Long Beach State University Building a Sustainable Future
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sept. 28, 2018) – Long Beach State University will reinforce its commitments to environmentally-responsible practices by forming a President’s Commission on Sustainability, charged with improving the campus’ abilities to conserve resources and to take actions to mitigate effects of climate change.
“Long Beach State is keeping its promise to protect the environment,” President Jane Close Conoley said. “Our investments in technology and research will not only reduce the campus’ climate footprint, but will provide thousands of students with the tools to make sustainability an important part of their own lives."
Long Beach State wetlands ecologist Christine Whitcraft will serve as the new commission’s interim chair before membership elections scheduled for spring. She will be joined by other members of the faculty, as well as students, campus staff and members of the Long Beach community.
“The presidential Sustainability Commission hopes to focus in the short term on zero-waste practices on campus, transportation issues, as well as climate action planning, so that we are engaging with the local community in making our campus more sustainable in terms of how we get and use our energy,” Whitcraft said.
Whitcraft’s scientific work includes researching a pilot program at Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge designed to show whether sediment augmentation can protect coastal wetlands from rising sea levels.
The new commission will also be charged with fostering environmental literacy by blending sustainability topics into classroom lessons for students in all fields. The commission will also work on the development of an on-campus Sustainable Living Center to help students adopt sustainable lifestyles.
The Commission’s inquiries and future actions will build upon Long Beach State’s existing sustainability commitments. Among them, the campus has a partnership with Long Beach Transit providing students and employees with free bus rides as an alternative to driving to campus, has begun to distribute zero waste receptacles around campus to divert recyclable materials from landfills, installed solar panels at campus parking lots, and has designed its new College of Continuing and Professional Education building as a net-zero structure. Solar panels to be installed there will enable the building to generate as much energy as its occupants will use.
Long Beach State has also committed to a Climate Action Plan that envisions the attainment of climate neutrality by 2030.
Long Beach State will also commemorate October as Sustainability Month. Events are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Oct. 2 when Matt Petersen, chief executive of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator is scheduled to visit the campus to discuss how the higher education community can work toward sustainability.
For more information about the university’s commitments and programs, as well as details about events throughout Sustainability Month, view the campus’ Sustainability webpage.
###
About the campus:Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.
B-Roll: Interviews with Long Beach State University wetlands ecologist Christine Whitcraft, President Jane Close Conoley and sustainability coordinator Holli Fajack, as well as footage of sustainability-related assets on campus.
