Resources & Equipment
The UC Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Collections (MNHC) is dedicated to facilitating research and expanding knowledge of natural history and field sciences. Toward this mission, it maintains a variety of educational resources. To use any of these resources, or to donate resources to the museum, contact MNHC staff.
- Field Equipment: The MNHC maintains the Environmental Studies Department’s field-equipment office. Equipment such as measuring tapes, thermometers, binoculars, and soil-sampling kits are loaned to students, faculty, and others working on classes, internships, or research field projects.
- Specimen Collections: MNHC specimen collections include plants, lichens, fungi, marine algae, insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and vertebrate skeletons, focusing primarily but not exclusively on Santa Cruz County and regional species. Some of the specimens are available for loan to faculty, students, staff, associates, and community members for use in teaching, research, and artwork.
- Museum Library: The museum has an extensive library of field guides, natural history resources, and museum methods references. Books are not checked out, but are available for use in the museum by staff, interns, and volunteers. Donations of relevant books are welcome.
- UCSC Natural History Website: Maintained by the MNHC, this website provides information about natural history of the UCSC campus, including nature hike podcasts (audio tours) and species lists.
- The Natural History of the UC Santa Cruz Campus, edited by Tonya Haff, Breck Tyler, and Martha Brown. This 375-page field guide contains beautiful illustrations and in-depth descriptions of the organisms and ecosystems that make UCSC such an extraordinary place. It is available at the Baytree bookstore.
- ENVS 15: Natural History of the UCSC Campus: This field-intensive class is taught in the spring quarter by MNHC curator Chris Lay. It is an intensive introduction to the geology, ecology, and local species found on the UCSC campus. Currently, the existence of this course is made possible by the generosity of a local donor.
- Links: Coming Soon!