CAREER - The University of California's Natural Reserve System and the Role of Biological Field Stations in American Environmental History

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Problem Statement How have biological field stations shaped American environmental science and politics since World War II? This project seeks to answer this question through a historical study of the University of California's Natural Reserve System (NRS)the largest and most diverse network of biological field stations administered by any academic institution in the world. Intellectual Merit In the United States, historians of science have long focused on laboratories as spaces for the production of knowledge, while environmental historians have concentrated on federal agencies and public lands. Research on biological field stations administered by academic institutions and non-governmental organizations has remained more limited in scope, and most has examined the period from 1890 to 1940. This project proposes that, despite this lack of scholarly attention, biological field stations have played crucial roles in American environmental science and politics. They have provided spaces for large-scale, comparative, and place-based research, facilitated collaborations of academic scientists with government officials, trained large numbers of researchers, and compiled long-term data sets that have shaped our understanding environmental change. Today, more than 330 such stations exist around the world, 286 of which are located in the United States. Biological field stations constitute the missing masses present but unaccounted for in American environmental history. This project will explore this crucial but untold story, and show how biological field stations can contribute even further to a more sustainable society. Broader Impacts The broader impacts of this project include three categories of activities. The project will contribute to the development of a new archive that will preserve NRS historical materials for future generations of scientists and historians. It will contribute to a K-12 science education program designed to reach underrepresented student communities in local schools. And it will include a broader outreach effort of public lectures and Web-based content that will disseminate the project's approach and results with the goal of making the social sciences and humanities more active participants in collaborative research at biological field stations throughout the world.