The annual research and scholarly activity exposition for faculty at Sonoma State University is slated from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28 in the Commons. This event provides an opportunity for recent grant recipients and other faculty to share their research and scholarly pursuits. The event is open to the public.
The faculty and a summary of their recent work includes:
ENACT: ENSURING ACCESS THROUGH COLLABORATION AND TECHNOLOGY, Emiliano Ayala, Brett Christie, Jim Fouche, and Janet Hardcastle - With support from the U.S. Department of Education, EnACT has established an innovative faculty development program to support students with disabilities in attaining their postsecondary educational goals. Specifically, EnACT provides faculty across eight different California State University (CSU) campuses the skills, support and training necessary to implement the principles of Universal Design for Learning in higher education.
MATTHEW BENNEY, University Support & Preparation Services - University Support & Preparation Services is a focused collection of federal, state and local grants with the ultimate goal of creating and maintaining successful university students. The projects of USPS primarily serve low-income, first-generation and disabled in a six-county area surrounding SSU.
HABITUAL SLEEP DURATION AND MOOD, Glenn Brassington, Psychology - This RSCAP fellowship was awarded in support of the preparation of a manuscript submitted to the journal Sleep on the results of a study on sleep duration. The paper entitled "Habitual sleep duration and mood states in college students" makes a significant contribution to the scientific study of sleep because it is the first study to examine the relationship between sleep duration and mood states among students who are satisfied with their sleep.
IDEOLOGIES OF FATHERHOOD AMONG UNMARRIED FATHERS: RACE, MASCULINITIES, AND THE FATHER ROLE, Teresa Ciabattari, Sociology - This paper analyzes unmarried fathers' ideologies about fatherhood. Which fathering activities do men identify as most important? And how do race, education, relationship status, and employment affect these views? Findings show that unmarried fathers rate economic providership as especially important and that race does not affect men's fathering ideologies.
AN ALGAE-BASED BIOREACTOR FOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND BIOFUEL PRODUCTION, Michael F. Cohen and C.H. Lauria, Biology - Municipal wastewater effluent contains high levels of nitrate and phosphate that can cause eutrophication of natural waterways. To remove these nutrients prior to discharge we have developed a pilot algae bioreactor that provides the dual benefit of cleaning the water and providing feedstock for fuel production.
NASA EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH AT SSU, Lynn Cominsky, Physics & Astronomy - Presented by Lynn Cominsky, Phil Plait, Sarah Silva, Kevin McLin, Logan Hill, Aurore Simonnet, and Laura Chase. NASA support for Education and Public Outreach involves several major projects, including the Swift, XMM-Newton, and GLAST space satellites. It develops printed, web-based, and media-based educational materials and train teachers and also built a robotic observatory in Sonoma County that is used by high school and college students. In order to produce more highly effective educational products, the SSU E/PO group is now expanding its work into the realm of Science Education Research.
OUT RANKS: GAY AND LESBIAN MILITARY SERVICE FROM WWII TO THE IRAQ WAR, Steve Estes, History - "Out Ranks" will be the first museum exhibit in the country to explore the wartime experiences of gay and lesbian veterans. Slated to open in June 2007 and run for one year, "Out Ranks" will be based on letters, diaries, interviews, photographs and other wartime memorabilia housed at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco.
FROM KNOW-HOW TO KNOWING HOW: DEVELOPING AND REFINING UNDERSTANDINGS OF TEACHING PRACTICE THROUGH COLLABORATIVE DISCOURSE EXCHANGE, Kelly M. Estrada, Education - The study contributes to research on teacher professional development by exploring the question, "What is the role of tacit knowledge in the development of understandings of practice?" Discourse analysis of online discussions was conducted in order to investigate the role prior knowledge and experience plays in the development of practice.
THE SECOND ANNUAL SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE CONFERENCE, Robert Girling, Jerrell Richer, Art Warmoth and Sofia Dimitru, Business Administration - The Second Annual Sustainable Enterprise Conference will span two full days and focus on cutting edge sustainable business issues, practical tools, successful case studies, interactive learning experiences, and new visions for businesses and non-profit enterprises in the North Bay region. The Conference organizers are committed to forging a new vision which will lead the way toward promoting a positive sustainable way in which business is done locally and in the nation. The event will build on the highly successful, sold out SEC 2006, and will provide an opportunity for networking and benchmarking among companies and practitioners who share the goal of building healthy and livable communities.
THE SONOMA COUNTY WOMEN'S ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, Michelle Jolly, History - The Sonoma County Women's Oral History Project, funded by grants from the California Council for the Humanities and the School of Social Sciences, is collecting oral histories of women involved in the contemporary women's movement in Sonoma County. This project is bringing SSU students together with activists through the interviewing process, and plans to produce materials that will help share the stories gathered with the community.
RUNNING AN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS CONFERENCE AT SSU, Izabela Kanaana, Jerry Morris, Brigitte Lahme, Mathematics - In April, the Sonoma State University's Mathematics Department hosts the third annual Northern California Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. The conference features expository talks and original research presented by undergraduate students from Northern California and Southern Oregon universities and colleges. While most national and local mathematics conferences offer undergraduates an opportunity to share their research at a poster session, there are very few venues for those students to give talks about their work. The conference is filling this niche.
MAKING TEACHER EDUCATION PUBLIC, Kathy Morris and Rick Marks, Mathematics - The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has been studying the nature of preparation for a variety of professions, including teaching. As part of this study, a group of Carnegie Fellows have experimented with using multimedia records of K-12 teaching practice in their coursework for pre-service teachers, then displayed the results in web sites designed to make their own practice public. The purposes are to advance the use of cases in teacher education as well as to identify robust common practices among teacher educators. Professors Morris and Marks have developed web sites showing aspects of their work in elementary and secondary mathematics methods courses. Expo attendees can explore these web sites directly and talk with the developers.
COLLECTING SEA PALMS: PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE USE IN A VARIABLE ENVIRONMENT, Karina Nielsen, Biology - The Sea Palm, (Postelsia palmaeformis), is an iconic species of wave-swept rocky shores of North America. It is also the most profitable product sold by seaweed collectors of the Pacific Northwest. A rapidly growing market exists for dried Postelsia: it is collected by more than seven businesses and sold via webpages, farmer's markets, supermarkets and in signature dishes (e.g., Sea Palm Strudel) at restaurants in Northern California. In California, where most commercial collecting occurs, regulations prohibit recreational collecting, sharply limit scientific collecting, but allow unlimited commercial collecting. Furthermore, commercial regulations do not reflect what is known of Postelsia's biology, making it particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation. We are studying variation in Postelsia's phenology across its biogeographic range and experimentally testing current collecting techniques, claimed to be sustainable and voluntarily used by collectors, but scientifically unexamined to date. We are learning that what we knew about Postelsia's life history and phenology from a handful of studies in Washington & Oregon may not apply in California. Successful management requires understanding the variation in Postelsia's biology across its range, and effective translation of this knowledge into commercial regulations lest the Sea Palm suffer the typical 'boom and bust' trajectory of rapidly expanding fisheries.
RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH BY THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES CENTER, Michael Newland - For more than 30 years, the Anthropological Studies Center at Sonoma State University has been training students, conducting research, and giving public presentations and classroom talks on archaeology, anthropology, cultural resources management, and California history. Staff archaeologist Michael Newland will be presenting a poster session on recent archaeological research conducted throughout northwestern California by students, ASC staff, EXCEL Program for Youth students, and volunteers. This work was generously funded through ASC's cooperative agreements with the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and through ASC-sponsored grants, in-house programs, matching funds, and internships.
2006 LEVUKA FIJI GIS DATA ANALYSIS, Margaret Purser with Brian Much, Anthropology - This project funded a student assistant to process GPS and other data collected during the 2005 archaeological field season in Levuka, Fiji. The data were compiled in a pilot GIS that supports the larger Levuka Cultural Landscape Project, an archaeological research and heritage management project at the site of this 1870s Pacific island capital being conducted under the auspices of the National Trust of Fiji. The resulting GIS produced a detailed sensitivity map for historical architecture, landscape features, and potential archaeological sites, based on three previous seasons of survey, archival research and oral history interviews. This map will be used to guide more intensive fieldwork planned for future seasons, and to support collaborative ongoing consultation with the local community as their townsite is nominated to the World Heritage List.
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT FAIRFIELD OSBORN PRESERVE, Nathan Rank with Julia Clothier, Biology - Fairfield Osborn Preserve is a major center for environmental education and research in Sonoma County. We have had significant growth in use by the local community for environmental education programs and attained international visibility as a center of research on the invasive pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death. FOP nearly doubled in size due to a land donation in 2004 and the Marjorie Osborn Education Center has been equipped for public lectures and meetings. We invite the University community to explore our natural diversity and use our facilities to support educational objectives and increase environmental awareness.
RUNNING BEYOND THE LIMIT: ULTRA-MARATHONS AND THRESHOLD EXPERIENCE, Andrew L. Roth, Sociology - Running ultra-marathons -- running races beyond the standard 26.2 mile marathon - entails "edgework," or voluntary risk-taking. Even the most accomplished, competitive runners cannot take finishing for granted. Supported by an RSCAP Summer Fellowship, I attended three 100-mile races this summer. Based on fieldwork and interviews conducted at those events, and analysis of runners' written reports, I analyze how: (1) ultra-runners train their bodies to appreciate the physical sensations of running extraordinary distances (theme of socialization); (2) cooperative networks (e.g., with family and training partners) make running 100-miles possible (social relationships); and (3) 100-mile races serve as rites of passage, acting on the body to transform identity (ritual and social identity).
FULBRIGHT EDUCATORS TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES, Elenita Strobel, American Multicultural Studies, Miriam Hutchins, North Bay International Studies Project, Elaine Leeder, Dean, School of Social Sciences - A team of elementary and secondary school teachers and university faculty traveled to the Philippines on a U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays grant to identify and develop resources that contribute to the inclusion of the study of the Philippines in classrooms in California and throughout the U.S. The trip provided teachers with the necessary knowledge and experience to develop a deep understanding of the Philippines' social, economic, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity, and understand the historical relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines. During the project, both in the Philippines and after the trip, participants developed curriculum materials for K-12 and postsecondary education and created a Web-based, online educational resource for these materials for future dissemination.
BEYOND THE NATIVE STANDARD LANGUAGE: A CRITICAL APPROACH TO IDEOLOGIES OF LANGUAGE AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING, Robert Train, Modern Languages and Literatures - This RSCAP-supported book project articulates a critically interdisciplinary and socio-historical perspective on ideologies of language and language teaching in theoretical and practical terms. Recognizing the need for socially-informed and ethically-responsive teaching and learning practices, this project attempts to incorporate a deeper and more critical awareness of standardization into a foreign-language teaching profession increasingly preoccupied with standards.
CHROMIUM CHEMISTRY FROM CHROMIUM(VI) TO CHROMIUM(III), Carmen Works, with Shannon White, Elizabeth Sterns, Daniel Prichard, Chemistry - Two projects focusing on the role of chromium ions in biological systems are presented.
DEVELOPMENT A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TESTBED, JINGXIAN WU, ENGINEERING SCIENCE - A wireless communication testbed is developed in this project. The key component is a hardware element which is used to emulate the signal distortions that are unique to wireless communications. The distortion emulator is used in combination with data processing software to formulate the wireless communication testbed. The testbed is an indispensable component for wireless communication study. In addition, it will be integrated into the teaching process to enrich classroom teaching with hands-on experiences.
The Faculty Subcommittee on Sponsored Programs, the Professional Development Subcommittee and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs sponsors the Faculty Exposition.
For further information, contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, (707) 664-2448 or carol.hall@sonoma.edu.
