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 […]
Main Content
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
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 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
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 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 […]