California State University, Bakersfield and Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) are partnering to address a critical need for local educators who are trained to teach computer science.CSUB has received a four-year, $350,000 grant through KCSOS that will cover costs for 140 K-9th grade educators — 35 per year starting with this year’s cohort— to complete the university’s Computer Science Supplementary Authorization (CSSA) program and secure their enhanced teaching certification. Learn more.

Learn more about our National Geographic-supported environmental justice storytelling work with local high school students. 

How can we inspire learners of all ages to engage with the world and contribute to cutting-edge scientific research?What if we said you could join teams of scientists and National Geographic Explorers without leaving your school community? Well, you can! Explore global citizen science and its potential for teaching and learning through the new, free, self-paced National Geographic course “Learning Through Citizen Science.” The course consists of three modules designed to introduce you to global citizen science and familiarize you with key projects and tools. Read more.

"This spring Kern High School District students took small samples of dust and dirt near their homes and parks and anywhere else around town where they wondered if there might be valley fever spores lurking in the soil..." Read more.

"Girls are receiving plenty of hands-on instruction and opportunities to explore this week as part of a robotics camp being hosted by the Bakersfield City School District at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School..." Read more.

"A big piece of the citizen science for the students at South High camp is studying 40 years of Environmental Protection Agency air quality data for California and Kern County...." Read more.

"As we enter a holiday season that will look and feel different from any other we have experienced, I am writing to share a way to spend time at home with your loved ones that also builds your scientific literacy and fuels scientific discovery about our most pressing community issues..." Read more.

"Did you know a professor at CSUB is leading a Citizen Science collaboration here in Kern County? It's basically crowdsourcing science in a way connects researchers and the public to increase the scale of data collection as well as the improve speed of scientific data analysis. As she puts it, "A citizen scientist can be anyone, and citizen science can happen anywhere," including right here in Kern County!" Read more.

"In this month’s episode, Dr. Brittney Beck, assistant professor of teacher education and director of the Citizen Scientist Project at Cal State Bakersfield (CSUB), and Dr. Antje Lauer, professor of biology at CSUB, discuss the importance of citizen science and its impact on communities such as KERN County."  - CSU-NET All Things STEM Podcast: Listen here.

“The Citizen Scientist Project addresses the need for highly qualified STEM-C educators who are able to create and facilitate interdisciplinary STEM-C lessons that engage local issues and help students translate STEM-C concepts into civic action, with an emphasis on the development of digital civic infrastructure..." Read more.