Hello Friends of Fort Ord Natural Reserve!
Please join us on UC Santa Cruz Giving Day 2025 to support the Fort Ord Natural Reserve (UCSC FONR) in Marina, California. The funds we raise through Giving Day support our K–12 education programs. In previous years we have been able to support nearly 1,000 Pre-K through grade 12 students and university interns in our experiential education programs. None of this is possible without your help. Please forward this message to your networks, and to anyone who would like to help us with our mission.
When we bring the community together in the outdoor classroom and living laboratory at FONR, students respond with open eyes, engaged smiles, and great questions about the biodiversity in their neighborhood nature reserve!
Your donation will enable us to bring more K–12 students to FONR, and teach them about the unique plants and animals that call the maritime chaparral and oak woodland their home. Your donation will also go toward bringing Monterey Bay area college students and children into the outdoor classroom at the reserve. Each year we use donations to pay for bus fees, educational materials, and undergraduate interns to facilitate K–12 field trips, undergraduate training in environmental education, and a variety of field-based internships for our students. Your support is essential to our future programming.
The Fort Ord Natural Reserve is a 600-acre nature reserve on the former Fort Ord military base land in Marina that is dedicated to research, teaching, and public service for the Monterey Bay area. As part of the UC Natural Reserve System, FONR supports university-level research and teaching, as well as community outreach programs. The reserve functions as a living lab for students of all ages, where experiential learning helps them build positive relationships with the natural world and gain essential critical-thinking skills.
Make a gift today and help inspire the scientists and environmental stewards of tomorrow. Your support is very meaningful—thank you!