The Executive Committee of the Cal Poly Humboldt Emeritus and Retired Faculty and Staff Association (Humboldt-ERFSA) is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s small grant awards supporting the professional development of all faculty and staff who demonstrate outstanding promise. 

Humboldt-ERFSA strives to secure and protect the rights and benefits of Humboldt/CSU retirees. The association works to keep Humboldt retirees connected with each other and with the activities that are ongoing at the Humboldt campus.

Award winners include:

Sintana E. Vergara, Assistant Professor of Environmental Resources Engineering, received funding for “A drop in the bucket? Greenhouse gas emissions from stored food waste prior to composting” The award will go toward purchasing a Valco Flowpath Selector1 to measure emissions from 16 different sources. This valve will allow them to measure emissions from 16 different sources (food waste buckets) at the same time, rather than one at a time.

Silvia E. Pavan, Assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences, received funding for curation and installation of Timothy Lawlor’s Peromyscine Legacy Collection at the Cal Poly’s Vertebrate Museum. Cal Poly’s Vertebrate Museum houses close to 9,000 mammalian specimens; 1,352 of these were collected by the late professor and mammologist, Timothy E. Lawlor, to whom the museum is dedicated. While most of Lawlor’s specimens have been curated into the collection, a considerable number of specimens from his numerous trips to Baja California, Mexico, remain uncurated and stored in an unlabeled cabinet.

Rouhollah Aghasaleh, Assistant Professor, School of Education, received funding for “COmmunity REsponsive Computational Thinking with Latinx Youth (CORECTLY): Taking Teacher Education to Rural Areas” by connecting pre-service teachers and Latino youth through culturally, linguistically, and community responsive learning experiences. This project includes a series of neighborhood workshops to implement the curriculum that will engage Latino students in activities aimed at developing computational thinking and promoting interests in pursuing computer science related studies and careers.

Amy K. Conley, Lecturer in Education, received funding for “Translanguaging in K-12 Public Schools” by bringing Yurok, Hupa, Karuk, and Spanish into Trinity Valley Elementary classrooms as greetings to students with names for local animals. Translanguaging shows that cultural languages can have a significant impact on attendance and engagement for K-12 students. Conley will be working with local teacher Sammy Quezada's 7th and 8th-grade classrooms at Trinity Valley Elementary.

Stefanie Israel De Souza, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology & Justice Studies received funding to investigate “Comparative War on Drugs” to place The United States’ war on drugs in a comparative perspective by looking at the forms and consequences of drug wars in other countries. It will draw on interdisciplinary scholarship and center scholarship emerging from the global South, including scholarship that has not yet been published in English. Through a critical comparative analysis of drug wars and their consequences, students will be encouraged to reflect on alternative approaches that promote more socially just outcomes.

Marcos Hernandez, Lecturer and Toyon staff member, received funding for “Toyon Volume 69 Literary Translation Project.” The award covers only printing costs. Toyon will lead a special literary translation project in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on campus. Student editors in the Fall 2022 Toyon course will collaborate with the literary translators on a series of five translations for the upcoming book.

These outstanding projects include students in creative and innovative ways. Congratulations to the winners for their creativity and scholarship. Humboldt-ERFSA grants are awarded annually, and all Faculty, Lecturers, and Staff with 5 years or fewer at Cal Poly Humboldt are encouraged to apply. Submit a proposal here.