Sonoma State faculty continue to produce excellent scholarship and creative activity. The following include articles and other materials disseminated during the month of October.
Leyva, L. A., Mitchell, N. D., Posada-Castañeda, R., Byrne, M. H., Luna-Bazán, R., Ashkenazy, Y., & Abreu-Ramos, E. (2025). Racially-Affirming Community in Instructional Servingness for Latin Students’ Gateway Mathematics Classroom Participation. AERA Open, 11.
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) advance servingness (i.e., racially-affirming support for Latin* students through campus programs and services) to promote academic success. However, the role of mathematics instruction in servingness is underexamined. Given how gateway mathematics courses filter out racial diversity in STEM majors, insights about Latin* students’ experiences of instruction in these courses can enhance servingness. This study analyzed 27 undergraduate Latin* students’ experiences of servingness through classroom participation in gateway mathematics courses at an HSI. We focused on classroom participation due to its well-documented influence on Latin* students’ mathematics identities and STEM persistence. Latin* students largely reported supportive instruction that reduced risks of participation. However, cultivating a racially-affirming community (a key aspect of servingness on the broader HSI campus) was also necessary to disrupt racialized influences and ensure Latin* students’ equitable access to participation. We conclude with implications for research and practice to advance servingness through STEM education across HSIs.
Ricart, A. M., Gómez, J. B., Karm, R. H., Largier, J. L., Bastos Correa De Souza, V., Dias, A. S., Velázquez, M. G., Nelson, T., Cavanaugh, K. C., Cavanaugh, K. C., & Hughes, B. B. (2025). Persistent kelp forests during a massive decline reveal the importance of land–sea connectivity. Ecology (Durham), 106(9), Article e70212.
A fundamental goal in ecology is to understand the drivers of stability in natural ecosystems in the face of disturbances. However, this is challenging when biotic and abiotic stressors operate simultaneously across multiple spatial scales. Such is the case for bull kelp forests (Nereocystis luetkeana) in northern California, where losses of predators combined with marine heatwaves have led to shifts from kelp forest to sea urchin barren states. However, despite the >90% loss of bull kelp forests since 2014, some patches remain. Here, we investigate the bull kelp community assemblage in these remnant patches as well as the drivers of bull kelp forest resistance. We used a combination of in situ field surveys (years 2020–2022), remote sensing data (years 2016–2022), and a laboratory grazing experiment with urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). We found that, in addition to the two dominant states (kelp forest vs. urchin barren), there is a third community state dominated by understory canopy‐forming macroalgae that stays subsurface. Moreover, bull kelp abundance and cover were positively associated with freshwater flow and proximity to freshwater sources, and bull kelp persistence was positively associated with sand cover, all of which seem to diminish sea urchin abundance and the negative effects of sea urchin herbivory on bull kelp. This was also shown in the laboratory experiment where sea urchin herbivory rates on bull kelp decreased with decreasing salinity. Overall, these results suggest that freshwater influence in shallow coastal environments could prevent loss of bull kelp and show that land–sea connections should be considered for species‐specific management and conservation actions.
García, J. J., & Ni, H. W. (2025). Editorial to the special issue on Diversity Science: From theory to action in applied settings. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.).
Over the past few years, furthering diversity science as an interdisciplinary field has been vital to addressing societal inequalities that disproportionately affect historically marginalized and minoritized communities. Within a diversity science framework, human behavior and psychological processes are shaped by—but also influence—social environments. Plaut (2010) originally defined diversity science as “the study of the interpretation and construction of human differences—of why and how differences make a difference—within the context of existing, historically shaped cultural and structural realities” (p. 168). This field has several theoretical principles, including the need to dismantle the mask of neutrality afforded to those in dominant groups, a focus on minoritized perspectives to resist homogeneity in psychological processes among minoritized groups, an examination of the sociocultural climate that minoritized persons navigate, and centering a sociocultural approach to understand different racialization processes among communities of color (Plaut, 2010; Miller et al., 2019). Since then, diversity science has had remarkable growth and recognition as a legitimate field of study that includes various diverse communities (Causadias et al., 2023; Miller et al., 2019). In the backdrop of historical/current backlash against DEI—and to highlight the scientific contributions of this diversity science to the broader academic community—our special issue features 18 articles from both U.S. and international scholars, representing countries such as China, Türkiye, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Ethiopia, Portugal, Germany, and Taiwan. Articles within this special issue span multiple fields, including Educational Psychology, Health Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Kinesiology, Developmental Social Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Medicine, Behavioral Sciences, Public Health, and Social/Economic Psychology. Featured work applies the theoretical principles of diversity science to five contexts: education, healthcare, industrial/organizational, stress-based research, and innovative methodology.
Shrestha, S. (2025). Device and method for determining a level or concentration of an analyte in a person's blood from one or more volatile analytes in the person's breath (U.S. Patent No. 12278013). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
A device configured to determine a level or concentration of a disease-related analyte in a person's blood from volatile analyte(s) in the person's breath. The device includes one or more sensors configured to detect the volatile analyte(s) in the person's breath, a microcontroller in communication with each sensor, a transmitter, a battery, and a housing. The microcontroller contains logic that correlates parameter values from the sensor(s) or the level/concentration of the volatile analyte(s) to the level/concentration of the disease-related analyte. The transmitter is configured to transmit the parametric value from each sensor and/or the level/concentration of the volatile analyte(s) and/or the disease-related analyte. The housing surrounds, encloses and/or secures the sensor(s), the microcontroller, the transmitter and the battery, and contains a tube or opening through which the person exhales so that the person's breath contacts the sensor(s).
If you're interested in other scholarly and creative works by Sonoma State faculty, you can check out items from the SSU Faculty book display on the 2nd floor of the Schulz Information Center or use the specialized search option within OneSearch and select SSU Research.
