By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System Enjoying time in nature is much more comfortable with the right stuff. Gear such as hiking boots and a warm sleeping bag can spell the difference between a transformative experience and an utterly miserable outing. But buying outdoor basics can take considerable financial means. For cash-strapped college students, […]
Internships
NRS instrumental in biologist’s ascent to grad school
By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System Tim Brown spends his summers on top of the Golden State. While other Californians tan at the beach, hold BBQs, or relax at the pool, he makes a beeline for the high country. Striding across snowfields and rock scree atop eastern California’s highest ranges, this UC Santa Cruz […]
Stephanie Rosas, UC Santa Cruz
I’m a range management intern. The ranches occupy much of the park space. I’m going out on almost every one and have been able to explore so much while at work. I’m in the process of measuring residual dry matter on the ranches that have leases to graze cattle. It’s a way to monitor […]
Michele Maybee, UC Berkeley
I’m the archaeology intern here at Point Reyes. This summer I’ve probably done over 50 condition assessments of different prehistoric and historic sites in the park. Mainly the park’s mission is preserving the sites. A lot of times we’re monitoring to see how well the site is stabilized. We would like them all […]
Stella Yuan, UC San Diego
I’m the wildlife intern. Going into the internship I thought I’d only be focusing on the research of maybe just one species. But I’ve been dipping my toes in a lot of different projects. They’re doing spotted owl surveys, they have a bat research project going on, and we’ve also done monitoring of western pond […]
Diana Tataru, UC Santa Cruz
I’m working with the range management office here at the park. We work with the ranches. A lot of that is restoration work—making sure that the cattle are in areas where they should be, fencing off riparian areas, and planting riparian native plants. Heavy cattle use can really enhance invasive plant abundance and then lower […]
NRS-Point Reyes National Seashore Interns
Five University of California undergraduates got to live and work at Point Reyes National Seashore this summer thanks to a new internship program developed by the UC Natural Reserve System and the National Park Service. The students served as interns in range management/vegetation ecology, archaeology, dune restoration and rare plants, and wildlife ecology. “The students […]
Michael Spaeth, UC Merced
I’ve been working on the dune restoration project and also doing rare plant monitoring in the park. I’m out in the field four to five days a week, every week. I’ve been helping the park surveying different types of federally protected and listed species, including Tidestrom’s lupine and beach layia. I think there’s only three […]