Sustainability

Humboldt State University won the top spot among college campuses looking to reduce water use in residence halls as part of the inaugural Campus Conservation National competition.

Whether it’s a busted space heater or an old cell phone, most people have electronic waste – or e-waste – taking up space in their homes. What most people may not know is that recycling e-waste properly can have a positive impact on social and environmental conditions throughout the world.

The Department of Sociology’s Master’s Degree in Public Sociology, Ecological Justice and Action at Humboldt State University, one of only two such programs nationwide, has been reaccredited until 2017 as a “very innovative and successful” curriculum.

Hands-on fuel cell research at HSU just got a hand up. The Schatz Energy Research Center has been granted an additional $15,000 from the Department of Energy for its Hydrogen Energy in Engineering Education, or H2E3, program in partnership with UC Berkeley.

Humboldt State Wildlife Management Professor Matthew Johnson, HSU’s 2009/2010 Scholar of the Year, will deliver a free public lecture, “Farms & Feathers: Linking Bird Conservation, Agriculture, and Education,” on Wed., Oct. 27, at 5 p.m. in Van Duzer Theater. An informal reception will follow in the theater lobby.

Kicking off the public side of the 2010/2011 Book of the Year program, Humboldt State University will sponsor a conscious-eating film series starting Wed., Oct. 13, and HSU and College of the Redwoods will host the authors of Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet at CR’s Science Night at its Eureka campus on Fri., Oct. 22.

Humboldt students are aiming to take the top slot in a new national energy competition this November. The name of the game is the Campus Conservation Nationals. And to win, they must “compete to reduce.”

With an eye toward reducing waste, the recycling program on campus has a new name. The Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP), formerly the Campus Recycling Program, has changed its title to better reflect the focus of its work.

Not every master’s thesis turns into an award-winning sustainability enterprise. But that’s just what happened for alum Alex Eaton (’09), who earned his master’s degree in Environmental Systems.

A team of scientists at Humboldt State University and UC Berkeley has begun an ambitious effort to understand how redwood forests respond to changing climates.

When BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, it left thousands of oiled sea birds in its wake. This summer, HSU Wildlife junior Stephany Helbig joined the rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

Portions of Humboldt County need more food stores, expanded transportation and greater spending power to supply threatened families and children with adequate food and healthy choices, according to the California Center for Rural Policy at Humboldt State University.

A bit of luck helped HSU senior Tawny Neal secure her summer internship saving endangered birds with the Maui Forest Bird Recovery project.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded over $45,000 to Humboldt State’s Rangeland Resources program to help recruit students, assess course materials and adopt new technologies.

Richard Engel, an engineer with the Schatz Energy Research Center and an Environmental Resources Engineering alum ('88), is back at HSU after serving as a Fulbright scholar to El Salvador. Engel spent a semester teaching and assisting with renewable energy projects in the region.

With the start of the new academic year, Humboldt State University has activated a pay-for-print system in all student computer labs that will curb costs to most users and save thousands of pages of paper wasted each semester.

Humboldt State University has been named to a new research institute created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that will conduct major studies of Pacific climate change effects on coastal ecosystems.

As part of a U.S. State Department initiative, Humboldt State University is hosting 19 undergraduate student leaders from Jordan and the Palestinian territories in a summer program centered on the global environment.

Arcata, Calif.—The National Science Foundation has awarded Humboldt State University’s Environmental Resources Engineering Department a $700,000 grant to fund a professional Master’s degree in renewable energy and water resources.

Humboldt State University has earned another feather in its cap for its sustainability practices. Dining Services at HSU is now serving all cage-free eggs.

A team of Humboldt State University students from the Renewable Energy Student Union has won a $75,000 technology design award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a prototype smart-grid electrical system in Bhutan, a landlocked developing country between India and China.

On May 15, the Redwood Bowl will be flooded with green and gold for Humboldt State University's 2010 Commencement.

Humboldt State University has been selected as one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible schools by the Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council.

A team of Humboldt State University students from the Renewable Energy Student Union is competing late this month for up to $75,000 in technology design awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, aimed at fostering sustainability in both the developed and developing world.

Braden Pitcher’s alarm went off at 9 a.m. on March 22. Still half asleep, he rolled over in bed, picked up his cell phone and got one of the biggest surprises of his life.