Campus:UCLA

Instructor: Hartmut Walter

Reserves Used:
James San Jacinto
   Mountains Reserve
Santa Cruz Island Reserve

For More Information:
Transect 21:1 (Spring 2003),
pg. 1: "Bushwhacking 101
offers new take on age-old environmental problems"
http://nrs.ucop.edu/Transect-Santa-Cruz.htm

Featured Reserve:
The Santa Cruz Island Reserve, located on the largest Channel Island off the Santa Barbara coast, gives students an opportunity to study the impact of invasive species on the island's endemic plants and animals. Habitats include rocky intertidal zones, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, grasslands, oak woodlands, and bishop pine forests. The island is protected by The Nature Conservancy and managed by the National Park Service

What I provide to my students is access to nature, and I only have limited times and means. That's why the UC Natural Reserve System is so crucial for environmental education.

-Hartmut Walter, UCLA

Geography 163 marks a major transition for UCLA seniors. As Professor Hartmut Walter explains: "It's often the students' first chance to get out into the field and use the methods they've learned in the classroom. The goal of the class is to transform them into environmental scientists who can tackle the complexities of field research. And to do it in one quarter."

The key to the course is an intensive week in the field. Walter has created learning programs for two NRS sites - the Santa Cruz Island and James San Jacinto Mountains reserves - but recently he's focused on Santa Cruz Island. "Students quickly realize that the island provides a unique experience," he notes. "It's like going to a California that no longer exists on the mainland. It gives students a new perspective. And it's full of wonderful case studies for evolution and what happens in nature."

The fieldwork begins with an overview of the different ecosystems on the huge 46,000-acre reserve and an introduction to basic field techniques like vegetation transects and animal behavior observations. Because Walter has conducted research on the island and has been bringing classes there for over two decades, his students quickly gain a long-term perspective of the island's changing ecosystems. One transect of dune vegetation, for example, is repeated by students every year, giving them a chance to observe dune dynamics, mobility, and succession through time.

During their stay, students take on a range of studies - looking at the effects of past sheep ranching on the island's vegetation (and mapping its recovery since removal of the sheep), learning about the island's rare endemic species and unique hybrids, and examining the impact of non-native species. The days are long. Students often conduct quantitative analyses on their computers after dinner, and the presentations and discussion of their results can last until midnight.

Walter sees these presentations as a key to the success of the class. "The students learn almost as much from each other as they do from me," he says. "They watch each other. They compare what they did with what others have done. They learn from their mistakes and have no hesitation asking questions or criticizing each other."

The impact of the experience is dramatic. "The students become more confident," Walter explains. "They no longer feel helpless in the natural environment because they have the means - the scientific method - to approach important questions."