UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve

This late spring bloomer is Eriastrum virgatum, wand woolystar (or Virgate eriastrum, how’s that for a common name?) These complicated little members of the phlox family (Polemoniaceae) are located along the coast and coast ranges of Northern Monterey and San Benito counties. Their limited distribution make them an extra special part of our sandy chaparral habitat. @ UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve

Hooray for spring fieldwork! Suzy Xu (UCSC ENVS 2021) is working to collect wildlife images, which she will process with a machine learning model that narrows our dataset to what’s important, photos of animals (as opposed to windy trees, cars, etc.)! This tool is called Megadetector and we love it very much. If you have ever tagged camera trap photos, you’ll understand how nice it is to kick out the empties! #microsoftai #aiforearth #ucnrs #ucsc @ UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve

An important and timely article for agrocecology and racial justice.

It’s been warming up a bit! Active fauna, blooming flowers, and (highly regulated) Spring fieldwork all make the UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve feel just a little more normal and optimistic. Everyone take care of yourselves and each other, we hope to see you study at the reserve soon!

We caught this sweet kitty bouncing down the trail in front of one of our wildlife cams. Tell us about the bobcats in your neighborhood! #lynxrufus #montereybay #marinacalifornia

This was the view from 390 feet above the South Parcel of the UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve this afternoon. Beyond the boundaries you can see Marina, CSUMB, The Marina Airport, and the Monterey Bay! Who can name the (three?) mountain ranges in this panorama?

Every once and a while we get lucky and catch a whole clutter of bobcats on one of our trail cameras. If you live near open spaces across the US, from southern Canada to Northern Mexico, you might catch a glimpse of these secretive hunters in the twilight hours of the day. They can live almost anywhere, and prey on a wide variety of animals. They have even been known to kill deer! Key to bobcat success is their stealth (like their bigger puma cousins) and their adaptation to human influenced habitats. #lynxrufus @ UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve

Today is Giving Day at UCSC! Please help us share Fort Ord Natural Reserve with the next generation of scientists, naturalists, and stewards of the environment! https://givingday.ucsc.edu//uc/s/fort-ord-natural-reserve

Today is UCSC Giving Day, and Fort Ord Natural Reserve has received a generous $1000 match from an anonymous donor. Your donation goes twice as far in this match period, follow the link to help. Thanks for your support!

We would like to share an opportunity to give to UC Santa Cruz Fort Ord Natural Reserve (UCSC FONR) in Marina, California. UC Santa Cruz's Giving Day 2020 is a crowdfunding event that helps us pay for our K12 education programs. This year, Giving Day is September 30. Save the date! When we make an effort to bring the community together in the outdoor classroom and living laboratory at UCSC FONR, students respond with open eyes, engaged smiles, and great questions about the b...iodiversity in their neighborhood nature reserve! Your donation will enable us to bring more K12 students to UCSC FONR, and teach them about the unique plants and animals that call the maritime chaparral and oak woodland their home. Your donation will go toward bringing Monterey Bay area college students and children into the outdoor classroom at the reserve! Each year we use donations to pay for bus fees, educational materials, and undergraduate interns to facilitate K3 field trips, undergraduate training in environmental education, and a variety of field-based internships for our students. We understand that in-person activities may not be possible this year; however, your support is important to our future programming. The UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve is a 600-acre nature reserve on the former Fort Ord military base land in Marina that is dedicated to research, teaching, and public service for the Monterey Bay area. As part of the UC Natural Reserve System, FONR supports university-level research and teaching, as well as community outreach programs. The reserve functions as a living lab for students of all ages, where experiential learning helps them build positive relationships with the natural world and gain essential critical-thinking skills. Mark your calendars to give on September 30, as we work to inspire the scientists and environmental stewards of tomorrow!