Students recently used a Humboldt Energy Independence Fund grant to conduct a lighting inventory of all academic buildings on campus.

They recorded the wattage, number and type of light fixtures used in lecture halls, faculty space and academic service buildings. They also documented the amount of time that fixtures remained on throughout the week.

“The information can be used in a number of ways but one of our main goals was to help the university identify potential cost and energy savings,” says Grant Goddard (’14, Environmental Resources Engineering) who conducted the survey with Jocelyn Gwynn (‘14, Energy & Climate) and Ryan Kaplan (‘14, Environmental Resources Engineering).

The Humboldt Energy Independence Fund (HEIF) is a student-led fund that supports projects to reduce the university’s environmental impact and energy consumption.

Among the biggest offenders of energy use: Gist Hall, the Green and Gold Room in Founders Hall and the ceramics lab, the report found. “These were all areas that were over lit based on their square footage,” Kaplan explains.

Other areas, like custodial rooms and mechanical spaces, rated poorly due to old or incandescent bulbs from the 1960s.

The inventory found that in some buildings, installing photosensors to utilize existing natural lighting would result significant cost and energy savings. Other buildings would benefit from occupancy sensors. “There are a bunch of rooms in Gist where lights are on even though no one is there,” Goddard says.

The full report will be used by Plant Operations and Facilities Management. It will also be available for the public by emailing heif@humboldt.edu. “Our hope is that it will be used as a resource for the university and HEIF proposals moving forward,” Gwynn says.

For more information on HEIF, visit humboldt.edu/heif. For HEIF’s 2012-13 annual report, click here.

Engineering students test water quality at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary for the Arcata Marsh Research Institute.

“I’m so proud of this rating, as everyone at this university should be,” said HSU President Rollin Richmond. “It highlights the good work we are doing, and lets the rest of the world know about it as well. The report also helps us see where we can improve, and I’m excited about our potential to do even more.”

STARS – the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System – is a program that measures sustainability performance in all aspects of higher education. It was developed by a group of institutions from across the country, and is overseen by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

This is the first time Humboldt State has conducted a STARS analysis. The strong rating reflects the university’s longstanding commitment to both environmental and social responsibility – important concepts underlying sustainability.

Humboldt State frequently appears in sustainability rankings by magazines and organizations. Most recently, it was once again named to Princeton Review’s Green Colleges for 2013.

Achieving a rating of any level in STARS is a complex undertaking. HSU’s Office of Sustainability led the year-long effort to develop and collect data for the comprehensive self-assessment. It covered a broad array of university functions and facilities, and departments from across campus were involved.

The data in the report is used to benchmark Humboldt State’s performance with that of more than 300 other institutions that have so far decided to participate in STARS. Credits are awarded for three areas: education & research, operations & planning and administration & engagement.

Currently, just 287 institutions have submitted assessments for STARS. Since 2011 AASHE has bestowed no platinum ratings, 45 gold, 123 silver and 62 bronze. HSU joins five other CSU campuses in earning a silver rating: Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Channel Islands, CSU Fullerton, San Diego State and San Jose State. CSU Monterey Bay is the only Cal State campus to earn a gold rating.

All of the detailed credits of member institutions are posted online. The STARS site enables users to filter data for specific universities, sustainability categories and rating levels.

Achievements noted in the report include HSU’s commitment to sustainability in a range of academic programs and co-curricular education. HSU’s academic catalog and website make it easy to find sustainability focused courses. And all students benefit from efforts like PowerSave Green Campus and the Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program, which provides education about energy savings and waste management.

Humboldt State has a long history of sustainable practices. The university’s Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, an eco-demonstration house, was established in 1978. The Department of Environmental Resources Engineering is one of the oldest academic programs of its kind, and the Schatz Energy Research Center conducts pioneering work in renewable energy. Through a student-approved fee, the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund takes on energy efficiency projects on campus. The Business School has recently revamped its MBA to focus on strategic sustainability. The list of achievements and programs is long.

Founded in 2006, AASHE generates important information and resources for advancing the concepts of sustainability in higher education. Member colleges and universities model and advance sustainability across-the-board, from education and research to governance and operations.

The report can be found at the STARS website or the HSU sustainability website.

Thanks to a series of measures introduced last year, HSU’s per capita disposal rate for 2,304 employees was 1.56 pounds per day, versus the state’s recommended 10.7 pounds.

HSU continues to be recognized for its recycling and waste management programs.

Likewise, the University’s per capita disposal rate for non-employees (8,622 students) was .42 pounds per day, versus the state goal of 1.9 pounds.

“We are noticeably lower than the state targets and we’re also lower than in 2011,” says Traci Ferdolage, Associate Vice President of Facilities Management.

Humboldt State shifted last year from a dual stream to single stream recycling, making collection more convenient for the campus community. Single stream recycling deploys receptacles for mixed fibers as well as bottles, cans and plastic containers #1-7.

At the same time, HSU was awarded a Beverage Containers grant from CalRecycle to install more recycling bins and signage and launch a social marketing campaign to bolster recycling rates.

Also in 2012, the campus expanded its ongoing food-waste diversion program, collecting food-waste and food-soiled paper from the dining areas and campus compost bins for diversion to a commercial composting facility.

Campus Recycling continues to partner with Housing & Dining Services, the Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program and other student groups, carrying out year-long education and outreach campaigns to augment participation in composting and recycling.

Campus Recycling, an arm of the Office of Sustainability under Facilities Management, collects scrap metal, e-waste, inkjet cartridges, hardbound books, appliances, surplus equipment and furniture, carpet, mixed rigid plastics and other hard-to-recycle items. Also collected are tires and used oil and oil filters.

Biology graduate student John Mola (’14) is examining the role of native bees versus honeybees on eight Humboldt County farms.

These are some of the questions that biology graduate student John Mola (’14) is hoping to answer as part of a multi-year research project examining the role of native bees versus honeybees on Humboldt County farms.

Mola—this year’s McCrone Graduate Fellowship Award winner and the recent recipient of a 2013 National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship—is looking at the pollination of apple and pear crops on eight local orchards.

Honeybees are the most common type of bee used in commercial crop pollination. But they’ve drastically declined in recent years due to pests and a disease called Colony Collapse Disorder. Although there is no known explanation for CCD, possible causes include malnutrition, pesticides and poor beekeeping practices.

The rapid decline has prompted researchers around the world to begin looking for possible alternatives. Chief among them: native bees. “With all of this focus on just a single species of bee, and one that isn’t even native to North America, we’re missing out on thousands of other equally important species with few people even realizing it,” Mola explains.

Mola will determine whether it’s possible, or even viable, for farmers to manage local bee species.

Native bees differ from honeybees in several important ways. Unlike honeybees, most are solitary insects, meaning that they require specific nesting habitats such as underground tunnels and bushes, instead of hives. Some native bees have even evolved to pollinate specific crops. What’s more? In some cases, native bees are more efficient pollinators than honeybees.

Over the next few years, Mola—along with undergraduate students Gwen Schneider, Grace Blacker, Corey Andrikopolous and Brian Creeks—will tally the abundance of various bee species in pollinating local apples and pears. He will also specifically examine the efficiency of local bees in pollinating those crops.

If a native species like the blue orchard bee does turn out to be a big pollinator, Mola will determine whether it’s possible, or even viable, for farmers to manage the species locally. “I’m helping local farmers understand what bees are locally important, and then how to enhance habitat for those pollinators,” Mola explains.

The implications of his research are far-reaching—and not just for local farmers. A viable management plan could serve as a blueprint for farmers in more intensively managed agricultural areas, Mola explains. “Given that we’re in a place with a great semi-natural habitat, it’s safe to say that if pollination services are at risk here, they’re certainly at an even greater risk in more intensive areas like the Central Valley.”

The California State University (CSU) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 (EPA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to increase environmental opportunities at all 23 CSU campuses over the next five years.

“Environmental protection is an integral part of maintaining California’s natural resources, health, economy and infrastructure,” said CSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer Ephraim P. Smith. “A stronger collaboration with the EPA will help the CSU produce graduates prepared to meet these environmental needs.”

The MOU identifies opportunities with the EPA—including internships, service-learning, and curriculum development—for CSU students, faculty and staff. In order to streamline the collaboration, the CSU plans to designate a central contact on each campus that will coordinate projects and other efforts with the EPA. Activities outlined in the MOU will also encourage CSU students to participate in environmental fields of study and help the EPA attract a highly-trained workforce.

“EPA is excited to collaborate with the California State Universities, the largest system of higher education in the country,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “We look forward to the innovative environmental work that will be achieved as a result of our partnership.”

The MOU presents numerous benefits for both partners including:

*CSU student volunteer service-learning opportunities with the EPA *Independent study opportunities where CSU students can earn credit at multiple campuses for completion of EPA projects, lectures, or curriculum *EPA input for the CSU to develop current and pertinent environmental curriculum

As part of this collaboration, CSU Channel Islands recently partnered with EPA’s Marine Debris Program. The partnership implements scientific protocols with geographic information system (GIS) mapping as part of a beach cleanup throughout the region and creates opportunities for faculty, students and EPA experts to interact.