Kevin will describe how he became interested in geography and his educational path that included CR. He will then present an award-winning talk focused on using geographic information systems (GIS) to study the high elevation glacier in the southeastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Lindsay with juvenile Roloway monkey.
Description: Nearly one in three primate species is now thought to be seriously threatened with extinction. Of particular conservation concern are the Guinnean forests of West Africa, identified as a Biodiversity Hotspot of highest conservation priority for primates in the world. This area encompasses the forests of southwestern Ghana where three of world's most endangered primates are found, including Miss Waldron's red colobus (Colobus badius waldroni), the White-naped mangabey (Cercocebus atys lunulatus), and the Roloway monkey (Cercopithecus diana roloway).
Ankasa Conservation Area, Ghana.
Only two studies have been conducted on the critically endangered Roloway monkey. A study performed in the late 1970s found Roloway monkeys in large vocal groups, and by some estimates, they were considered one of the most abundant primates in Ghana. Contrarily, 25 years later I observed only lone Roloway monkeys that rarely vocalized, and my estimates indicate that the Roloway monkey and White-naped mangabey are the rarest monkey species in Ghana (apart from the likely extinct Miss Waldron's red colobus).
Lindsay organizing transect surveys with field staff.
During this talk I will discuss the ecology and conservation of Roloway monkeys and other primate species in Ghana, West Africa. I will compare the findings of my research with data from 30 years ago and will propose conservation strategies for primate conservation in Ghana.
Ghanaian villagers displaying conservation education materials.
Biography: Lindsay Magnuson has been teaching as part-time faculty at College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University since 2003. Lindsay earned her Bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University while working with Lowe's mona monkeys at Bia National Park in Ghana (2000). She completed a Master's degree in Natural Resources from HSU while focusing on the ecology and conservation of Roloway monkeys in Ghana (2002). Lindsay was given the Koplin award for outstanding Wildlife graduate of the year in 2003. She is still actively working toward conservation of primates in Ghana.
Description: The interrelated goals of Earthwatch Artist Fellowships are:
Becky Evans collecting data, Skagit River Tributary
In November of 2005, Becky Evans from CR's Art Department, was awarded a Community Artist Fellowship from Earthwatch Institute. Becky is currently teaching Drawing and has also taught Color and Design, Ceramics, Sculpture, and Weaving at CR. Her paintings and sculptures reflect a direct response to experiences in the natural world.
Art Installation: "30,000 Salmon", a memorial to the Fish Kill on the Klamath River
Becky will share her experiences at the Earthwatch Institute. This talk relates a scientific experience through the eyes of an artist, a slant on science that all will surely enjoy. You won't want to miss this visual scientific feast.
"Trinity River - Fire and Flood" manzanita, river stones, mud, 5 foot 5 inches tall
Description: Within the next five years, work will begin in earnest to dismantle the 63 MW nuclear reactor and its associated facilities, package and ship off the various radioactive wastes, and restore the site for other use by PG&E. This presentation will examine the technical challenges and the economic impacts of full decommissioning.
The Humboldt Bay Power Plant on Highway 101 just south of Eureka.
The head of the nuclear reactor at the Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant.
Biography: Mike Manetas taught environmental resources with a focus on energy technologies at College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University for over 30 years. Mike has been involved in issues surrounding the Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant since 1973, and currently serves on PG&E's Citizen's Advisory Committee on decommissioning. In 1987, Mike taught a class at Humboldt State on Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants. As a concerned citizen, Mike feels understanding this issue is of vital importance to public health and safety, and to addressing future energy policy challenges in this country.
David Bazard will present an overview of the geologic setting and associated land use of Eureka's controversial former train yard. In 2001, he and other college faculty participated in a multidisciplinary study of the site, with the Balloon Track Project: An Exploration of Misintentional Landscape Use*, exhibited at Humboldt State University's First Street Gallery.
Aerial Photo of Balloon Track, 2005. From Google-Earth
David's colloquium presentation will revisit that former investigation and elaborate on the subsurface geology and contamination history of the site.
The diagram below shows the geologic strata underlying the Balloon Track. The thickest layer shown is a sand unit (B-Zone), evidence that several thousand years ago this site was a shallow ocean site and then subjected to geologic uplift. Seashells in the unit confirm this one time marine connection. Note also the layers of fine sand within this unit, representing a time period of lower energy, where gentler water movement allowed for fine-grained deposits.
The strata of a site can reveal its complex geologic history.
The mud unit above this layer of sand reveals that, about 3000 years ago, the site changed to a marsh environment. The presence of marsh grass roots in this zone, additionally, confirms the mud unit's one time life as a tidal marsh.
The top layer of the Balloon Track (the A-zone) is an artificial sediment layer known as the fill unit. Within the last 100 years, the nutrient rich and ecologically important mud unit was smothered by a mixture of gravel, sand, and bay dredged silt. This fill layer formed the foundation for subsequent industrial activity and pollution.
The Baloon Track site was a fully operational railyard in the 1950's and 1960's, as can be seen in the following image.
Black and white photo of the Balloon Track Site. Aerial photo by Merle Shuster, 1952 (Click on image for larger image).
The steady decline of use as a railyard ultimately led to the abandoned Balloon Track of today. The site is overgrown with Fennel and Pampas grass. The Fennel gives the Balloon Track an overwhelmingly licorice-like smell. This European invader does great harm to native wildflowers, out-competing them not only for space and light, but also for available pollinators as well.
Forests of Fennel. Photo by Cindy Hooper
Bio: David Bazard has been a full-time geoscience professor at College of the Redwoods since 1995. David first came to Humboldt County in 1976 and ultimately received a BA in geology from Humboldt State University in 1982. He then worked for four years for a geologic consulting firm (Woodward-Clyde Consultants) in the Bay Area before returning to school to earn a Master's degree in geology at Western Washington University in 1987. He received his PhD in geoscience from University of Arizona in 1991 and accepted an Assistant Professor position at University of Mississippi that same year. He returned to Humboldt County in 1995 to teach full time at College of the Redwoods.
*The Balloon Track Project: An exploration of misintentional landscape use. Cindy Hooper, David Bazard, Justine Shaw, Mary Mallahan, Haley Barker, and Jim Pegoda. HSU First Street Gallery, 10/2001.
Many of the placards from the 2001 exhibit will be on display in the College of the Redwood's Physical Science Building hallway throughout the week preceding and following the colloquium talk.
Chocolate is a food that has a fascinating history that stretches back to the ancient civilizations of MesoAmerica, including the Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec civilizations. Prior to the conquest of the Aztec civilization by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, chocolate was consumed not as a solid, but rather as a liquid beverage. It remains a puzzle as to the origins of the modern domesticated cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, and the discovery of how the seeds within the pulpy fruit were transformed into the bitter yet aromatic, chemically complex food that we think of as chocolate today. The consumption of chocolate in all its forms evokes feelings of love and contentment. It is now understood chemically why chocolate has such an effect on human emotions.
Closeup of cacao plant illustrating clusters of flowers growing out of the trunk, a phenomenon known as cauliflory.
Chocolate played an important role in the ancient civilizations of MesoAmerica. In fact, the old saying "if only money could grow on trees" held true for these civilizations since beans of the cacao were actually used as currency. The consumption of chocolate during pre-Columbian times was restricted to the upper crust of society, with nobility and priests the primary consumers of this bitter, spicy beverage. When the Spanish brought the cacao beans to Europe in the 17th century it remained the exclusive beverage of the privileged few. Whereas the Aztecs only occasionally sweetened chocolate to moderate the bitterness, Europeans used sugar as a mandatory ingredient in preparing the beverage. It wasn't until the 18th century that chocolate became widely consumed by the masses, thanks to technological innovations that converted chocolate into a solid bar.
Foliage of cacao plant.
Today chocolate appreciation is in a renaissance, with artisan chocolate makers searching the globe for the best varieties and increasing the content of cacao to 50% or more in their confections. Cacao bean varieties vary in flavor and complexity to the same degree as coffee, tea, and wine grape varieties. Flavor differences are once again being fully appreciated by chocolate makers and connoisseurs alike. In addition to varietal differences, the processing of cacao beans into chocolate has a profound effect on the flavor of the finished product. Scientists are now appreciating the health benefits of moderate chocolate consumption as well. The cultural and natural history of cacao is a fascinating tale that illuminates the love affair that humans have with this noble fruit, aptly termed the "food of the gods."
Cacao plant growing in the conservatory of the New York Botanical Garden.
Dr Hogue received his B.A. in botany from Pomona College in 1976. His M.A. in botany follwed in 1981, awarded from the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens/Claremont Graduate School. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Cornell University in 1992.
Over one hundred years ago J. S. Diller (1902) published his classic work, Topographic Development of the Klamath Mountains, in which he proposed that a regional lowland erosion surface, the "Klamath peneplain", formed in northwestern California during the late Miocene. W. P. Irwin's (1997) Preliminary Map of Selected Post-Nevadan Geologic Features of the Klamath Mountains and Adjacent Areas clearly delineates the extent of this erosion surface and provides detailed mapping and age determinations for overlap deposits in both the Klamath and Coast Range provinces.
View north-northwest at the summit of Thompson Peak, the highest peak (2,728 meters) in the Klamath Mountains.
Another summit shot of the erosion surface, taken some 25 km southeast of Crescent City in the hills, looking west.
Among these deposits, basal late Miocene Wildcat Group, Saint George Formation and Wimer Formation sediments are littoral. Rapid submergence of northwestern California to bathyal depths occurred, following initiation of Wildcat-Saint George-Wimer sedimentation.
The basal st. geo fm on a Franciscan underlain paleosol. Note the woody debris in the st geo.
By 5 Ma the Klamath peneplain was at sea level, based upon Wimer Formation overlap. 40Ar/39Ar laser probe analysis of detrital micas indicate that both Saint George Formation and Wildcat Group marine sediments are, in part, derived from the Idaho batholith. Sediment progradation and shoaling over a wide coastal shelf, onset of deposition of locally-derived fluvial sediments in the Coast Ranges, and regional uplift during the middle Pleistocene may relate to the decreasing age of the subducting oceanic plate, decreasing dip angle of subduction, translation of the Sierra Nevada microplate northwestward as it impinges upon the Klamath block, and/or migration of the Blanco fracture zone northward along the continental margin.
Bio: K. R. Aalto is a Professor Emeritus of Geology at Humboldt State University. He received his PhD in Geology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970. His research interests are in sedimentary tectonics, stratigraphy, igneous petrology and structural geology of the Franciscan Complex and Neogene rocks of northern California, volcanic geology of the Modoc Plateau, Pleistocene geology of the Bahamas Platform, and the history of science. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
For years suspended sediment has been near the top of the list of EPA's water quality impairments. Issues driving sediment research and monitoring include
Sediment filled running stream.
While it is not difficult to determine instantaneous water quality information, it is a serious challenge to obtain continuous information about sediment transport and to estimate the total amount (load) of material transported. The tremendous temporal variability arising from changes in flow and sediment supply is underappreciated. Traditional manual sampling methods address the issue of spatial variability of concentration in a river cross section, but more sophisticated techniques are needed to cope with temporal variability. There is no reliable method for continuously and directly measuring sediment concentration in the field. However, with field-deployable sensors, programmable data loggers, and automatic pumping samplers, it is possible to implement sampling programs that lead to more accurate records of sediment transport.
Proposed sampling designs can be investigated using Monte Carlo methods. Techniques developed at Redwood Sciences Laboratory employ surrogate variables such as flow and turbidity (a measure of light-scattering by suspended particles) as input to efficient algorithms that automatically collect samples for laboratory analysis. The surrogate information can then be combined with lab determinations of concentration to derive continuous records of sediment transport.
Bio: Jack Lewis is an applied statistician at the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station in Arcata. He received his Bachelor's degree at Stanford University and Master's degree at Humboldt State. His research has focused on sampling designs for sediment and erosion, statistical modelling, and paired and multiple-basin watershed studies.
Rapid Prototyping (RP), also known as additive fabrication, refers to a group of technologies that allow items to be fabricated by joining together powders, liquids, or sheet materials. Most traditional manufacturing processes found in a machine shop are subtractive in nature - we remove material to create the final shape. RP technologies permit us to use 3D CAD systems to design and manufacturer items that could not be made using any other manufacturing process, often times more quickly and inexpensively. Imagine an object being sliced into very thin cross sections and then being reconstructed slice by slice. That is essentially what happens with RP. The computer software "slices" the 3D CAD file and the RP machine recreates the object one slice at a time, gradually building up the object.
Cross section model of building created using FDM.
Today, there are many different RP processes that are used to create models and production parts in many markets, including consumer, industrial, medical, military, and the arts. The presentation will overview a few of the most widely used processes. We are fortunate at CR to have two different Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies for use by students who are studying manufacturing and design.
3D model of athletic shoe created using 3D printing.
One of our machines, known as Fused Deposition Modeler (FDM), works by extruding a thin filament of melted ABS plastic to create each layer of the object. Because of the need to support overhanging features on an object, the FDM machine extrudes a support structure along with the ABS. The support structure is water soluble and is removed in an ultrasonic bath once the part is finished.
Zcorp Spectrum 510 printer housed in CAD lab at College of the Redwoods.
The other process that we have at CR is called 3D Printing. This process builds up the object by printing each layer on a flat bed of plaster-like powder. Ink-jet printing heads spray a colored binder material on the powder which fuses the powder to the layer below. Gradually, the object is formed in the bed of powder and then is removed, cleaned, and is infused with either wax or cyanoacrylate (superglue) to give it toughness. There is no support structure necessary because support of overhanging and/or unconnected features is provided by the unbound powder.
Stratasys FDM machine similar to the one housed in the Manufacturing Tech lab at CR.
Each of the RP processes has specific advantages and disadvantages that will be described in the presentation. I'll have lots of models to pass around and you'll have the chance to see the 3D Printer in action.
Here are some sources.
Bio: Steve Brown has been a full time professor in the nationally accredited drafting technology program at College of the Redwoods since 1992. Steve taught full time at Fullerton College in southern California for 5 years before coming to CR, has been a lecturer in the Industrial Technology department at CSU Long Beach, and taught at the high school level in Wales, UK. Steve has held various leadership roles including president of the Community College Division of the National Association of Industrial Technology, co-president of the CR Academic Senate, and Division Chair for the Business and Technology division at CR. After receiving his associate degree from Golden West College in 1981, Steve worked as a drafter and designer in the aerospace industry for several years while continuing his studies of industrial technology at CSU Long Beach. He received his Baccalaureate degree in 1985 and his Masters degree in 1987 from CSU Long Beach. Steve lives in Fortuna with his wife and two teenaged sons.
The Department of Mathematics has developed an online system that is currently used for a variety of tasks in its mathematics classes. The system is called OPTIMATH, an acronym for "Online Practice and Testing in Mathematics."
One mode of use is online quizzes. Students login using a loginame and password (similar to Blackboard), then select a quiz. After completing the quiz, students press an "End Assignment" button and the quiz is self-corrected. A score is reported immediately to the student, then the score and student responses are stored in a MySQL database on one of the department servers.
Sample quiz page.
Once a student completes a quiz, they can view their results. This includes their response, the correct answer, and a full solution of each question on the quiz.
Sample solution page.
Quiz questions are generated randomly, so a student can retake the quiz again and receive a similar, yet different set of questions. Indeed, you could have a class login in a computer lab and each student would receive a different version of the same quiz.
Other modes of use are possible. Some instructors in mathematics have developed reading quizzes using the OPTIMATH system. Students are expected to compelete the reading quiz before attending lecture on the material. Another possible mode of use is homework assignments.
There are numerous options that the instructor can set: due date, number of attempts, points awarded per question, etc. During his presentation, Bruce will talk about the numerous features available in the OPTIMATH system.
Sample solution page.
The Department of Mathematics believes that this system could be used in a number of other disciplines. If you are interested in how this system might help you with your assessment of your students, be sure to attend this talk. You'll be glad you did.