Research

Wearing a labcoat and safety goggles, Anna Vo reaches for a test tube while another student works in the lab behind her.

Natural Sciences Students Put Themselves Under the Microscope During Summer Research

The College of Natural Sciences’ Summer Research Institutes provide students with hands-on experience with a research topic in their field of study.

Karina Haddad walks through the woods in fall with a drip torch and shovel to conduct a prescribed burn.

Innovative Program Strives to Protect the Wildlands of the West

The first of its kind in the CSU, the interdisciplinary master's degree in wildland management is graduating students from its inaugural cohort.

Thousands of Physical Maps Need a Home—Students Helped Find One

With a move from Butte Hall looming, GIS students helped find a new digital home for hundreds of physical maps.

David Hassenzahl stands behind a dais speaking into a microphone

College of Natural Sciences Dean Recognized with Environmental Lifetime Achievement Award

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences has recognized College of Natural Sciences Dean David Hassenzahl with its William R. Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dancers illuminated in pink and purple light dance at a rave.

Office Hours: Sociology Professor and Dance Music Culture Researcher Danielle Hidalgo

Danielle Hidalgo spent four years physically and digitally following three women DJs in an immersive research experience into dance culture.

Aubrey Miller holds a handful of tootbrush fibers in her hand in the concrete lab.

Students Set the Future in Concrete

Just one of five programs of its kind in the United States, our Concrete Industry Management Program is creating the workforce for a $200 billion industry. With a 100 percent job-placement rate and a cross-disciplinary approach that ensures our graduates can lead in the boardroom and at the job site, CIM students are solving some of the industry’s greatest challenges.

Kendall Hall with spring flowers in the foreground

Chico State Students to Present Research at Statewide Competition

Ten Chico State student delegates will compete against scholars statewide at the California State University’s 36th annual Statewide Research Competition.

Maurice Ledoyen stands in a white coat in a lab with equipment in his hands.

Student Fly-Fisherman Casts His Line into Researching Local Creeks

Ten years after leaving college, Maurice Ledoyen returned and is conducting research studying metal accumulation in aquatic organisms in creeks downstream of the Camp Fire.

Photo of Kendall Hall seen through the branches of bloomed flowers.

Faculty Showcase Offers Chance to Be ‘Inspired’

Three faculty members who published amid the pandemic share their passions and stories of persistence.

Dan Wheeler stands on a rooftop and smiles under a building

5 Questions with Construction Management Executive and Alumnus Dan Wheeler

As an executive at Turner Construction, Dan Wheeler has put up new buildings on campus, recruited more than 100 Chico State grads, and mentored countless more. This month, he will be honored as the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus of the College of ECC.

A student pulls a sample of wastewater from a large jug.

Poop Sleuths: Student Researchers Track COVID-19 in Residence Halls

Two biological sciences faculty and eight students are conducting complex wastewater monitoring in the residence halls to research the virus that causes COVID-19.

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.