Sustainability

Long celebrated for its natural beauty and environmental values, Cal Poly Humboldt has once again been recognized for putting sustainability into action—earning a place among the nation’s most environmentally conscious campuses in The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges.

A new report from the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt examines the entwined history of energy development and timber production in Humboldt County—and looks at how transmission system expansion for offshore wind could empower greater energy access on the North Coast.

Since 2011, Cal Poly Humboldt secured more than $1 billion in external funding, advancing breakthroughs in gene therapy, clean energy, climate science, community health, the arts, and student success programs while providing students hands-on opportunities to shape the future. 

At 4:30 a.m., before the first rays of sun reach the waters surrounding the Galápagos Islands, trillions of phytoplankton drift in the dark, waiting for the light of dawn to trigger photosynthesis—the process that releases oxygen and energy into the ocean and the marine food web.

During an expedition to the Peruvian Andes in 2018, a team of researchers exploring Abiseo River National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, made an extraordinary discovery: a previously undocumented species of marsupial.

In a muddy ditch draining into Baduwa’t (Mad River), a flicker of silver darted beneath the surface. 

Cal Poly Humboldt has taken a significant step toward its carbon neutrality goal by offsetting 428 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)—the equivalent of annual emissions from 100 gas-powered cars.

Cal Poly Humboldt has been recognized as a leader in sustainability by the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI), becoming only the fourth academic library in the country and the second in the California State University (CSU) system to earn the initiative’s award-winning Sustainable Library Certification.

For the final talk in this semester’s Climate and Clean Energy Series—“Scaling Our Energy Future: Insights from the Utility Sector”—PG&E Executive Vice President Carla J. Peterman will describe how the utility plans to scale the energy system to meet growing power demand, decarbonization, and resiliency goals, while ensuring that energy remains affordable.

The ninth annual Sustainability Champion Awards program honors Cal Poly Humboldt students, faculty, and staff whose practices have deepened a culture of sustainability on campus, have furthered the integration of sustainability into academics or student life, or have reduced the University’s environmental footprint.

Cal Poly Humboldt has been recognized as a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation for its dedication to enhancing community well-being through tree education, investment, and community engagement.

Cal Poly Humboldt has officially broken ground on the Energy Research + Sustainability Center (ER+SC)—a hub dedicated to cutting-edge research in sustainability and cultivating the next generation of environmental leaders.

From reusable water bottles to compost bins, Cal Poly Humboldt embodies a culture of sustainability and environmental stewardship. This year, various on-campus organizations are uniting to create an inspiring Earth Week, inviting students, staff, and faculty to come together in celebration of a global movement that champions awareness and action for Earth's protection and sustainability, from April 21-26.

Cal Poly Humboldt’s Cannabis Studies Program invites campus and community members to attend the second annual Symposium on Cannabis and Environmental Stewardship to empower regenerative cannabis agriculture and best practices for licensed cannabis production.

Cal Poly Humboldt Sociology instructor Daniel Mar is playing a vital role in the future of sustainable cannabis farming in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. 

The League of American Bicyclists recognized Cal Poly Humboldt with a Silver Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) award, moving up from a Bronze Award and earning it a place alongside more than 1,100 businesses across the country contributing to the movement to build a more Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.

A conversation on the conflict between renewable energy development and Indigenous sovereignty takes center stage during the Decolonizing Renewable Energy Development speaker series. Hosted by Cal Poly Humboldt’s Schatz Energy Research Center, the event on Wednesday, Feb. 19 is free and open to the public and features High Country News editor-in-chief Jennifer Sahn and award-winning journalist B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster.

The Rou Dalagurr: Food Sovereignty Lab & Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute at Cal Poly Humboldt is honored to announce that co-directors and Native American Studies professors Cutcha Risling Baldy and Kaitlin Reed received the 2025 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

Cal Poly Humboldt is taking decisive steps toward achieving its ambitious zero waste goals with the release of a comprehensive Zero Waste Action Plan.

In line with Cal Poly Humboldt’s Climate Action Plan 2.0’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, the University will purchase carbon offsets at the Arcata Community Forest. The purchase will help compensate for the carbon emissions generated by University-financed air travel.

The Tribal Energy Resilience and Sovereignty project (TERAS) will empower four tribes in Northern California to transform one of the state’s least reliable electrical circuits into a highly resilient renewable energy system.

A renewable energy microgrid designed to keep Cal Poly Humboldt powered throughout outages is expected to be up and running by fall 2025. 

The National Wildlife Federation, in partnership with the Campus Race to Zero Waste Program, has awarded Cal Poly Humboldt with a Plastics Reduction Partner Bronze level certification, the first university in the California State University system to be recognized for its efforts to reduce single-use plastics on campus.

Hundreds of feet above the ground in the canopy of the redwood forest is a rich ecosystem unlike any other on Earth.

Ariel DeLara (‘15, Rangeland Resource Science) now works as a district conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service, where he's dedicated to environmental stewardship and conservation.