WHAT’S NEW:

The Reserve is in the preliminary stages of considering ways Stunt Ranch can be incorporated into the undergraduate program of the newly re-named Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution at UCLA.

Even with the challenges from Mother Nature, Reserve use has been active. The Cold Creek Docents continue to bring many hundreds of K-12 students to the Reserve as part of their environmental education program. Most of the university level use has come from UCLA, however students from Stanford University spent several days at the Reserve studying "Comparative Ecophysiology of Heat Shock Protein Expression in Plants". UCLA use included on-going research out of Dr. Peter Nonac’s lab on "Signal Variation and Categorization by Wrentits", "Division of Labor and Reproductive Skew among Paper Wasp Foundresses", "Social Behavior and Learning in the California Scrub Jay", and "Sampling and Information Acquisition by Western Scrub-Jays". Dr. Phil Rundel’s lab continued to study "Vegetation Recovery Following the 1993 Fires at Stunt Ranch", and the "Impact of Chaparral Fires on Riparian Ecosystems in the Santa Monica Mountains." Classes have included two quarters of "Field Archeology Training" led by Dr. Jeanne Arnold, and a variety of one to two day field ecology courses. Use for the fall thus far, in addition to on-going research and the Cold Creek Docent program, includes a course in vertebrate biology, field biology – plant adaptations and the monitoring of sounds in nature.

The Reserve continues to meet and explore future joint projects with the other environmentally oriented units on campus such as: Institute of the Environment (IoE), the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, the Ocean Discovery Center, Graduate School of Education and Information Services, and the Eco-Heroes program through the School of Public Policy.

Earth Day 1998 at the Nest: Carol Felixson, Reserve Director of Education/Community Outreach, was one of nine speakers from UCLA and the public/private sector who spoke on various environmental issues at this first annual day long event sponsored by the Institute of the Environment and held in the Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA.

Hands Across the Parklands: To facilitate awareness of the environment and in commemoration of the 20^th anniversary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the Reserve served as a "Discovery Site" where scientists explained their on-going research at the reserve and Cold Creek Docents led family activities. This followed the coordination of a 10,000-person handholding chain along Mulholland Highway.

1998 Biology Research Symposium: The Reserve displayed posters of the research taking place at Stunt Ranch in this first annual event held at the UCLA Faculty Center.

Spring UC NRS Advisory Committee: Carol Felixson, the UC NRS Managers alternate representative, attended this meeting held in Oakland at the Marriott Hotel across from the new offices of the Office of the President. Dr. Phil Rundel, Reserve Faculty Director and UCLA representative to the Advisory Committee was unable to be present.

Reception for former Congressman Tony Beilenson: Phil Rundel, Carol Felixson, and Lisa Pompelli (Reserve design consultant) were among close to 100 environmentally dedicated individuals privileged to honor Congressman Beilenson and the National Park Service for their distinguished service and environmental stewardship. Felixson gave a brief tribute to the Congressman on behalf of UCLA and the Reserve.

Phil Rundel, Carol Felixson, and Lisa Pompelli will be attending the UC NRS annual Managers Workshop to be held at the Sedgwick Reserve. Later in the year, Rundel and Felixson will both be attending the fall UC NRS Advisory Committee meeting in Oakland.

Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25: UCLA Institute of the Environment is sponsoring a one-day conference plus field trips – The Loss of Nature in an Urbanizing World. The wide range of speakers includes: Dr. Alexander Glazer, Director, UC Natural Reserve System and Phil Rundel and Carol Felixson from the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve. For information and to register call (310) 825-3263 or see the IoE website: http://ioe.atmos.ucla.edu/intro2html. $25/per day. If you already have the attached flyer, please pass it on to someone who might find the conference of interest.

Monday, October 26, 11 am to 1 pm: Dr. Alexander Glazer, UC NRS Director, will be on campus to meet with faculty and others interested in the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve and the UC Natural Reserve System. Please let me know of your availability and I will notify you as to location closer to the date.

Phil Rundel, Reserve Faculty Director. In addition to UCLA teaching responsibilities and Reserve concerns, Dr. Rundel attended National Science Foundation meetings in Washington D.C., led seminars at Bruin Woods (the UCLA Alumni Association camp at Lake Arrowhead), and conducted field studies in South Africa, Baja California, Chile, the Sonoran Desert, Sweeney Granite Mountains Research Center, and the Bodega Marine Reserve. Dr. Rundel, in partnership with G. Montenegro and F. Jaksic of Chile, recently had a book accepted for publication: Landscape Degradation and Biodiversity in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems.

Carol Felixson, Reserve Director of Education/Community Outreach. In addition to her duties for the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve, Ms. Felixson has been assisting Dr. Art Gibson, Director of the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA, as the Garden’s Docent/Communications Coordinator. She writes "Carol’s Corner" a column devoted to the docent program in the Garden’s quarterly newsletter. In June, Felixson had an article published in UCLA Today: Nature Stages Outdoor Drama of Death, Rebirth.

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