Welcome to the September newsletter updating you on everything going on in the College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering.

Celebrating innovation: 10-plus years of Fab Lab

 For more than 10 years, the Fab Lab has been a place where California State University, Bakersfield students and members of the surrounding community can go to make their ideas a reality. But before it became a hub of creativity and innovation, it too was just an idea waiting to come to fruition.

Opening in 2014, the CSUB Fab Lab was the first of 10 initial fabrication labs that Chevron announced it would fund nationwide. The Fab Foundation is a network of Fab Labs located all over the world, and CSUB was the first in the CSU or University of California systems to have its own Fab Lab. The lab opened soon after CSUB’s College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering (NSME) added its three engineering programs, marking a new chapter in the college’s growth.

“Getting the Fab Lab was huge for us because we knew we had this big responsibility on our shoulders to show Chevron that we could make this successful and prove to them that it was a good working model,” said Dr. Andrea Medina, NSME’s director of grants and outreach, who also oversees the Fab Lab. “It was just so cool that they put that faith in us to be their first. We’re very proud of what we've been able to do with that space.”

Read more about the Fab Lab’s history and the next 10 years!

CSUB appoints new CERC director

Meet Katy Larson, the new director of the California Energy Research Center (CERC)! She joined us in July, bringing with her 15 years of career experience in the energy industry and a lifelong love for science.

“It aligns with a lot of my strengths and my interests in education and in energy. I have a real passion for energy program management,” she said of her new position. “It gives me that opportunity to innovate, to learn. It allows me to continue to work with the corporate sector, but also to now enter this space where I get to work with educators. It blends the best of both worlds.”

Learn more about Larson at the link!

Geology faculty, students share insights from research trip off coasts of Canada, Greenland

Have you ever dreamed of escaping the hot summer weather by taking a long, all-expenses-paid cruise in a cool climate? That is what some CSUB geology undergraduate students and their professor did this summer — only this cruise was a research voyage where participants worked in rotating shifts 24 hours a day for five weeks at sea to collect seafloor research samples off the coasts of Canada and Greenland.

This research trip, funded by the National Science Foundation, is the sample collection phase of a collaborative project to study modern processes and seafloor micro-organisms for a better understanding of changes in ancient oceans and climate variability.

Principal Investigators Dr. Tony Rathburn (CSUB Professor of Geology), Dr. Sophie Hines (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) and Dr. Chandranath Basak (University of Delaware) were joined by four CSUB undergraduate students and 26 scientists and students from 11 institutions on the research vessel Roger Revelle in the Labrador Sea and Arctic Ocean this summer. Seafloor sediments and ocean water were collected across the Labrador Sea, in water depths ranging from 100 meters (328 feet) to over 3600 meters (11,811 feet).

Read more about the research voyage!

NSME faculty members among those honored at University Day

At University Day last month, five faculty members were honored with awards, including two from NSME! Dr. Danielle Solano (Chemistry & Biochemistry) received the Faculty Leadership and Service Award, and Dr. Matthew Herman (Geology) received the Promising New Faculty Award. Join us in congratulating Dr. Solano and Dr. Herman!

Read more about their accomplishments and those of other awarded faculty!

CSUB earthquake science goes statewide

In the spring, CSUB geologist Dr. Matthew Herman was awarded a grant by the Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) to study the formation of the northern San Andreas Fault from Bakersfield to Cape Mendocino and how this process affects California earthquakes. This summer, he led the charge for CSUB to become a Participating Institution of SCEC, joining several other CSU campuses and other high-profile institutions across the world. Recently, Dr. Herman attended the 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, which hosted 250 of the top earthquake scientists from around the world to discuss the latest breakthroughs in earthquake science, technology and hazard analysis.

Math faculty keeps busy over the summer

The faculty of the Department of Mathematics were busy this summer, with many attending conferences and presenting research over the last few months. Three math professors attended a three-day Quantum Information Science and Technology workshop at CSU San Marcos over the summer. Drs. David Gove, Charles Lam and Qiwei Sheng, along with Dr. Kanwal Kaur from CSUB’s computer science program, enjoyed a crash course in quantum information science and learned ways to introduce these topics in their curricula.

In July, Dr. F. Javier Trigos-Arrieta presented his work in algebra and topology, “Sequentially Barrelled Groups,” at a conference in honor of Dikran Dikranjan for his 75th birthday and of Ivan Prodanov on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his birth, at the University of Udine in Udine, Italy.

Dr. Anjana Yatawara attended two conferences: the August Joint Statistical Meetings, where he presented “"A GRU-CNN Hybrid Model for Forecasting Influenza-Like Illnesses,” and the National Workshop on Data Science Education in June, where he presented “Findings from ELEVATE: Enhancing Learning Experiences Via AI Techniques Grant.”

NSME IN THE NEWS

Citing changing trends, CSUB launches doctorate in nursing program

The Bakersfield Californian recently covered the launch of our new Doctor of Nursing Practice program and the opening of the new Varanasi Simulation Center. The new program was created to meet the need for more health care providers and give nurses the opportunity to earn the advanced degrees. Read more about the event, the new program and the simulation center!

1 in 11,000: Sabrina Ung

Electrical engineering student Sabrina Ung was featured in The Runner’s first issue of the Fall 2025 semester. Read about her work on campus and at AC Electric, her involvement in campus clubs and how gratitude keeps her going through difficult times!

EVENTS

STEM-NET Interdisciplinary Research SEED Grantees webinar

Dr. Linh Bui (Public Health) will present

Tuesday, Sept. 30 at noon via Zoom

Register

Geology Day

Friday, Oct. 17

RSVP

Chemistry Day

Friday, Oct. 24

Open House

Monday, Oct. 27 from 5:30-7 p.m.

"What's New at NSME" is a monthly newsletter produced by the College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering at California State University, Bakersfield. This newsletter will go out every month during the regular school year to highlight the work our students and faculty are doing both on campus and off. If you have any questions or entry submissions, please contact Kelly Ardis at kardis@csub.edu.