Please join us for this free virtual and in-person event during which the five university student researchers who received grants from our Friends Research Fund in 2024 will present their findings!

This will be a hybrid event taking place in the Science Auditorium (Room 151) of the Southern Oregon University Science Hall and over zoom. A zoom link will be sent out before the event to those who register.

The student presenters this year are:

Joe Baures and Jacob Florey are senior biology majors at Southern Oregon University. Working with their advisor, Dr. Jacob Youngblood, they are surveying grasshopper biodiversity in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The goals of their research include understanding grasshopper habitat preferences and how temperature affects their abundance, diversity, and location, providing insight into their response to climate change. They will also document species diversity with the hope of discovering new species or information about species that are understudied. Ultimately, they plan to produce and disseminate an identification guide to the grasshoppers of the Monument.

Shawn Johnson and Andrea Osbon are senior and junior Environmental Science and Policy Majors respectively at Southern Oregon University. Working with their advisor, Dr. Karen Mager, they are using camera traps to inventory and monitor mammals in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, specifically at the proposed site for the newly-funded wildlife crossing structure. The goals of their research include helping to establish baselines for wildlife occupancy and crossing-site use that can inform future improvements in wildlife connectivity that result from the construction of the I-5 overpass.

Erin Medler is a senior geology major at the University of Oregon. Working with their advisor, Dr. Jad D’Allura, they are mapping the geology of the western and high cascade volcanic rocks in the southeastern portion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Their primary objective is to radiometrically date the Basalt of Pinehurst Inn, the lowest HCVS lava flow, which plays a crucial role in understanding the rate of downcutting of Jenny Creek. Additionally, they aim to examine the unique features of Jenny Creek Falls and the Agate Flat area, including the characterization of erosion-resistant dikes contributing to the formation of the Falls.

Cover photo by Greg Shine, BLM