Immigration Rights and Resources for the Campus Community

Exercising Your Rights to Free Speech

MenuClose
Compass
Give
background 0background 1background 2background 3

CSU-STEM Pathways and Research Alliance (CSU-SPaRA)

A program for students in higher education, science, technology, engineering, and math

A gold circle with an image of California with text overlay, CSU-SPaRA California State University STEM Pathways & Research Alliance

 

COMPASS oversees the grant-funded California State University STEM Pathways and Research Alliance (CSU-SPaRA) program.

Originally named the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) after the civil rights leader, the program was initiated in 1993 to serve as a comprehensive California State University (CSU) statewide program dedicated to increasing student participation in graduate degrees and the professoriate in STEM disciplines. Students receive guidance and information on how to prepare for, apply to, and be successful in graduate programs and careers. 

SPaRA is an alliance-based program, whereby all 22 CSU institutions of higher education work together to increase the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce by increasing the number of STEM baccalaureate and graduate degrees awarded to students.

 

To be eligible to participate in SPaRA at Humboldt students must:

  1. Be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident
  2. Be enrolled in an undergraduate major at Cal Poly Humboldt in a STEM discipline
  3. Be an individual interested in pursuing graduate studies in a STEM field outside health profession degrees or careers*
  4. Be an individual who has faced or faces educational or economic barriers to STEM graduate study or careers
  5. Have a GPA of 2.25 or higher
  6. Be in good academic standing

(*Please note: SPaRA cannot support students engaged in the pursuit of practitioner degrees such as medical doctors, veterinarians, psychologists, counselors, etc.)

SPaRA at Cal Poly Humboldt is funded through the Chancellor's Office of the California State University system.

Please contact SPaRA Coordinator Nanette.Durbin@humboldt.edu to apply.

SPaRA PROUD 2026

CSU-SPaRA continues the work established by CSU-LSAMP (1993-2025) Program Recognizing Outstanding Undergraduate Distinction (PROUD) publication, the annual magazine of the former CSU Louis Stoke Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP), and the following students were chosen as CSU-SPaRA PROUD representing Humboldt:

 

OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC & RESEARCH IN STEM ALICIA LIZARRAGA • FISHERIES BIOLOGY
ALICIA LIZARRAGA is a woman with dark hair and sunglasses, wearing a wetsuit and holding a crab.

Alicia Lizarraga is a fisheries biology major with a concentration in aquaculture. She is a first-generation college student and a member of the Indian Natural Resources, Science, and Engineering Program (INRSEP). Alicia has contributed to multiple research projects focused on fisheries biology during her 
time at Cal Poly Humboldt and is particularly passionate about sustainable shrimp aquaculture. Alicia has worked with a variety of marine life, and her presentations include the following titles: The Effect of Temperature on the Gametophyte and Sporophyte Development of Alaria marginata; Sperm Cryopreservation of Pacific Oyster and Red Octopus Growth Rates on Three Varying Diets of Sand Shrimp, Pacific Intertidal Crab Species, and a Combination of Both. In fall 2024, Alicia conducted research on the effect of diet on the growth rates of red octopi under the direc-tion of Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe. In spring 2025, she completed an independent study in which she designed and built a recirculating aquaculture system with biofioc technology. She utilized local sand shrimp (Crangon franciscorum) for this project. This work was presented at the authors hall as: Freshwater to Salt Water Conversion in RAS: A Biofioc Approach to Sand Shrimp Cultivation. Alicia Lizarraga was named a Presidential Scholar in 2024 and selected for the COMPASS STEM STARS program 2024-2025. 
 

 

OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC & RESEARCH IN STEM  ASHTON APERFECTO • OCEANOGRAPHY
Ashton Perfecto, a man wearing a hat and lab coat in a lab using lab equiptment.

Ashton Perfecto is an oceanography major. In 2023, Ashton was selected as a McNair Program Scholar. In 2024, he completed an REU at the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University with Dr. Mohamad Baui. His work focused on digitizing specimens and interpreting statis-tical visualizations of morphospace and ecomorphological variation using Gener-alized Procrustes Analysis (GPA) followed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to detect changes in skate morphology. Ashton presented his skate research at the Stanford SURGE Symposium and the University of New Mexico McNair Schol-ars Research Conference. In 2024, he conducted scientific outreach as an invited student presenter on ocean acidification at the Sue-Meg State Park Indigenous Science Weekend. From 2021-2025, Ashton won multiple scholarships and honors. In both 2024 and 2025, Ashton earned the status of Cal Poly Humboldt Presiden-tial Scholar; the Paul Valentich-Scott Scholarship, and the Undergraduate Student Research Award in 2024; two scholastic scholarships in both 2021 and 2023; and The California State Civic Seal of Engagement in 2021. For his capstone, Ashton studied the presence and persistence of dioxins at Wigi (Humboldt Bay) mill sites by performing multiple analytical chemical procedures on mud samples from around the Humboldt Bay shorelines while also facilitating the proposal and re-port writing as the primary editor, all under the direction of Dr. Tamara Barriquand and Daniel O'Shea. He was also selected for the Applied Physics Laboratory REU at the University of Washington in summer 2025. 
 

OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC & RESEARCH IN STEM TRINITY EDWARDS  • 
RANGELAND RESOURCE SCIENCE
Trinity Edwards, a woman with dark hair wearing a jacket in a landscape.

Trinity Edwards is a Rangeland Resource Science major soil science concentration and geospatial science minor. She is a first-generation college student and a member of COMPASS, STEM STAR, and the Indian Natural Resources, Science, and Engineering Program (INRSEP), Trinity's work with Dr. Justin Luong's lab in 2025 investigated sustainable grazing practices as an alternative to herbicidal control of invasive plants to protect the endangered Nipomo Mesa lupine (Lupin us nipomensis). As a result of her research, she has presented findings at the Cal Poly Humboldt 2025 ldeaFest, the Grassland Restoration Action Science and Stewardship Network (GRASS-Net) 2025 Field Day, and the California Society of Ecological Restoration (SERCAL) 2025 Conference. During her summer 2024 internship with USDA-ARS in Burns, Oregon, Trinity collected field data on sagebrush steppe ecosystems, mastering line-point intercept surveys and biomass analysis techniques. Her academic training in geospatial tools (ArcGIS, ENVI) and soil science complemented her hands-on research. Also in 2024, Trinity applied her academic training in a ranch management plan that proposed grazing rotations and rainwater catchment systems. Trinity balanced rigorous coursework, earning Presidential Scholar and Dean's List honors, while mentoring peers as an officer for the Range and 
Soils Club at Cal Poly Humboldt. Additionally, she has uplifted her community through volunteering with Special Olympics Northern California. Her commitment to inclusive STEM was reflected in her roles with LSAMP and STEM STAR, where she supported her fellow students while under the mentorship of STEM STAR graduate students and LSAMP staff. 
 

 

COMPASS: Chart your path, stay the course, & enjoy the journey…

COMPASS

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
Feuerwerker House 131 Mill Street Arcata, CA 95521

707-826-4998 Join our LinkedIn page