The 400-acre UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve offers students the opportunity to walk outside their classrooms and study nature in nature. Better known as the "outdoor classroom and living laboratory," the reserve focuses on engaging students in direct observation and study of the natural world while bridging concepts learned in the indoor classroom with unique hands-on field experiences. These transformative experiences function as a springboard into field work internships supporting various research projects in ecology, restoration, land management and conservation, forestry, and environmental science. (#35252)