by Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System The estate of philanthropist Audrey Steele Burnand has gifted $2.631 million to the NRS’s Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center in Borrego Springs. The funds will expand the endowment to support the center. “A lot of reserves don’t have an endowment and scramble for funding. We’re very fortunate to […]
Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center
UC Irvine Natural Reserves: Using science to serve nature
UC Irvine’s three NRS reserves host researchers, students and volunteers addressing ecological challenges.
Buildout reshapes social club into premier desert science center
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.
NRS reserves transformed by Proposition 84 funds
Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center
2019-20 Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant awards
By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System Joshua trees will be under the gun in the California of the future. Scientists predict that it’ll become too hot and dry for these striking Mojave plants to persist in much its the high desert habitat by 2100. How much water these treelike yucca plants can store at […]
California Heartbeat Initiative soars ahead
By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System 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. […]
Anza-Borrego 2019 super bloom
By Kathleen Wong, UC Natural Reserve System The palette of the Colorado Desert is often subdued—its dun soils, beige sands, and gray rocks are typically enlivened by only a few green creosote bushes or spiny cacti. But this year is an exception. The skies delivered six times more water to San Anza-Borrego State Park during […]
Sister reserve links NRS with Africa
The UC Natural Reserve System welcomes a new member to its family. This spring, the NRS entered into a sister reserve relationship with the Gobabeb Research and Training Centre in Namibia. The five-year arrangement aims to foster cooperative research into climate change and the ecosystems of arid lands in California and southern Africa. A network […]