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Climate HQ Newsletter

Volume 2, Issue 2: Oct/Nov 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: Spring 2026 Certificate Courses, Advising, Food Access Resources, October and November Events, Faculty Learning Communities, Storytelling Lab Fellowship, Mini Grants, Documentary Screening, Graduate Certificate in PK-12 Climate Justice Education, Student-Led SNAG Events, and Celebrating Some Past Events!

Climate HQ has had a full fall semester already. We hosted a welcome breakfast, held a climate careers panel, learned about climate storytelling with Climate California's co-producer and director (and SF alum) Hannah Lee, got outside with SNAG with visits to Muir Woods and to learn about fire ecology at Big Basin, celebrated our successes at a fall showcase and fundraiser, held class sessions on critical climate topics, and more.

Artwork by Oakland-based artist Favianna Rodriguez, 2018

As we build communities of care around climate justice, we also recognize the escalating fear and uncertainty of immigrant communities nationally and in the Bay Area. The freedom to move and migrate—natural practices for both human and non-human species globally—have always been deeply connected to environmental and climate justice movements.

In a message to their membership last week, student leaders with SNAG underscored beautifully why the monarch butterfly has long been a symbol of migrant justice. Their words model intersectional climate justice leadership and the solidarity we need.

We still have power in the collective. Begin by making sure you know your rights, connect with resources, and learn about rapid response efforts across the state. We are dedicated to your protection.

What we are reading, watching, & listening to:

La Vía Campesina (2025) premieres new documentary Peasant Dawn

Climate Justice and Migrant Justice: A Guide to Countering Dangerous Narratives

Hankey (2025) A Field Guide to the Climate and Information Crisis

Climate Week NYC (2025) Watch All Recorded Sessions on Demand

Thank you for being a reader of the Climate HQ Newsletter. We'd love to learn where our newsletters are circulating and who they are reaching.

Interested in learning more about Climate HQ? Browse our website or reach out to members of our team to get plugged into our opportunities, classes, and more. Check out our past newsletters to get a sense of what we've been up to.

Plan Your Spring 2026 Semester

Enroll in Climate Change Certificate courses offered in spring!

Certificate in Climate Change: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions

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. This is a great way to get started in studies on climate change and is flexible to accommodate students in all majors.

We have certificate advisors across campus in every college. Contact a certificate advisor to plan your schedule to best fit your graduation timeline!

Enroll in this new course being offered in Spring 2026 by the Race and Resistance Studies Department!

RRS 425: Critical Exposures will cover themes of climate justice in units on the role of photography in settler colonialism and land dispossession, in combatting environmental racism (e.g., on how activist photography brings visibility to struggles and shows links between racial inequality, labor exploitation, and ecological devastation), and in the politics of the destruction of Gaza.

Students will have the opportunity to engage in climate justice projects in group presentations as well as in their individual final projects. 

Food Is A Right

Access Food Resources On & Off Campus

With news of the government shut down and further cuts to critical social programs like SNAP (CalFresh), many may see delayed funds starting Nov. 1st. Below are some resources to plan ahead in this critical time.

The SFSU BASIC NEEDS INITIATIVE supports students with food, financial crisis and housing resources.

Click here for more information.

Food Pantry Hours 

Monday 12-6pm

Tuesday 11am-5pm

Gator Groceries Hours

Wednesday & Thursday 11am-5pm

Location

Recreation & Dining Level in the Cesar Chavez Student Center

IG: @as_foodpantry_sfsu

More resources off campus:

• To find free food in your area visit your local food bank or enter your zip code in the FoodFinder.
• Find Help (great resource to connect by zip code to various local resources, including related to food, housing, goods, transit, and health support). 
• For those impacted by cuts to SNAP and WIC benefits, consider applying through the USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) by contacting the CA state TEFAP’s program manager (contact info here). 
• Bay Area Mutual Aid Resources: Connect with local mutual aid networks in SF, East Bay, North Bay, and South Bay. Find local mutual aid and little free pantries (contact/check to ensure locations are updated).
• TooGoodToGo: Food waste redistribution app that connects you with local restaurants and markets that sell at a discount a surprise box of surplus foods at the end of the day that would otherwise go to waste. Search by location.

Celebrate Día de los Muertos

October 30, 2025 3:30-5:30pm

Rosa Parks Room, César Chávez Student Center

Celebrate Día de los Muertos by creating an amaranth skull for your altar! 

Tere Almaguer and Nancy Pili, from Poder! SF, will discuss decolonizing our ancestral offerings and connecting to ancestral seeds that nurture our bodies and the land. 

In this event, our facilitators will open with sharing stories of how we are connected to Amaranth and the role of ofrendas for Día de los Muertos. 

You will get to use a mold to make one amaranth skull to eat and one to take home. Participants get their own plate and supplies to take to their desk to decorate and personalize their ofrenda.

Co-sponsored by SFSU’s Department of Latina/Latino Studies, Queer Latinx Club, and the Queer and Trans Resource Center.

For questions, reach out to Dr. Carolina Prado (carolinaprado@sfsu.edu).

Do you have an interest in incorporating climate change and/or climate justice into your pedagogy? 

Modeled on Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning’s Teaching Squares, these communities will meet regularly throughout the semester to support each other and share best practices for teaching and learning focused on climate justice pedagogies.

The Climate HQ Faculty Learning Communities will take place Spring 2026. Each FLC should consist of three to six faculty, staff or students. Both interdisciplinary groups and people within departments/disciplines are encouraged to apply.

A $500 honorarium is provided.

Apply by Friday November 7, 2025 at 5 p.m.

View the call for proposals for application instructions and examples of completed projects.

For questions, please contact Climate HQ FLC Coordinator Carolina Prado (carolinaprado@sfsu.edu)

When: Wednesday, November 12 from 12:30 PM - 2:00PM 

Where: Coppola Theater (FA 101). 

Join us for a special screening of NorCal Public Media's Emmy award winning documentary Climate California! A panel discussion with series producer Hannah Lee (SFSU alumni) and participants will follow. Free snacks provided after the screening.

Series and Episode Info:

CLIMATE CALIFORNIA explores the causes, impacts, and solutions of climate change through the stories of people who remind us of the beauty of the world and the power we already have.

Episode 8: “Encapsulated Memory” 

Our world is changing - and it's speaking through flavor, color, and nutrition. So we followed the signals: from regenerative wine to indigenous meals, cow feed innovations to labor demonstrations. What is our food trying to tell us? Featuring: Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino (Cafe Ohlone), Cecilia Rodriguez (North Bay Jobs With Justice), Ames Morison, Ermias Kebreab, and Taye Bright

Save The Bay's skilled habitat restoration team will lead our educational 3-hour experience. Activities include native plant nursery work, invasive species management, and trash removal. We will also learn about wetland ecology, Bay history, and climate change impacts on our Bay. Sign Up Here!

Friday, November 14th

9am - 1pm | Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park

Need a ride to Menlo Park? Email LBurrus@sfsu.edu by November 1, 2025 to request a ride. All tools are provided, no experience necessary.

Apply for the Climate HQ Storytellers’ Lab Fellowship with a $750 Stipend

Apply by November 20, 2025

Storytellers’ Lab Fellows will receive:

• $750 Stipend for Spring 2026
• Three lab workshops with faculty mentors and individualized storytelling & production development support.
• Completed works will screen on campus in April 2026 at the 4th Annual Climate HQ FilmFest!

Apply by November 20, 2025

Awardees will be notified by December 3, 2025. For more details and to apply, please visit the submission page HERE. 

Questions about the application can be sent to sustain@sfsu.edu.

The Climate HQ Storytellers’ Lab provides support and mentorship for students telling stories about climate and ecological justice.

We’re seeking applicants who are making films or audio-visual works of up to 10 minutes in length. We will consider all genres (fiction, documentary, experimental, poetic, essay, animation etc). We will also consider audio projects if you plan to provide simple visuals (graphics, pictures, etc.). In particular, we are looking for projects that take an interdisciplinary approach to storytelling.

All current students—regardless of production experience—are welcome to apply. We strongly encourage student teams and/or groups to apply, especially those that represent different schools and departments on campus.

Projects must be currently in production or produced during the Spring 2026 semester.

Are you interested in working on climate change/justice in your research, scholarship or creative activities? 

Climate HQ supports efforts to mitigate climate change and to address climate impacts through interdisciplinary mini-grants that bring researchers from different fields together to address climate justice goals.These one-time mini-grants will seed and support interdisciplinary research, scholarship and creative activities.

Three to six grants between $5,000 and $12,000 each will be awarded (award period is January-December 2026).

Applications are sought from teams comprised of at least two people who specialize in different disciplines, including at least tenured/tenure-track faculty.

Apply by Friday November 21, 2025 at 5 p.m.



View the call for proposals for application instructions and examples of completed projects.

For questions, please contact Climate HQ Faculty Mini Grants coordinator Carolina Prado (carolinaprado@sfsu.edu).

We are excited to announce that we are accepting applications for the 2026-27 Graduate Certificate in PK-12 Climate Justice Education. 

This year-long, interdisciplinary program supports educators to integrate issues of climate justice across the curriculum. We invite pk-12 classroom teachers, informal educators, and others who work with pk-12 students in any subject area to join this program and work together toward systemic change.

We have a limited number of full scholarships available for our second cohort of climate education leaders! Local educators can also request an application fee waiver code.

March 1, 2026 is the priority deadline for scholarship consideration.

We invite you to visit the certificate website for more details. We also encourage you to register for an upcoming information session. Please help spread the word by passing this on to any pk-12 educators who you think might be interested!

Upcoming Events from Student-Led SNAG

(Sierra Nevada Alliance of Gators!)

Join SNAG's Monthly Art & Fix-It Parties!

Come hang out, get creative, and put sustainability into action with us in HSS 289 (Map Library) from 5:00pm-7:00pm 

Every THIRD THURSDAY of the month!

Bring along an art project you’re working on, some supplies to share, items that are often thrown away to turn into an upcycled craft, or even a piece of clothing that needs a little repair love. Life can get stressful, so we’re creating a relaxed space to slow down, connect, and let your creativity flow together in community. Don’t have anything to bring? No worries—we’ll have of art supplies, canvases, craft materials, and repair/embroidery tools ready for you, thanks to SCRAP and donations from our first Art & Fix-It Party last Earth Week! What are the origins of this art & fix-it party? Our very first Art & Fix-it party was at Climate HQ's Earth Week Spring 2025.

"Fix-It Clinics” actually started in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2009, founded by Peter Mui. The idea was to bring people together to repair broken household items instead of throwing them away—things like electronics, appliances, clothing, and toys. Informal art parties gatherings have long been part of neighborhood and grassroots culture, where friends and community members come together to create, share materials, and celebrate creativity outside of formal art spaces. With one of SNAGs core missions being connecting community & the environment, we thought this was a wonderful idea to create community by combining sustainability and creativity. We hope to see you there!

SNAG Fall Recaps! 

Muir Woods National Monument!

On Saturday, September 13th, SNAG headed across the Golden Gate Bridge for an

unforgettable day at Muir Woods! We spent the day surrounded by ancient redwoods, learning about forest ecology, hearing from National Park Service staff and interns, and hiking through the serene canopy trails. A huge thank you to Muir Woods Community Engagement Ranger, Jackson Lam, for hosting us and making us feel at home in the forest!

It was truly inspiring to hear the diverse stories and career paths of environmental professionals and interns working to protect these incredible spaces. Each summer, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy offers SFSU students the chance to participate in an academic internship at a GGNRA site. Stay tuned for details on the 2026 cohort applications here.

Big Basin Fire Ecology Walk

On Saturday October 4th, we got the wonderful opportunity to visit Big Basin State Park thanks to Climate HQ & Save the Redwoods League. We learned how to make burn piles, which they will be burning when the conditions are just right, thanks to the CA State Park rangers & docents who are holding it down!

Some of us also got the chance to be a part of a PBS Documentary, set to come out in 2027! We also got a personal tour from Hal, a longtime docent who taught us about Coastal Redwoods, Big Basin Ecology, and how the CZU fire has transformed the landscape.

Spending time in the woods was a meaningful reminder of our collective commitment to the environment and the ways we can contribute to its protection. It was healing to give back to the places that nurture us and to stand amongst these ancient, towering beings.

Who is SNAG? Join Us! All Students Welcome

Gator Outdoor Adventures Now Hiring Outdoor Trip Leaders - Apply by November 6, 2025

Mayuran Tiruchelvam, Assistant Professor in the School of Cinema, presented on Climate HQ’s film program at the Planetary Screens Conference (Belfast, Northern Ireland - September 2025). The conference explored the centrality of the planetary in film and screen media, in the context of environmental emergency. In a talk titled “Transforming Relationships of Power”, Mayuran discussed Climate HQ’s screening and queer ecology workshop with the filmmakers of “Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines” and how students were inspired to new forms of resistance.

Unlearning Militarism and Climate Injustice

Reflections from

COMM 572: "Communication and Environmental Justice"

In early October, students in COMM 572: Communication and Environmental Justice (taught by Constance Gordon, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Climate HQ Faculty) had an eye-opening virtual visit with Dr. Tiara R. Na'puti (Chamoru), Associate Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine about U.S. militarism's contribution to the climate crisis. They learned about how militarism functions as a rhetoric, ideology, and material network of polluting technologies that harm lands, waters, and peoples across the planet. As a Chamoru scholar with connections across the Pacific, Dr. Na'puti also amplified ways Indigenous communities are connecting their struggles in response. Read about some of Dr. Na'puti's public scholarship here and here.

Following her visit, some Climate HQ faculty also had an opportunity to attend a screening of the new documentary Earth's Greatest Enemy, on the same subject. The week reminded us that since the U.S. military is one of the largest polluters on the planet and military emissions remain uncounted toward state emissions, to address climate change we must also address militarism, as climate justice advocates have underscored for decades.

Climate HQ Faculty & CFA Team Up

for Red 4 Ed Week 

Every year the California Faculty Association and student organizations team up to host Red 4 Ed, a week of panels, art, discussion, music, and organizing to defend the People's University and discuss critical topics affecting the public education system and social justice education. This year's Red 4 Ed featured a teach-out titled, AI Is Not A Tool: Extraction, Exploitation, and the Material Ecology of AI, co-facilitated by Gopal Dayaneni (Race and Resistance Studies), Blanca Missé (Cinema), and Constance Gordon (Communication Studies).

The teach-out addressed a range of power dynamics related to AI's rapid development, especially environmental injustice (water, energy, and mineral extraction and uneven toxic exposure), labor exploitation (local and transnational), and empire (surveillance, dispossession, and militarism). The panel concluded by uplifting examples of resistance and what we can do right here at the CSU.

Recap from Climate HQ's

Fall Showcase and Fundraiser!

On October 23rd Climate HQ held a Showcase and Fundraiser – an inspiring evening celebrating climate action and community.

Thank you to emcee Carolyn McArdle and keynote speaker Hannah Lee for setting a thoughtful and hopeful tone for the event. We were privileged to hear outstanding presentations from Climate HQ alum Nopal Reyes and current Climate Action Fellow Michael Morales, showcasing the innovative work happening at the intersection of education, music, and environmental sustainability.

Congratulations to our awardees Angela Tafur, Jessica Agnos, and Adriana Gallardos for their exceptional contributions to climate work. Special recognition goes to Neda Nobari, recipient of our Founder's Award, for visionary leadership in advancing climate solutions.

The evening was made even more memorable with delicious plant-based catering from Plant Based Mojo – proving that sustainability and great food go hand in hand.

Grateful to everyone who attended and supported this event. The commitment and optimism in the room remind us that meaningful climate action is not only necessary but achievable when we work together.

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 Earth Week (including an annual film fest), launched a paid Climate Justice Internship Program + more.