Osprey Magazine

But ensuring an abundance of native plants was not on project manager Kristi Janowski’s short check list when she took responsibility for the project. Instead, Janowski watched the construction be completed from afar. Decisions about what to plant and where were made by Bay Area design firm Cottong & Taniguchi. Designated the “Campus Landscape Architect” for 2007-08, the firm was recognized statewide for its designs on the project.

“We haven’t really given much thought to it,” Janowski said, adding that she couldn’t speak to the early phases of the planning process. “When I got the drawings the trees that were installed were already there. I wasn’t directly involved with that.”

As the grounds and landscaping manager for Plant Operations, Doug Kokesh manages a staff of three full-time gardeners and eight student assistants who work 20 hours a week or less. Kokesh spends most of his time figuring out ways to distribute the workload. With a campus that spans some 144 acres, the scheduling logistics can be stressful, especially when it includes the removal of dozens of non-native plants.

Along with the everyday tasks that go with maintaining the vast amounts of greenery around campus – including mowing lawns, trimming trees and shrubs and removing weeds – Kokesh will also need to remove those plants around the Campus Apartments that will likely die from the climate conditions that exist for much of the year along the North Coast.

Story and Photographs by Preston Drake-Hillyard

The sun has yet to peak over the horizon and the smell of coffee fills the cab of a government pickup truck. “See that?” says Nina Nahvi as she points out the window. “It’s a bald eagle.”

Nahvi and Skylar Giordano are HSU wildlife majors who spend their Sundays trekking out into the redwoods of Del Norte County. They set and maintain animal capture cameras.

The use of motion activated digital capture cameras allows the team to observe wild animals in their natural habitat without a human presence. This data allows scientists to see if carnivores are utilizing mountain roads to hunt for food.

An Investigation into the landscaping around Humboldt State University

By Matt Drange

Pete Haggard gazed up at a clear September sky as he walked beneath the redwood trees that lined the east side of campus. On the first of many nature walks with his bird watching class at Humboldt State University, Haggard smelled the Rhododendron flowers as he made his way down Union Street up to Redwood Park. He caught a glimpse of a blue heron resting on a branch overhead, and an egret far above as it made its way to the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary across town.