The UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve (UCSC CNR) exists as a 409-acre living laboratory and outdoor classroom that supports a wide variety field-based research and hands-on-teaching experiences on the UCSC campus. The CNR represents the most diverse campus reserve within all of California. The CNR provides a vital link between ideas discussed within traditional classrooms and their actual counterparts in the natural world. Thousands of students engage in CNR activities each year, participating in transformative experiences such as internships, student and faculty research projects, class field trips, and volunteer opportunities. CNR staff provides resources to meet the learning objectives of small, intensive upper-division field courses, as well as lower-division classes with enrollments topping 400 students. Students are profoundly impacted professionally and personally, and often cite their hands-on experiences with the CNR as highlights of their time at UCSC.
Examples of research and stewardship projects include: Ben Lomond Grassland Bird Monitoring Program; Redwood Interpretation and Research Project; UCSC Invasive Species Management Plan; UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot; CNR Stewardship; CNR Field Guide series; UCSC Multi-Taxa Monitoring; CNR Trail Maintenance and Monitoring.
Contact: Alex Jones
Key Words: internship; senior thesis; field research; natural history; interpretation; flora; fauna; UCSC Natural Reserves; field ecology; conservation; stewardship; land management; invasive species
Motivated students of any major eager to engage in hands-on-experiential learning and field research. Prior experience with plant and/or animal identification is helpful, though not mandatory.
We utilize the unique physical setting of our campus to allow students to become familiar with conservation science methods and applications in the realms of field ecology, land stewardship, and environmental education.