits showcase CSU’s museum-quality talents
Expect to spot naturalists sketching on napkins – and fine art on the walls – at the opening reception for “Illustrating Nature” Friday, May 6.
The annual exhibit of work by students in the CSU Monterey Bay Science Illustration Program, it will be on display at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History through June 4. (The public is invited to an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the museum, 165 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove.)
One of several current connections between CSU campuses and science museums, “Illustrating Nature” will display 63 artworks and sketchbooks depicting Costa Rican poison dart frogs, a gravel ghost wildflower, Neanderthal jewelry production and other phenomena and organisms. 
The detailed pieces are derived from pen and ink, scratchboard, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and digital media. Each piece is paired with a specimen from the museum’s collection.
From battlefields to farmers’ fields
April 27, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: agriculture, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Chico, Fresno State, Humboldt State, international
CSU helps USMC prepare soil, plant seeds for a safer Afghanistan;
pre-deployment ‘basic training’ in agriculture helps to counter insurgency
When the firefight abates amid the war zone in Afghanistan, some U.S. Marine Corps officers head off to nearby farms – armed with a basic training in agriculture provided by the California State University Consortium for International Development.
Along with improving quality of life and fostering good local governance, improving agricultural sustainability is a key goal of counter-insurgency efforts in embattled regions, said Bill Erysian, CID executive director.
“Agriculture is the number-one non-security issue facing Afghan peace and stability,” he said.
To help U.S. forces address it, CID developed a week-long training course called “Rapid Assessment of Farming Systems in Non-Secured Areas.” Presented last June at Fresno State, the course’s first graduates were 15 officers with the 11th Marine Regiment Civil Affairs Detachment, stationed at Camp Pendleton. They then deployed to Helmand Province; and they debriefed Erysian and his colleagues when they returned to the U.S. Read more »
Back to the future in fuel cells: A talk with pioneer Peter Lehman
April 19, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: fuel cells, Humboldt State, research
On paper and in animations, fuel cells can appear pretty simple. Putting them to work – in power plants, cars, planes and maybe even handheld electronics someday – is trickier. In their labs and offices, the California State University scientists, engineers, administrators and students pushing the research, development and implementation of fuel cells face many challenges – relating to electrochemistry, supply and demand, society and infrastructure, the market and, of course, policy and politics.
Yet, with visions of a much more sustainable society, they navigate through them to create clean power, spawn innovation, and train a legion of enlightened energy professionals.
Peter Lehman, a professor of environmental resources engineering at Humboldt State University, has directed Humboldt’s Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) since it was established 1989. Read more »
