From UC Santa Barbara Mammoth Lakes is a resort town in Mono County in the Eastern Sierra just south of Yosemite. While its population swells during tourist season, just over 8,000 residents live in the remote area year-round. For 2,000 elementary school children each year, UC Santa Barbara’s Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserves’ (VESR) Outdoor Science […]
Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory
Stream insects show it’s possible to clean up mining pollution in rivers
By Harrison Tasoff, UC Santa Barbara Mining involves moving a lot of rock, so some mess is expected. However, mining operations can continue to affect ecosystems long after activity has ended. Heavy metals and corrosive substances leach into the environment, preventing wildlife and vegetation from returning to the area. Fortunately, this damage can be reversed. […]
FUERTE connects Latinx students with environmental sciences
by Shelly Leachman, UC Santa Barbara To get a range of possible answers to the most difficult questions, it stands to reason you’d want an array of minds examining those issues. In the environmental sciences, a broad suite of fields that encompasses everything from marine biology to habitat restoration, wildlife conservation and climate science, that […]
Bond funds renew stream research, build a lecture hall at SNARL
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. In the world of stream research, the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory is a big deal. Developed as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service site for […]
Confluence: Drawings and Photographs
Berkeley artist Todd Gilens made a series of drawings and photographs informed by time spent in the Sierra Nevada with scientists from NRS reserves. He visited Valentine Camp, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, Yosemite Field Station, and Sagehen Creek Field Station during the 2015-18 field seasons. He’s now assembling this body of work into an […]
California Heartbeat Initiative soars ahead
A University of California project to study the availability of water in California’s ecosystems is off to a soaring start. The California Heartbeat Initiative (CHI) uses drones, sap flow meters, and other remote sensing techniques to monitor the water status of plants across large swaths of the landscape. The project aims to interpret water status […]
Major gift to Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserves
Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserves gets $1 million gift to expand support for students, staff and researchers, and to upgrade infrastructure
Drought in Sierra streams
Long ago naturalist John Muir extended an open invitation to harken to the rugged beauty and wonder of the high mountains. Listen to the sounds of gushing streams as they roll through wild canyons, amid gardens of rocky meadows. Wander, surrounded by the forest and snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Today, however, these places […]