Academics

CSUDH educates students and prepares them for careers in various industries and fields related to the environment. Below is a list of the sustainability-related offerings.

Degrees

BS in Earth Science
BA in Geography
MS in Environmental Science
BS in Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Option
BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, Environmental Studies Concentration
BA in Liberal Studies, Natural Science Option
Health Humanities Minor for People & Planet Earth (opening Fall 2025)

Courses

ANT 101 | Biological Anthropology
ANT 495 | Special Topics: Traditional Mesoamerican Agriculture and Sustainability
EAR 460 | Global Change
EAR 490 | Senior Seminar in Earth Sciences
EAR 496 | Internship in Earth Sciences
GEO 357 | Urban Environmental Geography
GEO 416 | Earth's Climates
GEO 495 | Special Topics: Sustainability & Geodiversity in the Balkans
HEA 466 | Environmental Health Problems
PHI 340 | Environmental Ethics

A full list of identified courses is available for download in PDF format here:

Do you have a sustainability course or major/minor not listed here? Are you conducting sustainability research that is not part of the list? Join the 2024-2025 AY inventories by filling out this self-survey with your activities here.

Looking to add sustainability into your courses?

The Office of Sustainability is here to help! We can provide campus data on energy, water, and waste for service-learning courses and student research projects. We also can conduct guest presentations on a variety of sustainability topics and/or tours of campus features such as the Central Plant Tunnels, Campus Urban Farm, and the Net Zero Innovation Center.

Request a Guest Presentation by completing a presentation request form.
- And/or screen our pre-recorded presentations on our CSUDH Sustainability Youtube Channel. Participants can also take a comprehension quiz which will auto-email the results and completion certificate for each video. See our Sustainability Crash Course flyer [PDF].
CSUDH is a member of AASHE, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education which means anyone with a @csudh.edu e-mail address can create a free log-in and access curriculum content and other resources to support sustainability integration on campus.
CSUDH Sustainability also has a dedicated institutional-level academic Center for Sustainability & the Environment that offers additional faculty-focused resources to support the integration of sustainability into curriculum, research, and community engagement efforts.

Living Laboratory Experiences & Opportunities:

Hands-On Sustainability Class Projects & Research: Classes regularly engage in ongoing campus sustainability projects with the Office of Sustainability. Past examples have included class projects to support community-based social marketing efforts, user behavior change campaigns, campus waste audits, lighting assessments, and more!
- Contact sustainability@csudh.edu if interested in engaging your classroom in on-campus sustainability projects as part of your coursework.
Past Projects: A partial collection of the many research papers, class projects, and other examples of past living laboratory projects conducted with the Office of Sustainability and/or campus living lab venues are available in this Dropbox folder (password "CSUDH")

Physical Living Laboratory Venues & Resources:

Campus Utility Data Sharing: Campus utilities (energy, water, waste) are tracked closely, with monthly reporting to the CSU Chancellor's Office. This data is readily available for class and research projects via a publicly accessible dashboard here:
https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNTZjZmI5N2ItZWExYi00NDU0LWJkZTktMWZjYzMxMjBhYWExIiwidCI6IjgyZjQwODFiLTg5YmMtNDM4Ny04MTgxLTRhMDNlNzk2NjBmMSJ9
The CSUDH Net Zero Innovation Center is a demonstration site featuring net zero energy, water, and waste innovations in what was formerly the outdoor picnic table shelter at CSUDH’s Central Plant. The space is now equipped with solar panels, batteries, energy monitors, and an LED TV display capable of showing live energy consumption. It also has net zero water/waste and efficiency displays including a rain gutter/rain barrel system, living wall, and recycling guidance display. It’s designed to function as a living laboratory, educational space, and inspiration to students to integrate sustainable living and practices in their daily lives. Contact the Office of Sustainability for a class tour of the space. Combine that with a Central Plant tour to maximize the educational experience!
Central Plant Tunnel Tours are held as part of an annual open house event during October Sustainability Month, and all campus community members and visitors are encouraged to attend. The Central Plant provides 80% of the heating, ventilation, and cooling to the campus, and uses a quarter mile of underground tunnels to run its extensive piping system. Learn more about energy efficiency and what it takes to keep the campus cool by either attending the annual Open House tour and/or by requesting a special tour for your class.
The Campus Urban Farm has 15 raised planting beds, an outdoor classroom space, and on-site greenwaste composting system to serve as a living laboratory for faculty interested in integrating urban farm operations into their curriculum. Past classes have used the Farm to explore a wide range of topics including food justice, regenerative agriculture, environmental reflection, cultural implications of historic food crops, soil health, and more. Others have utilized the Farm's many volunteer opportunities to designate the Farm as their preferred service-learning site for the semester. The outdoor classroom space also makes an excellent place to hold class events and lectures before heading out into the raised beds for a tour. The opportunities are endless! Visit the Campus Urban Farm page for more information.
Heritage Creek and the Dominguez Hills Vernal Pool are both native preserves on campus that are managed by Biology. Visit the Landscaping page for more information on these unique living laboratories.

Current Living Laboratory Opportunities:

Utilizing the campus as a living laboratory to further academic learning in sustainability is an ongoing priority for CSUDH Sustainability and Facilities Services. While the list below summarizes the immediate and/or high priority projects related to sustainability, it is not necessarily comprehensive. If you have an idea for a potential project not listed here, please still e-mail sustainability@csudh.edu to discuss.

Zero Waste Projects: There are ongoing projects related to strengthening the campus zero waste program in a variety of ways. This includes fulfilling needs related to waste tracking, campus user behavior change, social campaigns, mapping of waste infrastructure and more!
Organic Herbicides: In the ongoing pursuit of greener operations, Grounds is exploring alternatives to synthetic herbicides on campus. Research assistance is needed to evaluate effectiveness of potential organic replacements.
Local Brownfields: In partnership with the City of Carson, CSUDH is involved with local community engagement, documentation/identification of brownfield sites, and supporting land reuse solutions related to brownfields- specifically local environmental justice issues related to the area's historic legacy of oil well abandonment.
- Research and grant activities related to abandoned oil-well mitigation are especially welcome as CSUDH has 26 known abandoned, capped former oil wells on its grounds that impede development.