Graduate Student Spotlight
The Office of Graduate Studies wants to recognize Cal Poly Humboldt’s outstanding graduate students. To nominate a graduate student for a graduate student spotlight, email hsugrad@humboldt.edu. More nomination details can be found here at https://pmc.humboldt.edu/portal/outstanding-student-awards-nominations
Patricia O. McConkey Outstanding Graduate Student
The McConkey Awards are given in Memory of Patricia McConkey and her many years of service to Graduate Studies, and to graduate students, at Cal Poly Humboldt.
The McConkey Award recipients are selected by the faculty of their graduate programs, in recognition of excellence in their fields. McConkey Award recipients graduate with distinction on their transcript and are recognized in their commencement program.
Students who have completed a master's degree between May 2024 and May 2025 are eligable. Nominations are open now and are due by March 7, 2025. Please submit nominations to the Outstanding Student Awards Website. The application process can be viewed here.
Patricia O. McConkey Student Award Winners!
Camille Burns
M.A. Psychology
Thesis: The Menstrual Cycle, Dual-Hormone Hypothesis and Competition: Implications for Athletic Performance
Rebeca Becdach
M.S. Natural Resources
Thesis: Jaguar Population Status and Conservation needs in Panama Revealed Using Spatial Density and Occupancy Models
Eileen Bell
M.S.W. (Campus Program)
Comprehensive Exam
Amparo Hargreaves
M.S.W (Distributed Learning)
Comprehensive Exam
Patricia O. McConkey Award Winners!
Elizabeth Hershey
M.A Applied English
Thesis: "Kindness eases change/ love quiets fear": Mapping change and movement in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower
Catriona (Catie) Barr
M.S. Natural Resources
Thesis: From the Ashes: Lessons in Community Recovery from 2020 Wildfires in Northern California and Southern Oregon
Caleb Chen
M.A. Public Sociology
Thesis: Post Prohibition Changes in Cannabis Genetics
Fall 2024 Graduate Student Spotlights
Each semester, the Graduate Studies Office highlights nominated students and thier current research. Here are our Spring 2024 Graduate Student Spotlights!
Povheng Yam
Academic Research Psychology
Povheng’s research explores the factors that influence human stress responses from a neuroscience and endocrinology perspective. He is also interested in studying and developing interventions that enhance human emotional regulation. He joined the MA in Academic Research via the blended program path which allowed him to take part in the Graduate program early. The Academic Research Program helped him develop skills in many important areas for example research methodology, statistical analysis, and research communication. This program is perfect for those who want to pursue a PhD program and a career in teaching. During the pandemic, he co-founded a Cambodian student association remotely with colleagues from all around the United States.
Regina Khoury
Environmental Systems-Geology
Regina is a second-year graduate student in the Environmental Systems – Geology program and the 2023 recipient of the Alistair and Judith McCrone Graduate Fellowship. Results of her MS project will advanced our understanding of how and where magmas were stored beneath Medicine Lake volcano in NE California prior to their eruption ~12,000 years ago, which can help us monitor and predict future volcanic eruptions.While a graduate student at Cal Poly Humboldt, Regina has also taught GEOL 109 Physical Geology labs, worked in the Geology Stockroom, volunteered on geology field trips and in geology labs, helped with new student orientations and student tours, and tutored numerous geology majors.
Caleb Chen
Public Sociology
Caleb was awarded a $25,000 Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) NEXTGEN Fellowship to support his MA in Public Sociology thesis research on changes in cannabis genetics.
In addition to his MA thesis research, Chen will continue as a senior graduate research assistant on the Department of Cannabis Control Legacy Genetics Grant with Dr. Dominic Corva. He is also a journalist and cannabis judge under the moniker “The Highest Critic.” As part of the ARI NEXTGEN Fellowship, Chen will participate in Leadership and Communicating Science Workshops both virtually and in Sacramento.
“The Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) exemplifies the mission of the California State University system by working for California and its citizens through partnerships across the agricultural industry and beyond. Through the colleges of agriculture on four CSU campuses and allied disciplines across the CSU, the ARI conducts applied research to ensure the sustainability of California agriculture.”