Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Effects Of Engineering Outreach On Elementary Students, Thomas Cobb

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Currently, there is a desire to increase engineering understanding held by elementary students. As such, there needs to be a way to stimulate not only engineering, but other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics in a young student’s lifestyle. One way to emphasize the importance of STEM while also showing how fun it can be is through different hands on activities led by individuals partaking in undergraduate studies or the industry. While having the students participate in the activities, it is important to understand what the students are learning and how the activity overall is viewed. With the help …

Sherwin-Williams Research Report, Chase Edwards, Krista Mathis, Savannah Frase, Madeline Connolly, Charles Howe

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The overall purpose of this research is to gather information from a variety of different sources regarding recruitment and retention strategies. After gathering this information, the findings will be applied to The Sherwin-Williams Company in order to provide them with strategies on how to increase both retention and recruitment efforts in their organization. While there is no universal secret to better recruitment, the findings may transfer to a variety of different solutions.

The study was designed to cover a variety of different generations that companies can pull from. Primarily, baby boomer, generation X, and generation Y were taken into account. …

Plant Hormone Lab Module: Assessing Different Factors To Create The Most Effective Lab, Ahmed El-Kulak

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The research project focused on evaluating 3 different factors in creating a plant hormone lab module for Principles of Biology II lab. The main hormone of focus was brassinosteroid. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, brassinosteroids promote cell elongation, cell division, root growth, and seed germination. Three goals were established to create the most efficient lab module possible. First, mutant (bes1,bri1) root length was assessed without addition of brassinolide (BL), a synthetic brassinosteroid. Then, ½ MS and ½ MS + 20% sucrose plates were compared to see which media produced the greatest difference in root growth between the mutant lines. …

Accounting For The Environment, Jonathan Konopka

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research will explore the topic of environmental accounting, which is becoming increasingly important in today's climate. Many topics will be covered, including the history of environmental accounting, environmental accounting standards and practices, tax credits relating to the environment, green business practices, and local applications of environmental accounting. It is important to see how businesses are adapting in this era, in which climate and the environment has become a focal point.

The Effects Of Motivational Climate On Skill Acquisition And Motivation For Physical Activity In Children With Intellectual Disabilities, Lucas Henry Govan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Increasing physical activity participation among children with disabilities is critical for developing healthy lifestyles. Motivation can influence the amount of physical activity a person participates in. Establishing motivational climates that emphasize individual progress and outcomes can result in improvements of affective responses of engaging in an activity which, in turn, can increase the likelihood of continued participation. While the relationship between motivational climate and mood has been researched in children without disabilities, little research has been done on the impact of motivational climates for children with disabilities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect that a …

The Effects Of Concussion On Tandem Gait Performance With Secondary Cognitive Tasks, Angel Lomeli

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Identifying concussions occurs with a battery of cognitive and motor tests. However, these tests are performed independently as primary tasks. Research has demonstrated amplified motor differences due to concussion when performing simultaneous cognitive tasks (i.e. dual-tasks). The Tandem Gait Test (TGT) is used in concussion assessment and has only moderate sensitivity and specificity alone. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of concussion on TGT performance with secondary cognitive tasks. Six concussed participants (age 22.6 ± 2.8) and fourteen healthy participants (age 23.8 ± 2.7) were recruited through the North Coast Concussion Program within 13 days (7 …

The Role Of Encoding Specificity In Incidental Learning: Implications For Explicit And Implicit False Memories, Cassady Mclaughlin

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research investigated false memories via spreading activation and the influence of encoding specificity on explicit and implicit memory tests in incidental learning situations. It was hypothesized that congruent conditions would have higher rates of both false memories for associated items as well as more accurate memories for presented items. It was also expected that this effect would be larger among those in implicit memory conditions compared to explicit conditions. The participants (n=175) were presented with Deese-Roediger-McDermott semantically associated word lists via a Stroop task, in which they were not told to remember the words presented, but to instead identify …

Phonetic Convergence And Auditory Imagery In Reading, Josue E. Rodriguez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study aimed to address whether phonetic convergence (speech imitation) and auditory imagery in reading are fundamentally governed by the same process — episodic encoding (c.f., Goldinger, 1998). A set of participants (talkers; N = 12) were recorded speaking sentences at a baseline level. Talkers were then exposed model speaker with either a fast or slow speech rate and then engaged in a reading phase where they read sentences thought to be written by that speaker. If episodic encoding predicts effects of phonetic convergence and auditory imagery in reading style, then talkers should be influenced by a speaker …

Serving In The Kingdom: A Volunteer Experience In The Development Of Efl Literacy In Tonga, Melissa Wise

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

For three years I had the privilege of living and serving in the Kingdom of Tonga, a group of islands in the South Pacific, as a Master’s International Program student and Peace Corps volunteer. In Tonga, I worked as an English Literacy Facilitator, partnering with counterparts on diverse projects to improve English language and literacy instruction in local schools.

In the most recent revision of its national curriculum, one of the sustainable development goals of the Tongan Ministry of Education is for teachers to learn strategies for the effective use of libraries, books, and technological resources in their teaching. To …

Pornstars, Content Creators, And Sex Educators: A Discourse Analysis Of Gender, Sexuality & Resistance In The West-Coast Pornography Industry, Samantha Silver

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Given the ease of Internet accessibility, the porn industry increasingly provides a common socialization medium for conceptions of gender, sex, and sexuality. For my master's thesis, I interviewed 10 industry film and video actors to better understand the processes through which their experiences are created. Interviews provided the data for a discourse analysis that considers systems of power that shaped actor interactions and core definitions of sex, gender, and sexuality. Hegemonic constructions of gender, femininity, and sexuality are pervasive in the industry; however, the industry also provides an arena for transformative discourse and disruption of hegemonic ideals. This research is …

Freshwater And Marine Survival Of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch) As A Function Of Juvenile Life History, Grace Katherine Ghrist

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in coastal California streams exhibit various life history strategies during their freshwater development. One strategy of interest to managers and conservationists is the early migrant. Juvenile early migrants emigrate from natal habitat into lower parts of the watershed or estuary during their first fall or winter, where they rear before migration to the ocean. By contrast, the more prevalent spring migrant resides in natal reaches over the winter and migrates directly to the ocean the following spring. Salmon monitoring programs generally estimate juvenile production and demographic rates using only spring migrants, and these …

The Effects Of Oral Contraceptives On Mood And Affect: A Meta-Analysis, Erica M. Motter

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills are widely used by women of reproductive age, but there is still little conclusive evidence that exists about the mood-related side effects associated with their use. This meta-analysis examined the relationship between oral contraceptive use and mood effects such as depression and anxiety to determine what role, if any, that COCs may have in the worsening or improvement of women’s mood when taking them. Effect sizes compared the differences in women’s mood scores before taking COCs and after one or more cycles of use. Seventeen studies made up of 25 individual samples contributed 71 effect …

Shade Trees Preserve Avian Insectivore Biodiversity On Coffee Farms In A Warming Climate, Sarah L. Schooler

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Coffee is an important export in many developing countries, with a global annual trade value of $100 billion. Climate change is projected to drastically reduce the area where coffee is able to be grown. Shade trees may mitigate the effects of climate change through temperature regulation for coffee growth, temperature regulation for pest control, and increase in pest-eating bird diversity. The impact of shade on bird diversity and microclimate on coffee farms has been studied extensively in the Neotropics, but there is a dearth of research in the Paleotropics. I examined the local effects of shade on bird presence and …

Masculine Norms, Psychological Symptom Severity, And Intentions To Seek Formal Help In Male College Students, Zahra S. Shine

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Research has consistently found men to be less likely than women to seek help for mental health symptoms. Additionally, greater symptom severity is related to higher levels of help seeking, although this relationship is less clear among men. Greater conformity to masculine norms may help to explain the relationship between symptom severity and help seeking among men. The present study aimed to further research on men’s help-seeking by examining whether conformity to masculine norms would moderate the relationship between symptom severity and help-seeking intentions in male college students (N = 89). A multiple regression analysis was conducted with all …

Response Of Headwater Amphibians To Long-Term Logging Impacts And Assessing Potential For Restoration In Redwood National And State Parks, Alyssa Marquez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The timescale of community response to disturbance varies drastically, and slow-recovering ecosystems such as coastal redwood forests may take hundreds of years to return to old-growth conditions post-logging. Few studies have quantified long-term (>50 years) impacts of disturbance on ecosystems, specifically aquatic ecosystems. This study provides evidence of the persistence of historical logging impacts 50 years post-logging through the comparison of headwater amphibian populations (occupancy and abundance) and stream characteristics using a control-treatment study with a logged watershed, Streelow Creek, as the treatment and a pristine old-growth watershed, Godwood Creek, as the control. The immediately adjacent old-growth watershed acts …

Eye Movements For Learned Faces, Mariah Lehnertz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Humans demonstrate a perceptual specialization for faces that is astonishing. This project attempts determine if and where within the perceptual process face perception and face recognition diverge at the level of eye movement behaviors. Participants were exposed to a series of 36 faces, of which six were randomly selected to be learned over five subsequent exposures; thus the same face identities served as both the novel faces (block 1) and the learned faces (block 5), allowing for the measurement of eye gaze patterns during initial face perception (novel) and face recognition (learned). These six faces were randomly assigned to different …

Density And Distribution Of Piscivorous Fishes In The Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, Christopher M. Loomis

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Predatory fishes, including numerous introduced species, are common to the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, but abundance data for most species is insufficient to determine the Delta-wide distribution and ecological impacts of these species. Predatory fishes (e.g. Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass have long been suspected of contributing to the decline of native species, including salmonids, but data has been insufficient to investigate this hypothesis. In this study, I present a novel method to assess predator fish populations across the southern Delta using DIDSON acoustic cameras and analyze the environmental associations that form the landscape and fine-scale distribution of predatory fishes. …

Addressing Divergent Audiences In Conservation Communication: An Examination Of Land Trust Websites In Northern California, Tova Fleming

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In a world rich with a diversity of stories and values, successful conservation must not rely on everyone thinking and feeling the same way. Values are the foundation of the cognitive hierarchy of human behavior and are relatively fixed and unlikely to change. As a result, environmental communication that is reliant on a particular set of values may cause polarization around conservation issues. The reasoned action approach offers a way to explore communication techniques that address the cognitive hierarchy of human behavior at its most malleable point, behavioral intentions. Because land trusts work with historically divergent audiences who are often …

Bully-Victimization, Depression, And School Connectedness In Early Adolescent Students, Irene Gonzalez-Herrer

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

During early adolescence, schools play a significant role in the development of students. An issue that continues to be a serious concern for students, parents, teachers, and school officials in the U.S. and around the world is bullying. The primary purpose of this study was to examine school connectedness as a mediator between bully-victimization and depressive symptomatology in early adolescence. The secondary purpose of the study was to explore how gender and bullying classification groups (i.e., bully, victim, bully-victim, and non-involved) may relate to levels of reported school connectedness. The current study found low school connectedness partially mediated the relationship …

Seaweed Community Structure Along Environmental Gradients In An Ocean-Dominated Estuary, Saskia A. Raether

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Macrophyte community structure in estuaries that have been modified by the addition of hard substrata are poorly documented, especially in relation to the physical and environmental gradients that shape them. Therefore, this study describes the summer macrophyte flora that occurs on hard and soft substrata throughout Humboldt Bay, CA and tests how the macrophyte communities correlate to measures of horizontal and vertical environmental gradients. The percent cover of macroalgae, vascular plants, cyanobacteria, lichens, diatom film, sessile invertebrates, and substratum types were quantified during the summers of 2017 and 2018 at eleven intertidal locations in the bay and outer coast. Horizontal …

(In)Difference To Survivors: The Anti-Violence Comics Project, Henry Solares

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Sexualized violence prevention at the university level can sometimes leave out the perspectives and needs of marginalized groups. Ethics should always serve to temper any endeavors to work with marginalized groups. Any endeavor into the field requires methods and frameworks that serve not only the needs of the researcher but also the knowledge builders involved. Postmodern ethnography articulates a need for contesting a positivist understanding of knowledge through use of alternative methods like novelized fiction, autobiography, documentary, and visual art. In conjunction, intersectional theory forces us to consider our place as researchers and the larger power dynamics within our culture. …

The Effects Of Elevated Temperatures On Gumboot Chiton (Cryptochiton Stelleri) Grazing Performance And Thermoregulation Efficiency, Lily Clare Mcintire

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Rocky intertidal zones are some of the most thermally stressful environments on earth, where ectotherms deal with tidal fluctuations in air and water temperatures that can exceed thermal performance limits. However, not all intertidal ectotherms face the same exposure risk. On the northwest coast of the United States, summertime low tides occur during midday, exposing ectotherms to stressful temperatures. In contrast, cooler pre-dawn low tides in southern regions buffer ectotherms from thermal stress. Gumboot chitons (Cryptochiton stelleri) are a thermally sensitive intertidal grazer that range from southern California to Alaska, exposing them to a mosaic of thermal stress. …

Relationship Between Habitat And Barn Owl Prey Delivery Rate And Composition In A Napa Valley Vineyard Agroecosystem, Dane A. R. St. George

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The provision of habitat for natural enemies of agricultural pests is common in integrated pest management approaches globally but has rarely been examined for vertebrate predators controlling vertebrate pests. To mitigate the economic and environmental costs of treating for rodent pests, winegrape producers in Napa Valley, California, have installed nest boxes to attract barn owls (Tyto alba) to their properties, but their effectiveness to control rodent pests in vineyards has not been thoroughly tested. A rigorous estimate of the number of rodents barn owls remove from the landscape is a necessary first step, and this study aimed to …

Multidecadal Change In Aspen Experiencing Long-Unburned, Mixed-Severity Wildfire, And Reburn Disturbance Regimes, Cerena Brewen

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is a valued, minor component on western landscapes. It provides a wide range of ecosystem services, and has been in decline for the last century. This decline may be explained partially by the lack of fire on the landscape as aspen benefit from fire that eliminates conifer competition and stimulates reproduction through root suckering. Managers are interested in aspen restoration but have a lack of knowledge about their spatial dynamics in response to fire. Improving our understanding of aspen stand spatial changes over time may be important for maintaining their presence on landscapes where …

Letting Poetry Inside, To Stay, Erin Siegferth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As a child, writing poetry came naturally, like learning to speak. Over time and throughout school, rigid styles of academic interpretation and an air of demographic exclusivity corrupted the genre. I came to associate poetry with historical, formal poets of history. It wasn't until my undergraduate studies introduced me to contemporary poetry that I realized poems were still being created and consumed today, by a diverse and thriving community. This realization renewed my perception of poetry and gave me permission to write in a way that felt authentic, despite the conventions and rules I had learned. In this introduction to …

Investigation Of Dredge Material Dewatering Through Hydraulic And Ground Improvement Methods, Monica Moody

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Every year almost 1.5 million tons of material is dredged from Lake Erie to allow passage for boat traffic. In the past, this material has been placed back into the open waters of the lake. However, starting July 2020 this will no long be permitted due to the passing of Senate Bill 1. Therefore, secondary uses of this dredging material are being investigated. To be used, the material needs to be quickly dewatered and stabilized. This project consists of literary reviews of two methods of rapid dewatering, hydraulic placement and ground improvement methods. Hydraulic placement dewatering requires the use of …

Development And Exploration Of A Z-Shaped Foot And Ankle Internal Fixation Plate, Rhaz Shaghaghi Paul, Ian Hames, Sean Rich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper will detail the design process of developing a Z-shaped foot and ankle internal fixation plating system. Group 6: Plates for the Sole was made up of 5 team members, who worked together to accommodate their client’s request to complete a biomechanical analysis of a Z-Plate design and a construct a prototype. The Z-Plate’s purpose is to provide podiatrists with a new solution that can fit nicely on the small, irregular bones of the foot, while also remaining strong enough to withstand the forces and torques of the foot.

Reactive Archey Target Design Team "Mimic", Brandon Croyle, Jacob Boss, David Rodgers, Austin Wivell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This design project will aim to provide archery hunters with a platform to simulate shooting at string jumping deer. String jumping refers to a spooked deer hearing the snap of a bow string and instintivly ducking up to ten inches. This often results in wounded or missed deer. We will design and build a control system that uses the sound of a bow string as a trigger to operate a mechanical target system. A sound sensor will mimic a deer’s hearing in close range hunting and then send a signal to the mechanical system to replicate the dropping motion of …

Center Lift Trailer Support Structure, Carson Corle, Anthony M. Hayes, Bryan A. Truax

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Center lift pontoon trailers have a high center of gravity, therefore have the potential for the pontoon and trailer to tip while cornering. There is need for a component to stabilize the pontoon on the trailer while towing. Different concepts of a support system were sketched to determine the best option. The characteristics that were deemed important for the support system were narrowed down to determine the best concept and the connections of the best design were sketched in greater detail. The forces that the support system would have to withstand to stabilize the pontoon on the trailer were calculated. …

Interlaminar Damage Detection In Composite Materials, Hariharan Rangarajan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Using ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) for high-temperature applications in jet engines increases durability and reduces weight and cooling requirements resulting in improved efficiency and fuel savings. Understanding, detecting, and monitoring different types of damage is essential to achieve optimal performance of CMC components. The Direct Current Potential Drop (DCPD) method is a non-destructive technique of estimating damage in composite materials.

DCPD technique works by measuring nodal potential differences when current is flown through the material. Direct current spreading in different woven and laminate composites is modeled to follow a ladder resistor network in which the nodal voltages decrease exponentially as …