Theme: Habitat Restoration & Native Landscaping

These projects focus on bettering the natural environments on or near campus, through native gardening/landscaping, education around habitat restoration, or other related projects that improve ecosystem health in or around campus. 

Tending the Oaks: Community Learning for a Resilient Landscape

Project Description

The project will provide nature-based, experiential learning opportunities to K–12 students in lower socioeconomic status neighborhoods, assist in training UC Berkeley students in community engagement and outreach efforts relating to land stewardship and sustainability, and, lastly, help support ongoing oak regeneration efforts in a savannah woodland habitat. These goals will be mainly implemented during the spring semester of 2026.

Instagram: blueoakranchreserve and berkeleyreserves

Project Links...

Reviving Native Habitats Through Student Mentorship Project

Project Description

B) This project aims to create native pollinator habitat, restore oak woodland habitat, and provide stewardship training opportunities for UC Berkeley students. These goals would be implemented primarily in winter and spring, approximately from January to May 2026.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster

Restoring Creek of UC Berkeley

Project Description

A. Project Leaders
Miranda Monge and Sharon Harichandran, Environmental Specialists with the Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S)
B. Goals of Your Project
The Office of Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) oversees environmental programs, including water quality, watershed protection, and the Strawberry Creek Restoration Program (SCRP). For over a decade, EH&S staff, SCRP student interns, and volunteers have collaborated to protect natural resources on campus.
Several creeks flow through the University, including Strawberry...

FUELSAFE - Fuel-Reduction, Ecological Stewardship, and Fire Education

Project Description

Goals of Project: The FUELSAFE Project (Fuel-load Reduction, Ecological Stewardship, and Fire Education) aims to reduce hazardous fuel loads, improve forest health, and expand experiential learning opportunities for UC Berkeley students at Russell Research Station. The project focuses on shrub and small-tree removal, burn-pile creation, controlled burning support, and road restoration to increase wildfire resilience. FUELSAFE also seeks to enhance student engagement with land stewardship and long-term ecological management at a UC-owned research forest. 3) Website...

Strawberry Creek Ecological Stabilization Project

Project Description

This Ecological Stabilization Project will help Strawberry Creek regain ecological stability by applying basic LID strategies and habitat restoration measures. Grant funding will finance the design phase of the project.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster

Restorative Ecology Training Program

Project Description

The Restorative Ecology Training Program will develop an intensive training course for UC Berkeley undergraduate students geared toward young ecological professionals interested in sustainable soil use and habitat restoration. The training program will include lab, field, and outreach components.

Project Links

Project Application

Project...

Hearst North Field Soil Restoration

Project Description

Hearst North Field Soil Restoration project will eliminate the amount of synthetic leachate washed off from the field, and greatly reduce the watering needs of the field by 20%-30% with an estimated captured savings of over 250,000 gallons annually. The management methodology consists of covering the field with high quality compost, working the compost into the soil, and regularly applying a liquid compost brew to the turf.

Project Links

...

Fitting Plant to Place: Site-Specific Restoration Planning on Strawberry Creek

Project Description

Fitting Plant to Space will refine the trait-based approach tested by the 2012 TGIF Grant by measuring soil characteristics (moisture, organic matter content, nitrogen, texture and pH) and landscape factors (proximity to road, slope, and surrounding vegetation communities) at each site before planting. Fitting Plant to Space will also engage 500 volunteers and improve the efficiency and standards of the Strawberry Creek volunteer program.

Project Links

...

Campus Tree Inventory

Project Description

This project will inventory the main campus trees to create a tree database system for campus maintenance and to apply for tree campus USA status.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster

Strawberry Creek Water Quality Probe

Project Description

This grant will be supplemented by funding from EH&S and allow the Strawberry Creek Restoration Team to purchase a water quality probe that will assist with sediment and erosion research along Strawberry Creek.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster