By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has awarded renewed funding for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UC Santa Cruz with a grant of $2.63 million over the next four years. The program was established with an initial four-year grant in 2015, with the goal of diversifying the conservation […]
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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
2019-20 Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant awards
Joshua trees will be under the gun in the California of the future. Scientists predict that it’ll become too hot and dry for these striking Mojave plants to persist in much its the high desert habitat by 2100. How much water these treelike yucca plants can store at one time is key to their conservation. […]
Students power resurvey of NRS reserves
While Alex Krohn was completing his PhD, he visited numerous UC Natural Reserves looking for reptiles and amphibians. With dozens of protected wildlands located in a wide variety of ecosystems across the state, NRS reserves are popular places for scientists to collect specimens and do field research. Trying to determine whether certain species of interest […]