By Guy Lasnier, UC Santa Cruz Boulders the size of vehicles and decades-old redwoods were ripped from the banks of the Big Creek drainage when an atmospheric river inundated the Landels-Hill Big Creek Natural Reserve on the Big Sur coast in late January. More than 14 inches fell in two bouts in a 50-hour period between […]
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
Consequences of fire on California ecosystems
When fires sweep across the landscape, they do much more than incinerate flammable items in their way. Flames cause chemical changes to soils, drive out animals, and expose areas to far more sun and rain than they once experienced. In some cases, a burn can be enough to shift not only erosion patterns but entire […]
Winter rains take toll on wildfire-burned Big Creek
Burned by fire this past summer, the NRS’s Landel’s-Hill Big Creek Reserve is now suffering the ravages of landslides triggered by torrential rains dumped by an atmospheric river. The Dolan Fire, set by an arsonist in late August 2020, denuded vegetation across the rugged reserve, which stretches across 1,750-acres of Big Sur from the Pacific […]
2020-21 Mathias Grant recipients
Most people will be staying close to home in 2021 due to the pandemic. UC Santa Barbara graduate student Samantha Sambado will not be among them. Her doctoral research will take her on multiple journeys up and down California, in search of ticks and the human pathogens they carry. “Ticks are the number one vector […]
Wildfires spark burn recovery study at 9 UC Natural Reserves
August wildfires incinerated tens of thousands of acres across seven UC Natural Reserves and affected parkland adjacent to two more reserves. This fall, the UC Natural Reserve System (NRS) will deploy rapid response teams to characterize the extent and intensity of the burns, as well as the effects of wildfire on a wide range of […]
2020 wildfires burn six UC Natural Reserves; seventh threatened
Wildfires are burning at an unprecedented six reserves in the UC Natural Reserve System across northern and central California, and threaten a seventh. Blazes sparked by both lightning and arson have consumed nine buildings and one vehicle, as well as an untold number of acres of grassland, forest, chaparral, and other natural habitats. Beginning the […]
Careful planning yields a better Big Creek reserve
This story is part of NRS reserves transformed by Proposition 84 funds, a series describing the facilities improvements and expansions at NRS reserves supported by Proposition 84 bond funds. Big Sur is one of California’s scenic wonders. A nexus of rushing creeks, vertical mountains, cool redwood stands and underwater kelp forests, this slender section of […]
Research shows field courses bridge STEM diversity gaps
When Roxanne Beltran was admitted to UC Santa Cruz, she was thrilled to finally start her college career, possibly to become a marine biologist. But the introductory biology and physics classes she was required to take almost drove her out of science. “I was suddenly in 400 person lecture halls, when my entire high school […]