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 prior to coming to HSU. 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:
Sam Cook
Project: Assessing California commercial fishing community well-being in the context of Marine Protected Area formation
Fishing community well-being in California is affected by regulatory, environmental, and socioeconomic factors. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one of the many influences that affect fishery health. Sam’s project will assess California commercial fishing community well-being in the context of MPAs through the development of a long-term socioeconomic monitoring and assessment program.
Zane Eddy
Project: On the management of urban beavers in Martinez, CA
Beavers provide a myriad of ecosystem benefits that can help to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change, but when they come into contact with humans, they are often viewed as a nuisance. In California, the most common management solution is lethal management, but in 2007, Martinez, CA, decided to coexist with a family of beavers that had moved into the Alhambra Creek that runs through town. My research examines the various management decisions considered by city managers and how these management decisions relate to statewide policy.
Kristen Orth-Gordinier
Project: Social science research to advance regional coordination and collaboration of sea level rise adaptation and planning on Humboldt Bay
The Humboldt Bay region has been challenged in maintaining regional-level planning to address sea level rise impacts that cross jurisdictional boundaries. Kristen’s project aims to conduct social science research to inform and advance the development of an inclusive regional forum for coordination and collaboration related to sea level rise.
UNDERGRADUATES/RESEARCH ASSISTANTS:
Mikayla Kia
Project: Student research assistant on MPA Human Uses Project
Mikayla is an undergraduate student double majoring in Environmental Science and Management and International Studies. From the Big Island of Hawai’i, Mikayla has worked as a ranger intern at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park to educate people about the rich cultural history of fishing in Native Hawaiian communities. She brings this unique understanding of human-environment relationships to the assessment of socioeconomic monitoring of the California commercial fishing community in marine protected areas.
Nayre Herrera (she/her)
Project: Student Research Assistant HSU Sea Level Rise Initiative
Nayre is currently majoring in Environmental Science & Management: Planning and Policy with a minor in Waste Resource Policy. Nayre has an interest in working directly with local communities and public officials to develop community-based solutions that address environmental justice issues that have been exacerbated by the impacts of climate change.
Bente Jansen
Project: Student Research Assistant HSU Sea Level Rise Initiative
Bente Jansen is an Environmental Science and Management Major with an emphasis in Policy and Planning and a minor in Applied Statistics. Community engagement in planning processes is crucial for successful and long term solutions that meet community needs. Pursuing a career as an environmental planner, she aspires to assist communities in planning and implementing projects that will increase their resilience to the effects of climate change, sea level rise and natural hazards. Working as a Student Research Assistant for the Sea Level Rise Initiative, Bente aims to bring a new perspective to the team and gain experience in the dimensions of community planning and research.
LAB ALUMNI:
Ciara Emery
Thesis Title: Where Are They Now? Field Representative for Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02) in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties.
Kristina Kunkel
Thesis Title: Exploring community knowledge and perceptions of flooding and sea-level rise in King Salmon, California
Where Are They Now? California State Sea Grant Fellow at the California State Lands Commission
Robert Dumouchel
Thesis Title: Fishing community capitals & regulatory ghosts: Planning for sustainability in Eureka, California
Where Are They Now? City Manager Homer, AK
Laura Casali
Thesis Title: The role of social capital in fishing community sustainability: case of Shelter Cove, CA
Where Are They Now? Contractor for National Marine Fisheries Service
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
Kara Simpson
Thesis Title: Where Are They Now?: Owner of a wellness business
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.
