Last shingles at Sagehen.

Kevin Starr is replacing the last wood shingle roofs at Sagehen this week. The North & South cabins in the Upper Camp get the metal roof treatment. Someone did a good job building these cabins--the structures underneath were in great shape, requiring no upgrades. This is unusual!

We're excited because this means that all the roofs on our public buildings can now slide rather than accumulate snow until the building collapses.

Kevin also remodeled the torn-up bathroom at the Manager's Residence last week, the first upgrade to this building since it was built in the early 1960s (it still has composite shingles).

Road kill citizen science

The folks at the UC Davis Road Ecology Center have an interesting new way for you to gather data while out driving.

Participants help researchers understand animal-vehicle interactions & get lots of practice with digital camera & GPS.

NY Times article | Information about Road Ecology at Sagehen

UCNRS Annual Meeting

Sagehen hosted the annual UCNRS Manager's & Steward's Meeting last week. We also hosted in 2002, right before actually being accepted into the organization.

Despite pushing the date forward a month to avoid bad weather, we struck out. Cold & rain were on tap for the brave participants. But everyone warmed up at the party when the "Simpletones" started to play!

If you have a few good snaps to add to the album, forward & I'll get them uploaded.

Photos | Video highlights of last year's meeting

Countdown 2010.

As a member of the UC Natural Reserve System, Sagehen is part of the Countdown 2010 initiative.

Countdown 2010 is a network of active partners working together towards the 2010 Biodiversity Target. Each partner commits to specific efforts to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss.

Several Sagehen projects are mentioned in the "Made in Countdown 2010" publication [download PDF]– a collection of 20 of the best success stories by Countdown 2010 partners worldwide. These stories include:

• - The ARC program;
• - Discovery of the wolverine;
• - GK-12 (Exploring California Biodiversity) Programs.