Pepperwood's partnership with Santa Rosa Junior College
Providing critical field experience and internship opportunities
Our partnership with the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) allows students to gain hands-on, career-boosting experience by participating in research and field work at Pepperwood through internships and volunteer opportunities. Many natural science and other classes at the SRJC take field trips to Pepperwood to enhance student learning experiences. Together, we piloted the now-statewide UC California Naturalist training program.
Click the link below to learn more about the SRJC.
Conservation Science Internship
Thanks to the support of our community, up to 10 SRJC students each year are empowered to participate in an immersive conservation biology internship experience at Pepperwood. Offered in partnership with the SRJC's Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program, this internship provides students invaluable hands-on experience working with data as they learn about career pathways in the natural sciences.
Click here to read about the experiences of past interns on our blog!
Photo: Fall 2016 Conservation Science Interns (from left to right): Paula Hernandez, Micaela Bush, Mario Balitbit, and Omar Acosta
Stephen J. Barnhart Herbarium Internship
The annual Barnhart Internship empowers SRJC students to lead a research project based at Pepperwood. Students receive a stipend for their work and gain critical real world experience to boost their resumes.
In 2015, interns Theo Michaels and David Kelly conducted an experiment exploring the impacts of cattle grazing on Purple needlegrass. In 2014, SRJC student Prahlada Papper became the inaugural Barnhart Intern and established Pepperwood's Phenology Project.
Photo: 2015 Barnhart Interns Theo Michaels and David Kelly
SRJC Bio 85.2 Natural History of Pepperwood graduates
UC California Naturalist Training
Pepperwood teamed up with the SRJC to pilot what is now a state-wide UC California Naturalist training program. The two-semester Bio 85 Natural History of Pepperwood course provides an excellent introduction to California's biotic and abiotic factors using weekly field days at Pepperwood to demonstrate ecological concepts first hand. Pepperwood also holds advanced training workshops and citizen science volunteer opportunities to further engage naturalists.
Click the link below to learn more about the UC California Naturalist program.