Faculty José R. Marin Jarrin Fisheries Biology Research from Cal Poly Humboldt graduate Gabriel Irribarren and Fisheries Biology Professor José R. Marin Jarrin was recently published in the California Fish and Wildlife Scientific Journal. Their research focuses on using empty shells to study Pacific razor clam populations at Clam Beach in Humboldt County, and is key to advancing this important research on coastal ecosystems.

Faculty Rafael Cuevas Uribe and Brian Donovan Fisheries Biology Faculty: Rafael Cuevas Uribe and graduate student Brian Donovan, Fisheries Biology presented at the workshop: farmed seaweed science needs in California organized by the California Science Trust in Sacramento on November 1st.

Faculty Andrew Kinzier Fisheries Biology David K Jacobs, Andrew Kinziger, Mira Abrecht, W Tyler McCraney, Benjamin A Hà, Brenton T Spies, Elizabeth Heath-Heckman, Mohan P A Marimuhtu, Oanh Nguyen, Colin W Fairbairn, William E Seligmann, Merly Escalona, Courtney Miller, H Bradley Shaffer, Reference genome for the endangered, genetically subdivided, northern tidewater goby, Eucyclogobius newberryi, Journal of Heredity, 2024;, esae053, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esae053

Faculty Fisheries Biology - students and faculty Fisheries Biology Sixteen students and faculty from Cal Poly Humboldt's Fisheries Biology Department attended the American Fisheries Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, joining over 2,000 global participants to share research and build collaborations. Humboldt representatives delivered ten presentations and chaired a symposium on integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge with genomic approaches in fisheries conservation. The department also hosted a gathering for alumni, faculty, and friends to reconnect and celebrate shared achievements. Travel and registration costs were primarily funded through grants, illustrating the professional development opportunities available to students through active research and involvement in major scientific events. Learn more

Student Lily Olmo Fisheries Biology Graduate student Lily Olmo was awarded the Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Olmo is among 2,000 students selected nationwide to receive the fellowship from more than 16,000 applicants. This five-year award will support her current Master's research and continuation to a Ph.D. program.

Student Emma Held, Darren Ward Fisheries Biology Emma Held was awarded a research fellowship from California Sea Grant to support her work on the life history of threatened Chinook salmon in the Mattole River. Emma's work will provide information to support ongoing conservation efforts by collaborators at the Mattole Salmon Group.

Faculty Rafael Cuevas Uribe Fisheries Biology Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe received a grant to support a collaborative project between Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Diego State University, and Cal Poly Humboldt. The project will involve building and testing a novel technology system for developing new and profitable seaweed strains for commercial, land-based aquaculture production. The system will contribute to a more diverse domestic seaweed production and larger networks of local seaweed sources, as well as aquaculture education and training through use at education institutions.

Funding comes as a subaward from University of California, San Diego, with the original funding source being SeaGrant.

Faculty Dr. Jose Marin Jarrin, Dr. Andrew Kinziger, and Michelle Schuiteman Fisheries Biology Dr. Jose Marin Jarrin, Michelle Schuiteman, and Dr. Andrew Kinziger received a grant to develop a population baseline of fish communities in the lower estuary of the Klamath River. The study will ensure that changes in the Klamath River estuary due to climate change and dam removal will be measurable, and will also develop a working group that can continue to tackle coastal marine issues in Northern California, including Klamath estuary monitoring. The project will be led by the Yurok Tribe Fisheries Department, with support from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and US Fish and Wildlife Service staff.

Student Erin J. Hanson and Dr. Jose R. Marin Jarrin Fisheries Biology Erin J. Hanson and Dr. Jose R. Marin Jarrin published the peer-reviewed paper “List of Fish Species Present in Galápagos, Ecuador, and California, U.S.A., With Notes on Their Commercial Importance and Conservation Status” in the newly released ideaFest Journal. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ideafest/

Student Louis Antonelli, Alexandra Winkler, Theron Taylow, and Natalie Greenleaf Fisheries Biology Louis Antonelli, Alexandra Winkler, Theron Taylow, and Natalie Greenleaf published the peer-reviewed paper ”Variation in Coastal Macroinvertebrate Species Diversity on Intertidal Boulders in Trinidad, California” in the newly released ideaFest Journal. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ideafest/

Faculty Timothy Mulligan / Andre Buchheister Fisheries Biology Dr. Timothy Mulligan and Dr. Andre Buchheister received a $122,000 grant from the San Jose State University Moss Landing Marine Lab to continue an ongoing, collaborative off-shore reef monitoring program.The study collects data on the diversity, abundance, size structure, and movement of rocky reef fishes in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and associated reference sites. The project is part of the state-wide California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP), which is funded by the Ocean Protection Council. This program is evaluating the effectiveness of California MPAs and providing valuable data for the sustainable management of rockfish and other fish species.

Faculty Andre Buchheister, Rafael Cuevas Uribe Fisheries Biology Dr. Andre Buchheister and Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe have been awarded a $150,000 grant from CalTrout to support their research on Sacramento Pikeminnow, an invasive fish species in the Eel River. The project will assess how a novel method (the Trojan Y Chromosome Strategy) could be used to eradicate the species, because pikeminnow are hindering recovery of several threatened salmonid species. Insights from the study will provide fisheries managers and scientists with innovative, tactical advice on how to regulate invasive Pikeminnow to enhance recovery of threatened California salmonids. Project collaborators include Stillwater Sciences, the Wiyot Tribe, and agency scientists.

Faculty Andre Buchheister Fisheries Biology A subset of members from the Ecological Reference Points (ERP) Team were recognized for their ERP Stock Assessment for Atlantic Menhaden. This team of scientists helped to significantly advance the understanding of menhaden and its role as an important forage fish, providing the Commission with the tools needed to manage menhaden in an ecologically sustainable way. Of special note are Dr. David Chagaris and Dr. Andre Buchheister, experts in the field of fisheries resources, predator-prey interactions, and ecosystem-based fisheries management and models, for their work on the development of the ERP model which is currently being used in management.

Faculty Mark Henderson / Andre Buchheister Fisheries Biology

Dr. Mark Henderson and Dr. Andre Buchheister received a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support research into deep-sea corals and sponges (DSCS). The project will compare species distribution models for DSCS that are associated with commercially important fishes, and assess suitable DSCS habitat inside and outside protected waters in southern California. Results will provide information on where DSCS may be occurring, and may point to areas that are important to fisheries and the greater ecosystem due to the known connection between DSCS and commercial fish.

Former graduate student Nissa Kreidler will be a project collaborator.

Faculty Rafael Cuevas Uribe Fisheries Biology

Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe (Fisheries Biology) has received a grant from the Western Regional Aquaculture Center to support a collaborative aquaculture project between HSU, Virginia Tech, and Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, which aims to collect and assemble information on western aquaculture and distill it into easily accessible digital media forms.

Funding will enable Cuevas Uribe and a graduate student to collect farm-level data from fish farmers in California, and then produce at least one video vignette that highlights the farmers, their care for their animals, the commitment to environmental stewardship, and social responsibility.

Faculty Darren Ward Fisheries Biology

HSU Fisheries Biology Professor Dr. Darren Ward received a grant from the Cooperative Institute for Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Systems to support an ongoing research collaboration project between HSU, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division, and the California Coastal Area Office, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.

The project supports research and graduate student training related to habitat and conservation of federally-listed salmon, and allows for enhanced research efforts that complement NOAA Fisheries research and management information needs in northern California.

Student Taylor Zenobia Fisheries Biology

Taylor Zenobia, FISH undergraduate, has been awarded Best Student Oral Presentation by the U.S. Aquaculture Society at their annual conference in Oah’u, Hawai’i! Taylor is also minoring in Scientific Scuba Diving and Women’s Studies.

Student Frank Mele Fisheries Biology

Won U.S. Aquaculture Society Best Abstract/Travel Award at Aquaculture America, Honolulu, Hawaii

https://www.was.org/Meeting/code/AA2020

Faculty Cynthia Le Doux-Bloom Fisheries Biology

Invited presenter, along with Drs. Peter Moyle and David Ostrach, to address the California Fish & Game Commssion on the 1996 Striped Bass Policy and its fishery implications.

Faculty Cynthia Le Doux-Bloom, Darren Ward Fisheries Biology

Co-hosted a two day workshop funded by STEM NET, Blue Lake Casio, and Tribal Tech to investigate the Klamath Basin Tribes' interest in developing new Native and Western sciences collaborations around dam removal for HSU students. Attendees includes Tribal members from the Klamath Tribes, Hoopa, Yurok, and others, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Klamath River Renewal Corp., Klamath Basin Monitoring Program, UC Davis, and HSU staff and faculty.