Natural History Wanderings

The UC Santa Barbara Natural Reserve System is excited to offer a Fall 2020 Seminar Series: “From The First Humans To Forest Fires: Scientific Discoveries Spanning UC Santa Barbara’s Seven Spectacular Natural Reserves”

Please join us this fall for a series of presentations focused on some of the latest research and findings from across UCSB’s seven natural reserve sites. UCSB’s Reserves are part of the 41-site University of California Natural Reserve System, one of the largest and most unique networks of protected lands in the world, supporting the university mission of research, university-level education and public service. UCSB operates 7 of these Reserves in unique ecosystems ranging from coastal (Coal Oil Point Reserve, Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve, Santa Cruz Island Reserve and K.S.N. Rancho Marino Reserve) to inland valleys (Sedgwick Reserve) to Great Basin (Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory; SNARL) and montane forest (Valentine Reserve). Each week will provide a brief introduction to the Reserve site by the Reserve Director, followed by an engaging presentation by one of the Reserve’s expert scientists focused on the highlights of their research.

Registration is free! Join us every Thursday evening, from October 8 – November 19, from 7 – 8 PM, in this virtual tour of research highlights from across the state. Registration opens one week prior to each seminar at nrs.ucsb.edu/events.

Fall 2020 Schedule

October 8 | Santa Cruz Island Reserve

Small Island, Big Impact: Santa Cruz Island and its Contribution to Understanding Initial Human Occupation of the New World

Dr. Amy Gusick,Associate Curator, Anthropology, LA Museum of Natural History

October 15 | Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve

Do parasites run the natural reserve system?

Dr. Kevin Lafferty,Marine Ecologist, Western Ecological Research Center, US Geological Survey Principal Investigator, Marine Science Institute, UCSB
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, UCSB

October 22 | Rancho Marino Reserve

Oaks by the sea? Tracking demographic shifts and bracing for potential climate-change induced forest type conversions

Dr. Sarah Bisbing Assistant Professor, University of Nevada Reno

October 29 | Sedgwick Reserve

The recent past and projected future of oak savannas of the Santa Ynez Valley

Dr. Frank Davis, Professor and Director of La Kretz Center for Research at Sedgwick Reserve UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

November 5 | Coal Oil Point Reserve

Vector-borne disease in a changing world: Identifying ecological levers for health

Dr. Andy MacDonald,Assistant Researcher, UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

November 12 | Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

Think globally, act locally: how a pandemic challenges conservation of a California frog, and how scientists and managers can respond

Dr. Tom Smith,Assistant Researcher. UCSB Earth Research Institute

November 19 | Valentine Reserve

Fuels management and forest restoration in the Sierra Nevada: the case for active forest management on the Valentine Reserve

Dr. Hugh Safford.Regional Ecologist, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region
Affiliated research faculty, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, UC-Davis

Ashley Grupenhoff,Doctoral Student, UC Davis

If you have questions, please contact Ashlyn Cavaletto at ashlyncavaletto@ucsb.edu