Fall 2024 | Issue 22
From the Dean
With classes in full swing and the campus once again bustling with students, I’m constantly reminded of how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to serve this college as interim dean.
Cover Story
Cal Poly Strawberry Center Celebrates 10 Years
The center has shepherded more than 150 students through its doors.
The Cal Poly Strawberry Center has grown to be a premier institute in the last decade — providing a vital link between academia and the burgeoning California strawberry industry.
Features
Change continues as the college makes strides at enhancing the student experience.
Alumnus Wins Bronze Medal in Paris Paralympics
Paralympian athlete Mark Barr (Nutrition, ’09) has long embodied perseverance, from surviving an aggressive bone cancer as a teenager to winning his first medal in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France.
Beauty in Every Bouquet
At the crest of the hill on Via Carta Drive at the northeastern tip of campus sits a small but bustling plant shop tucked away between greenhouses and work sheds. A quaint hand-painted sign outside hints at the beauty of the shop’s interior.
Too Much of a Good Thing?
At Cal Poly’s Escuela Ranch just north of the main campus on Highway 1, Cal Poly professors and students are engaged in a timely research project to determine the long-term environmental impacts of fire retardants commonly used to combat wildfires that are increasingly more frequent especially at the wildland-urban interface.
Winemaker Showcase Celebrates 30 Years
Thirty years ago, Cal Poly students from the Vines to Wines Club, with the help of their advisor Keith Patterson, began planning a dinner fundraiser that would boost their club’s presence on campus.
Q&A with Colleen Bouseman
Colleen Bousman (Recreation Administration, ’95), owner and event producer at See & Be Productions and Wildflower Experience, has been a race director for more than 25 years, building on a legacy started by her father when she was just a young girl.
Making of a Mascot
In 2013, Cal Poly alumnus Robin Baggett (Business Administration, '73) and his wife, Michelle, donated a gelding named Moonstar to Cal Poly for the purpose of boosting school spirit on campus.
Stumped
Cal Poly’s Oldest Avocado Orchard Provides New Educational Opportunities
The terraced avocado orchard lining Radio Tower Hill along Highway 1 is a familiar Cal Poly agricultural landmark. But things are looking a little different now, as nearly 100 stumped trees, painted white, slowly begin to regrow.
Preparing Students to Make Headlines
Cultivate is the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences quarterly magazine, sharing student Learn by Doing stories and exploring how our faculty, staff and alumni continue to positively impact the world.