Student Brent Henry, Andrew Mueller, Kaelie Pena, and Mariah Aguilar Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

The Forestry and Wildland Resources Department celebrated its students during the annual Awards Banquet on April 18. This year, the department awarded over $68,000 in scholarships to 56 deserving students. Many scholarships were established by alumnae or in honor of alumnae; the Forestry Pathfinders scholarship was created by the founding forestry class at Humboldt State; and the Gayleen Smith scholarship was created in honor of the “office mom” for the department from 2005 through 2013.

The department also honored outstanding students: Brent Henry (Academic Excellence award in Forestry), Andrew Mueller (Professional Promise award in Forestry), Kaelie Pena (Rangeland Resource Outstanding Student), and Mariah Aguilar (Rangeland Resource Outstanding Student). And the students voted to award three separate honors: to Maurine Nicholson (Administrative Support Coordinator) and George Pease (Stockroom Manager) in recognition of their contributions to the department, and to Dr. Pascal Berrill for Outstanding Faculty member.

Faculty Erin Kelly Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Erin Kelly, Assistant Professor in Forestry, was awarded the Educator of the Year by the California Forestry Association. She received the award at the annual CFA gathering in Napa, California on March 2.

Dr. Kelly also joined the Forest Policy Committee for the Society of American Foresters (SAF), the largest professional society for foresters in the United States. The Forest Policy Committee has 10 members representing academia, industry, and non-profit organizations; members met in Washington, DC from March 6-7 to recommend federal policy priorities for SAF staff and board members to relay to federal legislators and agencies.

Student Specialist Todd Golder and students Mariah Aguiar, Amanda Albright, Melissa Chase, Axel Sanchez, Eric Garcia, Monica Rodriguez, Steven Gilster, Tess Palmer, Darren Pinnegar and Kaelie Pena. Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Humboldt State University's Range Plant Identification team placed 5th in a contest that has been described as one of the toughest in recent memory. Deedee Soto, an HSU Botany major with a range minor, placed 5th in the individual category. Coached by lecturer/NRCS Rangeland Specialist Todd Golder, other team members include Mariah Aguiar, Amanda Albright, Melissa Chase, Axel Sanchez, Eric Garcia, Monica Rodriguez, Steven Gilster, Tess Palmer, Darren Pinnegar, and Kaelie Pena. These students were enrolled in RRS 475 Advanced study of Range Plants, offered every semester.
Most plant species on this test were grasses and many consisted of mere fragments of material. We owe much to HSU's exce

Student Bret McNamara Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Bret McNamara won an award for best student poster at the Third Southwest Fire Ecology Conference in Tucson, AZ for his research entitled "Post-fire seedling establishment patterns of Hesperocyparis bakeri".

Bret is a graduate student working in the HSU Wildland Fire Lab and conducted this research in collaboration with faculty members: David Greene, Jeff Kane, and Melanie McCavour

Student Leonard Rios Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Leonard Rios presented his research on the "Effects of fire season on growth and defense in Pinus lambertiana" at the Third Southwestern Fire Ecology Conference in Tucson, Arizona.

Leonard is graduate student in the HSU Wildland Fire Lab working with Jeff Kane.

Faculty Harold Zald Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Harold Zaid was recently interviewed about his research regarding the relationships between drought, insect outbreaks, and wildlife by the independent digital media Water Deeply.
Link to the article
https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/09/14/the-surprising-sci…

Student Amy Livingston Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Amy Livingston, graduate student, lead authored a paper with Erik Jules (Biology) and Jeff Kane (Forestry and Wildland Resources) entitled "Prescribed fire and conifer removal promote positive understory vegetation responses in Quercus garryana woodlands" in the Journal of Applied Ecology this past June

Faculty Jeffrey Kane Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Co-authored three new articles related to fire and fuels management:

“The impact of fuelbed aging on laboratory fire behaviour in masticated woody fuels” in the International Journal of Wildland Fire

“Suites of fire-adapted traits in the southeastern USA oaks: multiple strategies for persistence in fire-prone environments” in the journal Fire Ecology

“Duration of fuels reduction following prescribed fire in coniferous forests of U.S. national parks in California and the Colorado plateau” in the journal Forest Ecology and Management

Student Kristin Cooper and Catherine Trimingham Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Two Humboldt State University students passed the rigorous “Fundamentals of Soil Science” exam offered on April 15, 2016, becoming Associate Professional Soil Scientists, according to test results from the Council of Soil Science Examiners.

Kristin Cooper and Catherine Trimingham graduated from Humboldt State University with the Wildland Soils option in Rangeland Resource Science. Kristin has performed range technician duties for the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming and has volunteered for several California Resource Conservation Districts. She is studying for the GRE exam and plans to apply to a graduate program for Fall 2017. Catt rowed for the HSU Women’s Crew team and is currently working as a forest-wide soils technician on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. She says that “my education is much more well-rounded compared to the people I work with. I am able to understand a majority of the timber jargon, identify most of the plants I come in contact with, and have been told that my notes are too thorough.”

The national pass rate for the Spring 2016 soils exam was 56 percent, with a California pass rate of 87.5 percent. Since 2011, 25 HSU students have attempted this exam, with an overall pass rate of 80 percent, the last two years with 100 percent success. Those who pass the fundamentals exam will be eligible to take the Professional Practice exam after five years of professional experience, an additional step in becoming a Certified Professional Soil Scientist. Recent Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) discussions about program self-certification have included the fundamentals exam as one indicator of program quality. Given that the exam is multiple choice, it does not evaluate students’ field skills per se, but is an exam that is offered nationwide and is therefore ‘portable.’ Humboldt State University Wildland Soils students (under the Rangeland Resource Science major) spend more than 200 hours in field or laboratory learning experiences, honing hands-on skills and field judgment of soil properties, limitations, and capabilities.

Faculty Susan Marshall Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Professor Susan Marshall, Forestry & Wildland Resources attended the 2016 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi, TX. Susan served as 2015 President of the Range Science Education Council and 2016 Past President. She is also an Associate Editor or the Range Ecology & Management Journal and a member of the SRM Professional Accreditation Committee. While there she attended a special workshop looking at the federal Office of Personnel Management 454-Series for Rangeland Specialists with members of the OPM, RSEC and PAC groups. Susan also serves on the Certification Panel for California Certified Range Management specialist.

Faculty Kenneth Fulgham Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Emeritus Professor Kenneth Fulgham, Forestry & Wildland Resources, attended the 2016 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi, TX. Ken recently served a three-year term as a national Director on the SRM Board and has been nominated for the SRM 2nd Vice President position with the election held this fall. Ken is also the SRM Membership Services & Meeting Registration Task Force Chair, plus a member of the SRM Bylaws Revision Task Force.

Student Mariah Aguiar, Tyler Hanson, Kaelie Pena, Matt Prendergast, Rosa Sanchez, and Deedee Soto Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

The HSU Range Plant Team recently competed in the 2016 Society for Range Management plant identification exam in Corpus Christi, Texas. The competition involved the identification of 200 grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees. The Plant Team placed 9th out of 23 schools from Canada, Mexico and United States. In addition, HSU students also participating in the Undergraduate Range Management Exam and the Student Booth Display Contest. The students attending these competitions were: Mariah Aguiar, Tyler Hanson, Kaelie Pena, Matt Prendergast, Rosa Sanchez, and Deedee Soto.
Kaelie Pena, Range Management Science major, was elected Secretary to the SRM Student Conclave and she received a summer Pathways Science Technician job with the Forest Service in Bridgeport, California.

Student Andrew Slack, Nicholas Zeibig-Kichas Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Andrew Slack, a graduate student, Nicholas Zeibig-Kichas, an undergraduate student, and Dr. Jeff Kane recently published an article in Forest Ecology and Management entitled "Contingent resistance in longleaf pine (Pinus paulustris) growth and defense 10 years following smoldering fires".

Faculty Andrew Stubblefield, Rosalea Bond Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Andrew P. Stubblefield, Professor of Hydrology and Watershed Management has recently published a paper titled Sensitivity of summer stream temperatures to climate variability and riparian reforestation strategies
in the Journal of Hydrology, Regional Studies. Coauthors were recent M.S. graduate Rosealea M. Bond and faculty emeritus Robert W. Van Kirk.

Faculty Erin Kelly Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Assistant Professor Erin Kelly of the Forestry Department is working with researchers at the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station to find ways to help forest landowners conduct fuels treatments at large scales and across ownership boundaries to improve fire resilience. Dr. Kelly received $100,000 from the US Forest Service to support the work, which started with documenting known large-scale, cross-boundary fire restoration projects, then choosing case studies across Oregon and Washington. Jodie Pixley, a student in the HSU Environment and Community Master’s program, spent her summer in the Klamath Basin and Ashland, Oregon, working on two case studies.

Faculty David Greene, Jeff Keane & Melanie McCavour Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

David Greene and Jeff Kane of the Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources and Melanie McCavour of the Department of Environmental Science and Management have just been awarded a 10-year $800,000 grant from the Bureau of Land Management for a study of Baker Cypress. This tree species, restricted to a few populations in northern California and southern Oregon, has seeds retained in cones that will only open when burned and the continuation of fire exclusion is strongly contributing to its potential extinction. The purpose of the grant is to better understand the reproductive ecology of Baker Cypress, determine the feasibility of using prescribed fire and other treatments to inform the restoration and management of this species, and create the Environmental Impact Report that will underpin the management plan.

Faculty Erin Kelly Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Erin Kelly, Assistant Professor in the Forestry & Wildland Resources Department, and Jonathan Kusel, Executive Director of the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, had their article on cooperative, cross-boundary management facilitates large-scale ecosystem restoration efforts published in _California Agriculture_, Volume 69, Number 1, January-March 2015. This article summarizes a case study for the Burney Gardens timber harvesting plan where a cooperative, cross-boundary meadow restoration project was undertaken by private & corporate landowners in Eastern Shasta County. The Burney Gardens property is currently under consideration for donation by the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council to the University as a teaching and research working laboratory of Northern Sierra Mixed Conifer forests with a large meadow complex.

Faculty Sara Hanna and Ken Fulgham Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Research by the Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources faculty was recently featured in a special issue of _California Agriculture_, a quarterly journal of peer-reviewed research from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The issue titled, _Forestry: Managing for the Future_ highlights a wide range of forestry related research being conducted in California.

Sara Hanna and Ken Fulgham, Lecturer and Emeritus Professor respectively in the Forestry & Wildland Resources Department, had their article on Post-fire vegetation dynamics of a sagebrush steppe community change significantly over time published in California Agriculture, Volume 69, Number 1, January-March 2015. The article summarizes almost 30 years’ worth of data collected on two prescribed wildland fire sites in the Clear Lake Hills area of Modoc County. Significant findings regarding the post-fire plant community trajectories and changes over time have management implications for domestic livestock grazing, interstate mule deer herd winter range use, and the provision of suitable habitat for the threatened Sage Grouse (_Centrocercus urophasianus_).

Student Crystal Welch, Andrew Longman, Tyler Hanson and Robin Halloran Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

Three Humboldt State University students passed the rigorous “Fundamentals of Soil Science” exam offered April 17, 2015 becoming Associate Professional Soil Scientists, according to test results from the Council of Soil Science Examiners. Crystal Welch, Andrew Longman and Tyler Hanson were among five individuals in California who attempted the exam this spring and were the only California examinees to pass the exam. Nationally, 61 individuals took the exam with a pass rate of 59% overall according to Michele Lovejoy, Program Manager for Professional Development of the Soil Science Society of America.

Crystal Welch graduated in Fall 2014 with a degree in Rangeland Resource Science (Wildland Soils option). After performing lab analysis of soils for Dirty Business Consulting in Arcata, Crystal starting working as a field scientist for the Great Basin Institute in Reno, Nevada. Andrew Longman graduated Spring 2014 with a degree in Rangeland Resource Science (Wildland Soils option) and will soon begin a position as Junior Specialist for Organic/Conventional Farming Project with Dr. Louise Jackson at U.C. Davis. Andy will help study the effects of water deficits on crop physiology, biology and pests. Tyler Hanson has completed his minor in Wildland Soil Science, and will graduate in Fall 2015 with a degree in Botany. Robin Halloran, another Wildland Soils option graduate (Spring 2015), passed the same exam November 21, 2014. In summary, 16 out of 23 HSU students who have attempted the exam have passed (70%) since 2011, well above the national average pass maximum of 63% for the same time period.

Those who pass the fundamentals exam will be eligible to take the Professional Practice exam after five years of professional experience, an additional step in becoming a Certified Professional Soil Scientist. Recent Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) discussions about program self-certification have included the fundamentals exam as one indicator of program quality. Given that the exam is multiple choice, it does not evaluate students’ field skills per se, but is an exam that is offered nationwide and is therefore ‘portable.’ Humboldt State University Wildland Soils students (an option under the Rangeland Resource Science major) spend more than 200 hours in field or laboratory learning experiences, honing hands-on skills and field judgment of soil properties, limitations, and capabilities.

Student Andrew Bryant, Matt Prendergast, Andrew Longman, Christina Cortez, Tyler Hanson, Kathleen Dondero, Alicia Goodman, Henry Ayres, and Ariel De Lara Forestry, Fire, & Rangeland Management

The HSU Range Plant Identification Team competed in the 2015 Society for Range Management plant identification exam located in Sacramento, Calif., in February. The competition involves the sight identification of 200 grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees to species. The HSU Plant Team placed 6th out of 23 schools hailing from Canada, Mexico and United States. The University of Alberta placed first, followed by Texas A&M, Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Utah State University, Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, and HSU, respectively. Advanced Rangeland Plants (RRS 475) prepares students for the annual exam and in preparation for related field work.