Since 1982, the UC Nature Publications Program has documented and publicized the resources of UC Nature by producing and disseminating a variety of communications media, including:
- Systemwide website
- UC Nature-supported websites
- e-newsletter
- videos
- Systemwide general and occasional publications
- internet, newspaper, magazine articles
- social media
- annual use data visualizations
- information and photographs
- media relations
These media raise the profile and status of UC Nature, both within and outside of the UC system, attract and inform reserve users, and support efforts to raise the funds needed to expand and develop the resources of UC Nature.
UC Nature systemwide website
Since the UC Nature website was launched in the mid-1990s, it has become the primary source of information about the organization. Reserve users and potential reserve users, members of the general public (educators, legislators, individuals involved in management of natural resources, community organizers, and others), and UC Nature personnel (whether in the Systemwide Office, on campus, or on site) all turn to the website as their primary gateway to obtain information about the system, to apply to use a reserve, to learn about UC Nature activities, to access databases of species and electronic repositories for reserve-based research data, to view images and videos of reserves, and more.
Increasing societal reliance on the internet as a source of news and information has transformed the UC Nature website and its social media outlets, including the online UC Nature Newsletter, into the most prominent and effective means of disseminating news and information about the organization.
When a major event occurs in the life of UC Nature—for example, UC Nature receives a large gift or one of its reserves is employed as the site of significant, long-term research—the UC Nature Publications Program responds by publishing an article on the UC Nature website and sharing the story with communications staff at UCOP, relevant campuses, and other participating organizations.
UC Nature-supported websites
In addition to its primary website, UC Nature hosts a number of other websites for reserves, affiliated organizations, and its own fundraising program. UC Nature Publications Program staff may be responsible for providing content, design, images, and security updates. Publications Program staff are also involved in training reserve staff on how to maintain and edit these websites.
Online UC Nature newsletter
The primary objective of the online UC Nature Newsletter is to provide news about the research, instructional, and public service/outreach activities being carried out at UC Nature reserves. Newsletters collate links to articles, video, and photos published on the UC Nature website, as well as media from other venues such as campus, newspaper, and magazine websites. The newsletter also publishes information about UC Nature events such as lectures, open houses, hikes, and classes to which the public is invited. Topics include, but are not limited to, reserve-based research, management programs, reserve staff, major grants and research initiatives, recipients of UC Nature support such as Mathias Graduate Student Research Grants, new on-site facilities, and UC Nature-associated publications.
The audience for the newsletter includes the field science research and instructional community, faculty and students from the University’s ten campuses and from other institutions; staff of public and private resource-management programs, UC alumni, community organizations, neighbors of reserves, the media, members of the general public interested in environmental matters, and others. Many readers are current and past reserve users; many others are potential reserve users.
The UC Nature Newsletter supplants Transect, a publication of UC Nature that was printed and mailed to subscribers for nearly 30 years. The advent of social media and ubiquitous access to the internet has made online newsletter publication a common medium for organizations to share information with their communities. Because online publication obviates the need for extensive attention to layout, printing, and mailing, it dramatically reduces publication program costs. The e-newsletter format also enables sharing of videos by and about UC Nature via links and embedding capabilities. Automated subscription and list cleaning eases the burden of maintaining subscriber lists. Finally, the newsletter keeps the University of California apprised of UC Nature contributions to the University, the state, and—as the UC Nature mission statement expresses it—“the understanding and wise management of the Earth and its natural systems.”
Social media
The UC Nature Publications Program has established and maintains social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. These accounts are used to amplify news about UC Nature and related opportunities such as UC Nature grant programs, fellowships, courses, and events of interest to the UC Nature community.
UC Nature videos
The UC Nature Publications Program produces periodic videos about the impact of UC Nature research, conservation, and public service. Videos are uploaded to the internet for publicly available viewing.
Videos are cross-posted on the UC Nature website, the UC Nature YouTube channel, UCOP communications, UC Nature social media, and the UC Nature newsletter. Completed videos are a powerful tool to aid UC Nature Systemwide Office fundraising and community outreach efforts.
Systemwide general and occasional publications
Now and then, the UC Nature Systemwide Office produces generalist publications that announce, describe, and explain the organization as a whole. Publications have been produced such purposes as marking anniversaries, as with The Environmental Legacy of the UC Natural Reserve System (UC Press, 2013); to fulfill the need for general information about UC Nature in formats such as fact sheets; and to augment fundraising efforts, such as print collateral produced for the 2018 capital campaign.
The UC Nature Systemwide Office is occasionally asked to assist in producing printed materials such as flyers, postcards, banners, posters, signage, and maps. When time and funds permit, the publications program provides design assistance, coordination with printers, and other production advice.
Newspaper and magazine articles
Occasionally, other publications run articles about UC Nature, its individual reserves, research conducted on site, and the field scientists, instructors, and students who use the reserves (or even the philanthropists who endow them). Some of these articles are written by UC Nature Systemwide Office or campus-based UC Nature personnel, then submitted to UC or external publications. Others are written by UC writers for UC publications, by non-UC media staff writers for their own publications, or by freelance writers.
The UC Nature publications program supports the production of articles and other media about UC Nature, offering information and photographs, providing useful contacts, and supplying images. Such support is the best way to maintain influence over information disseminated about UC Nature, and helps derail misinformation before it is published. Moreover, articles written by a staff writer for an external publication presents a valuable objective perspective.
Annual use data visualizations
Every year, reserve managers are asked to review their reserve’s use data records in RAMS and approve a summary of this data. The UC Nature publications staff presents aggregated annual use data gleaned from the Reserve Application Management System (RAMS) in the form of dynamic maps, graphs, and charts available on the UC Nature website.