Research

Central to JMLT’s mission is promoting environmental awareness among residents of the East Bay — in particular, young people. We want everyone to fully appreciate the profound relationship between close-to-home nature and human health and well-being. Just opportunities for public access and getting people out on the land can accomplish wonders for mind, body, and soul. We also have a number of targeted programs.

With generous funding from the Tesoro Foundation and in partnership with the Contra Costa County Office of Education and Canogle, Inc., JMLT launched POINTing to Success, an educational program that gets middle and high school students out of the classroom and into the field. At Fernandez Ranch and Mount Wanda, POINTing to Success provides real-life context to STEM concepts using innovative mobile app phone technology. Students learn how human activity impacts air and water, and why open space is so important to a healthy environment. These and other guided hikes offer exercise and education for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages.

Family Harvest Farm gives emancipated foster youth a nurturing place to learn work skills, find community, and transition to adult life. Twilight At Fernandez Ranch offers families fun nights on the land for stargazing, encounters with wildlife, and activities that teach curious young minds about the wild world around us. When funds are raised and work is completed, Pacheco Marsh will become an outdoor classroom for school children to learn about the vital importance of the saltwater marsh ecosystem, about our ability to use science and natural technology to restore places scarred by industrial activity, and about the fascinating variety of wildlife that thrives next to the Bay.

JMLT funds campaigns to educate voters about pro-conservation ballot measures that create essential funding for land conservation, and how these efforts provide more equitable access to nature, and protect clean drinking water supplies.

Finally, JMLT eagerly takes part in studies that provide insight into the care and protection of the wild creatures who reside on our properties and native plant species in need of special protection. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently studied newts at Fernandez Ranch, and botanists annually survey the vitality of endangered wildflowers at the namesake property we've named Contra Costa Goldfields.