Phone: 7 -826-4189 Fax:
PI Spotlight: Cinthya Ammerman Muñoz- pg. 9
Student Spotlights: Sangeeta Sarkar and Rosa Coxpg. 10-11
Featured Funding Opportunitiespg. 14
Featured articles:
McCrone Awards Reception - pg. 3
Good News - pg. 5
Grant Writing Workshops - pg. 6
CA Middle Class
Scholarship Considerationspg. 7
Vendor vs. Contract Decision Tree - pg. 8
We are thrilled to announce that next spring, Cal Poly Humboldt will host the 39th Annual CSU Student Research Competition for the first time ever! This prestigious event, happening April 25-26, 2025, will bring together over 200 student scholars from 23 CSU campuses, showcasing their groundbreaking research, scholarship, and creative works.
The competition provides an invaluable opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent alumni, to present their work across 10 categories—from Behavioral and Social Sciences to Engineering, Creative Arts, and more. Participants will present their research to an audience and juries of experts and non-experts, engaging in a lively exchange of ideas through brief presentations and Q&A sessions.
We’re especially proud that the trophies for this year's winners will be designed and fabricated by our own Cal Poly Humboldt Makerspace students and the logo will be designed by a Cal Poly Humboldt Art student. Winners in each category will receive cash prizes, with $500 for first place and $250 for second place. We look forward to showcasing our university’s commitment to research and creativity through this exciting event, and we invite the entire community to support and celebrate the achievements of these exceptional students.
To access the competition application, please visit our Engagement Hub For general information, see our Student Research Competition website!
As we wrap up the fiscal year 2023/24, I’m excited to share the outstanding progress we've made at Cal Poly Humboldt's Sponsored Programs Foundation. This year, we saw a significant increase in grant and contract revenue, totaling $49.3 million, up $11.3 million from the previous year. We also set new records in proposal submissions, with 337 requests totaling $151.2 million.
SPF continues to be a significant employer in Humboldt County, providing opportunities for over 1,100 employees, including 473 students. These students not only gain valuable experience working on research projects but also earned $2.3 million in pay and $4 million in scholarships last year.
Our continued focus on improving research support has led to several key changes. Notably, we’ve transitioned the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs Foundation to the Division of University Advancement, enhancing collaboration opportunities and strengthening ties with faculty and external stakeholders. We’re also relocating our Institutional Review Board (IRB) services within a new Institutional Compliance unit housed at the Library to streamline academic and research protocols.
As we look forward, we remain committed to supporting our researchers, faculty, and students by ensuring they have the resources needed for sustained success. With the continued support of our campus research community, we will build on these accomplishments to ensure a bright future for research at Cal Poly Humboldt.
-Executive Director, Kacie Flynn
Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation hosted our annual celebration for Principal Investigators (PIs), their staff, and student researchers. This year, we gathered at the Eagle House in Eureka. The evening included lightning talks from Dave Janetta (Art + Film), Dr. Jose Marin Jarrin (Fisheries Biology), and student presenter Janelle Chojnacki (Wildlife).
We enjoyed interacting with you all and look forward to celebrating with you mid- October next year!
Sponsored Programs Foundation Executive Director, Kacie Flynn. Photographer: Kellie Jo Brown.
Please join us in congratulating the recipients of this year’s McCrone Awards at the Awards Reception on November 12th from 4:00-6:00 pm at the Plaza View Room in Arcata! These awards recognize three promising junior faculty and one graduate student, and encourage their continued achievement.
Each awardee will give lightening talk presentations about their research interests. To RSVP for the event, click here
Following the McCrone Awards Reception, applications for 2025 nominations will open. More information, including how to apply for both the McCrone Promising Faculty Scholars Award and the Alistair & Judith McCrone Graduate Fellowship Award can be found on Engagement Hub.
McCrone Promising Faculty Scholars Awardees:
Dr. Tawanda Gara (Environmental Science & Management) “Observing Natural Resources from Space.”
Dr. Debbie Gonzalez (Social Work) “Creating engaging classrooms: Through gamification, critical thinking and a sense of community”
Dr. Kaitlin Reed (Native American Studies)
“Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California”
Alistair & Judith McCrone Graduate Fellowship Awardee:
Matias Solorzano (Psychology)
“Unapologetically Autistic: Academia and Me”
Cal Poly Humboldt is now providing new, expanded computational resources to researchers pushing the boundaries in their fields, after recently joining the National Research Platform! A dedicated team in ITS is available to assist researchers in using these resources.
One researcher benefiting significantly from this support is Professor Alana Chin (Biological Sciences), whose research is focused on understanding carbon storage in redwood trees. Dr. Chin has recently been cited by The National Research Platform as a top user of GPU resources in their JupyterHub environment!
Anyone interested in learning more or accessing these resources can reach out to ITS Staff at itsresearchsupport@humboldt.edu.
This year's Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (RSCA) competition awarded Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty a total of $64,462 to support one-time mini grants. Congratulations!
Micaela Szykman Gunther, Wildlife Management, Project: Innovative Noninvasive Methods for Assessing Diet in Resident Harbor Seals
Christopher Harmon, Chemistry, Project: Simulating the Earth's Atmosphere in a Laboratory to Better Understand Cloud Nucleation
Abigail Queen, History, Project: Online History Role Play Game
Kirby Moss, Journalism & Mass Communication, Project: Black Elders of the North Coast: An Intergenerational Exploration of the Black Community of Humboldt County
Nicholas Perdue, Geography, Project: Mapping Homeless Encampments in Eureka, CA to Assess Environmental and Health Impacts
Justin Luong, Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management, Project: Assessing Impacts of Solar Microgrid d
Emily Jones, Biological Sciences, Project: Spatial Variation in Seaweed Palatability
Kayla Begay, Native American Studies, Project: Wailaki Kunnes Conversation Book
Eden Donahue, Applied Health, Project: The Rural-to-Global Health Connection: An Exchange between United States and Cuban Nurses
Taylor Bloedon, Applied Health, Project: Impact of Whole Food Prebiotics on Mood and Stress Outcomes in College Students
Rachel Wade, Biological Sciences, Project: Evaluating the Effects of Climate Change on Seaweed Life Cycle Stability
Pedro Peloso, Biological Sciences, Project: Attending and Presenting Research in the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society of Herpetology
Cindy Moyer, Music, Project: Chamber Music Concert Musicians
This year, SPF will distribute $1.2 million to faculty, staff, and departments, based on their grant activity! These funds can be applied to further research and student success in various ways, including developing research facilities, expanding opportunities for students to participate in undergraduate research, and supporting scholarly and creative activities.
As a non-profit auxiliary of the University, SPF exists to administer externally funded grants and submit proposals to funding agencies on behalf of Cal Poly Humboldt. SPF receives revenue by collecting indirect costs on each proposal submitted. Each year after operating costs are met, previously unallocated indirect revenue is distributed back to the research community. In total, SPF has distributed $9.3 Million back to Cal Poly Humboldt since 2011!
Rama Rawal is now the permanent Director of the Educational Opportunity Program and Student Support Services and TRIO programs, after serving in an interim capacity for over a year! Her knowledge of the programs and experience in grant-writing will make her an excellent leader.
Mark Castro has been named the new Director of the Cal Poly Humboldt Cultural Resources Facility (CRF)! Castro holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Resources Management and has over a decade of experience in California Archaeology and heritage management. Learn more about Castro and the CRF here.
Cal Poly Humboldt has been chosen by the Council on Government Regulations (COGR) as one of their Emerging Research Institutions (ERI) Pilot Program participants!
COGR provides information, analyses, and advice on research administration, compliance, and financial oversight. Participating in their program will provide us with resources, information, and opportunities for networking with a wide spectrum of research institutions. Learn more in COGR’s 2023- 2024 Year in Review.
Looking for funding?
We conduct tailored funding searches, help with the early stages of proposal development, and provide final editing services. We also offer Pivot trainings, team review facilitation, and much more!
You asked and we heard you! Spring 2024 we will be offering a grant writing course for any staff and faculty who are interested. This is for folks who are new to grants and/or new to working with our office. It’s best, but not required, if you have a project in mind.
There will be 6 sessions. Each session will be 3 hours long. Dates are to be determined based on your responses.
The workshop will be a combination of lecture format, small group work, and will include a number of guest speakers. All sessions are via zoom. There is also a Canvas page for this workshop. You will receive a certificate of completion if you attend all 6 sessions. Click here to sign up.
Grant Writing Intro
Find contact info for the Research Development team on our website.
Check out our interactive map
!
If there are any research or projects that you would like to see added, you can leave suggestions here
The Team Review Program is designed to facilitate review and direct feedback on your grant proposal from an expert (or experts) in your field. For more info, click here.
Starting the Process
Writing the Grant Manageable Budgets
Rough Draft to Finished Grant
Win or Lose, What's next?
This semester, SPF held our first ever Grant Info Sessions, which consisted of three virtual presentations tailored to each college! The sessions explored SPF services, resources for finding funding, and exciting grant opportunities. They also gave attendees the opportunity to network with colleagues around research themes.
Following the sessions, several participants shared with us that they found the information and resources really valuable, and so we hope to hold similar programing again in the future!
If you’re interested in staying in the loop on upcoming SPF events, please sign up for our Research Portal notifications! A quick tutorial on how to subscribe can be accessed here.
When designing or implementing a project that involves funds for student payments, you should know about the new California Middle Class Scholarship (MCS). MCS is designed to fill the "gap" for most students between their financial aid level and the cost of attendance.
On the face of it, that is a positive development for students. However, because a student cannot receive more financial aid than the cost of attendance, and any stipend / scholarship payments count as financial aid, a majority of students are now either having their MCS reduced if they receive other stipends, or sometimes even having to pay money back to the university, if the stipend payment occurs late enough in the year that their previously calculated MCS was already paid to them.
This severely impacts students experiencing financial hardship who already receive the greatest amount of financial aid: they are least likely to get a net benefit out of receiving a stipend from a grant.
Student wages are not impacted by this situation, because they don't impact financial aid during the current academic year.
How do you know when a student may be impacted by MCS? PI’s should assume that this applies to the majority of students. PIs should advise students to check in with Financial Aid before they agree to participate in stipend programs.
As a reminder, wages are payment for work done and deliverables produced that benefit the project. Stipends are support for trainees who participate in the project for their own benefit and don't produce deliverables.
Pre-Award: When working with your Pre-Award Specialist on the budget, and it's a close call between choosing wages or stipends, consider implications on your project and impact on the students you want to engage.
Post-Award: If you determine a change is needed between wages and stipends, your Grant Analyst can advise what the funder rules allow and how to request the desired changes. Rebudgeting grant funds from stipends to wages is possible, but may require funder approval.
Are you thinking about submitting a grant?
SPF is available to assist you at each step of the way. We will help develop a budget, create a strong proposal, navigate funder requirements, and submit to the funding agency.
Find the contact information for your Pre-Award Specialists on our website.
337 Number of proposals submitted FY 23/24
237 Number of awards received in FY 23/24
52.3m
Dollar amount of awards received in FY 23/24
Our focus for Post-Award grants management encompasses three areas: training, monitoring, and reporting.
Post-Award services provide support to your project throughout the life span of your grant.
Find contact info for your Grant Analyst on our website
Contractual Services is budgeted under a new grant. Does this need an Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) or is it a Vendor that can be paid with a Payment Request Form? The answer is determined by weighing several factors, including the nature of the work, the required level of oversight and the length of agreement.
To better understand the difference between Vendor and Contractor, let’s review a definition for each that outlines their distinguishing features:
A Vendor is an individual or company that supplies goods or services to other businesses. They provide a continuous supply of products or services in an ongoing capacity. Examples include: office suppliers, software providers, wholesale distributors, and sample testing services.
Some helpful questions to ask when making your decision:
Does the organization provide tangible, mass-produced goods?
> Likely a Vendor
An Independent Contractor is a self-employed individual or company who offers specialized services on a project or task basis within a set date range (Period of Performance). They have professional autonomy over how they complete the tasks needed to carry out the job without oversight from the client regarding hours or working methods. They are often hired for their expertise in a specific field. Examples include: graphic designers, consultants, filmmakers, or external evaluators.
Is the organization a membership-based service?
> Likely a Vendor
Is the relationship for continuous, ongoing, routine service for the life of the award?
> Likely a Vendor
Are prices or services preset or outlined in a price sheet? > Likely a Vendor
Will the organization work directly with the PI to produce a deliverable? > Likely an ICA
Is the relationship projectspecific and time limited (has a Period of Performance)? > Likely an ICA
Does the organization have special skills that are needed for the service? > Likely an ICA
Is the organization an individual, sole proprietor or single member of an LLC or corporation? > Likely an ICA
Is the organization an individual who is a current or former employee of the CSU or CSU Auxiliary? > Contact SPF Contract Specialist Brittany Bauserman
Dr. Ammerman Muñoz takes photo next to red amaranth
Dr. Cinthya Ammerman Muñoz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Native American Studies, whose general research interests lie in studying various types of plant migrations, what we can learn from them to understand more about ourselves, and how they can be bridges that connect us to one another.
With funding from SPF’s Research and Creative Projects for Equity and Justice (RCPEJ) program, her recent project, Echando Raíz, investigated the shared migration of plants and people, as told through the stories of Indigenous and Latinx immigrant community members who participate in Centro del Pueblo’s community garden, Jardín Santuario.
The project was inspired by Ammerman Muñoz’s desire to uplift Humboldt’s immigrant community after Jardin Santuario experienced several hate crimes targeting this group, and to help frame public discourse and perspectives on immigration. As a newer faculty member, the project also arose from her need to establish roots in the area by building new relationships.
Collaborating with Brenda Pérez, Executive Director of Centro del Pueblo, and Dr. Andrea Delgado (English), Echando Raíz gathered participant stories through two digital storytelling workshops, and culminated in a celebration that showcased their films. A recent video highlight on the project can be found on our Youtube channel.
As for what’s next, Dr. Ammerman Muñoz is currently working on a chapter in an edited volume that will look at the botanical movement of madia sativa, a plant found only in Northern California and Mapuche ancestral homelands in Patagonia. Her chapter will explore linkages between its historical uses by Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest and by the Mapuche, and more generally, reflect on madia sativa’s story as an opportunity to reimagine our plant and human relations beyond binaries and borders. In addition, she has hopes of eventually forming a conference that will bring together scholars, both students and faculty, from Cal Poly Humboldt to talk about plant mobility from a variety of disciplines and perspectives.
Outside of her work, some of Dr. Ammerman Muñoz’s favorite activities include gardening and playing with her kids. When she’s not in Humboldt, her favorite place to be is sitting next to the Toltén river in Chile, where her family is from, eating maqui berries.
Together with NASA collaborator Dr. Holly Leopardi, Dr. C.D. Hoyle (Physics and Astronomy) received a grant from NASA’s MOSAICS program, whose purpose is to increase research opportunities for MSI undergraduates. Students, trained in Dr. Hoyle’s lab, will spend summer internships in Dr. Leopardi’s QuEST laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center. This work will focus on developing space-based systems using cold-atom
interferometry and atomic clocks to improve the mapping of Earth’s water and ice movement, perform fundamental physics measurements, and improve navigation systems of future spacecraft. Dr. Leopardi is a Cal Poly Humboldt Alum, recognized as an Outstanding Student in 2014. You can learn more about Dr. Leopardi’s QuEST laboratory here
Sangeeta Sarkar (they/them) is a graduate student in the Environment and Community program working with Dr. Kaitlin Reed. Sangeeta’s interest in
community organizing and the climate crisis inspired them to work in the environmental field, which strengthened their interest in environmental justice and led them to pursue their current program and research.
Sangeeta’s work focuses on outlining opportunities for land return within Cal Poly Humboldt’s land holdings. In recent years, efforts to return lands to Indigenous communities have been gaining momentum both locally and globally. This motivated Sangeeta to study how Cal Poly Humboldt can best contribute to the LandBack movement. Building on Carrie Tully’s previous research focusing on the return of Goukdi’n (also known as the Jacoby Creek Forest) to the Wiyot Tribe, Sangeeta decided to study other opportunities for Cal Poly Humboldt to return land to Native nations.
Much of their initial research will be archival, examining Cal Poly Humboldt's landholdings and their histories. Sangeeta will also conduct a literature review and analysis of existing interview data to learn more about the Indigenous histories of these lands. As a settler of color, Sangeeta hopes to utilize their positionality to support land return and other anti-colonial efforts.
Sangeeta’s favorite part of their research is connecting with peers on campus. After they graduate, they would like to pursue a PhD and work within academia.
Congratulations to Jessie Uehling! During her graduate studies under Terry Henkel, Uehling conducted groundbreaking research on tropical ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity, including fieldwork in the remote Amazonian rainforest of Guyana. Uehling’s work led to the description of eight new fungal species and the publication of three peerreviewed papers.
Committed to public service, she is currently the Governor’s appointed mycologist for the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board, where she contributes to shaping public health policies related to fungal medicines.
Rosa Cox (she/her) is a graduate student working with Dr. Alison O’Dowd in the Environmental Science and Management program. Rosa has a passion for conservation and restoration work, and a curiosity about natural systems. She received a Bachelor's degree in Entomology, a subject she is pursuing again in her master’s program.
When searching for graduate programs, Rosa was excited to learn about the opportunities in Dr. O’Dowd’s lab studying the impact on aquatic macro invertebrates from the removal of four dams on the Klamath River, which has been lauded as the largest dam removal effort in history.
Rosa’s thesis work focuses on food webs in the Klamath river basin, assessing the impacts of dam removal on aquatic invertebrates and the juvenile salmonid diet. Klamath dam removal is anticipated to have short term impacts on water quality downstream of the dam sites. The sediment released during the removal process could potentially affect the aquatic invertebrate community and thus food availability to juvenile outmigrating salmonids. The primary goal of the study is to monitor the intensity of these impacts, and to assess the rapidity of food web recovery post-dam removal. More details can be found in our recent video highlighting Rosa and Dr. O’Dowd’s project.
Rosa is excited to take part in studying the effects of the dam removals, which she hopes will inform future dam removal efforts. She has high hopes for the lower Klamath basin and believes that dam removal will ultimately result in a much healthier river. After graduation Rosa plans on entering a career in fisheries, applying her understanding of fish diets and food webs to river restoration and conservation work.
This past May, Cal Poly Humboldt proudly hosted the 11th Annual IdeaFest research & creative activities symposium. The Arcata Community Center buzzed with energy as over 200 students, staff, and faculty presented their posters & shared, with 400+ people in attendance. The afternoon was enriched with live performances by our talented music students and a kick off by the Marching Lumberjacks.
Congratulations to all the presenters, and immense gratitude to Marketing & Communications, and the Library staff for helping orchestrate this remarkable event. Consider including IdeaFest in your Spring Syllabus to highlight the work your classes are doing!
Front Office staff act as the first point of contact to assist faculty, staff, and students.
We strive to offer excellent customer support to direct you in whichever services you may be seeking from our office.
Find contact info for the Front Office staff on our website.
We realize that the majority of our PIs are extremely busy managing their grants, working in the field, grading papers, teaching, you name it! We see you and we want to make things as easy as possible from an administrator’s standpoint. One step we’ve taken to do this has been converting the hire process to be completely digital. PIs and Timekeepers have access to submit an HR Action in KRONOS to hire brand new SPF employees and/or make changes to existing employees.
Friendly reminder that employees cannot legally begin working without completing the entire onboarding process aka “New Hire Checklist” followed by verifying their I9 in person or on Zoom. Successful and timely completion of these items will avoid a delay of their start date and first pay date. If you’re unsure of any steps or have concerns, feel free to email Lizzy Peterson at lp216@humboldt.edu.
For quick info about hiring requirements, check out the Hire an Employee page on our website.
For Frequently Asked Questions about Enrollment, check out our Hiring FAQ page.
We often receive inquiries about when Category E - State-Side auxiliary employees would be able to match their SPF hourly rate of pay to their new State-Side rate of pay after a General Salary increase (GSI). As a legally separate employer, the auxiliary has its own processes for updating payroll records. Unlike the state-side, these changes are not applied retroactively and have to be processed individually. However, the most recent increases from 2024, as well as scheduled future GSIs, will require no action on your part (this doesn’t include salary increases stemming from a promotion).
We will post these new rates of pay for you/your employees and notify you when they are available in KRONOS. We’re hopeful that this more streamlined process continues to further reduce administrative burden, while still maintaining audit compliance. Please contact Lizzy Peterson if you have any questions or concerns.
There are myriad reasons why it’s best practice to monitor your employees’ vacation balances. One of the main problems that can occur when employees earn, but do not use, their vacation, is the potential impact it has on your budgets. SPF employees can earn up to 240 hours of vacation, which will need to be allocated to the active projects they are working on and/or paid from a discretionary trust account when they leave employment.
Vacation liability payouts can become problematic when an employee works and earns vacation on multiple projects. If some of those projects are closed by the time that they end their employment, then their vacation balance is only charged to those projects that are still open, (or a trust account). This will result in disproportionate charges to those active budgets.
To keep vacation payouts to a minimum we strongly encourage you to do the following:
Actively monitor your award budgets and employee vacation accruals on a regular basis
Encourage your employees to use their vacation time as they earn it
Reach out to SPF’s HR Coordinator, Lizzy Peterson, lp216@humboldt.edu if you have any questions about vacation balances and liabilities.
The primary objective of the SPF Compliance Office is to provide information, training, and internal controls that are needed to meet the laws, rules, and policies governing sponsored research at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Find the contact information for the Compliance staff on our website.
Facilities & Administrative Costs Policy
Indirect Revenue Distribution Policy
Purchasing / Procurement Policy
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC)
Policy on use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
For more info, click here
Promotes new connections between scholars, practitioners, and/or educators working to understand and mitigate the impacts of climate change on human health. Also of interest is work piloting new approaches toward reducing the impact of healthcentered activities, for example, developing more sustainable systems for health care. Another interest area is preparation for the impacts of extreme weather and other crises that can drive large scale disruptions that will immediately impact human health and delivery of health care. Awards $2,500–$50k.
Application Deadline: January 23, 2025
Supports locally-initiated public humanities projects. This program responds to the needs and interests of Californians, encourages greater public participation in humanities programming, particularly by new and/or underserved audiences. Awards $1k- $5k.
Applications accepted on rolling basis.
Supports work grounded in traditional agricultural knowledge and agroecological practices. Focuses on three cornerstones of agrobiodiversity and food system resilience: preserving native and traditional seeds, building healthy and fertile soils, and protecting and restoring the populations and diversity of native pollinators. Average grant is $20k.
Letters of Intent accepted on a rolling basis.
Supports projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments.Supports projects at three funding levels (Discovery: up to $30,000; Prototyping: up to $100,000; Production: up to $400,000).
Next application cycle will open March 2025.
Funds higher education programs, college access and college success programming, professional development for educators, science education programs that focus on developing career pathways in science, technology, engineering, environment and math, and programs educating the next generation of health professionals, such as nursing and mental health.
Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Supports research to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. Funding varies by project type, with Major Research grants ranging from $100k to $600k, and Officers’ Research grants ranging from $25k to $50k.
Next cycle to be announced Nov. 2024
