Philip Rundel
RESERVE FACULTY DIRECTOR:
Philip Rundel is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, at UCLA. He has worked for 25 years on a variety of aspects of the ecology of
chaparral and arid zone vegetation in California, as well as in Mediterranean-climate
regions of Chile, South Africa,
Australia and the Mediterranean Basin. He edits MEDICOS
Newsletter providing a forum of communication between Mediterranean ecologists worldwide,
and is edited a book on landscape degradation and biodiversity in
Mediterranean-type ecosystems. In addition to these studies, Dr. Rundel also has worked
extensively in studies of the ecology of dry tropical forests with ongoing field studies
in Thailand and Brazil. He joined the faculty of UCLA in 1983 after 13 years on the
faculty of UC Irvine. He teaches courses in ecology and evolutionary biology, plant
adaptations to environmental stress, tropical ecology, and plant physiological ecology. He
has edited books in the past on stable isotopes in ecological research, field methods in
plant physiological ecology, and tropical alpine ecology, and among his many publications, has co-authored a book
with Arthur Gibson at UCLA on the ecology of the Mojave Desert. Dr. Rundel is member-at-large on the UC Natural Reserve System Advisory Committee.
Carol Felixson
RESERVE DIRECTOR OF
EDUCATION/COMMUNITY OUTREACH: In addition to her work with the
Stunt Ranch Reserve, Carol Felixson also
serves as the Docent and Communications Coordinator for the Mildred E. Mathias
Botanical Garden (MEMBG) at UCLA. Carol currently serves on the board of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains. She was an active contributor to the Los Angeles
Times Reading by Nine literacy program. She wrote a monthly column for the Los
Angeles Times Kids Page about the 
plants and animals found at the Reserve and in
the Garden. Accompanying illustrations by children between the ages of 5-12 were
unique to her articles. She also writes Carol’s Corner, a regular column in the MEMBG newsletter, about “the-goings-on” in the garden. Felixson served as
Manager and Public Information Officer for the State’s Fire Recovery Center
following the 1993 Malibu fire.
She was a founding member of the Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness and for over three years wrote the emergency preparedness column for the Topanga
Messenger newspaper. Felixson is a Los Angeles native who received a degree in
Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin and professional certification
in Public Relations from UCLA Extension. Felixson is a member of the
Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
