Research

Office Hours: Regenerative Agriculture Leader and Professor Cindy Daley

Professor Cindy Daley honors her roots through regenerative agriculture education and carbon-smart solutions to fight climate change.

An all-electric street sweeper is parked outside an academic building.

Making CSU History: Chico State Adds All-Electric Street Sweeper to Fleet

In its push to achieve climate neutrality by 2030, Chico State became the first CSU campus to purchase and use an all-electric street sweeper.

Constantin Raether, wearing a mask and squeezing a syringe, works in the RAD Lab and Soil Preparation Area at the University Farm.

Seeding the Future: Center for Regenerative Agriculture Receives $1 Million Gift

Looking to improve communities one at a time, Bruce Burnworth discovered Chico State's Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems—and found it worthy of a $1 million donation.

Angelica Rodriguez collects water samples along a stream in the mountains.

Multimillion-Dollar Grants Ensure Hands-On Research Continues for STEM Students

Chico State was awarded a pair of multimillion dollar grants, ensuring that STEM students in three different colleges will be able to continue receiving hands-on research opportunities with faculty.

Sunshine breaks through the tops of trees over a ranch-style setting.

Where Education Meets the Land

The Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve is a living laboratory for students of all ages, ground-breaking research, and innovative land management practices.

A rock decor inscribed "Home Sweet Home" is placed at a destroyed home from the Camp Fire along Newman Avenue in Paradise.

Paradise Continues to Rebuild and Evolve Three Years After the Camp Fire

Three years after the Camp Fire scattered the residents of Paradise, the town continues its rebuilding process—while also evolving.

Kendall Hall is framed by trees as a student walks up its entry path.

Fulbright Program Names Chico State to Prestigious List of National Higher-Education HSI Leaders

Chico State has been named a Fulbright HSI Leader in the designation’s inaugural year, and is one of just 35 higher education institutions nationwide to receive the honor.

Sean Nies uses a paintbrush to brush soil away from mastodon teeth.

New Gateway Exhibit Showcases Fossils Unearthed in Northern California

This extensive paleontology exhibit gives visitors a chance to explore our region’s rich evolutionary and geological history, including fossils from one of California's most remarkable discoveries.

Vivian Hernandez poses on the steps in front of brick building

CSU Trustees’ Award Adds to Accolades for History and Latin American Studies Major

Vivian Hernandez keeps racking up honors and awards at Chico State. Her latest, a prestigious CSU Trustees' award and scholarship.

Lee Altier stands among the plants in the aquaponics garden at the University Farm

Professor Receives Fulbright Scholar Award To Teach and Study Agricultural Best Practices in Turkey

Lee Altier is taking nearly 40 years of farming expertise to Ege University in Izmir, Turkey to focus on agroecology.

Sunlight breaks through branches and leaves of trees that are surrounded by grass and volcanic rocks

Land Donation Doubles Size of BCCER, Now CSU’s Largest Ecological Reserve

Chico State's BCCER received an anonymous land donation—doubling its size and making it one of the largest college- or university-operated reserves in the entire state.

Jesse Dizard stands on an open ridge in the foothills in front of a wooden pole with clothes and hats hanging from it.

Anthropology Professor Selected for Prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award

Jesse Dizard is interested in how natural resource management—or lack thereof—impacts individuals, subcultures and bureaucracies. In Jordan, he'll be studying impacts of its water scarcity crisis.

Unearthing California’s Prehistoric Past

Geological and environmental sciences students and faculty are assisting on one of the biggest paleontological finds in state history.

A student walks past the Science Building in the evening light.

Science Takes Center Stage

This fall—three years after breaking ground— the new Science Building will open fully with more than 523 in-person class sessions serving thousands of students.

CRARS Awarded Five-Year, $7 Million Grant to Help Counter Climate Change Challenges

Chico State’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems was awarded a five-year, $7 million grant by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Jordan Beach smiles while inspecting a wooden skyscraper model

Jordan Beach Shook Up the Chico State Civil Engineering Department

As an outstanding student, tutor, club leader, and mentor, Jordan Beach shook up Civil Engineering at Chico State.

Edward Berdan smiles and leans against a wall.

Diversity Fellow Finds Niche in AAPI Politics

As a master’s student in political science, Edward Berdan has bloomed into a scholar destined to change the study of AAPI politics.

Brian Brazeal wears a helmet with a headlamp in a dark mine shaft.

Anthropology Professor Chosen for Prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award

Anthropology professor Brian Brazeal is Chico State's own Indiana Jones— and was recently awarded a Fulbright award.

Juanita Mottley sits on a concrete bench with flowers to her right and in front of the Student Health Center

5 Questions with WellCat Services Director Juanita Mottley

As executive director of WellCat Services, Juanita Mottley oversees both physical and mental health services for the campus—while also leading the University's COVID-19 response as its pandemic manager.

Office Hours: Psychology Faculty and Neuroscientist Shawn Bates

Professor Shawn Bates may be new to the Psychology Department, but he brings with him a longstanding passion for neuroscience, mentoring, and diversity in STEM.

A nursing student wearing protective gear holds a syringe that contains the vaccine against the coronavirus.

Nursing Students Serve on the Frontlines Against COVID-19

Doing their part to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, students from Chico State's School of Nursing are volunteering at local sites to provide much-needed testing and administer long-awaited vaccinations.

Family of Professor Emeritus Gifts $1 Million for Educational Programming at Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve

The Dempsey family has donated $1 million to the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve—the largest cash gift in its history—for educational programming.

Lisa Kendhammer fills plastic bags with chemistry equipment for at-home experiments.

Chemistry Kits Deliver At-Home Learning Opportunities

Despite learning virtually for the vast majority of the fall semester, chemistry students are still able to conduct hands-on experiments at home.

Water gently flows through the Sacramento River

Chico State Enterprises Receives $10 Million Grant to Continue Salmon Habitat Restoration Projects

Chico State Enterprises received a $10 million grant over five years to help restore 47.3 acres of juvenile salmon habitat and 4.3 acres of spawning habitat along the Upper Sacramento River.

Jacque Chase places her hand on a sitting bench and Peter Hansen smiles as they stand among grass and trees.

Mapping Lab Takes Closer Look at Population Displaced by Camp Fire

As a team of Chico State researchers continues to study the initial movements of those displaced by the Camp Fire, as well as where they are now, their findings are revealing.

An aerial view of campus shows trees turning color in fall as students walk on campus.

History Majors Embrace Groundbreaking Research with Inaugural Adelante Grants

This summer, three history majors—Vivian Hernandez, Jose Valadez, and Juan Vega—tackled topics much of the world knows little about with support from a national grant.

Chico State nursing student Elyse Fontana poses and sits on a desk

Nursing Students Tackle COVID-19 Contact Tracing

In need of public health clinical hours to fulfill their graduation requirement, students from the School of Nursing served their communities as COVID-19 contact tracers.

A digital illustration of four different movie titles

KIXE PBS to Showcase ALVA-Produced Films in August

Local Public Broadcasting Service station KIXE PBS to air a series of documentary films from Chico State's award-winning Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology.

A collection of baskets from four generations of Mountain Maidu Weavers of the Meadows-Baker Family sits in the Valene L. Smith Museum.

Chico State Museums Help CSU Preserve the Past, Define the Present, and Direct the Future

The Valene L. Smith Museum supports a broader mission to advance knowledge, learning, and culture by introducing the community to global cultures, history and people.

Chico State Leads New Future for Agriculture Industry

To mitigate the ag industry's environmental impact, researchers at the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems are finding new methods and teaching them to the next generation.

William Nitzky stands in the Valene L. Smith Museum with an exhibit behind him.

Office Hours: Anthropology Faculty and Documentarian Will Nitzky

Professor Will Nitzky wears many hats—museum director, professor, anthropologist—and he added one more with his directorial debut, Bang the Drum: Documentary.

Hyewon Pechkis smiles while in conversation.

Five-Year, $430,000 Grant Funds Cutting-Edge Physics Research at CSU, Chico

Physics faculty Hyewon Pechkis was awarded a National Science Foundation Early Career Award, granting her and her cutting-edge research $428,734 over the next five years.

The Digital Divide

The Geographical Information Center has been pioneering projects to improve high-speed internet access across California for years. Now, as COVID-19 forces millions of people to work and school from home, the center's efforts and expertise have never been more critical.