LAB DIRECTOR: Laurie Richmond
Dr. Laurie Richmond is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science & Management at HSU. She received her PhD in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota in 2011. She then worked for two years as a social scientist for NOAA Fisheries. She has conducted human dimensions research in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and California. She is an avid surfer and fisherman. She loves exploring the rocky shores of the North Coast looking for waves, food, and vistas.
CURRENT GRADUATE STUDENTS:
Kristina Kunkle
Project: Assessing community knowledge & perceptions of flooding and sea-level rise in King Salmon, California.
Relative sea-level is rising more quickly in Humboldt County than anywhere else on the U.S. West Coast, and King Salmon’s projections are the highest in Humboldt County. Kristina will conduct semi-structured interviews and public workshops with King Salmon residents and property owners to understand the community’s sense of place and attitudes towards sea level rise and potential adaptation strategies. She will also be assisting with a Humboldt County grant project to identify stakeholders who may be affected by sea-level rise and collaboratively develop adaptive strategies with these communities. Kristina received her B.A. in Psychology from Smith College in 2010. She has been involved with government grant management for eight years and currently serves as the Program Director for an economic development nonprofit on HSU’s campus.
Ciara Emery
Kara Simpson
Thesis Title: Oral Histories, Ancestral Territories, and Lesser-Known Anadromous Fish Species of Wiyot Watersheds
Kara’s project combines oral history, archival research and document review, and participant observation methodologies in order to trace current and historic population trends of two culturally significant anadromous fish species of the Mad River Watershed; Pacific lamprey (Entonospenus tridentatus), or “eel”, and eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), or “candlefish”. More specifically, this human dimensions approach to natural resources management and fisheries research examines the subsistence-based fisheries that have existed as part of dynamic relationships between peoples, landscapes, and waters within traditional Wiyot Territories, identifying how these relationships have shaped and been shaped by one another over time as well as factors that have contributed to fisheries declines.
UNDERGRADUATES/RESEARCH ASSISTANTS:
TBD
LAB ALUMNI:
Robert Dumouchel
Thesis Title: Fishing community capitals & regulatory ghosts: Planning for sustainability in Eureka, California
Where Are They Now? Planner at the City of Eureka
Laura Casali
Thesis Title: The role of social capital in fishing community sustainability: case of Shelter Cove, CA
Where Are They Now? Working for the environmental consulting firm Strategic Earth
Wyatt Smith
Thesis Title: Where Are They Now? Hiking from Mexico to Canada
Kelda Britton
Thesis Title: Dinjik enjit nerrzhrii (we are hunting for moose): an evaluation of tribal co-management in the Yukon flats, interior Alaska
Where Are They Now? Teaching at Round Valley School District
Lucia Ordonez-Gauger
Thesis Tit
le: Assessing Fishermen’s Perceptions of the Ecology and Management of the California North Coast Marine Protected Area Network
Where are they now? Working as a research assistant at San Diego State University on a project collecting local ecological knowledge from commercial fishermen.
Emma Lundberg
Thesis Ti
tle: Using Q methodology to examine socioecological dimensions of conflict in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, California
Where are they now? PhD program at University of Rhode Island
LAB MASCOT:
Trinity
Trinity is a hound mix with a nose for food. She enjoys eating
berries and fruits off the tree, stealing other people’s lunches, running on the beach, lying the sun, and lounging by the wood stove. She is named after a local river – one of the most beautiful in the world.
