Goals & Needs

 

Pepperwood is a leader in forging solutions to advance the health of Northern California’s land, water, and wildlife. Pepperwood’s Dwight Center for Conservation Science and Pepperwood Preserve encompass 3,200 acres northeast of Santa Rosa in the Southern Mayacamas Mountains (Sonoma County). Coordinating regional collaborations and providing vital data for the region, Pepperwood serves as a Sentinel Site: a long-term monitoring framework designed to track changes in climate, water, vegetation, and wildlife. Our network of sensors, cameras, instruments, and research plots takes the pulse of nature and provides real time situational awareness. Land management activities are planned, implemented, and monitored in multiple habitats and include regenerative grazing practices, vegetation thinning for optimum forest health, prescribed fire, grassland restoration, and invasive species management. 

Work and Tasks:

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Pepperwood seeks a Grizzly Corps fellow who will work closely with the Research and Preserve Management team as a Field Technician. The fellow will expand our capacity to deliver high quality educational opportunities to our neighbors regarding forest thinning and prescribed fire. The fellow will work with technical partners to develop and deliver educational programing (including live prescribed fire observations) to help our community better understand how fire can be utilized to make communities safer and forests healthier. Our prescribed fire program has identified the need to utilize pile burning to reduce fuel loads prior to our broadcast burns. The fellow will meet this new capacity need to further our forest stewardship work and build landscape level resilience. 

We also aim to expand our wildlife monitoring with acoustic bird and bat monitoring which will require additional staff capacity. 

 Lastly, the fellow will allow us to expand our grazing operation with new water and fence development following the 2017 Tubbs fire, which will allow better management of the herd to meet our conservation goals.

Larger and more destructive wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, have demonstrated the need for better forest management techniques. Ecological forest thinning and prescribed fire are needed to develop resilience in our forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding the impact of our stewardship activities on wildlife is critical to adapting our management to benefit wildlife. This project will support GrizzlyCorps goals of contributing solutions to the climate crisis by promoting regenerative agriculture that pairs the local agricultural industry with habitat resilience efforts and promoting improved watersheds, wildfire resilience and wildlife.

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Capacity Building Projects

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Pepperwood seeks a Grizzly Corps fellow who will work closely with the Research and Preserve Management team as a Field Technician. The fellow will expand our capacity to deliver high quality educational opportunities to our neighbors regarding forest thinning and prescribed fire. The fellow will work with technical partners to develop and deliver educational programing (including live prescribed fire observations) to help our community better understand how fire can be utilized to make communities safer and forests healthier. Our prescribed fire program has identified the need to utilize pile burning to reduce fuel loads prior to our broadcast burns. The fellow will meet this new capacity need to further our forest stewardship work and build landscape level resilience. 

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We also aim to expand our wildlife monitoring with acoustic bird and bat monitoring which will require additional staff capacity. Pepperwood has a well-established wildlife monitoring program for mammals, breeding birds, reptiles and amphibians. Little has been done to monitor bats or bird populations outside of the spring breeding season.

 

Lastly, the fellow will allow us to expand our grazing operation with new water and fence development following the 2017 Tubbs fire, which will allow better management of the herd to meet our conservation goals.

 

Organizational & Community Highlights

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Surrounded by world-class vineyards, our area is also a recognized biological diversity hotspot that features rolling hills, oak woodlands, expansive grasslands, and more. However, with increasing human development, Sonoma County faces pressing challenges associated with habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change impacts, and wildfire risk . At the center of climate-driven environmental changes, working at Pepperwood provides a rare opportunity to experience dynamic changes to scientific thinking and land management responses

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 In the last ten years, our region has experienced a historic drought, catastrophic and repeated wildfires, and wide-spread flooding, causing Pepperwood to emerge as a leader in predicting, preparing, and adapting to wildfire. While this has been exceptionally challenging, our organization and community have demonstrated remarkable strength, cohesiveness, and a willingness to work together to not just recover, but to build long-term social and ecological resilience. 

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Given the increase in wildfires, it is critical that we all work together to address risks and build community resilience. As a regional hub, we advance collaborations across disciplines and between scientists, educators, and land managers. We are a conduit of science-based knowledge, tools, and policy solutions. Pepperwood creates and tests strategies that make watersheds and communities more resilient to changing climate and fire regimes. 

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In addition, Pepperwood Preserve sits within the traditional homeland of the Wappo people. We respect and honor past, present, and future generations of Wappo and their continued connection to this land. We are grateful for the opportunity to gather in this beautiful place and give our respect for its first inhabitants, while actively collaborating with local Indigenous leaders in land management and outreach efforts.

Pepperwood’s staff of 24 are passionate about turning science into action. As an integrated team of researchers, resource managers, educators, and program staff, we value collaboration, co-creation, and inclusion. Our field station is a dynamic, bustling environment. On any given day, staff will be collecting data, hosting convenings, leading visitors on hikes, and participating in community events. With a broad portfolio of applied science projects and a deep network of collaborators, Pepperwood provides a rich and supportive learning environment. We aim to train, recruit, and retain staff, board members, volunteers, and members that reflect the diversity of the greater regional community. We seek to communicate the value, processes, and products of science in ways that reach the broadest possible audience. 
 

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