Cal Poly Humboldt
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

In Environmental Education & Interpretation Graphics (ESM 353), student teams develop interpretive signs for the campus. The intent of these signs is to generate awareness of and participation in the campus’ sustainability programs. Through this process the class learns about alternative transportation, waste reduction, green building and climate protection while applying project management and interpretive design techniques taught in the class. Signs and displays are then mounted across campus to provide interpretation and guidance to the campus community. Over the past three years this has included such things as cold water laundry signs mounted in campus housing laundry rooms (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LgzhmukKMsvDmJ3JJGBNSRTZ66mQkOxe/view?usp=sharing) and the decals on the bed of the e-cargo trike used for collecting food scraps on campus for compost (see photo in this article, https://now.humboldt.edu/news/cal-poly-humboldts-ambitious-climate-action-plan).

Professor Rafael Cuevas Uribe in the Department of Fisheries Biology coordinates a collaborative project with GreenWave to conduct and study sustainable and regenerative seaweed farming in the Humboldt Bay and to engage the public on the benefits of seaweed/kelp (i.e., provides habitat, captures carbon at rates higher than rainforest, enhances local fisheries, etc). Students in Professor Uribe’s Mariculture classes utilize Cal Poly Humboldt’s Telonicher Marine lab (e.g., to raise kelp starts) and its research vessels to gain practical experience managing the seaweed farm while experimenting with different cultivation methods and measuring bioremediation outcomes. Results are made available to seaweed farm startups, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resources Committee, and students, faculty and researchers working to study and protect the North Coast’s Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s). For more information, go to https://now.humboldt.edu/news/the-first-seaweed-farm-in-california and https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/still-downhill/Content?oid=25694187.

The Environmental Resources Engineering (ERE) 532 graduate seminar, entitled “Energy, Environment, and Society,” conducts greenhouse gas emissions inventories of direct and indirect emissions sources associated with campus operations and infrastructure. This course is co-taught by Professors Kevin Fingerman (Environmental Science & Management) and Peter Alstone (Environmental Resources Engineering). Student teams develop greenhouse gas inventories utilizing annual energy and fuel use data supplied by Facilities Management. The teams analyze results and develop recommendations to curb emissions. These reports are then made available to Facilities Management to be used for planning and emissions tracking purposes.

The Building Energy Analysis (ENGR 473) course, taught by Professor Peter Alstone (Environmental Resources Engineering), applies thermodynamics to the energy analysis of campus buildings, including heating and ventilations systems, lighting, building envelope, and process loads. The course works closely with Facilities Management to access meter and building shell data, measure insulation and heat transmission losses through building elements, meter specific loads (e.g., motors), model energy efficiency measures, and better understand occupancy and how behaviors affect building utility use. The class also analyzes electrification of buildings by replacing natural gas fired boilers with electric heat pumps and adding solar PV. Reports from this class are then submitted to Facilities Management and the campus Energy Manager.

Within Environmental Science and Management’s Energy and Climate concentration, Professor Kevin Fingerman teaches Energy, Technology and Society (ESM 370), an interdisciplinary course that integrates physical science, social science and policy dimensions. Professor Fingerman was a recipient of a Campus as Living Lab grant from the California State University’s Chancellor’s Office in 2015 and utilized the award to complete a Building Performance Institute (BPI) building energy analysis training, purchase equipment, and re-design his course to teach students whole building performance analysis techniques utilizing houses on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus. Professor Fingerman has continued to teach this class, wherein students learn how to conduct blower door and duct blast tests and collect real-time consumption data correlated to building occupancy patterns and usage. Their findings are shared with building occupants to improve energy efficiency. More information can be found here: https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/sustainability/Campus%20as%20a%20Living%20Lab%20Library/HB-Fingerman.pdf

The Environmental Studies Department (ENST) and the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) offer courses each semester in sustainable living, utilizing the CCAT grounds and facilities (located on campus) as the context and space for applied learning. Over the past three years, ENST 123: Organic Gardening has been teaching students the basics, utilizing the campus community garden and CCAT gardens where students can get academic credit prepping beds, planting, maintaining and harvesting, while learning about organic and regenerative gardening techniques. ENST 123: Sustainable Cooking (Spring 2023) utilizes CCAT facilities and kitchen to teach about fossil-fuel free cooking, local ingredients and zero waste techniques for teaching students how to make sustainable meals. For more information, go to https://ccat.humboldt.edu.

The Forest Measurements and Biometry class (FOR 210) conducts a census of trees on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus and its forested holdings (e.g., the Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm, https://treefarm.humboldt.edu/) and surrounding forest. Trees are located using GPS, have their species identified, diameters and heights measured, and are assessed for damage and age. These measurements are also used to estimate how much carbon is stored in campus trees. Re-measurement is used to estimate carbon storage over time and to monitor trends in health of the campus forest. The results are reported back to the Cal Poly Humboldt Grounds Department for the purpose of monitoring tree health.

Accounting Ethics (aka Accounting for Corporate Social Responsibility, BA 456) teaches the application of ethical and sustainable concepts within the financial services industry. In 2021 the Office of Sustainability began conducting a feasibility study of purchasing and operating a commercial composter on campus. The class took the Office of Sustainability on as a client, and as a class project a) analyzed the costs associated with the current campus food waste management operation, b) reviewed cost estimates from vendors responding to a Request for Information, and c) developed a net present value payback calculator for the proposed composter. The calculator was used by the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management in its determination to proceed with the purchase of a commercial composter for the campus.

The Office of Sustainability is working with the instructor and students in the Film Department’s Social Change Video Production class to create a short educational film about Cal Poly Humboldt’s sustainable transportation programs (JackPass transit, bikeshare, rideshare, carshare, carpool, commuter club program, etc). The film is designed to inform and engage the campus community to pursue alternatives to driving alone, and is prominently posted on the Cal Poly Humboldt Sustainability, Parking & Commuter Services, and Residence Life websites.

ENGR 436 (Solid Waste Management) includes a tour of Cal Poly Humboldt’s waste management and resource recovery operations and interviews with Facilities Management staff. Students then analyze specific aspects of campus operations, and identify and report on recommendations for improvement. For example, in the fall of 2021 students conducted a comprehensive waste audit of the Depot. Located in the center of campus, the Depot is a busy hub of six food vendors and a coffee shop offering hot, ready-to-go food and beverages. Students collected, sorted and weighed items in the seating area landfill, recycling and compost receptacles, interviewed the Depot Manager, and observed and recorded waste disposal behaviors of Depot customers. Their final report, shared with Chartwells management (Chartwells manages the Depot and all food service facilities on campus) and the Office of Sustainability, summarizes recommendations for improvement to signage, bin type staff education to reduce contamination and improve waste reduction.

In ESM 303-Applied Natural History and Ecology students patriciate in 2-3 study units that involve Jolly Giant Creek, a creek that flows through campus. The first unit teaches the ecology and natural history of plant communities in our area. Students walk along Jolly Giant Creek in the Arcata Community Forest as they explore the second-growth redwood forest. Understanding forest succession is important in any forested ecosystem, and especially here in redwood country where about 96% of all redwood forests have been logged. The Arcata Community Forest is a gem in the crown of the City of Arcata as it demonstrates sustainable management of timber resources while also providing for excellent recreational and wildlife opportunities.

The second unit is based in Shay Park, through which Jolly Giant Creek flows after about 0.5 miles through a culvert under U.S. Hwy. 101. Here students explore the riparian plant community and discuss the interaction between the creek's natural hydrology and human engineering and urban planning. Throughout the City boundaries, Jolly Giant Creek variously pops up and supports a vigorous riparian community, or it is buried in underground culverts or narrowly channelized, where it receives urban stormwater runoff an seepage. Eventually Jolly Giant Creek flows into Humboldt Bay, where it also receives the City of Arcata's sewage effluent. This section offers many opportunities for students to learn about and explore how urban development interacts with the water flowing through it and how this influences associated wildlife.

Cal Poly Humboldt’s Climate Action Analyst is also a volunteer faculty member in the Environmental Science & Management (ESM) Department. As an instructor for the 2-unit ESM 482 internship course, The Climate Action Analyst offers Climate Action internships through ESM 482. Climate Action interns have directly assisted in the development of the Climate Action Plan 2.0, and with coordinating development of strategies within the plan. For example, ESM 482 intern Katie Miller (Fall 2021) assisted with the facilitation of six CAP working groups and a CAP 2.0 public forum. Interns Shaye Grant and Seth Beres (Spring 2022) supported development of a climate resilient landscaping CAP strategy by engaging stakeholders, conducting site surveys, and developing native pollinators and planting guides. Intern Emily Chao updated the Sustainability Practitioners Directory, and Danika Zikas (Fall 2022) conducted surveys and site assessments to identify opportunities, best practices and locations for community garden expansion and incorporation into new campus housing.

Courses in Social Work (e.g., SW 355, SW 455, and SW 649 Wellness & Sustainability) involve active participation of students in addressing basic needs and food insecurity on campus. Students participating in these courses study emerging patterns at Cal Poly Humboldt, which suggest that over 50% of students sacrifice nutrition and/or skip meals because they do not have enough money for food. Students then demonstrate and practice theory discussed in class by utilizing the Oh SNAP! food pantry on campus as an in vivo social laboratory. Through the food pantry students learn about and participate in food distribution, identify and test solutions to student food insecurity and measure the impact of food insecurity on academic, behavioral, physical, emotional, social and spiritual development. Professor Jennifer Maguire teaches courses in this program and has been the Principal Investigator for Cal Poly Humboldt’s food and housing insecurity research and reduction efforts. She is also a founding member of the Oh SNAP! Campus Food Pantry. More information about the student-driven Oh Snap! food pantry can be found at http://hsuohsnap.org/.

At the undergraduate level the business department offers BA 460:Responsible Investment Management. This course teaches traditional and modern approaches. Sources/uses of information, alternative investment instruments, capital markets. Valuation of securities and portfolios under risk through technical/fundamental analyses and portfolio- statistical models. In this course faculty use the Cal Poly Humboldt student fund as a teaching tool for students to examine and learn the principles of responsible investing by incorporating ESG rating in the buy and sell decision-making process. An ESG rating measures a company's resilience to long-term environmental, social, and governance risks.

AHSS 108-Nature Culture & Food is course deigned for first year students to become familiar with mindfulness and self-care development and experience transition curriculum that covers the college basics such as campus resources and study habits. The course incorporates a focus on good reading and note-taking skills as well as the cultivation of mindfulness and self-care skills, critical/ethical/relational thinking, and engagement with campus/community events and resources. During class meetings students have an opportunity to engage in self-care practices and self-care development to help advance physical and emotional well-being. While the course objectives address ‘college success skills’ such as bullet journaling, reading and note taking, critical thinking, effective use of campus resources, community engagement, and self-care development; students are required to attend two library skill shop/residential life workshops because each student has different strengths and areas needing improvement, by personally choosing a skill shops allows a student to target skills they most need or want to work on.