In March, Julie Lockwood, Environmental Studies, UCSC brought a class of about 20 students to Hastings from March 20-24 to study birds. Walter Koenig lead an advanced course in animal behavior for about 10 graduate students from UC Berkeley earlier over the weekend of March 8-10. Tom Parker, San Francisco State University, brought a group of 15 students to Hastings March 25-27 to study plant ecology. From May 3-6 a group of geologists worked out of the Ranch House to study the very old rocks found on the high peaks around there. Andy Barth reports that these flecked, gray granitic-looking rocks (the occasional "flat" rock found in the streams and used at so many houses for walkways) is remarkably old. He brought samples back to the geology lab in Indiana for further analysis and dating. Janice Edgerly-Rooks brought her class in insect biology (Santa Clara University) here May 17-19. Then, Eileen Lacy from UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology held her lab retreat at Hastings May 20-25, bringing along a group of about 10 students, post-docs, etc.

One of our annual favorites is the UC Jepson Public Programs, a course on pollination ecology, held this year May 31 to June 2. Gordon Frankie (UC Berkeley) and Robin Thorp (UC Davis) teach the class, often with the assistance from UC Jepson staff. That about wrapped up the teaching season, and the houses were then used for visiting researchers, including many undergraduates.

Matina Kalcouni-Rueppell, who conducted her doctoral research here, is now on the faculty at California State University at Sacramento. Matina brought her Mammalogy class to Hastings in October, and they were all thrilled. They saw piggies...2 students were walking with bat detectors along the lane and ran into a big piggie. They also saw a mountain lion. Two students were hiking up Haystack Hill. They were at the top of that hill right at the fence and they flushed a sleeping lion that then bounded down the hill away from them.

  Here are a few photos of the class...

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