{"id":12294,"date":"2021-01-20T19:38:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T03:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/?post_type=sempervoices&p=12294"},"modified":"2021-02-07T12:19:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-07T20:19:49","slug":"gage-dayton-and-observational-science","status":"publish","type":"sempervoices","link":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/","title":{"rendered":"SemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"a<\/a><\/p>\n

If you are spending more time at home these days, you may have noticed something: there\u2019s more to notice. You\u2019re not alone. Even a professional observer of the natural world is getting to know the creatures in his backyard better. We recently connected with Gage Dayton, who chairs the Sempervirens Fund\u2019s Science Advisory Panel<\/a>. The panel features world-class scientists, researchers, and academics who bring invaluable insights to our work in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains.<\/p>\n

\"Gage<\/a>

Gage Dayton at one of the reserves for education and research.<\/p><\/div>\n

Since 2008, Gage Dayton has served as the administrative director of the University of California, Santa Cruz\u2019s Natural Reserves \u2013 protected wildlands throughout the Monterey Bay Region, providing undisturbed environments for research and teaching.<\/p>\n

We talked about exploring nature near home, learned how the Natural Reserves are faring in the time of COVID-19, and discussed recent work he and the University have undertaken to diversify the natural sciences profession.<\/p>\n

Are there things you are noticing in nature around home in this time?<\/h2>\n

“That\u2019s really been fun for me. Observation is the first step in the scientific process, but it can be a difficult one. If you\u2019re trained in how to key out plants that\u2019s one thing, but looking at nature and trying to discern it can be overwhelming. \u00a0It requires us to slow down, stop, and observe, and we don\u2019t do a lot of that. When you\u2019re stuck in place, you see flowers and birds building nests, and fledglings, and it is rewarding to see that process. I see a lot of wildlife in my neighborhood and my yard, because I\u2019m here all the time. I got to know a lot of creatures in my yard, and especially invertebrates. It\u2019s a fun time to get to know the living things in your backyard.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A flatbacked millipede glows under a black light in Gage’s backyard.<\/p><\/div>\n

Do you have a favorite find while spending more time at home?<\/h2>\n

“The yellow-faced bumblebee and the carpenter bee. The carpenter bees are more solitary, and I\u2019ve seen the holes in my eaves, and this year I got to figure out what they are. I drilled some holes for them to colonize and its wild \u2013 they make crazy noises, they are always exploring, and they are super active.”<\/p>\n

Have you noticed any changes in how nature is reacting to less human activity?<\/h2>\n

“<\/strong>Our reserves are pretty isolated already. We tend to see what we see and so the wildlife has little human impact.<\/p>\n

On the campus, which is tucked right into the forest, we are seeing more deer, bobcat, coyote, and turkey in the developed areas.<\/p>\n

We have a ton of people using open space too \u2013 except when there were the real strict restrictions. There\u2019s way more mountain bike use on campus. There\u2019s more use of our natural lands. Wildlife moving into urban areas is largely in tourist areas where there was a real reduction of human movement into those areas. But in the Santa Cruz Mountains, nature\u2019s pretty accessible for people to go out their front door.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A Ten Lined June Beetle rests on Gage’s finger.<\/p><\/div>\n

What is the way forward to improving representation in the natural sciences?<\/h2>\n

“I\u2019m by no means an expert and I haven\u2019t had that personal experience but for a lot of our students it is about feeling welcome and helping them feel that it is achievable to overcome the real and perceived barriers.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been thinking about this. We have a class titled Introduction to Field Ecology Research which is geared to give freshman students a hands-on experience with no major requirements. Available to all so they have that opportunity, they learn about the local environment, and learn how to do science in two research projects \u2013 collect data, analyze it, and present it. They aren\u2019t told what to do; they are empowered to come up with their own questions. They come away with critical thinking skills, an appreciation for science, and for the natural world near them.<\/p>\n

Many students haven\u2019t camped before, some have never hiked. Now they can identify the five most common species and they are comfortable going outside. They\u2019re going to be our neighbors, and voters, and they\u2019ll have a connection with nature.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve removed a lot of barriers and hurdles and our research shows that that the experience has a direct improvement for students coming from groups underrepresented in natural sciences.<\/p>\n

We created this course with these holistic goals and objectives. Everyone coming to University is nervous to be part of a community. It can be overwhelming and especially for those who are the first in their family to go to college. This is a small class that becomes a small community, a soft landing at the university. It’s welcoming. We use nature to do that and it’s an equalizer in a lot of ways.”<\/p>\n

How are you managing learning and research at the UC Santa Cruz Natural Reserves during pandemic precautions?<\/h2>\n

“A lot of thought went into what kind of information we can convey remotely and what can students engage with on their own. We\u2019ve talked about this kind of approach for a long time, and it\u2019s a huge endeavor, and this forced us to do it. How we teach will change.<\/p>\n

Reserve visitors come from all over, but we do control some use [of the Natural Reserves] for students and researchers, and when COVID started hitting and the students dispersed with shelter-in-place, that was a huge impact on everybody.<\/p>\n

Faculty research shut down or went on pause. That was a big hit. The structured component of school is really important. I was really proud how we responded to it. A couple of good things came out of it.<\/p>\n

Specifically, for field courses, and to support those students remotely, we realized there was asynchronous and synchronous learning \u2013 learning apart or together \u2013 to manage. We pivoted pretty quickly to support faculty using the reserves for teaching, coming there in person, remote internships and writing blogs, and reserve staff working with faculty through video-supported activities, live Zooms to teach about flora and fauna, like Elephant seals. You can\u2019t learn field methods hands-on when students are dispersed around the state. Some attempted live, interactive Zooms with the natural environment. We also used drones to collect data, directed by student questions.<\/p>\n

Zoom lectures can be watched any time \u2013 it is an equalizer to have the flexibility not to show up to a lecture. You can have the experience when it works for you.<\/p>\n

But we lose the sense of community and so having live Zooms too and remote connections, they become more important for different reasons.”<\/p>\n

Sign up<\/a> for emails from Sempervirens Fund to keep connected with our SemperVoices series. You can also learn more about how the UCSC field courses boost STEM diversity<\/a> or read the study on the course<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We recently connected with Gage Dayton and talked about exploring nature near home, learned how the Natural Reserves are faring in the time of COVID-19, and discussed recent work he and the University have undertaken to diversify the natural sciences profession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12131,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-12294","sempervoices","type-sempervoices","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science - Sempervirens Fund<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science - Sempervirens Fund\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We recently connected with Gage Dayton and talked about exploring nature near home, learned how the Natural Reserves are faring in the time of COVID-19, and discussed recent work he and the University have undertaken to diversify the natural sciences profession.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sempervirens Fund\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-07T20:19:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/sempervoices\\\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/sempervoices\\\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\\\/\",\"name\":\"SemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science - Sempervirens Fund\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/sempervoices\\\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/sempervoices\\\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-21T03:38:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-07T20:19:49+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/sempervoices\\\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/sempervoices\\\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirens.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sempervirens Fund\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science - Sempervirens Fund","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science - Sempervirens Fund","og_description":"We recently connected with Gage Dayton and talked about exploring nature near home, learned how the Natural Reserves are faring in the time of COVID-19, and discussed recent work he and the University have undertaken to diversify the natural sciences profession.","og_url":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/","og_site_name":"Sempervirens Fund","article_modified_time":"2021-02-07T20:19:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/","url":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/","name":"SemperVoices: Gage Dayton and Observational Science - Sempervirens Fund","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-21T03:38:43+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-07T20:19:49+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/sempervoices\/gage-dayton-and-observational-science\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/SemperVoices_GageDayton_PostHeader_20190927-SVF-RFerrettiHoyle-Castle-Rock-Grand-Opening-26.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\/","name":"Sempervirens Fund","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sempervirstage.wpengine.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sempervoices\/12294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sempervoices"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sempervoices"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}