Gray Whales Count – 2014 Count Internship The primary objectives and purposes of Gray Whales Count are research and education about marine mammals, including, but not limited to, the migration of Gray whales and their related environment: collecting and sharing data, recruiting and training volunteers, and engaging in outreach to inform publics. Gray Whales Count (GWC) has completed nine annual surveys, an effort that consists of constant observation eight hours a day, seven days a week for approximately 100 consecutive days. We conduct our research utilizing a team of community volunteers, including students, who gather at Counter Point on the Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve.
Total Funded: $2,455.00
Kids in Nature Peer to Peer Environmental Education Program Five undergraduate students will be selected to serve as Kids in Nature (KIN) interns during winter quarter 2013. The interns will have successfully completed the Education Practicum course (EEMB 189/ES 191), which we have offered each quarter since 2008. The KIN interns will serve as mentors for the newly enrolled UCSB students and also for the over 85 5th grade students who are part of the KIN program. The interns will each lead one of the KIN groups of 4-5 students in classroom activities and on field trips.
Total Funded: $13,602.00
CCBER: West Campus Bluffs Trail Restoration The goal of this project is to maintain, enhance and monitor restored areas along the West Campus Bluffs. These areas include all impacted edges of the new trail as well as newer project areas where grassland restoration was implemented last year. This will include extensive weeding efforts as well as replacement planting and seeding. Along with these manual efforts, an innovative mowing regime has begun which is meant to be a site wide passive restoration strategy that may over time increase the abundance of existing native grasses on the site, by mowing primarily before European annual grasses have had the opportunity to develop or drop their seed.
Total Funded: $4,900
CCBER: UCSB Campus Lagoon Restoration with Fire CCBER’s goal is to build on the successful restoration efforts of the last few years by continuing to expand the conversion of weed-dominated monocultures to diverse native habitats at several sites of the Campus Lagoon natural area. CCBER plans to use several approaches including: prescribed burning, solarization and experimental salt-water application along with standard manual efforts to achieve our restoration goals.
CCBER is requesting partial support for the project manager and support for student workers during winter and spring quarters. These projects are part of CCBER’s effort to incrementally and sustainably implement the Coastal Commission approved Lagoon Restoration Plan.
Total Funded: $10,000
The End of Southern California Over the course of twelve months this movie will unfold the astonishing ecological circle that takes place on the Gaviota Coast. Watch as the flora and fauna from the mountains to the coastline ebb and flow throughout the summer, fall, winter, and spring. From this production, an archive is being created for the use of the non-profit organizations charged with protecting the coast, as well as the educational institutions of the Santa Barbara Community.
Total Funded: $16,600
White-tailed Kit Project – Production of Geospatial Database The White-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus majusculas) is a medium sized raptor that require two key elements for suitable habitat: trees to roost and nest and adjacent open spaces that support healthy small mammal populations to forage (Dunk 1995). Unfortunately, areas that exemplify these criteria are becoming increasingly rare, especially along the Central California coast. The combined breeding and foraging habits of the White-tailed kite make it extremely vulnerable to habitat degradation and disruption as development of the coastal habitat continues (SB County Planning 1979). White-tailed kites are an indicator species for the habitats they occupy. Kites feed on small mammals, primarily California voles (Microtus californicus), which require a healthy overall system to maintain stable populations. Therefore, monitoring White-tailed kite populations and foraging behavior can provide a valuable analysis of the productivity of these ecosystems.
This project will digitize field data collected during an ecological study of the White-tailed kite by UCSB students and Audubon volunteers from 1998-present. Kites are highly visible raptors that serve as an indicator of the health of coastal grassland habitat. They are visually engaging species and can help promote conservation of open space in the Goleta Valley.
Total Funded: $7,947.97
Oceans-to-Classrooms (O2C) The effects of Climate Change will significantly affect our relationship with, and understanding of Nature for generations. Our education system is in the midst of change as well. Therefore, it has never been more critical to our health-physically, mentally, economically, and environmentally, that people understand how the world, as a living system, functions. Baba Dioum said, “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught.” A River Runs To It teaches people how local ecological relationships are tied to global environmental issues using local streams in the Goleta Slough Watershed that run into Goleta Bay-the front yard of UCSB! Increasing their science literacy. Inspiring them to be better stewards of the environment.
Total Funded: $45,000
Urban Forester Intern Education Project Goleta Valley Beautiful (GVB) will continue its commitment to training and educating student interns, and to provide necessary irrigation equipment at diversified nursery sites on and off the UCSB campus. In learning to grow and care for a nursery of 1,500 native trees (GVB averages 500 trees planted annually), interns acquire knowledge and skill applicable to careers in horticulture, urban forestry and other environmental sectors. By growing, planting and caring for trees in public spaces, and promote public awareness of the benefits of trees helps protect and enhance watersheds through slowing and absorbing storm water, which cleans and reduces runoff to the ocean.
Total Funded: $7,000
Audubon Habitat Restoration Internship Program for COPR 2014 Santa Barbara Audubon initiated the “Devereux Slough Margin Enhancement Project” in Fall 2012, funded by the Wetland Recovery Project. The Coastal Fund provided funding for student interns and supplies for Spring and Fall 2013. SB Audubon is requesting additional funds for UCSB student restoration interns and supplies. The project removes the final infestations of Iceplant from the slough margin, and revegetates the two largest patches with native plants propagated by interns. SB Audubon will also remove New Zealand Spinach and annual weeds from native wetland and transitional habitats within the 8-acre site on the slough’s east margin.
Total Funded: $2,800
Coal Oil Point Reserve: Internships and Additional Funding Support for Conservation, Education and Restoration Programs UCSB student interns will participate in the Snowy Plover Docent Program, the education and outreach program, and the habitat restoration program. The internships at the reserve will provide UCSB students with opportunities to acquire field experience necessary to enhance their professional development. COPR requests additional funding for the education and outreach program; for advertisement, transportation, and supply costs. Funding will allow for increased participation of community members, university students, and elementary school classes in our education program, giving UCSB interns the opportunity to apply their teaching skills to diverse audiences.
Total Funded: $9,000
Adopt-A-Block The purpose of the Adopt-A-Block Program is to reduce the amount of trash and waste that reaches the local beaches, oceans, and waterways by utilizing volunteers to manually remove the waste from the Isla Vista streets. The AAB program also has an essential Education and Outreach component that works to inform and recruit students as volunteers. In addition to improving the quality of our local beaches, the AAB Program simultaneously improves the quality of life for the residents of Isla Vista, the students that frequent IV, and the students that call IV “Home.” From a reactive standpoint, the most important measurable goals are to maintain the rate at which trash is picked up from the streets (195,000 lbs.). It is their goal to reduce the amount of trash on the streets and this is accomplished through education and outreach. Adopt-A-Block seeks funding to retain a part-time staff member to expand their community outreach and special events portion of the existing program.
Total Funded: $1,400
Minor Funding
Devereux Slough Coastal Flora and Fauna The Devereux Slough Coastal Wetland Project (the “DSCW Project”) seeks to restore the historic functions of a riparian-to-estuary transition that will enhance the quality of existing wetlands and effectively double the wetland habitat in the Devereux Slough system. A crucial component of the restoration project is to develop a Research and Monitoring Plan. The overarching goals and objectives of the Research and Monitoring Plan are to aid scientists and stakeholders in assessing the success of the DSCW Project and assist managers in adaptive management strategies as the restoration progresses through its various phases.
Total Funded: $800.00
Bee Conscious The Bee Conscious club is associated with the Santa Barbara Bee Association and practices beekeeping at the Coal Oil Point Reserve. The goals of the organization are to learn about bees through several disciplines (including, but not limited to, history, classics, biology, and botany) as well as beekeeping. The bees being kept and cared for are native to the area and pose no harm to the local biodiversity of the coastline. Furthermore Bee Conscious aims to share the knowledge with the larger UCSB community through their events (e.g. candle-making workshops using wax from hives, honey-tastings, booths at the Farmers Markets, as well as film screenings and bee documentaries).
Total Funded: $900.00
