Digital Commons Network^™

The Detection Of Multiple Human Papillomavirus (Hpv) Types Through The Development Of An Isothermal Dna Amplification Assay, Lauren Powell

Doctoral

Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) belong to the Papillomaviridae family, with over 200 known types classified into high-risk (HR-HPV) and low-risk (LR-HPV) groups based on their carcinogenic potential. While most HPV infections are asymptomatic and transient, persistent infection can lead to health issues, including cervical cancer. Given the high prevalence of HPV and its potential for malignant transformation, nucleic acid amplification assays have become a widely implemented tool for routine HPV testing. This study developed a real-time isothermal DNA amplification assay for the detection and differentiation of multiple HPV types. A universal primer set was designed to target a highly conserved region …

Decreasing Food Waste In Home Kitchens By Increasing Food Literacy, Thao Rich

Student Publications

In a world that produces enough food for all of its occupants, a staggering amount of it bypasses empty stomachs and goes into landfills every day. There it sits in a plastic bag, which delays decomposition and increases the harmful greenhouse gas emissions. There are numerous reasons for the inequitable distribution of food ranging from politics to logistics, but the fact is that each person can make a dent in reducing their carbon footprint by simply reducing the amount of food they place in the trash each week. Food waste reduction is a small goal that requires no additional spending, …

"We'll Never Get This Opportunity Again": Lived Experiences Of Platform-Based Gig Workers, Catey Hoehn

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Platform-based gig work has rapidly expanded in the United States, leading to growing concerns about economic precarity, algorithmic management, and the sustainability of labor performed through apps. Gig work has been accused of fostering exploitative conditions, masking control through the language of flexibility, and deepening cycles of debt and insecurity for workers. However, the lived experiences of gig workers often reveal complexities that differ from public narratives and company portrayals. This thesis builds on sociological studies of labor precarity to examine how platform-based gig workers experience, internalize, and resist algorithmic control. Utilizing qualitative semi-structured interviews, fifteen rideshare and delivery drivers …

Twice-Exceptionalism And The Complexity Of Supporting Students Who Are Both Gifted And Disabled, River Johnathon Taylor

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Drawing on ideas from disabilities studies about compulsory able-bodiedness as well as experiences of disability being fluid and context dependent, this study posits that giftedness, just like disability, is a complex multidimensional form of identity that is both context and temporally dependent. Twice-exceptionalism is defined as an identity in which an individual is gifted in at least one domain of human productivity and manifests at least one disability. Students with unique learning needs (students with disabilities, students with giftedness, and students with twice-exceptionalism) face many complex challenges within Humboldt County, California. Twenty-five educators from Humboldt County working across all grade …

"Gen Z Climate Being": Podcast Series On Youth, Climate Emotions, And Affective Climate Justice, Rachel Wynne Moszkowicz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

My project is a co-created 6 part podcast series with youth and the program lead from the Climate Mental Health Network’s Gen Z Advisory Board informed by affective climate justice, youth, mental health and education. This work foregrounds the embodied climate knowing and being of youth climate activists, offers ideas for a different relationship to climate change and climate education futures. In this podcast, Gen Zers speak to the youth mental health crisis as it relates to climate. My thesis project engages with and invites conversations that reflect the climate itself, which is non-linear, complex, porous, creative, expansive, and woven …

Resource Guide To Evidence Based Practices For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Guadalupe Cruz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project seeks to support new teachers who are in their first five years of teaching in the special education field using engaging and visually stimulating infographic tools. Through the analysis and review of evidence-based practices literature and NPDC training. This series of teacher-accessible resources compiles introductory information about 10 most commonly seen Evidence Based practices in the elementary special education settings. Through these resources, the goal is to increase informed decision-making among the IEP team, strengthen teacher confidence, and facilitate EBP implementation in the real-world setting.

An Assessment Of The California Logging Workforce, Kendra Jean Gerstenberg

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

There is limited literature describing the capacity and capabilities of the logging workforce in California. This study examines the logging workforce in California to quantify the number of logging crews, assess demographic diversity, and evaluate capacity and capabilities. The target population was California Licensed Timber Operators (LTOs) who have the legal right to harvest timber. A survey was developed and distributed to LTOs on the CAL FIRE database. Surveys were also distributed at regional logging conferences or collected by phone. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and emergent coding for follow-up interviews was conducted. There …

An Exploratory Attempt To Incorporate Social Criteria Into Spent Nuclear Fuel Site Screening And Relocation, Julie M. Sorfleet

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Spent nuclear fuel, also known as nuclear waste, is the byproduct of nuclear power generation. The need for safe and responsible long-term storage and disposal of radioactive fuel presents significant technical and social challenges. These challenges are compounded by several factors, including the emerging nuclear renaissance in the United States, climate and coastal hazards, and the lack of consolidated interim or permanent storage. This research explores perceptions of risk, relocation, and siting spent nuclear fuel, predominantly focusing on Humboldt County, California. I used online surveys, the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and geographic information systems (GIS) analysis to inform how social and …

An Evaluation Of Fuel Model Accuracy And Multi-Scale Mitigation Strategies In The Wildland-Urban Interface Of Southern Humboldt County, Julia I. Cavalli

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Strategic placement of fuel treatments is critical for mitigating wildfire risk and reducing potential structure losses in wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities. As wildfire activity accelerates across the western United States, the need to identify high-impact fuel treatment locations grows increasingly urgent. Concurrently, housing development in the WUI is expanding, intensifying the exposure of homes and infrastructure to wildfire threats. In response, many communities are looking to mitigate the likelihood and severity of losses during wildfire events. The success of these efforts depends, in part, on robust data to support strategic placement of effective treatments that reduce fuel availability.

This study …

Comparison Of The Division And Fairness Of Household Labor Between The 1980s And Early 2000s, Madeline Rose Provins

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The purpose of this thesis is to examine change in the gendered division of household labor between the 1980s and early 2000s. The division of household labor has historically been inequitable reflecting parallel social hierarchies, power imbalances, and systemic inequalities outside the home.

I used a cohort sample of 1,157 respondents combined from the 1988 Wave 1 of the National Survey of Family and Households (NSFH) and the 2003 Wave 3 to test four hypotheses related to gender and household labor. I found that between 1988 and 2003, the gender gap closed in mean hours a week devoted to indoor …

Factors Influencing Elk Road Crossing Behavior, Brielle Christine Jaglowski

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Highways fragment habitat and can impose barriers to wildlife. Installing wildlife crossing systems creates opportunities for safe animal movement, improved human safety, and reduced property damage. Research identifying key zones of connectivity can aid in providing recommendations for locations of these systems and other tools to improve highway safety. Although elk-vehicle collisions occur broadly across northwestern California, factors associated with these highway crossing zones have not been studied in this region. To address this gap in research, the objective of this study was to evaluate how environmental and structural factors influence the probability of elk (Cervus canadensis) crossing US-101 in …

Housing Cal Poly Humboldt Students, Andrea Santamaria

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Student Housing & Residence Life at Cal Poly Humboldt has been consistently critiqued for the shortage of spaces available and unsuitable student placements. Student input from a 2024 survey is used to call for affordable and equity-based housing accommodations. Results showed that the first factor students consider when selecting between housing options is Cost. More incentives are needed to recruit a higher number of students living on campus. 33.88% (41 students) prefer to live on campus regardless of obstacles or challenges. 66.12% (80 students) would rather live off-campus. Improving housing experiences can decrease low retention, graduation, and recruitment rates, as …

Exploring The Influence Of Ethnic Studies On Latinx Students In Rural Northern California, Georgina C. Salvarrey

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Latinx students have historically encountered a traditional education system that often neglects their perspectives, histories, and epistemologies through curricula and pedagogical practices that favor hegemonic narratives. This marginalization has led to the obscuration of significant aspects of the histories of non-dominant racial and ethnic groups, effectively diminishing students’ ability to engage with both their local and global realities critically. Ethnic Studies, as an academic field, proposes an interdisciplinary educational approach that challenges the colonizing methods inherent in the Western educational paradigm by centering the narratives and experiences of People of Color. This ethnographic study investigates the experiences of Latinx high …

Snag Failure And Fuel Recovery Following Stand-Replacing Fire In The Klamath Mountains, Joseph R. Nicholas

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

High-severity wildfires can produce extensive patches of standing dead trees (snags), which later contribute to surface fuel loading and present a hazard as they decay and fall. In the Klamath Mountains of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, recent increases in the occurrence of large stand-replacing wildfires have raised concerns about fuel and vegetation recovery trajectories, the likelihood of future fires, and resulting impacts to local communities. Nevertheless, the post-fire environment may offer opportunities to enhance ecological and community resilience. Estimates of snag failure and fuel loading can support land management planning and risk assessment following wildfire, though such work is …

Physiological Conditions Of Barn Owl (Tyto Furcata) Nestlings As Indicators Of Habitat Quality Within The Wine-Growing Region Of Napa Valley, Christian Cortez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The global environmental impacts of increasing agricultural demand a transition to sustainable farming practices, including the use of integrated pest management to decrease reliance on harmful pesticides. Vineyard managers in Napa Valley, California, have implemented this strategy by establishing nest boxes that attract barn owls (Tyto furcata) which, in turn, provide an ecosystem service by removing rodent pests. Studies in this system have found uncultivated landcover to be positively associated with distributional and demographic measures of habitat quality for barn owls, but individual measures have not been thoroughly explored. I examined three physiological conditions of barn owl nestlings …

Patterns Of Tree Damage And Fuels Around Powerlines In Northern California, Zoe J. Ziegler

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Rural powerlines are critical for delivering electricity to communities far from urban areas but present a significant hazard when located in forested regions. During strong wind events, tree failure (i.e., broken branches, snapped stems, and windthrow) can bring combustible material in contact with high-voltage lines, causing electrical outages or setting fire to vegetation below the powerline. Additionally, elevated forest fuel loading can increase wildfire rate of spread and intensity, potentially increasing negative ecosystem impacts and decreasing containment capacity during powerline- ignited wildfires. The risks associated with rural electrical infrastructure, tree failure, and elevated fuel loading emphasize the need for improved …

Groundwater Pumping Impacts On Stream Depletion In Humboldt County, Ca: Integrating Analytical Models And Field Data, Andy Hans Heise

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study addresses the significant concern of stream depletion from groundwater pumping in Humboldt County, CA. The objective of this study is to develop an analytical model for estimating stream depletion and integrating field data into model parameters.

The methodology involved conducting a field study near three operating wells by a stream, installing stream gages upstream and downstream of the wells, and recording pumping rates and schedules for two of the wells. The third well’s pumping data was synthetically generated, for privacy concerns of the well owner. The StreamDepletR package was used for estimating depletion rates in a stream in …

Exploring Coastal Spaces Of Tribal Sovereignty And Self-Determination In Ancestral Waters Proposed For Offshore Wind Development, Alyssa Suarez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Proposed offshore wind development off California’s North Coast raises novel questions about Tribal sovereignty offshore. This project specifically engages claims, assuming the Yurok Tribe’s framing that offshore wind development poses a coastal hazard. The research followed a co-production framework. The research questions were co-designed with the Yurok Tribe and the research itself governed by a Data Sharing Agreement. The work presents findings from 13 semi-structured interviews with individuals and experts navigating sovereignty in the offshore wind space, including government representatives; lawyers; legal researchers; academics; foundation staff; journalists; and Humboldt Bay community members. Participants identified several key tensions surrounding claims of …

Investigating The Role Of Motivation In Open-Label Placebo Responses, Joshua Worthington

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Placebo effects occur when an individual receives an inactive treatment that should be unable to provide therapeutic benefits but still demonstrates meaningful improvements in health. Open-label placebos extend this phenomenon by providing full disclosure to individuals that they are receiving a placebo, as opposed to traditional placebo treatments that utilize deception. The role of expectancy as a mechanism of change in placebo has received some mixed results in open-label placebo studies. To the author’s knowledge, motivation for change has not been examined in open-label placebo. The current study examined the role of motivation as a mechanism of placebo responses. To …

Empowering Former Hispanic Student-Athletes To Become Leaders In College Athletics: An Identity-Specific And Assets-Based Leadership Training Program For Career Advancement, Raquel Orozco

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This work examines the complexities of navigating dual identities as emerging Hispanic women leaders in the spectrum of college athletes, and how Hispanic women can face personal and societal challenges when it comes to transitioning from college and then into the professional world.

By examining multiple assets that are rooted in Hispanic women’s culture, this project presents a leadership workshop by utilizing the ADDIE instructional design model. Each module of the workshop is clearly described, offering community building activities, self-reflections, and the opportunity to complete a leadership profile portfolio.

First-Year College Transition: The Role Of Psychosocial Resources In Student Motivation, Hayley Weatherill

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

First-year students transitioning to college culture have various areas of concern during this developmental period. Adolescents and young adults focus on creating and maintaining social connections while navigating a new environment and keeping up with their academics. With rising tuition costs, economic uncertainty, and pressing social challenges, many students enter college under significant stress. Navigating these challenges successfully requires motivation and support to persist through the first year and beyond. This project explored how college institutions support first-year students’ transition to higher education by helping students fulfill the three basic psychological needs of self-determination theory: autonomy, competency, and relatedness. When …

“Thanks For The [Land] Acknowledgement, Now What?”: Settler Histories And Decolonial Futures At Cal Poly Humboldt’S Schatz Tree Farm, Sangeeta Sarkar

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

As California’s newest polytechnic university, Cal Poly Humboldt is often lauded for its Indigenous-facing programming and commitments to Indigenous peoples. In recent years, Native American Studies faculty, staff, and students, alongside Indigenous community partners, have led conversations about Cal Poly Humboldt meaningfully supporting tribal sovereignty by returning land to Native nations. As Cutcha Risling Baldy summarized in a research interview, “Thanks for the [land] acknowledgement, now what?” (2024, personal interview). However, though Cal Poly Humboldt has made various land acknowledgements and references to Indigenous peoples in its university policies, conversations about #LandBack have been met with resistance from the university. …

Uncertainty Reduction As An Underlying Motive For Optimal Distinctiveness, Chad Hinojosa

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Uncertainty-identity theory and optimal distinctiveness theory posit separate but related motives for social identity. Whereas there has been evidence supporting each theory, little research has investigated the overlap between the two. More specifically, the needs for assimilation (belonging) and differentiation (uniqueness) as postulated by the optimal distinctiveness model may be understood as derivatives of the desire to reduce uncertainty in one’s self and future. In this study, I investigated the overlap between these three motives for social identity by experimentally testing the mediating effect of self-uncertainty on the relationship between the needs posited by optimal distinctiveness and social identity. Participants …

Can Dyslexia Diagnosis Induce A Stereotype Threat Effect? A Literature Review And Research Proposal, David H. Harris

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Dyslexia is a recognized psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-5, categorized as a specific language disorder. Dyslexia is a hidden disability that affects how individuals process auditory and visual information. Many people have heard of dyslexia but it is largely misunderstood, even by educational professionals, and its general association with learning disability can be the basis for negative stereotyping and discrimination of people with dyslexia. The ‘Stereotype threat effect’ is a term from social psychology research referring to situations where one’s performance on a task is influenced by their identification with a social group that has a well-known stereotype about their …

Social Emotional Learning: Through A Culturally Relevant And Spiritual Lens, Albert Roman

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In today’s diverse educational landscape, the importance of integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) into secondary English language arts classrooms cannot be overstated. This master’s project endeavors to address this need by developing a series of innovative SEL lessons tailored specifically for secondary ELA teachers. Grounded in the principles of culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy (CRSP) and enriched with insights from spiritual pedagogy (SP), the project aims to cultivate a holistic approach to education that nurtures students’ emotional well-being, cultural identity, and spiritual growth. The project is structured around the five pillars of SEL: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible …

The Effects Of A Yoga Intervention On Flexibility And Stress Of High School Students, Paige Mccollum

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study examines the effect of a four-week school-based yoga intervention on the flexibility and stress/anxiety levels of high school students. Eighteen freshman students, aged 13-15, participated in two 30-minute yoga sessions per week. Students’ physical flexibility was measured using the sit-and-reach and shoulder stretch tests from the FitnessGram. Stress and anxiety levels were assessed using the SCARED survey and Perceived Stress Scale surveys. Results showed a statistically significant reduction in school avoidance anxiety (p = 0.025) and slight improvements in lower-body flexibility among students with initially low flexibility. Other subscales from the SCARED survey and flexibility testing did not …

Goal Setting In Sleep And Nutrition To Improve Perceived Performance In Active College Students, Cameron F. Timmons

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study looked at goal setting in sleep and nutrition on healthy active college students aimed to improve their perceived performance, resting metabolic rate, body composition, and overall well-being. The six-week-long intervention had two groups: a control (n=5) and intervention group (n=6). Both groups received an initial coaching session and guidance for self-motivated online goal setting, completed weekly check-ins asking about their sleep and nutrition quality and quantity, and perceived performance, then they would set small goals aimed at improving their sleep and nutrition. The control group set their own goals every week with their online weekly check-ins, and the …

Hope Transforms: An Analysis Of The Novel Indiana, Jemimah "Miah" Dawn Lodes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

George Sand’s Indiana (1832), often misread as a romance, critiques France’s failure to uphold Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité—freedom, equality, and unity—by excluding people of color, women, and peasants during its shift from the Ancien Régime’s monarchy to the democratic Nouveau Régime, now in its Fifth Republic. This study surveys the French literary canon through textual analysis, engaging writers like La Fontaine, Molière, Marivaux, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Danton, Duras, and Dracius. While analyzing these authors, this study also investigates Sir Ralph Brown’s transformational monologue as well as the relationship between Hamlet’s Ophelia and the Amistad voyage, where hundreds of souls were …

Roosting Habits Of Male Silver-Haired Bats In The Willard Creek Drainage Of Northeastern California, Alexander Christopher Lewis

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are one of the most widely distributed forest bats in North America. Although wildfires have been increasing across their range, how they respond to wildfire is understudied. Previous studies on silver-haired bats and fire focused on roosting behavior in low-severity controlled burns or used acoustics to understand activity levels post-wildfire. Quantifying how silver-haired bats use the physical structures created by high-severity wildfires and the landscape features in which they occur is critical in the face of rapidly shifting fire regimes. During the summer of 2023 and 2024 I radio-tracked male silver-haired bats to 37 roosts …

Just Keep Swimming: Outmigration Survival Of Upper Klamath Basin Juvenile Chinook Salmon, James M. Whelan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The removal of four impassable hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River provides salmonids with the opportunity to recolonize their historic range in the upper Klamath River watershed. However, successful reestablishment of salmon populations requires juvenile salmon born in Oregon's upper tributaries to safely migrate downstream through the river's upper reaches. This stretch of the Klamath River, immediately downstream of Upper Klamath Lake, presents multiple migration challenges, including two flow-control dams not scheduled for removal (Link River Dam and Keno Dam), significant water diversions, and water quality issues. To evaluate these challenges, I conducted experimental releases of radio-tagged juvenile Chinook salmon …