Field Nature Studies Program

California is home to a rich and diverse range of settings – mountain, desert, coastal and urban environments. Natural jewels such as Yosemite and Death Valley are conveniently available as field laboratories for persons who want to know more about the natural world.

The purpose of the Field Nature Studies Program is to help students better understand the complex ecological relationships within nature. The program consists of an overall Certificate Program in Field Ecology or Desert Ecology and three Specialized Study Programs – in Field Botany, Field Geology and Field Ornithology – for persons who want further study in an area of particular interest. The curricula for all five programs was developed in cooperation with an advisory panel of distinguished natural scientists.

Each program emphasizes field study, augmented by classroom work and independent study. Field tours are led by instructors who are experts in natural science and history.

Who Can Benefit
Because the focus is on field studies, the programs can augment earlier studies by professional naturalists. The programs also are designed for persons who want to become paid or volunteer naturalists or interpreters at parks, museums, botanical gardens or nature preserves, as well as for nature photographers, gardeners, landscapers, florists and collectors. Finally, the programs are for persons who simply want to know more about the natural world and ask "why" and "how" when they see a hawk coasting on a thermal breeze, a flower blooming in a high mountain meadow, or a burrowing animal adapting to the desert heat.