This year, the Sustainable Humboldt Innovative Futures Trust (SHIFT) awarded approximately $266,000 to initiatives aimed at creating a healthier, more resilient campus.
Formerly known as the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund, SHIFT empowers the campus community to leave a lasting impact by developing projects that promote sustainability and equity. In 2023, SHIFT expanded its eligibility to include proposals from staff and faculty and broadened its focus beyond energy efficiency and waste reduction. Now, projects—which must directly involve and/or benefit students—reflect a more diverse and creative interpretation of sustainability, encompassing social justice and other related areas.
"It's exciting to see how SHIFT has grown to adapt and reflect the contemporary desires of students,” says Katie Koscielak, sustainability analyst at Cal Poly Humboldt. “This has meant broadening the vision for the fund in recent years to go beyond energy projects to explicitly support solutions that elevate food justice, transportation access, zero waste initiatives, meeting basic needs, and beyond. It's reflective of the intersectional and expansive understanding of sustainability that our current students have and that they want to see made real in their world."
SHIFT has allowed students to shape sustainability on campus for over 15 years, explains Andrea Alstone, the University’s energy planner and analyst. “Having all campus members eligible to submit proposals also demonstrates that sustainability is a shared responsibility and commitment on campus."
Each spring, the campus community is invited to submit grant proposals. A student-majority committee then reviews these proposals and selects which to fund. SHIFT is supported through the Instructionally Related Activities fee, which students pay each semester as part of their tuition. These fees are directed into the SHIFT Trust and then to the selected initiatives, as voted forward by the governance committee.
The projects selected for funding this year help increase access to cultural foods, develop outdoor learning programs for children, upgrade lighting with fixtures that use 80% less energy, and more.
2025 projects include:
- Black Liberation Month
- Black to the Land
- Certificate of Appropriate Computing
- Critical Agriculture Sustainable Student Farm
- ECycler Expansion Project
- Gist Hall LED Retrofit
- Jacoby Forest Inventory
- Latinx Community Food Initiative
- Library of Things Developing Research
- Planetary Care for Young Learners
- Returning Good Fire to Wiyot Plaza
- Shared Path Symbol Project
To date, $2.4 million has been allocated to more than 70 different student-initiated projects, which range from waste reduction to social justice, efficiency upgrades, and climate-resilient landscaping. Previous projects include the installation of water bottle refill stations, hand dryers, and solar panels. SHIFT funds have also helped support Black Liberation Month and the Indigenous Food Festival.
The fund was first implemented nearly 20 years ago after a student vote, which passed with 86% approval, according to the SHIFT. The first projects were submitted and implemented in 2008. Since then, more than 70 initiatives have been completed on campus.
Want to help decide which projects get funded next? Students can apply to serve on the SHIFT committee through Associated Students and play a direct role in shaping the future of campus sustainability. For more information about SHIFT, the committee, or individual projects, visit humboldt.edu/shift