Trevor Hebert
Stewardship
At Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma), stewardship is integral to our academic mission of research and teaching.
We view stewardship as a practice that brings people together to protect and sustain biodiversity, ecosystems, and cultural values. Guided by both Indigenous and Western knowledge—including the principle of Two-Eyed Seeing—stewardship shapes the questions we ask and the practices we apply to understand how natural systems function and how people interact with those systems.
History
Jasper Ridge bears a long record of human intervention, visible in its habitats and resources. This history frames our approach to stewardship and conservation. For a timeline of the preserve’s past, visit our Chronology webpage.
Philosophy
For the past 50 years, Jasper Ridge’s focus on research, conservation, and education has led to fundamental scientific discoveries and inspired educational activities. Today, the complexities of what we seek to safeguard require us to go beyond preservation alone. We must pursue conservation and restoration, and we must test new solutions through stewardship informed by guiding principles such as Two-Eyed Seeing.
How do we define preservation, conservation, restoration, and stewardship? Each encompasses multiple goals. They differ, present trade-offs, and can be partly incompatible with one another.
The future of Jasper Ridge depends on authentic collaboration among the many people who care deeply about this place—and who recognize there is no single right definition of what to preserve, conserve, or restore. Our highest mission is to ensure that future generations, including students, Indigenous peoples, scientists, and the general public, continue to benefit from this unique place.
Navigating Disturbances through Research and Education
Jasper Ridge is experiencing pressures that also create opportunities for research and teaching. We are working to understand how stewardship fits within these pressures and to balance disturbance with learning outcomes and a durable stewardship vision. Explore our current focus areas:
- Wildfire Risk Management
- Searsville Watershed Restoration Project
- Invasive Species Management
Student Opportunities
The Stewardship Intern Program offers Stanford students hands-on experience at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma). Interns develop skills in ecology, natural history, and fieldwork while learning about research, education, outreach, and stewardship under the mentorship of a diverse team of scientists.