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UCNRS

University of California Natural Reserve System

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Reserve Operations and COVID-19

During the unprecedented public health crisis posed by the spread of COVID-19, the UC Natural Reserve System supports the cancellation of any reservation to protect the health and safety of visitors and staff. Reserve visitation remains the authority of respective campus NRS and reserve staff. Reserves are empowered to make the determination to cancel reservations as needed on a case-by-case basis. COVID-19 Information for UC employees provides guidance for all University of California operations. We consider the well being of our community to be paramount, and enjoin all staff and visitors to continue our exemplary 55-year record of service and safety.

About us

The UC Natural Reserve System is a library of ecosystems throughout California. Most of the state's major habitat types are represented, from coastal tidepools to inland deserts, and lush wetlands to redwood forests. No other network of field sites can match its size, scope, and ecological diversity. The NRS offers outdoor laboratories to field scientists, classrooms without walls for students, and nature’s inspiration to all.

By the numbers

What we do

Research

Research

Scientists from around the world conduct field research in the protected landscapes of the Natural Reserve System on topics ranging from climate change to endangered species to habitat restoration.

Teaching

Teaching

Visiting a reserve brings textbook lessons about the natural world to life. Students and teachers flock to reserves from the University of California and institutions around the globe.

Public Services

Public Service

From hosting school field trips, to organizing scientific lecture series, to welcoming the public for weekend classes, NRS reserves benefit California communities.

News and Highlights

Inoculating frogs against an amphibian pandemic

By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System A deadly disease has been burning through amphibians around the world. What some call the most devastating pathogen of all time has played a role in over 90 extinctions, and caused over 500 more species to decline. Research associated with the first outbreaks of chytrid disease, caused by […]

Field and Lab Methods in Aquatic and Coastal Science

Students dip their toes into coastal science at Younger Lagoon

By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System It’s a glorious spring day at Younger Lagoon Reserve, and Laura Chain is suited up and ready to go. Clad in black waders—voluminous rubber pants with boots attached, held up by suspenders—she steps gingerly into the yellow-green water. “It’s a little weird getting in because I don’t know […]

soil warming

Soil warming experiment to measure future carbon emissions

By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System A bucolic meadow in Marin is about to be catapulted into the next century. Climate researchers plan to heat its soils to temperatures the region won’t experience for decades. They want to see whether global warming will release more atmosphere-heating carbon from the vast stores now sequestered in […]

Plan your visit to the NRS

Access to NRS reserves is by permission only. Reserves are available for teaching, research, and public service, but not general recreation.

Apply to visit via our Reserve
Application Management System

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