We often think of aquatic ecosystems in a stark, binary way: fresh water or salt water. Ocean or lake. Sea or river.

But things aren’t so black and white. Ecologists use the term “brackish water” for areas where ocean water mixes with fresh water, in spaces like estuaries and marshes. This intermingling of otherwise separate worlds is literal, but also lends itself to metaphorical exploration, as in the recent exhibition at the University Art Gallery, Brackish Water Los Angeles.

Co-curators Aandrea Stang and Debra Scacco spent five years planning and researching the exhibition, which was part of the Getty Foundation’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide, an initiative linking more than 70 exhibitions at museums and galleries across Southern California. The Getty Foundation also provided $100,000 for research support and $180,000 for the exhibit itself.

Stang and Scacco sought out art that emphasized in-between spaces where different phenomena collide, whether waterways or cultural and class systems. “We created a show with the Dominguez Hills community to speak to the scientific and metaphorical meanings of the in-between: the meeting of fresh and salt water, nature and infrastructure, and the marriage of cultures in Los Angeles that create third spaces brimming with life, culture, and new beginnings,” the curators said.

The work of the exhibition went beyond the gallery. Stang and Scacco co-taught two semesters of a course focusing on art and water, engaging students in cross-disciplinary research, field work, and site visits.

In Southern California, brackish water is often found in tidal zones and the region’s vanishing wetlands. The CSUDH campus itself was once a wetland and is located near the brackish area of the L.A. River and the Port of Long Beach—areas extensively explored by the curators and students.

Works on view in the University Art Gallery featured art and historical specimens on loan from local museums and institutions, including the CSUDH Gerth Archives & Special Collections. The exhibition also encouraged audiences to consider the shape of the city through off-site activations, such as Judith Baca’s 1978 mural Great Wall of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley.

 “Audiences also had the opportunity to take action in protecting and engaging with the natural environments at the heart of Brackish Water Los Angeles,” Stang said, noting public programming that included a habitat restoration day in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Preserve, and a workshop with CSUDH researchers turning waste materials into energy storage devices (see Burnt Yard Waste Becomes Sustainable Energy Storage). “The exhibition was able to serve as a place of access and agency.”

Pictured at top: Laddie John Dill’s “Sand and Light Landscapes”

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CSUDH’s Nala Williams was named the 2025 NCAA Division II Player of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). It’s the first time in the program’s history that a player has taken home the prestigious award.

The junior guard played in all 38 games for the Toros, helping guide the team to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA National Championship game. Williams led the team in scoring and assists, while leading the entire nation in steals—her quick hands and hustle were vital to the Toros’ high-pressure defensive schemes.

Williams, a native of Long Beach, Calif., was also named to the WBCA All-American First Team. Her national honors capped off an incredible season in which she was also the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Player of the Year, CCAA Defensive Player of the Year, All-CCAA First Team, DII CCAA West Region Player of the Year, All-West Region First Team, and a member of the CCAA All-Tournament Team.

“This award is such an honor,” said Williams. “I just feel blessed to be in the position that I am. Being able to represent my school for the whole nation is very cool. The DH community is very special—everyone cares about everyone else. It felt really nice to represent a community like that.”

CSUDH head coach John Bonner added, “Nala is the epitome of what it means to be a teammate. She’s one of the most selfless, confident, hard-working young women that I have been fortunate enough to coach—truly a coach’s dream. Nala puts in the work every day. She honors the game with her time, energy, and approach.

“I’m proud to see her reap the benefits of the work she has put into the game. She deserves everything she has earned.”

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CSUDH’s clinical science program is one of California’s top-value degrees, according to a recent report by College Futures Foundation. Toro clinical science alumni achieve median earnings of over $120,000 just five years after graduation, making it one of the state’s most lucrative degree paths. CSUDH is the only public university in California offering a B.S. in clinical science, making it by far the most affordable option for students pursuing this career. Toros also boast a 99% pass rate for medical tech licensure exams.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the findings, which also named CSUDH as “one of the state’s most effective campuses in delivering top payoffs to low-income students.” Among 28 programs evaluated at CSUDH, 23 enabled graduates to recover the cost of their degree within a year or less—further bolstering the university’s sterling reputation for delivering excellent return on investment and fulfilling the promise of social mobility.

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In October 2024, the CSUDH Gerth Archives and Special Collections announced that they had been chosen to house the works of esteemed political analyst, author, and CSUDH alumnus Earl Ofari Hutchinson. The archives will now be the home of the original manuscripts of Hutchinson’s major published books.

“I wanted to ensure that scholars, researchers, and the interested public have access to my manuscripts and writings that challenge the always contentious issues of race and politics in America,” said Hutchinson, who earned a master’s degree in humanities from CSUDH in 1989.

Hutchinson is the author of 17 books and hundreds of articles and opinion pieces on race and politics in America. He is a frequent guest commentator on CNN, Fox News, NPR, and other TV and radio networks. His live call-in radio program The Hutchinson Report was syndicated nationally until 2024. Hutchinson is the founder of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, director of the National Alliance for Positive Action, and a founding member of the L.A. chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

“A prime mission of mine in writing has been to cajole, influence, and challenge readers to think hard about not just social problems but social solutions to them. That was the ultimate end game in my writings,” Hutchinson said.

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Associate Professor of Linguistics Iara Mantenuto is working with community activist don Félix Cortés, community members of San Sebastián del Monte, and CSUDH students in the Mexican state of Oaxaca to preserve the endangered indigenous language there—by documenting and studying local plant life.

Mantenuto’s three-year project, funded by a National Science Foundation grant, uses plants native to the mountainous region as an entry point into the Mixtec language. Researchers are documenting and photographing local plant names, descriptions, and their uses. Indigenous people of Oaxaca traditionally use local plants in cooking, decoration, construction, tool creation, rituals, and medicine. They’re also key to current community-led efforts toward eco-friendly reforestation.

“The Mixtec are a very agrarian culture,” says Mantenuto, “so these plants and their uses really matter to them. We thought that made agriculture a natural entry point into their language.”

The project is also being documented on video, with the goal of producing a 30-minute documentary about the community. Along with filming the project, the team taught videography skills to local youth to empower them to engage with storytelling through technology and to contribute to the documentary.

The team created a comprehensive illustrated field guide on practices involving plant knowledge and traditional uses. The project will also create shorter videos for use in teaching, a lesson plan for language workshops based on the plants and their traditional use, and other teaching materials. The UCLA Botanical Garden is currently supporting the project and working with the team to decide which plants from the Sierra Mixtec to add to a dedicated section of their garden.

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