The Point Conception region just north of Santa Barbara is one of the last remaining wild portions of coastal ecosystems in Southern California. It's lack of development on the scale found on the rest of the coastline has left intact ecosystems ranging from the top of coastal mountains to the kelp beds lying in the Pacific. It's a place where you could see a mountain lion and a whale all in one day!
Dave talks to scientists from the Nature Conservancy, NASA, and the University of California Santa Barbara in this special look at a cooperative new study called SHIFT for "Surface Biology and Geology High Frequency Time Series." Using a state of the art spectrometer flown in a NASA aircraft, scientists from the three entities are engaged in an unparalleled study of the Point Conception area focuses on the Nature Conservancy's Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve and UC Santa Barbara's Sedgewick Reserve. Dave talks to Nature Conservancy scientist Mark Reynolds about the Dangermond Preserve and overall ecology of the area, then is joined by NASA/JPL Research Scientist Dave Schimel to hear about the instrumentation and methodologies in the study. Finally, UC Santa Barbara Ecology and Environmental Science Professor Frank Davis describes the Sedgwick Reserve's role as part of the UC Natural Reserves System.