Breadcrumb
Research & Facilities
Graduate Research at Cal Poly Humboldt
Our graduate research thrives at the intersection of place, purpose and interdisciplinarity. Students access real-world questions grounded in our communities and pressing global challenges.
Recent work in the Natural Resources M.S. program examines wildfire behavior, fuel dynamics, and post-fire forest recovery across northern California. Students in Biology investigate coastal ecosystems, from surf-zone fisheries to shifting benthic communities following marine heatwaves. Research in Environment & Community explores Indigenous food systems, community health, and rural youth pathways into healthcare careers, while Environmental Science & Management students study climate resilience, energy policy, and community responses to coastal risks such as nuclear-waste storage.
Our research reflects Humboldt’s distinctive blend of rigorous methods, place-based inquiry, and socially meaningful scholarship, empowering graduate students to make original contributions both locally and globally.
Post-prohibition changes in cannabis genetics, Caleb Y. Chen (M.A Public Sociology, Spring 2025)
The impact of plant-based diets on erythrocyte function, oxidative stress, and vascular inflammation in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Walter G. Craig (M.S. Kinesiology, Spring 2025)
“Thanks for the [land] acknowledgement, now what?”: Settler histories and decolonial futures at Cal Poly Humboldt’s Schatz Tree Farm, Sangeeta Sarkar (M.A. Environment & Community, Spring 2025)
Climate change, policy paralysis, and a nuclear waste island? Exploring perceptions of risk, trust, and community agency in navigating uncertain futures facing Humboldt Bay's spent nuclear fuel storage site, Alexander Brown (M.S. Natural Resources, Environmental Science & Management Concentration, Fall 2024)
Assessing community perspectives to inform kelp forest restoration and management: The case of Mendocino Coast, California, Jocelyn Enevoldsen (M.S. Natural Resources, Environmental Science & Management Concentration, Fall 2024)
Analyzing science classroom design ideas of high school students: variations amongst LGBT-identifying students, Abraham A. Lewis (M.A. Education, Summer 2024)
See all graduate theses and projects https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/
Facilities
If you’re looking for hands-on research experience, you need the right tools. At Cal Poly Humboldt, you’ll find an array of special facilities that are available for graduate student use.
Facility highlights include the Coral Sea Research Vessel, Wildland Fire Lab, Rou Dalagurr: Food Sovereignty Lab & TEK Institute, and the Human Performance Lab.
Centers & Institutes
Cal Poly Humboldt houses a diverse range of centers and institutes that contribute to academic excellence and elevate graduate research.
Highlights include the California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP), Oliner Altruism Institute and Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC).
