Students gain hands-on experience in field biology techniques while participating in long-term botanical surveys on Santa Cruz Island (Channel Islands). Working alongside scientists and professionals from the UC Natural Reserve System, the National Park Service, and The Nature Conservancy, students will contribute to important ecological research. Through specialized training, students will learn to read topographic maps, follow compass bearings, use GPS devices, and identify native and introduced plant species in the field. They will establish plant transects for data collection and conduct high-level research on island ecology.

The long-term surveys include examining the effects of feral pig removal on Stipa pulchra (purple needlegrass), the health and regeneration of the Pinus murcata (Bishop Pine), as well as monitoring the long-term health of diverse plant communities, including chaparral, coastal dune scrub, bishop pine forest, grassland, ruderal, and oak woodland ecosystems.  PRHS students are now also helping to conduct monitoring and vaccination data on the endemic species of island fox, Urocyon littoralis santacruzae.

Multiple data collection protocols will be used to support these studies. The summer trip to Santa Cruz Island lasts eight days, while the fall trip lasts five days. Students will stay in rustic dorms or tents and will plan and prepare their own meals as part of the learning experience.