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Climate HQ Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 3: February 2025
For students, faculty, and staff.
Climate HQ was created to empower SF State's diverse students, staff, and faculty to become climate justice leaders. Together, we are training student leaders, fostering collective knowledge, creating empowering events, and transforming our campus to face today's greatest climate challenges.
In This Issue: Revised SF State Studies Climate Justice requirement, Climate Action Fellowship info sessions & application, Graduate Certificate in PK-12 Climate Justice Education, upcoming events, summer field courses, Earth Week 2025 & Film Fest save-the-dates, past events, and meet our new HQ intern!
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As Climate HQ, we know these are incredibly uncertain times: climate progress, research, and activism are under threat and social justice education is being targeted and de-legitimized. This tells us something, though, about the transformative power of what we do together and the importance of continuing the mission of our work.
We want to affirm to our collective of students, faculty, and staff that we will continue. We will continue teaching and learning about the unjust realities of the climate crisis, including those that members of our campus felt intimately this January in LA. We will uplift the vital role of climate science and education. We will amplify and learn from the knowledge and leadership of frontline communities. We will listen to the storytellers and the journalists, the artists and the filmmakers. We will celebrate the "solutionaries" locally and draw connections with other struggles around the world. And we will continue cultivating climate justice leaders, to make a difference everywhere and anywhere we can.
As a member of the CSU, let's not forget how monumental of an impact we have. 1 in every 20 Americans with a college degree earned it from the CSU, and 1 in 10 employees in California is a CSU graduate. Our students are the next generation of climate leaders. If you are feeling alone or need community in these times, Climate HQ has your back.
What we are reading & watching:
"How We Hold Each Other Close: An Environmental Zine for Community Care"
Beamer (2025), "Data Scientists Restore Climate Justice Tool Taken by Trump"
Global Investigative Journalism Network (2025) "Guide to Investigating Fossil Fuels"
Branch (2025) "Massive Support for Climate Change Education Continues"
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SFSU's Climate HQ in the News!
Expanding Climate Justice Education for All at SFSU!
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SF State becomes the first major public university in the U.S. to ensure all students learn about climate justice!
In spring 2025, SFSU amended its undergraduate Environmental Sustainability requirement (part of SF State Studies) to include Climate Change and Climate Justice. This means that all students graduating with a degree from SFSU will have learned about climate change (whether causes, impacts, or solutions) and how to advance climate justice. Current students' paths to graduation will not be changed. The change will not add additional financial burden for students or courses to graduation requirements; instead, it revises an existing requirement to incorporate climate justice explicitly. This requirement will go into effect in fall 2026.
Climate HQ Co-Director, Dr. Autumn Thoyre, who helped advocate for this amendment, spoke to KQED about the news: “Our students’ lives are already being impacted by climate change, and so we think it’s part of our responsibility as a university to prepare students for that." In a move that positions SF State students as bold climate leaders, our impact will reverberate throughout the broader state, region, and world.
SF State President Lynn Mahoney emphasized, "Just as we led higher education 60 years ago in addressing the country's most pressing social problems by creating ethnic studies, we are now leading the way addressing our most pressing climate problems."
For a full list of coverage about this revised requirement, visit here.
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Apply for a
Climate Action Fellowship!
Proposal Submission Deadline:
March 3, 2025
Receive $10,000 to fund your
project from 2025-2026!
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Attend an info session via zoom:
Tuesday, February 25th 2:15-3:15pm
Wednesday, February 26th 3:30-4:30pm
Fellowships will support students engaged in creative activities or research related to climate change and students engaged in projects focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts–including education and outreach. The fellowship is open to both undergraduate and graduate students in all fields of study and to students engaged in either on-campus or off-campus projects (e.g., community-based groups or other non-profits). This fellowship seeks to create opportunities for underrepresented voices in the university and in action on climate change to be heard; students with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply. Read about the proposal requirements, timeline, student eligibility, and how to apply here.
Annual Award Amount
$10,000. Up to six 1-year fellowships will be awarded annually*
*preference is for 2-semester projects, but 1-semester projects receiving $5K awards may be considered
Timeline
Awardees will be announced before the end of the Spring 2025 semester. The Fellowship is for one academic year beginning in Fall 2025 and extending through Spring 2026.
Student Eligibility
- Undergraduates and graduate students from all SFSU Colleges are eligible.
- Students must be enrolled at SFSU in both the fall and spring semesters of the awarded academic year (or fall only for 1-semester projects)
- Students must identify an SF State faculty member to provide a letter of support and act as a mentor for the duration of the project.
Have questions? Contact climate.action.fellowship@sfsu.edu.
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Pursue a Graduate Certificate in
PK-12 Climate Justice Education!
Information Session February 25, 2025 | 4-4:30pm | Zoom
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Prospective graduate students and PK-12 educators!
We are currently recruiting our first cohort of educators to participate in SF State’s Graduate Certificate in Climate Justice Education. This program will bring together experienced educators from schools and community organizations to lead climate justice education efforts in the Bay Area and beyond.
Learn more about the PK-12 Certificate.
Register to attend an information session on Feb 25, 2025 4-4:30pm.
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Help Envision Our Campus Teaching Farm
Collaborative Faculty Discussion
February 26, 2025 | 2-3pm | LIB 242
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Envisioning Our Dream Teaching Farm:
A Collaborative Faculty Discussion
CEETL invites you to our first WE WEDNESDAY event of the new academic year on
February 26th, 2025 in Library 242 from 2-3pm
Led by Associate Professor Dr. Zubaida Qamar.
What does your ideal campus teaching farm look like? Join us for a creative and collaborative session where faculty can share ideas and insights to shape a dynamic teaching farm that inspires learning, research, and engagement across disciplines for all members of the campus community. Learn about this event and register here!
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Decolonizing Our Diets Panel
Food Culture as Resilience and Resistance
March 13, 2025 | 4-6pm | Jack Adams Hall
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Sponsored by: Climate HQ, Department of Race and Resistance Studies, AS Environmental Resource Center, School of Cinema Marcus Endowed Chair, General Union of Palestinian Students, and the Family, Interiors, Nutrition, and Apparel Department. | |
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Join us for a dynamic discussion of how food culture has been and continues to be a container for both resilience and resistance amongst oppressed peoples. In the face of colonization, enslavement, war, and genocide, communities have used food as an expression of freedom. We will learn from our panel of award winning chefs who have brought their politics and the political histories of their own communities into their work as chefs and public intellectuals.
Panelists include: Reem Assil (award-winning Palestinian-Syrian chef and author based in Oakland), Bryant Terry (award-winning African American vegan chef, food justice activists, and author), Samin Nosrat (award-winning Iranian-American chef and author of the #1 NYT best seller Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat), and Crystal Wahpepah (an Indigenous food warrior, restaurant owner, and author).
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Climate Change:
From Hot Air to Environmental Justice
March 11, 2025 | 6pm | SEIC 210
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Image from Wehner, Michael & Duffy, Margaret & Risser, Mark & Paciorek, Christopher & Stone, Dáithí & Pall, Pardeep. (2024). On the uncertainty of long-period return values of extreme daily precipitation. Frontiers in Climate. 6. 10.3389/fclim.2024.1343072. | |
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As part of their ongoing Graduate Seminar series, the Department of Computer Science will host Dr. Michael F. Wehner to discuss how scientists detect changes in extreme weather statistics and attribute those changes to the consumption of fossil fuels. Dr. Wehner will also show how quantitative data can demonstrate the measurable impacts of these extreme weather changes on all people, but especially those who are already experiencing environmental injustice, and how inequities are intensifying in a warming world.
Dr. Wehner is a senior scientist in the Applied Mathematics and Computational Research Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where his current research concerns the behavior of extreme weather events in a changing climate, especially heat waves, intense precipitation, drought and tropical cyclones.
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Sign Up Now!
Two New Summer Field Courses in 2025
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LS 430: Future of the Forests
Short-Term Study Abroad in Ecuador!
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Applications are closing soon for LS 430 Future of the Forests. This class will be taking students to Ecuador for three weeks from mid-June to early July 2025. Students will visit the world’s most biodiverse rainforest and cloud forest, see first hand the impacts of oil development, and hear from environmental defenders combating oil and mining projects. This course is part of the Climate Change Certificate and meets many requirements at SF State.
For more information, contact Professor Logan Hennessy (loganh@sfsu.edu), and complete the: Student Interest Survey
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DES/ENVS/LS 312
Climate Issues and Activism
R3 Summer Session
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Concerned about the climate and our environment? Want to earn credit hiking through the Sierra Nevadas? Ever wonder how to make change through activism? DES/ENVS/LS 312 Climate Issues and Activism is a combination on-campus and field-class scheduled for July 2025. This course will include a one-week visit to the Sierra Nevada Field Campus near Bassets, CA. We look at the impacts of climate change in California’s ecosystems and ecology, and explore several techniques and strategies in using art for activism, and engaging in campaigns.
Contact Professors Saskia van Kampen (saskia@sfsu.edu) and Logan Hennessy (loganh@sfsu.edu), and complete the: Student Interest Survey
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Meet Our New Climate HQ
Earth Week Intern
Welcome Angela Tafur!
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Hello! I’m Angela Tafur (she/her/they), a junior majoring in Environmental Science and Geography while pursuing the Climate Change Certificate.
I am deeply passionate about our connection to Earth’s systems, encouraging people to explore nature, and celebrating the natural beauty of San Francisco and California's ecosystems.
I'm thrilled to be a part of planning San Francisco State’s 3rd earth week to inspire climate action and engage our school community with the wonders that make our planet so extraordinary. 🌎🌲🦆
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Keep Up With Our Campus Partners! | |
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Environmental Resource Center (ERC)
Spring 2025 Events
Get involved with the student-led Environmental Resource Center!
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ERC x OTRC
Clothing Swap
March 10
11am-1pm, Malcolm X Plaza
Give your clothes a second life and embrace sustainable style! The Environmental Resource Center, Queer & Trans Resource Center, and Fashion Network are teaming up to host a free, gender-neutral clothing swap and "Fix-It Clinic."
Swap gently-used items for a new-to-you wardrobe, and learn valuable repair and upcycling skills from fashion experts.
Bring clothes to mend or simply enjoy the swap – all are welcome!
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Other Upcoming ERC Events
February 25
Zero Waste Sorting
February 26
AS Tabling
March 10
Clothing Swap
March 18
Zero Waste Sorting
April 3
Clothing Swap
April 21
Flea Market
April 22
Job Mixer/Panel
April 23
Hood 2 Woods: A Call to Action
April 23 & 24
Climate HQ Film Fest
Follow the ERC on Instagram for more!@as_erc_sfsu
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Save the Date!
Earth Week 2025 at SFSU
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ERC Flea Market
11am - 2pm, Malcolm X Plaza
Join ERC in Malcolm X Plaza for their annual Flea Market featuring all student vendors. This event is hosted to support our local students and uplift small businesses that promote and encourage sustainable practices.
Environmental and Climate Justice Jobs Mixer
11am - 2pm, Malcolm X Plaza
Network and connect with environmental and climate justice organizations, non-profits, and public sector agencies who are actively hiring. Learn about the diversity of climate-related jobs and find internships available for students and soon-to-be graduates.
Meditation for Global Peace & Healing Earth Mother
11:15am - 12pm, SFSU Lawn
Join us on a campus wide meditation for healing Earth Mother.
Hood to Woods: A Call to Action, BIPOC Students Healing in Nature
12:30pm - 2:15pm, Jack Adams Hall
This panel will feature Student Insider Researchers and their experiences in the Reclaiming Nature: Hood to Woods Research Program. The panel will promote critical thinking about access to green spaces and facilitate a campus-wide call to action, collecting student-centered policy recommendations. This event will include a panel discussion and eat & greet (12:30pm) and tabling with outdoor organizations (2:15pm).
Learn more about the Reclaiming Nature Program here.
Earth Week Film Festival Day 1
4pm - 6:30pm, Creative Arts, Knuth Theater
Don't miss out on Day 1 of our Film Festival to experience inspiring student films followed by a powerful feature film Basandja, directed by Congolese filmmaker Petna Ndaliko. Petna, the filmmaker, engages Samuel Yagase of GOVA as the Congolese communities explore how to restore “Basandja” – the local traditional code of conduct that governs the management and care of the forest, the waters and the environment as a whole, while they are confronted by the violence brought on by Cobalt and other mineral mining. This will be a remarkable event with an intimate opportunity to learn from the storytellers and advocates themselves! Learn more about the Friends of the Congo and The Basandja Collective.
Arts and Activism Day
11am - 2pm, Malcolm X Plaza
Join Climate HQ in Malcolm X Plaza on Thursday, April 24th, 2025 for an afternoon celebrating the interconnections between art and activism. Onsite screen-printing, free screen-printed posters will be available for students to take home! Other activities include live music, performances, and more.
Earth Week Film Festival Day 2
4pm - 6:30pm, Creative Arts, Knuth Theater
Join us this day to experience the screening of our feature film Powerlands, directed by Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso followed by a panel discussion with the creative minds of the film. A young Navajo filmmaker investigates displacement of Indigenous people and devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that have exploited the land where she was born. On this personal and political journey she learns from Indigenous activists across three continents. Learn about our incredible partners: Black Mesa Indigenous Support, Front Line Defenders, NOTIWAYUU, Panalipdan! - Southern Mindanao Region, Tierra & Territorio - APIIDTT, and The Yansa Group.
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Calling All Filmmakers!
Want to have your student film shown in the
3rd Annual Climate HQ Earth Week Film Fest?
Look out for our submission portal opening on March 1st on the Climate HQ website!
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Need Certificate Advising? | | |
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Climate Change: Causes, Impacts, & Solutions Certificate
Interested in the Climate Change Certificate? Need advising? This unique 13-19 unit program is open to students of any major and is a great way to complete your SF State Studies requirements along with many of your Upper Division and even major requirements too! Students take 5 classes, one in each of the following areas: Foundations; Causes; Impacts; Solutions; and a Practicum course. Students gain an interdisciplinary overview of climate change issues and climate justice too. This is a great way to get started in studies on climate change and is flexible to accommodate students in all majors.
Stay connected with us to learn about upcoming classes in the certificate and speak to any certificate advisor to plan your spring 2025 schedule!
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Youth Climate Summit 2025
Save the Date!
April 18, 2025 | Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
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Celebrate youth-led climate action in San Francisco in honor of Earth Month! 🌍 Join the San Francisco Environment (SFE) Department for a dynamic Youth Summit ahead of Climate Week. See how young leaders are tackling climate change, driving real solutions, and making a difference in our city.
Reserve a Spot
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Climate Leadership In Action
Transforming California's Future through CSU's Climate Change Initiative
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Climate HQ Co-Directors
Kai Burrus, Aritree Samanta, and Autumn Thoyre led a talk at the Climate Solutions Now conference in Feb 2025.
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This conference was organized by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience. This was their fourth virtual conference on climate change and sustainability.
The Co-Directors led an engaging and collaborative exploration of the California State University's climate change leadership program via an interactive workshop. The workshop invited participants to envision and actively shape the future of climate action across California's largest public university system.
This included key strategies such as climate change curriculum development, research grants, student fellowships, and cross-campus collaborations that aim to create a more equitable and comprehensive approach to addressing climate challenges.
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About Climate HQ
Our Initiatives & Core Values
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In 2021, participants across 6 of SF State's colleges joined to create what would become Climate HQ, a hub to empower SF State's diverse students, staff, and faculty to become climate justice leaders. We began by creating the Climate Change Certificate Program, open to all students in every major.
We then developed the Climate Justice Leaders Initiative, a multi-year effort to grow our impact through education, research, and action. We launched a paid opportunity for students called the Climate Action Fellows, developed Applied Climate Justice Courses, rolled out Faculty Learning Communities and Faculty Mini Grants, initiated a PK-12 Graduate Certificate in Climate Justice Education for teachers, hosted annual events like our thematic Earth Week (including an annual film fest), + more.
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