By Joy Baccei, Reserve Director, Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve Field research can transform the academic and professional careers of undergraduates, and help increase retention rates in college students majoring in the natural sciences. UC Merced has made it a high priority to enable more students to become involved in hands-on field experiences. The […]
Previous Posts
The organizing principles behind stream communities
Why species are found where within streams, however, remains rather mysterious.
Elephant seals measure “the Blob”
By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz The North Pacific Blob, a marine heatwave that began in late 2013 and continued through 2015, was the largest and longest-lasting marine heatwave on record. A new study using data collected by elephant seals reveals that in addition to the well documented surface warming, deeper warm-water anomalies associated with […]
Researchers track juvenile elephant seals for insights into mortality rates
By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz As young elephant seals grow up, males and females diverge dramatically in their size, diets, migration patterns, and even how likely they are to survive. A new research project led by Roxanne Beltran, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, is investigating how the increasing […]
The FAIR Island Project links data with place of origin
By the FAIR Island Team Every year, field stations like those in the UC Natural Reserve System generate a wealth of data. This information can come in a dizzying array of forms, including sensor readings, digitized plant and animal specimens, DNA barcodes, and observations to name just a few. All too often, however, this information […]
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 […]
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 […]