Scaling Environmental Stewardship & Culture Across the UCSB Student Community

Coal Oil Point Reserve is one of the few reserves within the University of California Reserve System that is open to the public. At the forefront of conservation efforts, notably the study and protection of the federally threatened Snowy Plover, the reserve must balance conservation, recreation, and its mission of research and education. To achieve this balance, it is imperative visitors know what to expect and how to support the mission of the reserve. To that end, the message this project will promote is that Coal Oil Point Reserve, through conservation and restoration, aims to support, train, and inspire students to care for and protect its natural systems through their actions. Newcomers to UCSB, which includes most of the visitors to the reserve, lack this knowledge. This challenge arises because new students arrive each year, making it difficult to build a consistent culture. This project, Scaling Environmental Culture Across the UCSB Student Community, aims to bridge this knowledge gap. Focusing on the UCSB student body, we hope to connect local residents with the groundbreaking work being done and how they can support ongoing work. To accomplish this, the project will involve creating three outreach materials to gauge UCSB community awareness and serve as education and culture-building tools. Deliverables include a communication preference survey, a student-oriented communication plan, and a visual giveaway. The goal of this project is to further the reserve’s message to students, both new and incoming, so that they can become better stewards of this unique ecosystem.