Progress Report

External funds include federal, state, and local grants and contracts as well as awards. Internal funds are those offered by this institution.

1. Dr. Esteban Montenegro, (PI) (Psychology) & Jennifer Frisk (Psychology) from the Interdisciplinary Statistical Outcomes (ISO) Lab and August Frisk (Geography) & Dr. José Díaz-Garayúa (Geography) from the HEX Lab submitted a project proposal for the Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA) Catalytic Awards.
   • Amount: $15,000 (awarded)
2. Dr. José Díaz-Garayúa (PI) (2022-2026) Smoke & Vape Free Scholars Initiative. (HEX Lab thanks CASA for facilitating space for the SVFSI meetings).
   • Amount: $1,025,588 (Awarded and ongoing)
3. Dr. José Díaz-Garayúa (PI) IRA Grant (2024-2025) to support Geography Awareness Week and the GIS Day: Society and Environment: A Better World is Possible, serving around 90 persons. 
   • Amount: $8,104 (awarded).
4. Dr. Goshu Tefera (PI) and José Díaz-Garayúa (co-PI) Community, Culture, and Cuisine. Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE).
   • Amount: $11,307.48

This includes research, in progress or published, by the HEX Lab or in collaboration with other institutions or disciplines.

Research

1. The Smoke and Vape Free Scholar Initiative ends work with the third cohort (supervised by Dr. Meggan Jordan) and resulting in two presentations: 1) the UC Merced’s NCPC Tobacco Endgame Scholarship Symposium (TESS) 2025, and 2) SOPHE conference in Long Beach.  Our third cohort scholars are: Alexander Ayers, Xandria Cortez, Priscilla Garcia, Maximo Madrigal, and Xochitl Ramirez.
2. Resistance and Response, is a project that visualized narratives surrounding Black Lives Matter (BLM). Taylor Hawkins (Sociology and Geography) present this work at the 2025 Annual Metting of the American Association of Geographers in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Della Winter (Sociology) and Dr. José Díaz-Garayúa supervised this work.
3. The Land Cover Classification / Front Yard Project, is supported by College Corps and has concluded the initial stage.  AY 2024-2025 Research Assistant August Frisk (Geography) presented this project at the Sustainability Conference and the California Geographical Society both conferences were held at Stanislaus State Campus. This Applied Human-Environment project is being led by Geography Professor Dr. Díaz-Garayúa (PI).
4. Culture, Cuisine, and Community is an initiative on getting to know the Black Immigrant Experience. Dr. Goshu Tefera (PI) and Dr. Díaz-Garayúa (Co-PI) started this project during this AY. Stanislaus State’s Continuing  and Professional Education (CAPE) have supported part of this project to provide an Immersive Experiential Learning in San Francisco and DC. The students in this travel were: Chioma Chibuko, Josue Iniguez, Gindale Smith, Tory Sumbler.

Publications

1. Allison A. Temourian, Arturo Durazo, Meggan M. Jordan, José R. Díaz-Garayúa, Marc W. Beutel, and Anna V. Song (2025) Citizen Science to Collect Tobacco Waste: Exploring the Usability of Two Protocols. Urban Science 9(3), 53;  https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci9030053.
    
2. Logan Ryan I. and José R. Díaz-Garayúa (2024) Combining Anthropology and Geography: An Interdisciplinary Approach to an Academic-Governmental Agency Research Project. Practicing Anthropology 46(3): 190 – 197.

HEX Lab facilitates workshops for our students and general community.

1. A Gentle Introduction to R  was a workshop led by Dr. Esteban Montenegro (Psychology) introduced students to statistical principles using R Studio. Students from the Smoke and Vape Free Scholar Initiative as well as Psychology graduate students benefitted from this workshop.

August Frisk

August Frisk (Geography) is a College Corps Research Assistant at the HEX Lab. August has been key to provide continuity to the Land Cover Classification Project. The study classifies land and tree cover across a determined study area using random sampling of aerial imagery but also in fieldwork. In addition, this project estimates tree canopy benefits and impacts in terms of carbon dioxide and air pollution. As part of this work, August is collecting field data to analyze and contrast results from random sampling of aerial imagery.

August presented at the Stanislaus State’s Sustainability Showcase the work that have been done in our campus by him and previous college corps teams. In addition, he presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the California Geographical Society that was held at Stanislaus State. He presented Connecting Communities to their Urban Forests. In his dashboard, August presented a project that explores how citizen science can empower residents to engage in tree identification, verification, and mapping. Using Crane Park as a model, participants gained hands-on experience in urban forestry by utilizing ArcGIS Field Maps for geolocation and i-Tree services for ecological analysis. By incorporating open-source tools and expert consultation, the initiative promotes environmental literacy, strengthens public involvement in environmental stewardship, and encourages investment in urban green spaces.

He worked and experienced the external funds process by searching, writing, and submitting a proposal to the Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA) Catalytic Award. The team was composed by Dr. Esteban Montenegro and Jennifer Frisk from the Interdisciplinary Statistical Outcomes (ISO) Lab (Psychology) and August Frisk and Dr. José Díaz-Garayúa from the HEX Lab.
 

Taylor Hawkins

Taylor Hawkins (Sociology and Geography) is approached the HEX Lab to work as Research Assistant. Taylor's work was supported by a SERSCA grant. This allow Taylor to work on  Resistance and Response: Visualizing Narratives Surrounding Black Lives Matter.

After the killing of George Floyd catalyzed a string of grassroots social movement protests across America. Black Lives Matter, the movement responsible for organizing these protests, primarily led non-violent protests demanding divestment from police and reallocation of funds into community betterment. Research published by The Armed Conflict Location and Event Project (ACLED), investigated the representation of these largely peaceful protests as violent by the right-wing media and then-President Trump, and the subsequent heavy-handed police response with which many protesters were met. Their findings included the contagious diffusion of public perceptions regarding BLM protests and the high correlation of aggressive police tactics towards these protesters regardless of behavior.

In the five years since the creation and suppression of the BLM movement, the construction of dozens of police training facilities have been planned; some in states where the violent protestor narrative was promoted. This paper builds upon the aforementioned research by linking materiality and representation of BLM protests, investment in police militarization via the funding of these training facilities colloquially known as Cop Cities, and America’s long history of tooling racial projection and state sanctioned violence. By exploring these themes geospatially and sociohistorical across three location-based cases, this paper contextualizes state and media responses to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Taylor presented this work at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers that took place in Detroit, Michigan.

This initiative helps develop a pipeline of dedicated tobacco control researchers and advocates.  Funded awards will support mentorship and training activities that include enabling undergraduate, post-bac, and masters-level students from diverse backgrounds to conduct tobacco-related research projects in a mentor’s laboratory or team, while also engaging in local tobacco control activities and participating in other educational activities.

California Endgame’s goal to end tobacco use in the state by 2035 requires strengthening tobacco control capacity in all regions of the state. Although California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV) geographic land mass represents about 25% of the State and is the fastest growing region with over 4 million residents and counting, it is severely under-resourced and lags in achieving state tobacco control objectives. According to 2019 data, despite the fact that more people have tried to quit smoking, counties of the SJV have higher smoking prevalence compared to the whole state. Moreover, the SJV is home to several immigrant communities (e.g., Hispanic, Hmong), many of who reside in rural areas of the Valley and are vulnerable to tobacco use and are targets of the industry.

To help address this issue, faculty members from Stanislaus State (Dr. Díaz-Garayúa & Dr. Meggan Jordan) and the University of California, Merced (Dr. Arturo Durazo) have partnered up to recruit and train cohorts of undergraduate scholars at Stanislaus State. In addition to the scholars being integrated into a tobacco control research project conducted at the UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC), scholars will be assigned to one of six county local lead agencies (LLAs).

This program will provide scholars with the opportunity to:

• Enroll on an Honors Course to develop research skills and join a UC Merced course on tobacco control.
• Join a tobacco control research project at the UC Merced Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) and a research group at UC Merced.
• Develop experience working with a public health agency to conduct tobacco control advocacy projects as a part of a county-level  tobacco control program.

These activities will provide Stanislaus State students a breadth to tobacco control experience. This program aims to train students with instrumental support for local tobacco control activities and sustainability to tobacco control workforce in the region.

Smoke and Vape Free Scholars Program Award supports California State Universities and California Community Colleges, in partnership with doctorate-granting institutions, to develop and administer mentorship & training programs for undergraduate, post-bac and masters-level students from diverse backgrounds to conduct tobacco-related research projects in California.

• Dr. José Díaz-Garayúa (PhD., Geography, Kent State University, 2008) is Professor of Geography. He joined Stanislaus State in 2016. Dr. Díaz-Garayúa served as Co-Director of the Center for Applied Spatial Analysis (CASA)  from 2020 to 2024. Dr. Díaz-Garayúa launches the HEX Lab in 2024 where he engages students in applied research work through a personable interaction with graduate and undergraduate students.
   
• Dr. Meggan Jordan (PhD., Sociology, University of Florida, 2012) is Professor of Sociology and Gerontology. I focused on medical sociology, caregiving, disability, health education, and family stressors. I have a broad background in sociology, with special training in public health, qualitative methods, evaluation research, and quasi-experimental designs. As PI or Co-Investigator for Veteran’s Health Administration funded grants, I conducted intervention-based projects to improve family caregiver’s stroke knowledge and reduce depression.

• Alexander Ayers is currently pursuing dual degrees in Geography and Environmental Resources and Philosophy at California State University – Stanislaus, reflects my dedication to continual learning and intellectual growth. This academic pursuit is matched by a hands-on approach in various industries, showcasing my ability to lead, manage crisis situations, and navigate complex operational challenges.
   
• Xandria Cortez (Sociology) As a first-generation college student from the Bay Area, she is passionate about health equity and youth advocacy. During her internship at the Merced County Public Health Department, Xandria supported the Smoke & Vape Free Scholars Program, conducted community surveys, and helped design educational materials aimed at reducing youth exposure to tobacco and vape products. Her lived experiences, bilingual skills, and background in community college have shaped her commitment to creating accessible and culturally relevant public health resources.
   
• Priscilla García is a biology major at California State University, Stanislaus. Her interested in health has taken her to be apprenticeship at the American Red Cross to Home Care Provider. In January 2025 she became a Tobacco Cessation Intern at the Tuolumne County Public Health Department. In her role, she is collaborating with schools and organizing community events to raise awareness about tobacco-related health risks.
   
• Máximo Madrigal (Nursing) is interested in enhancing the integration and collaboration of clinical medicine and public health. Maximo joined SVFSI to gain first-hand experience in the public health sphere through research and working with the Madera County of Public Health, where he learns about policy development and collaboration with the community
   
• Alexander Ayers is currently pursuing dual degrees in Geography and Environmental Resources and Philosophy at California State University – Stanislaus, reflects my dedication to continual learning and intellectual growth. This academic pursuit is matched by a hands-on approach in various industries, showcasing my ability to lead, manage crisis situations, and navigate complex operational challenges.