CSUSB recently welcomed nearly 30 community college deans, department chairs, articulation counselors and university leaders to campus for the Community College Partnership Learning Community meeting, a collaborative effort focused on strengthening transfer pathways and improving student success across the region.
This installment looks at the university during the 2020s, when the university navigated the challenges of a global pandemic while expanding academic programs, research activity and regional impact. Yet that didn’t deter Cal State San Bernardino from its mission to help its students define their futures.
Stuart Sumida, professor of biology and the president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, is the lead signatory of a letter signed by more than 150 scientists urging Congress to protect Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, citing its global importance for dinosaur fossils, paleontology research, biodiversity and ecotourism.
“This exciting milestone highlights our department’s dedication to meaningful, data-informed transformation to assess and improve our departmental climate and our ongoing commitment to removing barriers and creating pathways for success in physics, astronomy and beyond,” said Katy Wimberly, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
What began as a classroom commercialization project at CSUSB has evolved into a growing startup gaining national recognition. MSEI students Raymond Moorehead Jr. and Jacob Estrada are advancing BluCore Minerals’ technology to extract lithium and other valuable minerals from wastewater streams while securing funding, accelerator opportunities and industry connections.
The university will host its Spring Commencement ceremonies on May 15-16 at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
Camille Vrieling and Miranda Owen were selected as the 2025-26 Outstanding Students for the College of Natural Sciences. Owen, Outstanding Undergraduate Student, and Vrieling, Outstanding Graduate Student, will be honored at the college’s Spring Commencement at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Toyota Arena in Ontario.
Mahmood Nikbakhtzadeh, assistant professor of environmental health science, has been appointed to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Sustainable Pest Management Advisory Committee, which will play a key role in supporting the state’s efforts to evaluate and reduce pesticide-related risks while advancing sustainable pest management practices.
Katy Rodriguez Wimberly, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was selected as one of 21 astronomers nationwide for the 2026 cohort of the prestigious American Astronomical Society Harlow Shapley Visiting Lecturers Program. This initiative supports faculty in sharing their research through engaging, accessible talks while inspiring curiosity about the universe.