Academic Affairs

We will develop a network of investigators dedicated to developing transformative virtual field experiences for lower division underserved and underrepresented students at Community Colleges (CCs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges (TC), and other institutions that serve these students. The Research Coordination Network for Undergraduate Virtual Experiences as a Recruitment Tool for Underrepresented Students in STEM will make field biology experiences accessible through virtual technologies.

Under this Agreement, SSU will provide research and investigation services to improve the effectiveness of Sonoma Water's stream maintenance, water supply, energy, and sanitation services. In addition, SSU will train students in water research techniques, develop water-related research grants for SSU faculty, and conduct a water research symposium for faculty and students.

This project partners six organizations to reduce wildfire risk to people and nature by conducting ecologically informed mechanical fuels management on ~2,000 acres at 12 public and protected sites in High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones across Sonoma County and southern Mendocino County. Ecologically informed fuels removal, prescribed grazing, and prescribed fire will be conducted on approx. 500 ac and 15 miles of road and trail. All sites provide significant public benefits including programs for under-served or disadvantaged communities.

This project sets the stage to establish the Galbreath Wildlands Preserve as a prescribed burn demonstration site for fuel reduction, ecological and cultural objectives. Through on-going public events, the site will give community members first-hand experience comparing these approaches, and gaining the knowledge and skills needed by the community to re-introduce prescribed fire as a land management tool in southern Mendocino County.

The purpose of this Task Order is for the SSU to provide technical professional services to West Yost for the City of Ukiah/Russian River Watershed Association (RRWA) Task Order #3 contract 592-60-22-15 as follows:

Sonoma State University is participating in a grant sponsored by the Irvine Foundation with five other California State University campuses that are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) to support the use of chatbots to increase retention, engagement, and career exploration for CSU students, particularly under-represented minority and Pell-eligible students.

Alongside other CSU campuses, Sonoma State University is participating in a Faculty-Led curriculum redesign program to improve student achievement on a university-wide level. Through a highly integrated structure and a cross-campus learning community, participating programs will share their specific expertise and amplify each other’s efforts resulting in strengthened student engagement and achievement. 

This project will continue the research started in Phase One on a long-term monitoring network on west coast powerline Rights-of-Ways (ROWs). Vegetation management needed to maintain safety in powerline ROWs has significant effects on local ecosystems.  The main goals of this Phase Two study are 1) To allow all sites at the “West Coast Observing Network” to obtain a full three years of pollinator and vegetation observations, 2) To continue to train students in current environmental issues and 3) To help improve the understanding of ecosystem recovery after wildfires.

The purpose of the 2020/2021 project is to expand and further refine "making" across the State of California with four strategic components: supporting leadership activities and expanding maker initiatives while pivoting to virtual and online maker activities and initiatives at SSU; convening the first fully online higher education maker leadership symposium to bring in makers from across the CSU and other two and four year colleges; allocating resources and scholarships for maker instruction, faculty pedagogy, certificate programs, and open access handbooks; supporting STEM maker activitie

This grant will fund an extension of Tinker Academy, which is a free two-week STEM summer academy for middle-school students that is a collaboration among the Career Technical Education Foundation, the Sonoma State School of Science and Technology, and the SSU Library. Tinker Academy teaches STEM skills through maker activities, including coding, robotics, sewing, 3-D modeling, and crafting. Participants are provided free lunch and materials.