Sagehen Creek Field Station

NEW DRAWING! This is a contemplation of overburdened systems -when the struggle to survive becomes unbearable and the stranglehold is made invisible, undergroun...d. This is my first drawing that has emerged fully from my imagination, yet is also the closest I have come to science communication. I studied the overgrown, neglected forests of California to learn about the role of fire in healthy ecologies. I could sense the desperate competition in the forest, the frenzied fighting for resources. This drawing is inspired by fraying tapestries and tangled knots, roots and revolution, the invisible struggles. 22 x 72, chainsaw grease and wildfire charcoal on paper. Thank you to Sagehen Creek Field Station for supporting this research, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation and Nevada County Arts Council for leading with the arts, and all the amazing folks involved in FORESTFIRE. I can’t wait to see how this project evolves! (Last photo was an accident, but it captures some of the exhaustion and heartbreak I experience dealing with such heavy and urgent subject matter) And massive gratitude to Ucross Foundation for the time and space to create. See more

Great wildfire science from NASA at the link. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov//back-to-school-burn-the-science/ Don't feel helpless! One thing you aren't hearing much about during this terrible fire cycle is that the western fire problem is largely caused by 150 years of dubious forestry practice: suppression of small, healthy fires; removal of large, fire-resistant trees; leaving slash on the ground where it sits until fire eventually gets it; and replanting far too thickly, and/...or allowing unmanaged regrowth after clear-cutting or wildfire. While climate change is definitely making things much, much, much worse, this is a problem WE created and WE can fix it if we hurry. Learn more about the problem and Sagehen's long-term effort to change the trajectory at sagehenforest.blogspot.com/

Mean daily minimum temperature during August at high and low elevation at our field site during the last 30 years - the trend is pretty clear and it is not a pretty picture...

Check out Radu's great film on Amazon!

Critical research continues at Sagehen in summer 2020...like this small mammal monitoring by PSW.

Despite the challenges, there is critical research and education happening at Sagehen in summer 2020...like the small mammal monitoring by PSW (image below). To apply for Exceptional Permission to visit or work in the Sagehen basin, use this application (link below). Day users cannot use or visit the station buildings. However, we now have several groups approved for overnight use of the facilities. For overnight use, you must submit your COVID-19 protocols with the applica...tion. Thanks, and take care of yourselves! https://docs.google.com//1YvhhP_YJX_moW9PxuzmsNat1iIR/edit

So, Jeff and I will retire from UC Berkeley and Sagehen at the end of the month. June 25 is our last official work day. It's been an incredible ride and we want to thank all of you for taking such great care of us and making Sagehen such an amazing place--keep in touch and take care! Fortunately, Dan Sayler is now full time and living on site to carry the torch until the Berkeley hiring freeze ends and they can replace us (probably next spring, since the summer kind of evaporated due to COVID-19). All the regular contact info should work as before, though we aren't using the land line much since it's so noisy. Best to email.

A super cool new paper is out about Sagehen insect diversity over the past 36 years. This data came from Sagehen's longest running course: UC Davis, ENT 109. This class was started by Bohart in the 1940's and has visited Sagehen every other year ever since...until COVID-19: sadly, it cancelled this year :( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/een.12888

A researcher needs your help finding cicadas that have just emerged! See the iNaturalist link for more info, and repost if you have bug friends: "O. arboraria is kind of a nightmare to collect. Aptly named, they don't usually come down from the very tops of trees and they are pretty much endemic to the river corridor [at Sagehen and the surrounding region]...if any of you can get one, it would help our research immensely. Dr. Jeff Cole and I are revising the genus and it in...cludes a molecular phylogeny as well as a morphological revision and new species descriptions. iNaturalist has been amazing in helping us acquire specimens from collectors across the western US and get in touch with people who will be looking for us this coming year." https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14816601

Sagehen is not on the ocean, but it's always nice to read some good news! Seems that restaurants being shut down is also taking the pressure off our fisheries--something to think about when things get back to normal... https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2146-7.epdf

April happens to be both Earth Month and Citizen Science Month! To celebrate, post some plant and animal pics to iNaturalist.org: either new ones, or dig up some old ones. And tell us what your favorite observation has been!

Haha! So now you know... https://newatlas.com//rain-smell-dirt-bacteria-geosmin-pe/

This is cool! Before this satellite launched, DRI researchers tested sensing groundwater with gravitometry at Sagehen... https://youtu.be/3IJOYhYibeQ

Sagehen friend and Berkeley Emeritus Professor Art Shimamura posted this advice for home-schooling... https://www.psychologytoday.com//kids-stuck-home-tips-impr

Is this the best image from our Zooniverse "find the animals" project? https://www.zooniverse.org//sagehen-mamm/talk/2672/1299908