California State University, Fresno
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Our Campus Farm serves as an agricultural laboratory for students from the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, where they can receive hands-on learning experiences in various farm-based activities. In addition to selling Farm products, a portion of the goods produced by the Farm go to our Amendola Student Cupboard.

As part of a capstone requirement for Recreation Administration majors, we are creating a framework for these students to plan, develop, and execute Earth Day events and activities on campus during the spring semester.

The Central Valley College Corps Program, based in our Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, engages students in service learning to serve our local community in areas related to K-12 education, food security, and climate action. Students enroll in service learning courses for a full academic year, serve their required number of hours with a community partner or benefit organization, and upon completion of their respective assignments will receive an education award.

Students in the BOND program, along with students from other problem-based-learning courses, are encouraged to present out and share their sustainability findings and recommendations at an end-of-semester student symposia. The link connects to end-of-semester symposia, where students engage sustainability-findings with the public:
http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/cfe/toolsforteaching/hip/hip-symposium.html

Students in the First Year BOND experience use air quality data from PurpleAir and temperature data from NOAA to propose their own research project to conduct on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Students in the First Year BOND experience use building energy use data with building age to propose their own research project to conduct on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Students in the First Year BOND experience use building energy use data, often along with temperature data, to propose their own research project on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Faculty and staff have been developing plans to create a community garden on campus that will not only feed our campus and local community, but also serve as a platform for students who plan to become teachers in the future to learn how to teach food- and science- based activities in a fun and hands-on setting. The goal is that our future teachers will take the knowledge and skills developed at Fresno State and develop their own garden spaces at their future worksites (schools), in order to reconnect people with the food they eat and develop more sustainable systems of food security.

Students in the First Year BOND experience conduct food waste audits and behavior observation to propose their own research project on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Plant Science students learning about plant propagation get hands-on experience in propagating species of plants native to the Fresno, California area. Seeds or cuttings are propagated according to best practices and then donated to Facilities Management to be planted for landscaping uses in the university's effort to reduce grass cover across campus.

Students in the First Year BOND experience conduct biodiversity observations to propose their own research project on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Fresno State has a partnership with Tree Fresno, a local nonprofit whose mission is to plant drought tolerant trees across the city in an effort to make the city greener, improve air quality, and combat the effects of climate change. Tree Fresno assists the university in planting trees with help from campus volunteers and students in service learning courses.

Students in the First Year BOND experience analyze campus transportation data, which they then use to propose their own research project on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Students in the First Year BOND experience analyze campus waste, which they then use to propose their own research project on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

Students in the First Year BOND experience analyze campus water data, which they then use to propose their own research project on campus. Projects are proposed in the Fall and carried through in the Spring of the first year experience.

On the Agricultural Laboratory (Campus Farm), there are a few projects relating to groundwater recharge and water efficiency. Infrastructure was installed on the Farm to allow for infiltration of water into permeable soils that will, over time, replenish our underground aquifer. There are also practices in place on the Farm to reuse water from animal units to irrigate alfalfa fields. Students from the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology learn about these practices and how it is beneficial to farm operations.

Page 14 of this PDF has some information about Campus as a Living Lab at the CSU: https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/sustainability/Documents/2014-17-Sustainability.pdf