September 2026 Newsletter

Explore our new 2025-2026 Annual Report!

• Jasper Ridge remained a place where long-term research continues to thrive. In 2025–2026, students and early-career researchers built on decades of study to better understand fire, wildlife, plants, and a changing landscape. Working alongside mentors in the field, they added to Jasper Ridge's living record while preparing to care for the land into the future. The 2025-2026 Annual Report highlights how field research, outdoor learning, and mentorship at Jasper Ridge are helping prepare the next generation of scientists and land stewards. Click here to read the 2025-2026 Annual Report.

Jasper Ridge Receives 2026 OBFS Advancing Equity Award

• Jasper Ridge received the 2026 OBFS Advancing Equity Award, which recognizes field stations for programs that increase the involvement, engagement, and support of underrepresented groups in field science. Katie and Tad attended the 2026 OBFS Annual Meeting to receive the award on behalf of the Jasper Ridge staff and shared with the OBFS community their experience co-developing these programs with the Tribe. Click here to read more about the award. 

2026-2027 Community Lecture Series

• Join us Wednesday, October 7, for “Mammals in the Anthropocene: Insights from Long-Term Monitoring at Jasper Ridge” with Rodrigo Béllo Carvalho, a Biology PhD candidate in Prof. Rodolfo Dirzo's lab, Jasper Ridge docent, and Philippe S. Cohen Graduate Fellow. Reception begins at 3:30 PM, followed by the talk and Q&A from 4–5 PM. Join us and bring a friend!

New blog: Collaborative Stewardship in Action Across the Bay Area

• This spring and summer, Jasper Ridge took part in three meetings across the Bay Area and California focused on land care and conservation. The meetings highlighted the importance of working with partners, sharing knowledge, and connecting research with on-the-ground stewardship. To read more, visit the blog.

Visit the Research Projects page to learn about the research projects at Jasper Ridge

Congratulations

• Lauren Puleo received an A.W. Mellon grant for student research! Lauren Puleo, PhD student in Biology, advised by Asst. Prof. Barnabas Daru, and in collaboration with Prof. Tad Fukami, will use Oakmead Herbarium and other collections across California to study how nectar microbial communities vary across place and time. Learn about this research on the project page.

New Research 

• Dan Kubota, a stewardship intern in the Earth Systems Program, worked with Jasper Ridge Executive Director Jorge Ramos this summer to start a project quantifying live fuel moisture content in five chaparral species along the southern Westridge boundary of Jasper Ridge.
• Isaac Lichter Marck, Asst. Curator of Botany at California Academy of Sciences, began collecting plant specimens with his students, Katy Allerton (Master’s student at SFSU) and Benjamin Sims (UC Berkeley), to resolve taxonomic relationships in Helianthela and Wyethia/Balsamorhiza.

New Publications

• Farner JE, Lyberger KP, Couper LI, Cruz-Loya M, Mordecai EA (2026) Nonlinear Effects of Temperature on Mosquito Parasite Infection across a Large Geographic Climate Gradient. Ecology 107(2): e70307. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70307 
• Golde CL, Xiao Y, Nijmeh C, Torres J, Goode RW, Valdez J, Oraftik C, Allyn Y, Bortai OT, De La Cruz N, Ford AA, Hannsz CM, Jackson JN, Kim AHM, Nabahe ZN, Romanchak KA, de Jesus Romero-Caldera O, Settle SJ, Sheinfeld R, Stafford AK, Standing Crow KL, Tiger CMTD, Payelleville A, Fukami T (2026) Effects of cultural burning on insect-associated nematodes in soil. microPublication Biology. https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.002263

Research out on the trails! What is that?

• What may look like small camping tents around Searsville and Upper Lakes are actually traps for flying insects. Researchers Hilary Bayer and Prof Tad Fukami are tracking trends in insect populations by comparing current samples with both historical records and future surveys.

Community Science Projects

• Join the Ant Survey in October. Since 1993, ant surveys at Jasper Ridge have tracked the invasion of Argentine ants across the preserve. This survey is now the longest continuous fine-scale study of an insect invasion in progress. To volunteer and learn more about the research, visit the ant survey project page. You can also learn about other Community Science Projects.

Successful Summer Educational Tours

• Thank you to our wonderful docent community for helping welcome about 150 students from Stanford Doerr School and Ohlone College summer programs this summer. Students and program leaders shared how much they enjoyed learning about Jasper Ridge’s plants, animals, natural communities, and research.

Jasper Ridge Community Lectures

• Join us Wednesday, October 7, for “Mammals in the Anthropocene: Insights from Long-Term Monitoring at Jasper Ridge” with Rodrigo Béllo Carvalho, a Biology PhD candidate in Prof. Rodolfo Dirzo's lab, Jasper Ridge docent, and Philippe S. Cohen Graduate Fellow. Reception begins at 3:30 PM, followed by the talk and Q&A from 4–5 PM. Join us and bring a friend!

Dan Kubota’s Live Fuel Moisture Internship Project

• Summer student intern Dan Kubota completed her internship with Jorge Ramos on a project monitoring live fuel moisture in chaparral plants along the maintained fuel break on the Westridge boundary. In late August, Dan presented this work at the BSURP event during the Stanford Department of Biology research symposium. The project will continue this academic year, gathering information that helps Jasper Ridge reduce wildfire risk, remain a safe partner in the neighborhood, and guide stewardship and research at the preserve. If you would like to get involved, please contact Jorge Ramos. For more information, visit our website.