On the Expedition
Hike a protected Californian mountain region using GIS technology, traditional knowledge, and field observations to trace plant changes, helping the area respond to nearby development and climate change.
In 2000, Congress created the 272, 000 acre Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, including two Federal Wilderness Areas. This protected landscape is only 100 miles away from downtown Los Angeles.
Cared for by the United States Forest Service and the United States Bureau of Land Management, the area depends heavily on state, county, and local involvement, and on the commitment of citizens and scientists working together to protect its many natural and cultural resources.
That’s where you come in.
As a volunteer, you’ll help collect solid data on what’s happening with plants in the area, what plants used to be here, and what the effects of current and future management policies could be on the overall health of this ecosystem. Your work will be used to create high quality, place-based land management policies for the future.
You’ll be hiking between 2 and 6 miles through the study area each day (weather permitting) with scientists and/or experienced field guides, using the latest technology to record precise location data on the plant species you’ll encounter. All of your hikes will follow marked trails and some may gradually reach an altitude of 2,000 ft. You must be sufficiently fit for these desert hikes, which the staff will lead according to the slowest comfortable pace for the team.
In the evenings and on non-hiking days, you’ll be at the research base helping organize and analyze the data you’ve collected, as well as historical plant data for the region. Throughout the expedition, you’ll learn about the area and the value of the work you’re doing from expedition leaders and local researchers during evening presentations, trips to research centers, and organized recreational activities.
Meals and Accommodations
You’ll stay with project staff in the main residence of the Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center in Palm Desert, California. The Center is a part of the University of California’s Natural Reserve System. Shared rooms offer either two or four bunks per room, and there are shared modern bathroom facilities. Your requests to share rooms will be accommodated as much as team compositions allow; you must bring your own bed linens, pillows, and bath towels.
Meals will be a combination of self-prepared, restaurant, and backpack food. Breakfasts will usually consist of cold cereals, bagels and pastries, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, milk, juices, and coffee; lunches in the field will be comprised of trail mixes, fruit, sandwiches, cookies, juice, and ample supplies of water; evening meals will be planned and prepared jointly by volunteers and staff.
Cell phone reception is good right around the Center itself, which also has wireless LAN connectivity and fast wireless Internet access.