March, 2025
Contact Us!
Chelsea Sabrina Obeidy, PhD
Assistant Professor of Soil Science Email: Chelsea.Obeidy@humboldt.edu
Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management Phone: (707) 826-4064
Cal Poly Humboldt Cell: (707) 499-7081
1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy, Earth Sciences, University of Oregon (2024)
· Dissertation: Influence of Landscape Weathering and Fire on Soil Contaminant Reactivity in Western Oregon
Bachelor of Science, Environmental Science and Management, Cal Poly Humboldt (2017)
· Thesis: Variable-density Retention Promotes Spatial Heterogeneity and Structural Complexity in a Douglas-fir/Tanoak Stand
Gran Paradiso Summer School, Piedmont, Italy (2019)
· Title: Critical Zone and Ecosystem Dynamics across Space and Time
RESEARCH APPOINTMENTS
· Assistant Professor of Soil Science, Cal Poly Humboldt (2024 – present)
· Graduate Employee, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon (2018 - 2024)
· NSF Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University (2017)
· NSF Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis (2016)
PUBLICATIONS
· Chelsea Obeidy and Matthew Polizzotto (2024) “Understanding the Influence of Soil Development on Contaminant Reactivity Along a Fluvial Chronosequence in the Oregon Coast Range” Geoderma. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4461677
· Hannah R. Peel, Fatai O. Balogun, Christopher A. Bowers, Cass T. Miller, Chelsea S. Obeidy, Matthew L. Polizzotto, Sadeya U. Tashnia, David S. Vinson, and Owen W. Duckworth. (2022) "Towards Understanding Factors Affecting Arsenic, Chromium, and Vanadium Mobility in the Subsurface" Water 14, no. 22: 3687. DOI:10.3390/w14223687
· Chelsea Obeidy and A. Sharma (2021) “2021 Congressional Visits Day Goes Virtual” CSA News DOI:10.1002/csan.20447
· JP Berrill, CM Dagley, AJ Gorman, CS Obeidy, HK Powell (2018) “Variable-density Retention Promotes Spatial Heterogeneity and Structural Complexity in a Douglas-fir/Tanoak Stand” Current Trends Forest Research: CTFR-108. DOI:10.29011/CTFR-108.100008
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
· Fire-induced contaminant and mineral transformations in serpentine soils (Obeidy, CS)
o Invited, Goldschmidt Conference, 15-minute Oral Presentation, 2024
o Soil Science Society of America, 15-minute Oral Presentation, 2023
o Invited, Oregon Soil Science Society, Lightning Talk, 2021
· Understanding the Influence of Soil Development on Contaminant Reactivity Along a Fluvial Chronosequence in the Oregon Coast Range (Obeidy, CS and Polizzotto, M)
o Superfund Research Program, Poster Presentation 2022
o Superfund Research Program, Poster Presentation, 2020
o Goldschmidt, Poster Presentation, 2020
o Soil Science Society of America, Lightning Talk, 2020
o Soil Science Society of America, Poster Presentation, 2019
· Assessing the mechanical stability of coal ash via microbial-induced-calcite-precipitation treatment. (Obeidy, CS, Savavisade, S, Montoya, BM)
o Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, October, 2017. Poster presentation.
o Undergraduate Scientific Research Symposium, Humboldt State University. 2017. Poster presentation.
o Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium, North Carolina State University, 2017. Poster presentation.
o BESST REU Research Symposium, North Carolina State University, 2017. Poster presentation
· Self-equilibration of microbial-induced-calcite-precipitation treatment in heterogenous sands. (Obeidy, CS)
o Ideafest, Cal Poly Humboldt. 2017. Poster Presentation
o Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics Annual Meeting, Arizona State University. 2016. Poster Presentation
· Managing Difficult Conversations and Dynamics in the Classroom: An Interactive Workshop
o National Conference on Race and Ethnicity. 2021.
SSRL PROPOSAL FOR BEAMTIME
· Elucidating the Influence of Wildfires on Trace-Element Reactivity in Serpentine Soils. 2022. Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. 08/01/22-07/31/24. Polizzotto, M., Obeidy, C., and Duckworth, O. Awarded proposal for 54 shifts of access to the US Department of Energy’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource synchrotron facility.
TEACHING
SOIL 499: Independent Study
SOIL 360: Soil Genesis and Classification
SOIL 460W: Soil Erosion and Management
SOIL 465: Soil Microbiology
SOIL 467: Soil Physics
SOIL 462: Soil Fertility
RRS 306: Intro to Rangeland Resource Science
FOR 479W: Forestry Senior Capstone
SCI 100: Becoming a STEM Professional in the 21st Century.
TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS
· Earth Surface and the Environment, University of Oregon, Eugene (2023)
· Earth Materials, University of Oregon, Eugene (2023)
· Environmental Soil Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene (2019, 2021)
· Earth Science Field Methods, University of Oregon, Eugene (2022)
· Geocommunication, Eugene (2019)
· Environmental Leadership Program, University of Oregon, Eugene (2019)
o Project Manager for Hendrick’s Park Forest monitoring and post-storm analysis
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
· Peer-review for International Journal of Wildland Fire (2024)
· Chair of the Soil Science Society of America Graduate Student Committee (2023-2024)
· Soil Science Society of America Graduate Committee Member (2021-2023)
· 2 Peer-reviews for Nature Reviews, Earth & Environment (2023)
· 2 proposal reviews for Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, Department of Energy (2023)
· Oregon Soil Science Society Student Liaison (2021)
· Rehearsals for Life, Dean of Students, University of Oregon, Eugene (2020-2022)
· Inclusivity and gender Diversity in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Mentor, University of Oregon (2020-2022)
· Graduate Student Leadership Conference, Soil Science Society of America (2019)
PRIOR RESEARCH
· Technical soil report cited in Runoff Response to Rainfall in Small Catchments Burned by the 2015 Valley Fire by US Forest Service, CA Dept. Forestry and Fire Protection, and CA Geological Survey (2017)
· Metal analysis of dune vegetation on restored and unrestored dune systems of Humboldt County, CA (2017)
· Utilizing hydraulic conductivity and infiltration apparatus to evaluate volumetric water content of soil under Variable Density Retention at L.W. Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm in Maple Creek, CA (2016)
· Technical soil report (included soil map units, soil classification, soil interpretations, and erosion hazard rating) of Leavey Ranch in Blue Lake, CA (2015)
· Bioassay of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium fertilizer on Lolium multiflorum growth to determine the most effective fertilizer combination (2015)
HONORS AND AWARDS
· Weiser Scholarship, University of Oregon, Eugene (2023)
· Thayer Scholarship, University of Oregon, Eugene (2022)
· Baldwin Scholarship, University of Oregon, Eugene (2021)
· Oregon Society for Soil Scientist Scholarship (2020)
· Thayer Scholarship, University of Oregon, Eugene (2020)
· Travel Award, Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene (2019)
LANGUAGES English Spanish
Spoken: Fluent Spoken: Fluent
Written: Fluent Written: Basic
MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES: Soil Science Society of America, Oregon Society of Soil Scientist, Geological Society of America, Center for Biomediated and Bioinspired Geotechnics, California Native Plant Society, Native Plant Society of Oregon, University of Oregon’s Women in Graduate Studies