California’s climate story is often told in extremes — droughts and floods, wildfires and coastal erosion, smoggy freeways and warming waters. But at Cal State Long Beach, a quieter kind of climate work is underway: in labs, along the coast and in classrooms where students engage with more than 150 sustainability-related courses.
And it’s not just theoretical.
Faculty — especially in the colleges of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Engineering — are tackling climate change head on: advancing clean energy, building resilient infrastructure and protecting wildlife. Their research informs policy and drives innovation while opening doors for under-resourced students whose communities often are the first and hardest hit by global warming.CSULB is also part of the new, CSU-wide Consortium on Climate Adaptation to advance climate literacy and research.
In celebration of Earth Day, here's a look at some of the most significant climate work being funded at The Beach.
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Reviving the wetlands
Tucked between busy roads and rising seas, California’s wetlands are easy to overlook. But to wetlands ecologist and CSULB Professor Christine Whitcraft, the coastline’s muddiest stretches do some of the heaviest lifting in climate resilience.
“These systems slow down water flow, protect from storm surge, filter water and remove pollutants before they reach the ocean,” said Whitcraft. “From just a human food perspective — if you like fish tacos, then you like wetlands. That’s what I always say.”
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Whitcraft’s Urban Coast team — which includes fellow CNSM professors Jesse Dillon and Lora Stevens — studies more than 20 wetland sites along the California coast, tracking how they hold up against pollution, rising seas and development. The data they collect helps state agencies identify troubled areas and guide restoration, protecting wildlife and nearby neighborhoods from flooding and poor water quality.
Her work is just the kind of research CSULB's newly launched Urban Coast Fund aims to support. A partnership between the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Long Beach-based California Resources Corporation (CRC), the fund backs high-impact, student-led research on urban coastal challenges.
“This partnership with CRC is just the start of what we hope will be a place that people see the potential to make a difference,” Whitcraft said, adding that more funding will be crucial to survival.
CRC President and CEO Francisco Leons hopes to inspire others to invest in their local communities.
“We are proud to support initiatives that foster innovative research and hands-on learning opportunities for students tackling real-world environmental challenges,” he said.
If you like fish tacos, then you like wetlands. That’s what I always say.
For students, it’s more than a research opportunity — it’s access. The fund helps cover fieldwork, lab supplies and travel, lowering barriers for students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds.
“Even if the undergrads do not become wetland ecologists, they will know that there’s value in that muddy, stinking ecosystem,” Whitcraft said. “And it keeps them engaged. It makes the classroom real.”
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Innovating clean energy
Fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas power much of our world — but they’re also the biggest source of heat-trapping emissions driving climate change. That’s why CSULB researchers are developing smarter energy solutions to power the future without polluting it.
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- Chemistry Professor Fangyuan Tian is designing porous materials to capture methane from landfills, transforming a powerful greenhouse gas into a usable resource.
- Professor Matt Becker studies geothermal energy, which is tapped from deep inside the Earth. Becker uses fiber-optic sensors to track underground heat and fluid flow.
- Mechanical engineering Professor Joseph Kalman is developing cleaner rocket fuels and studying how microscopic changes in propellants affect burn rates and emissions.
