The Vernon and Mary Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration is a center under the Office of Research. Our mission is to preserve and enhance our natural heritage through leading biodiversity research, conservation, and ecological restoration, including stewardship of campus lands, organismal biology, and preservation of natural history collections.

Snakes in jars with liquid lined up on a shelf like pickles

Natural History Collections & Biodiversity

Natural history collections and collection-based research are vital to discovering, understanding, and documenting biodiversity. Natural history collections represent the irreplaceable documentation of life on Earth.

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Ecological Restoration & Management

The Cheadle Center manages more than 340 acres of open space between Ellwood Mesa and Goleta Slough. These project sites serve to protect and strengthen the region’s ecology and ecosystems through habitat conservation, upland restoration, wetland creation and enhancement, and the implementation of sustainable stormwater management solutions. 

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Support the Cheadle Center

You can help the Vernon and Mary Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration make a difference in the education of our next generation and in the preservation of our natural world. 

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Get Involved

The Cheadle Center has many volunteer and internship opportunities in restoration ecology, natural history collections management and biological research.

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People

Meet the people behind the restoration, collections, and education programs of the Cheadle Center.

Meet Our Team

History

The Cheadle Center was formed in 2005 from a fusion of the Museum of Systematics and Ecology (MSE) and the ecological restoration program. For over 60 years these valuable collections have contributed to the research and educational missions of the University.

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Cheadle Center News

Events, Newsletters, and Announcements