Engineering for a Better Tomorrow
Whether focused on clean drinking water or eliminating single-use plastics, engineering students spent the last year tackling some of society’s most pressing challenges.
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Camp Fire
Planning a New Paradise
Marketing graduate students partner with the not-for-profit Rebuild Paradise Foundation to help resolve how to bring businesses and residents back to Paradise.
Engineering an Icon
Students and faculty within the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management are key players in the rebuild of the Honey Run Covered Bridge and adjacent caretaker home.
The Long Process of Healing and Recovery
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Judith Thompson reflects on the immediate and ongoing trauma Camp Fire survivors continue to experience—and how to support healing.
Reimagining What Home Looks Like
Interior architecture students are designing a series of floor plans to help residents rebuild affordable, fire-resistant homes in the Camp Fire footprint.
Feeding a Grieving Community
While recreation administration students volunteer to feed meals for Paradise residents, they're also witnessing a community coming together.
Phoenix Takes Flight
With help of 14,000 keys representing losses in the Camp Fire, alumna Jess Mercer created a statue she hopes will be both a tribute and an inspiration.
Wildcats Rising
Three students share how they are moving forward in the wake of the Camp Fire, with support of a Strada Wildcats Rise Scholarship.
After Paradise: One Year Later
In this special episode of “After Paradise,” North State Public Radio commemorates the year anniversary of the Camp Fire by focusing on where we are now and opportunities for growth.
Mapping a Displaced Population
New maps from an interdisciplinary team of researchers begin to reveal the how, why, and where Camp Fire survivors have moved.
Transforming Recovery into Revival
Junior Baylie Hammitt reflects on how she and students in "Special Event Planning and Operation" helped plan, market, and host the Paradise Revival Festival.
Water Contamination Goes Under the Microscope
A team of faculty and student researchers is examining the magnitude of water contamination that resulted from the Camp Fire, as well as public health and environmental implications.
A Heart for Caring
Senior Brittany Spade's work as the Camp Fire community liaison intern aligns her insatiable drive to help with her aspirations as a recreation administration major.
From the President: Reflections on the Camp Fire Anniversary
President Gayle Hutchinson reflects on the University's recovery and resilience since the Camp Fire and looks forward to our continued role as a neighbor and partner.
‘This Is Not Where It Ends’
With the Camp Fire anniversary approaching, five Wildcat survivors update us in their own words on their ongoing challenges and glimmers of hope.
The Camp Fire’s Forgotten Communities
In chronicling the stories of survivors, the Camp Fire Oral History Project has captured the challenges of recovery among the most rural populations.
Destroyed Piano Plays on in Student Scholarships
The family of legendary professor C. Robert Laxson donated the insurance payout for a cherished heirloom lost in the Camp Fire to an endowment for music students.
One Year Later and 3,000 Miles Away
Savannah Anderson (English, '19) reflects on how Chico State's compassion and community in the wake of the Camp Fire are a presence in her life across the country.
5 Questions with Alumnus Matt Fidler
Matt Fidler (Music, ’01) is a producer at NSPR, and recently produced a five-part podcast series titled "California Burning."
85 Seconds of Silence
President Gayle Hutchinson shares details on the University's participation in a community-wide remembrance of the lives lost in the Camp Fire.
NSPR’s ‘California Burning’ Tracks Wildfire History, Science and Solutions
“California Burning”—a podcast series and five-part radio documentary produced by NSPR—explores the history, science, and solutions to California wildfires.
Artist Discovers Keys to Healing
Community means everything to alum Jess Mercer. So when the Camp Fire destroyed most of hers, she was driven to help, however she could.
5 Questions with Alumna Sarah Bohannon
When Sarah Bohannon (Journalism, '13) began covering the Camp Fire for North State Public Radio, the already-accomplished news director was about to embark on a new project: the National Edward R. Murrow Award-winning program "After Paradise."
Warriors Against Wildfire
At the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, action to temper and prevent devastating wildfires has been taking place for 20 years.
NSPR Wins National Broadcast Award for Camp Fire Reporting
The NSPR news team has been recognized with a National Edward R. Murrow Award for “After Paradise.”
Alum Shows Her Skills on ‘American Ninja Warrior’
Whether on the ropes course at Chico State or cliff diving around the world, Camp Fire survivor Cheyenne Arrington (Exercise Physiology, '18) is not one to let obstacles get in her way.
A Virtual Vision of Recovery
With state-of-the-art technology and fast-paced research, students preserved a virtual scan of the historic Honey Run Covered Bridge—and it may help bring it back.
Faculty Member Leads as Camp Fire Liaison
As Chico State takes an active role in Camp Fire recovery, someone needs to lead the way: Megan Kurtz accepted the challenge.
A Calling to Help
Katie Rosauer found her calling through trial and error. And now that she has, she's committed to helping those around her in need.
From Now On
Five students, faculty, and staff who lost their homes in the Camp Fire share how their lives have changed since that fateful morning. Each has their own challenges and hopes for the future.
A Stronger Sense of Space
Master’s candidate Mary Gibaldi focused her English studies on the subject of space in literary worlds while discovering her own new expression of “home.”
When Community Calls
The local foundation Alexa Benson-Valavanis shaped to support area nonprofits suddenly went global last fall as one of the main places to donate during the Camp Fire.
Class Notes: Spring 2019
For the spring 2019 issue of the alumni magazine Chico Statements, our alums shared their stories of bravery, good deeds, and recovery both during and after the Camp Fire.
The Search for What Remains
Leading the nation's largest recovery effort since 9/11, Chico State's Human Identification Laboratory responded to the Camp Fire for the crucial, yet daunting task of searching for human remains.
How To: Help Someone in Pain
How do you speak to a loved one has experienced loss or trauma? Psychology professor and therapist Kyle Horst offers some tips.
StoryCenter to Document Community’s Stories of Resilience During CSU, Chico Visit
In partnership with the Butte County Library, storytelling platform StoryCenter will visit Chico State's Meriam Library March 28 to collect and record stories from the community about the Camp Fire.
Next-Level News
In the crisis of the Camp Fire, The Orion reporters were not only learning the job on the fly, but providing critical updates to their community.
Wildcat Returns to Wild
A rehabilitated bobcat that suffered fifth-degree burns in the Camp Fire was released to its new home at the University’s Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve.
Wildcats Rise Supports Hundreds of Students, Employees
The Wildcats Rise Fire Recovery Fund has distributed more than $661,000 to 534 students, faculty, and staff impacted by wildfire since early November.
Planting Hope, Harvesting Joy
For their final project, "Agricultural Leadership" students raised more than $35,000 in toys, blankets, backpacks, gift cards, and other gifts for schools and families directly impacted by the Camp Fire.
Alum Brings Healing with #ButteStrong Design
It took Chico State alum Zac Acker less than three minutes to sketch out the design, & when he posted it on the 12 Volt Tattoo Facebook page, it was clear the #ButteStrong design was a remembrance for what Paradise residents had lost in the Camp Fire—as well as what it still had.
Beer-Crafting Alums Respond With Resilience
Answering the call to raise money for the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund, brewers from across the country have signed on to sell Resilience, an IPA crafted from donated ingredients and packaged in Sierra Nevada cans.
Faculty Act to Care for Animals
Whether working with official groups or tapped by their colleagues to help, faculty members were among volunteers who rushed to support animal rescue efforts after the Camp Fire.
From the President: Recounting the Camp Fire
President Gayle Hutchinson reflects on the Camp Fire, as well as how we will rise as a community to recover and rebuild.
Camp Fire Survivors: In Their Own Words
Seven Camp Fire survivors opened up about their escapes, their lives since the fire broke out, and the ongoing challenges they face. Here are their accounts, in their own words, as shared for #WeAreChico.
Chico State Cyclists Circle up to Help Teammate
Some teammates are just teammates. But when one member of the Chico State Cycling Team asked for help building a line break around his home as the Camp Fire marched through the foothills, his teammates didn’t hesitate to help.
Chico State Greeks Join Forces to Provide For Evacuees
With Phi Kappa Tau leading the way in rounding up donations, Chico State fraternities and sororities came together with a big day-one donation drive to provide for evacuees and victims of the Camp Fire.
Teachers Help Teachers Color Classrooms with Love
School of Education students joined educators from across Butte County to Color a Classroom with Love, providing Paradise teachers who lost their classrooms in the Camp Fire with a start on the supplies they need to resume teaching.
Students Care for Evacuees’ Physical and Mental Wellness
Dozens of cots lined East Avenue Church in tidy rows, a stark contrast to the chaos from which Camp Fire evacuees fled. Every face reflected the effects of exhaustion mixed with terror, the air of uncertainty as thick as the smoke outside.
Student Team Lends a Hand to Help Livestock
Combining love of agriculture with large animal expertise, the Livestock Judging Team cleaned pens and fed donkeys, horses, llamas and other creatures displaced by the Camp Fire.
Harnessing the Power of Purchasers
Chico State purchasing staff put their unique expertise to work for the county's Camp Fire taskforce responsible for sourcing, buying, and paying for critical supplies.
Feeding Those Affected by the Flames
The nonprofit World Central Kitchen has served up thousands of meals for Camp Fire first responders and evacuees—efforts fueled by Chico State volunteers.
Creating Comfort and Order out of Chaos
When a group of Chico State students found a Camp Fire evacuation shelter in need of aid to track those in its care who were displaced, establish a medical records system, and help with filling prescriptions, they launched into action.
Answering the Call for Care
In the wake of the Camp Fire, all volunteers are being routed through the nonprofit Caring Choices. Students, employees, and alumni are helping lead the charge of vetting and assigning applicants where they are needed most.
CSU, Chico Rises to Support Campus and Greater Community Directly Impacted by the Camp Fire
Chico State is working to understand and address the impact of current wildfires on the heart of its institution—students, faculty, and staff—as well as provide mutual aid to emergency responders.
The Rise of Megafires
As wildfires grow faster, larger, and more deadly every day, alumni and faculty share professional and personal perspectives on what’s happening, why, and how we can respond.