ELI alum, Schuyler Capita, has successfully implemented the first installment of his Environmental Leadership Incubator (ELI) project, Ecological Litera-seeing For Yourself, at the incredible Coal Oil Point Reserve. Interpretive signs installed around the Nature Center and extending into the dunes at Sands Beach now allow visitors to identify plant and bird species around the Reserve!
This initial set of identification signs introduces visitors to the plant and bird communities that define this coastal system surrounding the Coal Oil Point Reserve (COPR), translating field-based ecological work into accessible, place-specific signage. The goal is to help people better recognize the species around them and understand some of the processes shaping the landscape.
More signs are on the way across the Reserve, so be sure to visit again soon and often. Ecological literacy starts with all of us learning a little more about the natural world around us!
Schuyler, who graduated from UCSB in 2025, will be attending Columbia University, beginning this fall, to earn a Ph.D. degree.