SEDGWICK RESERVE CONTINUES TO
LIVE ITS MISSION IN 2022

Research * Education * Outreach
Stewardship
by B. Juarez

Spring is here! The oaks are leafed out, the birds are nesting, and a hive of research scientists and students are abuzz in the field, working in Sedgwick Reserve's 5,896 acre living laboratory learning about our special environment.

Please read on to learn about all the exciting activities occurring at Sedgwick Reserve in 2022.

Research:

Eighteen (18) research groups have utilized the reserve for their projects thus far this year. They include:

  • Professor Hillary Young, UCSB Dept. of EEMB, "Amphibian and Reptile ("Herp") Responses to a Prescribed Burn."
  • Ari Kaplan, graduate student, UCSB Dept. of Physics, "Polaris: Low Frequency experiment to measure polarized galactic foreground emission"
  • Professor Chandra Krintz and Grant Canova-Parker, UCSB, Dept. of Computer Science, "Where's The Bear (WTB): Automating Wildlife Image Processing Using IoT and Edge Cloud Systems"
  • Associate Professor Mark Olson, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, "Fire or climate? What makes savannah bark and wood special?"
  • Professor Nathan Kraft, UCSB Dept. of EEB,"Higher Order Interactions (HOI's), functional trait changes, and species coexistence in an annual plant community"
  • Professor Victoria Sork, UCLA Dept. of EEB, "Phenology of Quercus lobata on the Sedgwick Reserve in the Figueroa watershed"
  • Mark Holmgren, Ph.D., UCSB, "2022 Breeding Bird Survey"
  • Research Scientist Eric Slesslarev, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, "Microbes Persist: Tracing soil microbial residues under divergent soil moisture regimes"
  • Alicia Fox, Faculty Life and Physical Sciences, Allan Hancock College, "Zoology Field Study Methods"
  • Research Scientist Carla Gonzales, UC Irvine, "Role of the herbivore natural enemies (i.e., insectivorous birds) on patterns of variation of insect herbivory and plant defenses across insular systems and their mainland counterparts."
  • Associate Professor Leander Love-Anderegg, UCSB, "California Ecosystem Resilience with Climate Change"
  • Professors Leila Carvahlo and Charles Jones, UCSB Department of Geography, "Sundowner Winds Experiment (SWEX)" - See below for a more in depth description of this project.
  • Research Scientist Wendy Schackwitz, Point Blue Conservation Science, "Bio-acoustic Monitoring of Tricolored Blackbird Colonies"
  • Associate Professor Amanda Sparkman, Westmont College, "Evolutionary Ecology of Reptiles"
  • Associate Professor Jennifer Funk, UC Davis, "Grassland Drought Strategies"
  • Associate Professors John & Jill Thompson, UCSC, "Geographic Mosaics in Diversifying Plant/Insect Interactions."
  • Professor Jennifer Martiny, Alberto Sandoval, Staff, UCI, "Testing a Phylogenetic Trait Framework for Soil Microbiomes."
  • Research Scientist Robert Paulson, Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope, Recommissioning the telescope in the observatory dome.

Citizen Science:

Dedicated docent citizen scientists continue their year round weekly avi-fauna surveys.

  • California Phenology Project: Andy Lentz, Jack Ehmer, Tom Scafide, Jim Summerland, and Nick DiCroce collect phenological data from 24 permanently marked plant specimens found on the Reserve (4 Valley Oak, 4 Toyon, 4 Elderberry, 4 California Buckwheat, 4 Live Oak and 4 Coyote Brush) and they enter the results into Nature's Notebook.
  • Bird monitoring: Bird monitors submit weekly survey results into the eBird database. Participants: Guy Tingos, Peter Schneekloth, Laura Baldwin, Tim Matthews, Fred Emerson, Marge Erickson, Ryanne Bee, Margie Popper, Freda Iverson and Brenda Juarez
  • Oak Monitoring: Since 2009, docent Andy Lentz has been trekking weekly in the fall and spring months to the Figueroa watershed to record Quercus lobata or "Valley Oak" phenology data, volunteering as a research assistant to Professor Victoria Sork, UCLA.

Education:
  • Kindergarten through twelfth grade school students have been exploring and learning in nature’s classroom this year, including several school groups led by NatureTrack, and the “Trailblazers Club” a high school hiking and nature club from Santa Maria. In May, Sedgwick docents will lead an interpretive hike for Dunn School high school students.
  • On March 5th, Sedgwick Reserve teamed up with the SYV Natural History Society to hold an Oak Workshop for the public led by John Evarts, Margie Popper, Gary Nett and Brenda Juarez.
  • Andy MacDonald, Ph.D., of the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Management held three classes at the Reserve for undergraduates titled "Biological Community Survey & Analysis."
  • In May, Aaron Kreisberg, a UCSB graduate student, will lead a birding trip to the Reserve for Gold Coast Audubon, a student run Audubon chapter.

Public Outreach:

Vegetation Management and Fire Preparedness:
  • Sedgwick continues to lease cattle grazing to the Drummond Cattle Company. A herd of 30 calf and cow pairs are used for fuel reduction and fire mitigation. Rotational grazing is employed to prevent over-grazing.
  • Extensive vegetation removal by a dedicated group of volunteers and docents (Thank you!) has helped to make sure our roadways and other areas of the Reserve have reduced fire risk. And, mowing season is on! Sedgwick staff have been hard at work reducing vegetation that pose risk as we come up upon fire season.

Stewardship:
  • Thanks to our generous donors and supporters, Sedgwick Reserve continues to thrive! Some of our donor-supported efforts include our land stewardship and native plants activities, educational and training opportunities for students of all ages, Sedgwick's docent and volunteer programs, and infrastructure upgrades like the Sedgwick barn renovation project happening this year. Speaking of the barn, save the date for the Annual Barn Dance on November 5th!
  • Director of Sedgwick Operations Lyza Johnsen and Land Stewards Angela Giordani, Sam Spaulding, Valentin Navarro and Dennis Beebe have worked diligently to maintain the buildings and grounds this year for the benefit of all the users of the Reserve. Brenda Juarez is at the helm of the Reserve use scheduling and administration. And, of course, we could not make anything work without our dedicated group of docents and volunteers who have been a tremendous support to the Stewards by maintaining trails, repairing fences, tree trimming, potting oaks, weeding, and watering. Thank you all!

Sedgwick Reserve is a complex living organism always moving forward and always with an eye on the next challenge. Thank you all for being part of its evolution.