Sentinel Site Manager Ryan Ferrell joins us for a conservation conversation (say that three times fast!) about the practice of hunting, its management for ecological sustainability, and its relationship to conservation. As a lifelong hunter and professional field scientist, Ryan’s understanding of the hunting community and the dynamics of local ecosystems provides unique insight into this topic.

Learn more about Ryan’s work monitoring soils and hydrology at Pepperwood in the November 2024 article, Consulting with the Soil: Nature’s Oracle.

This episode’s Nature Sound Guess Who Game clip, recorded by Bob Hasenick, was used courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Sentinel Sites for Nature are strategic locations, such as preserves or sanctuaries, where scientists conduct long-term and standardized monitoring of physical and biological conditions, including climate, wildlife, and water. This monitoring helps detect and understand environmental changes, providing crucial early warnings of impacts from climate change, pollution, and habitat loss. The data gathered enables better conservation decisions.

Using consistent methods like camera monitoring, audio monitoring, meteorological, and soil sensor data, these sites track the pulse of the natural world across vast networks like California's Sentinel Site Network or NOAA's Marine Sanctuaries. These data help scientists establish baselines and track trends, supporting stewardship and public safety more effectively.

Pepperwood is part of California's Sentinel Site Network and was among the first such sites established in the state. It is also one of the most highly instrumented of such sites, with more than 700 real-time data streams. Take a tour through our extensive collection of monitoring sensors with Ryan Ferrell, Pepperwood's Sentinel Site Manager. Ryan describes how collecting abiotic data can inform our adaptive management plan, and what that process is like in his day-to-day experience.

You can read more about this, including additional projects within the Sentinel Site and links to our regional partners, in the April 2025 article What is a Sentinel Site.

This episode's Nature Sound Guess Who Game clip, recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller, was used courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

To celebrate Pepperwood's 20th anniversary, we are joined by esteemed community members Steve and Linda Barnhart, who share their extensive involvement with Pepperwood over the years. Steve discusses the significance of oak woodlands and his academic research on local oak species, while Linda highlights the history of the Pepperwood Stewards training course, which led to the establishment of the California Naturalist (CalNat) certification course.

To experience the CalNat course for yourself, visit the UC Environmental Stewards website or look for upcoming courses at Pepperwood’s Classes and Events page.

This episode’s Nature Sound Guess Who Game clip, recorded by Andrew Spencer, was used courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

In this episode, we hear the voices of Beatrix, Teagan, and Glenn, high school students who have participated in Pepperwood’s summer science institute and who continue to return to Pepperwood for more science, stewardship, art, and time with fellow nature lovers. Are you a high school student, or do you know a high school student who might want to spend a summer up in the beautiful landscape of Pepperwood? Here are some insights into what you might experience during TeenNat.

Once you have listened, please visit the TeenNat page for more information and to apply for the program!

SPOILER ALERT: Please check out this range map as well as this article from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University to learn more about the ongoing discourse regarding this episode’s featured Nature Sound Guess Who Game species. Thanks again to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library for the use of their media and for their ongoing support, and to contributor Thomas G. Sander for recording and sharing the excellent sound clip whose identity is revealed in this episode.

In this episode, Preserve Manager Michael Gillogly reflects on his three decades at the reserve and gives us an inside look at how cattle grazing can be managed to enhance biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

Learn more about and support our grazing partners at Markegard Family Grass-Fed, and become a supporter of our stewardship work at Pepperwood.

SPOILER ALERT: the Nature Sound Guess Who Game clip from the end of episode 4 can be viewed (and heard) here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73798969. For the much more intense sound that I teased on this episode, check this out: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/13850035. Many thanks to Elliot Smeds for these (and many more) excellent iNaturalist observations!

In this episode we talk to Pepperwood’s Ecology Research Manager Michelle Halbur, who walks us through the world of Californian grasslands and how they are monitored and managed at Pepperwood.

To hear more on this subject from Michelle, check out her 2020 webinar: California Grasslands: The Forest Beneath Our Feet.

For more about grassland birds like the ones Michelle mentions, check out the eBird website

For more about grassland conservation, check out the California Native Grassland Association and the Milo Baker chapter of the California Native Plant Society

To register for events, classes, workshops, or stewardship workdays at Pepperwood, visit our Classes & Events page

This episode’s Nature Sound Guess Who Game clips were used courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library, and the contributors were Randolph Little, John Patterson, and Bob McGuire.

In this episode we talk to Makayla Freed, Pepperwood’s Research Specialist, about the long-term monitoring plots that she maintains in forest habitats at the reserve. We’ll discuss the relationship between science and stewardship and explore some of the techniques that scientists use to keep track of diverse types of organisms.

To learn more about the scientific monitoring that takes place at Pepperwood, visit our Climate and Science page

For more fascinating information about our local forests, check out Kendall Calhoun’s presentation Monitoring Oak Woodland Wildlife Communities following the Mendocino Complex Fire and Clint McKay’s presentation Black Oaks Revealed: Their cultural significance for Indigenous Communities

Check out life history summaries and range maps of California animals at https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CWHR/Life-History-and-Range

In this episode we talk to Devyn Friedfel, Pepperwood’s Fire and Stewardship Manager as well as California-certified Burn Boss, about the history of fire in California and the practice of good fire as a necessary part of stewardship in this fire-adapted Northern California region. We'll specifically be discussing a practice called "pile burning." Believe it or not, this good fire stewardship technique is a type of prescribed burning whereby fire practitioners and land managers burn piles of forest debris to reduce the risk of wildfires.

If you're curious to learn more about this kind of stewardship, Pepperwood is a good place to find the knowledge and gain practical hands-on experience you need to get started. Visit our Stewardship page to learn more about ways to get involved in person.

Watch Devyn’s 2024 webinar, “Managing Invasive Species in Grasslands”

Check out Pepperwood’s Good Fire FAQs page

In this episode we introduce our host, Environmental Educator Julianne Bradbury, our plans for the podcast, and Steward Gary Morgret, a dedicated volunteer who has contributed his time and talents to the Pepperwood Phenology Project for nearly a decade.

Watch Julianne’s 2021 webinar, “Impacts of Fire on Amphibians and Reptiles”

Gary mentions being inspired by Pepperwood Steward, Wendy Herniman. She's since moved out of the area but her work on oak trees from her time with Pepperwood is really fascinating. You can read all about it in her essay, The Grandmother Oak.

Another Pepperwood Steward who works on the Phenology Project is Natasha Granoff, and she's also written about her experiences! Read her essay, On The Plant Phenology Trail.

Curious about becoming a Steward at Pepperwood? Or just taking one of the amazing California Naturalist or Climate Steward certification programs Julianne talked about?

Here's where you can learn more about Pepperwood's Steward program, AND

here's where you can learn more about the 👉 UC Environmental Stewards certification program 👈