UC Berkeley’s Blue Oak Ranch Reserve is a nature reserve and biological field station located in one of California’s iconic landscapes: the oak savannah and woodlands of the Diablo Range. In this talk, Zac Harlow will discuss some of the flora and natural history that makes this region special; the interesting research, field courses and groups that utilize the reserve; and some of the challenges of managing for biodiversity in a changing climate. About half of the 3,280 acres of the reserve were burned in the 2020 SCU Lightning Complex fire and Zac will discuss these impacts as well as the surprising resiliency of this special landscape.
Zac Harlow is committed to the idea that field stations can bring communities and nature together in meaningful and important ways. He is the resident director of Blue Oak Ranch Reserve and has worked to grow and diversify the user base over the last five years. His love of field stations runs deep. He lived on a station in Grand Teton National Park for many summers during his teens and twenties and is familiar with many more. Since moving to California in 2007, he has worked for the San Diego Zoo’s Wildlife Alliance, received his Ph.D. from UCLA and taught classes at Cal State LA and Cal State East Bay.
Sat Jul 27 @ 8:00AM - 10:00AM Lake Cunningham Native Garden |
Sat Jul 27 @ 9:00AM - 11:00AM Community Work Day at the Native Plant Garden in Kirk Park |
Wed Jul 31 @ 7:00PM - 08:30PM Flowers as Islands, a talk by Tadashi Fukami |
Fri Aug 02 @ 9:00AM - 12:00PM Friday Edgewood Restoration |
Sat Aug 03 @ 8:00AM - 10:00AM Lake Cunningham Native Garden |
Sat Aug 03 @ 9:00AM - 11:00AM Community Work Day at the Native Plant Garden in Kirk Park |
Thu Aug 08 @ 7:00PM - 08:30PM A Few Native California Oak Mysteries! A talk by Al Keuter |
Fri Aug 09 @ 9:00AM - 12:00PM Friday Edgewood Restoration |
Sat Aug 10 @ 8:00AM - 10:00AM Lake Cunningham Native Garden |
Sat Aug 10 @ 9:00AM - 11:00AM Community Work Day at the Native Plant Garden in Kirk Park |