UC Berkeley Natural Reserve System
The UC Berkeley Natural Reserve System administers seven reserves covering more than 22 square miles. These include one of UC’s first field stations, an Experimental Forest managed in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, and a reserve encompassing three undisturbed watersheds. More than 3,000 students, faculty, and members of the public visit every year to learn and study the natural environment.
Angelo Coast Range Reserve
Spanning three undisturbed watersheds clad in a mosaic of old-growth Douglas fir forest and terrace meadows, Angelo Coast Range Reserve hosts both university classes and groundbreaking research into how water percolates through trees, rivers, and soils as it cycles through the environment.
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve
Encompassing classic oak savannah on the slopes of Mount Hamilton east of San Jose, Blue Oak Ranch accommodates large groups as well as individual researchers studying rattlesnakes, native amphibians, owls, and other residents of the Coast Range.
Chickering American River Reserve
Located on the western slope of the Sierra crest, Chickering American River Reserve features soda springs, fell-fields and other high alpine habitats.
Hastings Natural History Reservation
One of UC’s first field stations, Hastings is the site of long-term studies on woodpecker and western bluebird ecology, acorn production, and a wide variety of other research within bucolic Carmel Valley.
Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve
Growing on an uplifted marine terrace leached of nutrients over millennia, the mature trees of Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve resemble mere saplings.
Sagehen Creek Field Station
Land management approaches applied at Sagehen Creek Field Station help educate others on ways to reduce wildfire risk and maintain the diversity of Sierra Nevada forests.