by Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz News Center New technology is bringing an unprecedented level of environmental surveillance to sites throughout California and beyond as part of a UC systemwide effort to understand and predict the effects of climate change on the state’s ecosystems. As scientists deploy their instruments at research sites throughout the UC […]
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
UCSC Natural Reserves director appointed to endowed chair
by Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz News Office UC Santa Cruz has appointed Gage Dayton to the Wilton W. Webster Jr. Presidential Chair for the UC Santa Cruz Natural Reserves. The endowed chair was established in 2015 with a $500,000 gift from the Helen and Will Webster Foundation and matching funds from the UC Regents. […]
Coastal fog and redwood health
by Elliott Campbell, UC Merced The future resilience of coast redwoods is now of critical concern. Redwoods rely on fog to supplement their water intake during California’s long dry seasons. An observed decline in coastal fog over recent decades may be associated with human-caused climate change and expanding urban heat islands. However, fundamental ecological measurements are obscured by the […]
Nonstop nature: the NRS field course
It looked more like the rituals of a secret society than science. Stepping high over gray-green clumps of sagebrush, the gaggle of five pulled a tangle of climbing rope taut to form a square with three columns. After lowering the corners carefully over their selected area, the sun-hatted university students began pawing the foliage in […]
2015-16 Mathias Grants awarded
Fourteen University of California graduate students have been awarded 2015-16 Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grants from the UC Natural Reserve System. The students, from six different UC campuses, each received up to $3,000 to fund field projects at 24 different NRS reserves. Virtually all of this year’s successful proposals will study ecology, evolution, […]
Gift funds Presidential Chair for UCSC Natural Reserves
Endowment established by Helen and Will Webster Foundation will broaden opportunities to use the natural reserves as living labs and outdoor classrooms by Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz has received a $500,000 gift from the Helen and Will Webster Foundation, plus matching funds from the UC Regents, to establish a $1 million […]
Bringing field ecology online
If outdoor learning were a religion, Erika Zavaleta would be among its foremost acolytes. A professor of environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz, Zavaleta regularly leads ecology students into the wilds of California, immersing them in the field for weeks at a time. So when the University of California joined the rush to develop online […]
Saving oaks in Big Sur
Sudden oak death study aids reserve, teaches field research It’s a late November morning in Big Sur, and four UC Santa Barbara students are pushing through the forest on the steep western slopes of the Santa Lucia range. The fog that still shrouds the coastal highway is just a memory here, and the late winter […]