Restoration and Conservation at UC Santa Barbara’s Coal Oil Point Reserve

UC Santa Barbara’s Coal Oil Point Reserve encompasses 170 acres of protected habitat for research, education, and outreach. Land and Resource Steward, Kipp Callahan, will discuss the reserve’s habitat restoration program which restores degraded habitat to better support rare coastal ecosystems and has successfully restored more than 20 acres.

Coal Oil Point Reserve is the first place to recover a previously abandoned nesting site for Western Snowy Plovers, a threatened species of shorebird that nests on the beach. Conservation Specialist, Jessica Nielsen, will talk about the reserve’s Snowy Plover Recovery Program.

Speaker: Jessica Nielsen is the Conservation Specialist at Coal Oil Point Reserve where she monitors the population of Snowy Plovers, manages volunteer and internship programs, and helps to support research and university courses at the reserve. Prior to her current position, she earned her Master’s degree in Ecology and Marine Biology from UCSB and worked as a research technician for the Moorea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research group.

Speaker: Kipp Callahan is the Land and Resource Steward at Coal Oil Point Reserve. As the land steward Kipp works to preserve and enhance the habitat at Coal Oil Point through various restoration efforts including native plant propagation and out planting and invasive species control. Kipp also supports the education and research projects that occur at the reserve. Kipp received a BS in Geology at Tufts University in 2009 and a Master of Science in Plant Biology from North Carolina State University in 2021. In addition to his conservation work at Coal Oil Point Reserve, Kipp is also the president of the local chapter of the California Native Plant Society, the Channel Islands Chapter.

Sign up through Evenbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/restoration-and-conservation-at-uc-santa-barbaras-coal-oil-point-reserve-tickets-159551437645