Welcome to the
CSU Channel Islands
Island Experience
Spend an epic week learning about the natural and cultural history of California's islands while living at the Santa Rosa Island Research Station in Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary. Enroll in ESRM/ANTH 365 at CSU Channel Islands!
In May 2025, 15 students from across the CSU system will spend a week exploring the rich natural and cultural history of California while living at the Santa Rosa Island Research Station (SRIRS), located within Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Geology, ecology, history, botany, marine biology, land management, stewardship, and more.
Experience the rich rewards and challenges of living at a remote field station and conducting your coursework “in situ.” Content will be presented outdoors and will prioritize hands-on, inquiry-driven, team-based activities. After two days of orientation and preparation at CSUCI’s mainland campus, students will travel to the Islands for 7 nights at the SRIRS.
Students enroll in “Natural History and Resource Management of the California Channel Islands” (ESRM/ANTH 365; 3 units). This upper division elective course is cross-listed in CSUCI’s departments of Anthropology and Environmental Science & Resource Management.
Course Learning Outcomes
Participating students will:
Be able to identify and describe key fauna, flora, and ecological complexity of the California Channel Islands.
Understand how geology, geography, climatology, and human history shape the distribution and abundance of organisms.
Develop a comprehensive, place-based knowledge of evolving natural and human landscapes across the California Channel Islands that is transferable to mainland systems and processes.
Have a really awesome adventure!
ALL NON-TUITION COURSE EXPENSES ARE COVERED thanks to a generous grant from the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation. Students pay $0 for room, board, island-travel, and materials (but are are responsible for their personal gear, like hiking boots. Tuition for 3 units is $1095 ($365/unit as set according to the CSUCI Open University Fee Schedule).
This course will be taught on the unceded lands of the Chumash people. In our activities and our conduct we will at all times acknowledge and respect the role of the Chumash as the original stewards of these lands and waters.
HOW THIS COURSE WORKS
This course will provide a broad overview of the history, ecosystems, and management of the Channel Islands and in so doing will explore systems, processes, and histories that have significant relevance to mainland California and to social-ecological challenges we presently face. Our lessons will be taught in situ: our classroom will be the islands themselves, our materials the tangible stories of Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary. For reference, each student will receive a comprehensive reader, but this is not a course about memorizing stuff and there is no textbook. This is a course about improving your ability to understand and engage with the Place you are in, and we will be on Santa Rosa Island. Days will start early and run long, and consist of hikes, fieldwork, forests, tidepools, discussions, and the occasional lecture.
LIVING LEARNING COMMUNITY
Besides the islands themselves, the highlight of this course will be the community we build together, both through learning AND through living at the Santa Rosa Island Research Station. We will be 16 people inhabiting a rustic bunkhouse on a remote island: we will cook together, we will clean together, we will work together, we will relax together, and we will learn together. If anyone needs some "me time" we will respect that, but we will all commit to respecting each other and to the common endeavor of working together to make the course a success.
TO SUCCEED IN THIS EXPERIENCE
Participate Fully by committing to the experience: show up, pitch in, help out, ask questions, volunteer, seek help, be involved.
Engage With Your Whole Self by giving your complete attention: Watch. Listen. Smell. Breathe. Try things. Share. Contribute. Support each other.
Be Prepared by reviewing materials in advance, asking questions, breaking in your hiking boots, and getting excited.
TEACHING TEAM
Dr. Dan R. Reineman, lead faculty
Doc is an Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Resource Management at CSU Channel Islands. Students call him "Doc" because it's easier to spell and pronounce than his name. He's been visiting the Channel Islands since childhood and is still totally fascinated by them. He's been taking students into the outdoors since he worked as a guide in college and feels strongly that it is the Best Place to teach.
Robyn Shea, station director
Robyn is the Director of the Santa Rosa Island Research Station. Trained in physical anthropology, but experienced in nearly every island ecosystem, Robyn has been working on the Channel Islands for decades and is one of few people to have worked on all eight of the islands.
INFORMATION & TIMELINE
Application
Admission to the program is by application only. The application consists of a short questionnaire and submission of a personal statement, résumé, and names of several references. Applications will be reviewed by the teaching team, SRIRS staff, and other faculty. Successful applicants will be notified and have a brief window to accept their offer and confirm their spot by paying the course tuition.
Overview
Students must arrive at the CSUCI campus in Camarillo, CA to check in between 1-4pm on May 19; we will spend 2 nights on campus and then travel together by ferry to the SRIRS where we'll spend 7 nights; the program will end at approximately 6pm May 28 when we return to the mainland. Students will have limited connectivity while at the SRIRS. Students should be prepared to hike from 2-14 miles per day carrying water, notebooks, binoculars, and clothing layers.
Expenses
Tuition & Fees are set by Open University and will total approximately $365 per unit (3 units = $1095 total; exact tuition depends on student's home campus). All non-tuition-related course expenses (including housing, meals, materials, parking, and island-transportation) are included at zero cost to students. Students will be required to provide their own personal gear.
Personal Gear Pack List
Students will need to bring, ideally in a medium sized duffel: a sleeping bag (or sheet/blankets), clothes for 3-4 days outside, including layers for varied conditions, plus PJs (laundry can be done the old-fashioned way), a watch and flashlight, and personal hygiene items. In a daypack: 3L worth of water bottles, a notebook and pencil, hat, bandana, sunscreen, chapstick. The complete packing list is available from SRIRS. NO DRUGS, ALCOHOL, OR WEAPONS ARE ALLOWED.
Program Timeline
Feb 15 Application Window Opens
Mar 31 Application Window Closes
Apr 15 Application Decisions Announced (15 acceptances and 10 waitlisted)
May 1 Enrollment Deadline (for accepted students)
May 7 Tuition Payment Deadline
May 8 Waitlist Notification
May 19 1-4pm Arrival and Check In at CSUCI
May 21 8AM Depart mainland for SRI
May 28 6PM Return from SRI, program ends.
ADDITIONAL INFO
Current Island Conditions
(“My family checks these constantly when I’m on-island!” - Doc)
SRIRS Policies
SRIRS Official Policies can all be found here. To participate in the program, you must agree to abide by all of these policies. They boil down to: be smart; be safe; protect the island and its resources; no drinking or smoking or fires or weapons or drugs or pets or invasive species.
In Case of an Emergency on Santa Rosa Island
More information on what to do in the event of an emergency is available here.
SRIRS Instagram Account
HOW TO GET THE SUPPORT YOU NEED
Ask me! My goal is to make sure you have what you need to succeed in this course. Before we leave for SRI, you can reach me at:
dan (dot) reineman (at) csuci (dot) edu
After we get to SRI, you can knock on my door, chat on a hike, or find me at the beach.