Stone Soup
Individual donors bring special contributions to Santa Cruz Island Reserve
Twenty-five miles off the coast of Santa Barbara lies a rugged island that evokes an undeveloped California. Waves crash against steep cliffs, birds wheel above, and trails wind through pine trees and sage scrub on land shared by The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service. On this landscape, UC Santa Barbara’s Santa Cruz Island Reserve anchors research and education on The Nature Conservancy side of the island and serves 3,200 students, researchers, and visitors each year. A community of donors helps make this access possible through support that creates opportunities for conservation and connection.
The Santa Cruz Island Reserve was established in 1966. The Reserve facilitates research and instruction on the Channel Islands, especially through provision of overnight accommodations and transportation around Santa Cruz Island and its surrounding waters.
Peter Schuyler, former director of the Santa Cruz Island Preserve for The Nature Conservancy, now runs trips out to the Reserve. He serves as a natural history guide for visitors like UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustee Mercedes Millington, who joined Peter and Santa Cruz Island Reserve Director Lyndal Laughrin last year for an island visit.
Mercedes remembers thinking: here I am, an 80-something-year-old Santa Barbara resident, and I have never been to Santa Cruz Island! She grasped the magic of the place as she watched a group of students film a project for UCSB’s Coastal Media Project summer program. “With her background in education, Mercedes immediately asked, “What can I do to help?” Just getting people out there does the work. The island speaks for itself,” said Peter.
“A past life on an island! It piques a student’s imagination. You can’t get that from a book or a city park. I experienced it later in life, and it reminded me how important it is that we preserve what we have,” said Mercedes, who made a generous gift in support of student experiences at the Reserve.
High school and college students who visit Santa Cruz Island Reserve have the opportunity to unplug and immerse themselves in science. Local partnerships facilitated by the Reserve help restore island access for the Chumash community.
“Students who visit the Reserve experience higher GPAs, higher STEM major retention, higher graduation rates, and stronger senses of belonging. The imperative of those numbers is clear: we have a responsibility to give every student, no matter their major, this career-defining experience in nature. That’s where individual donors and annual giving are essential. We never want to say no to a visitor,” said Conner Philson, executive director of the UCSB Natural Reserve System.
The UCSB Natural Reserves span sites from the Eastern Sierras to Carpinteria, seven living laboratories that reflect California’s remarkable diversity. These are part of the larger UC Natural Reserve System, a collection of 42 sites across California.
On Santa Cruz Island, home base for scientists, students, and curious locals alike is the Reserve field station. It provides housing with common areas for cooking, dining, working, lab work, and socializing, along with vehicles to access research sites across the island.
When the opportunity arose to help enhance housing at the Santa Cruz Island Reserve, UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustee Claudia Webster ‘75 and her husband, Alec, met it with enthusiasm. The expansion they supported will open up 18 beds at Santa Cruz Island Reserve for use by students, researchers, and visitors, increasing the impact of programs and operations.
“Because of our backgrounds in engineering and art, we’re both very interested in hands-on, practical learning. We believe you have to go out there, climb around, and get to know your companions. That’s how we build our communities and our society: by connecting in a real way,” said Claudia.
Santa Cruz Island Reserve has a strong legacy of environmental stewardship through collaboration and partnership. The Reserve helped the Santa Cruz Island Fox recover from the brink of extinction, successfully reintroduced bald eagles to the island, and restored habitats. Now, it is leading a weather monitoring effort to help inform native species conservation and climate modeling for California.
All this work requires equipment, vehicles, and time. Maintenance and long-term planning are important. Peter leads a community that has grown to 150 passionate island enthusiasts. Last year, he spearheaded a matching grant that raised over $100,000 to support the field station. “A facility like the field station gives continuity to projects that last longer than one person’s career. You can start something knowing it will continue into the future,” said Peter.
“When we give, we don’t want to give alone,” said Alec. “We expect that other people will be inspired. It’s like stone soup. If everyone adds some vegetables and meat, we’ll have a rich broth that can nourish people.”
Published November 2025
When we give, we don’t want to give alone. We expect that other people will be inspired. It’s like stone soup. If everyone adds some vegetables and meat, we’ll have a rich broth that can nourish people.
Alec Webster