Underground Culverts
What is this mysterious tunnel, and where does it lead? Tunnels like this are called culverts and divert running water under- or above-ground. Some culverts are as simple as an aluminum pipe, while others are miles long stone waterways. Culverts can reduce soil erosion and flooding by trapping the running water in a controlled channel. However, channelizing disrupts the natural flow of the water, harming riparian (river) species such as the migratory Chinook salmon. Additionally, culverts themselves physically block sunlight and species from entering the creek, reducing ecological stability of riparian flora and fauna. Strawberry Creek is almost entirely buried in a culvert between campus and Strawberry Creek Park. It briefly "daylights" in the park before flowing into the San Francisco Bay at the end of University Avenue.
Lilac Tasselflower
The lilac tasselflower (Emilia sonchifolia) is an annual herb that is not native to California. It is believed to be from China or South-East Asia. The lilac tasselflower has high seed production, and spreads widely due to wind dispersal. Though not considered invasive in California, it's often reported as a weed for a number of crops. The lilac tasselflower weed is a vector for crop pathogens, and as a result can reduce crop yield. It grows in many different environments, from the tropics to grasslands. Another common name for the lilac tasselflower is Cupid's shaving brush. Can you see why?
Grinnel Natural Area Native BiodiversityRestoration Project
Areas of natural beauty such as these can feel so effortless. A number of native species are growing together around the creek. The Grinnel Natural Area Native Biodiversity Restoration project, started in 2008, has removed invasive species such as English ivy and Periwinkle and has planted around 1,300 plants of about 60 different native species in this habitat. This was a large scale, multiyear project that incorporated students from local elementary, middle, and high schools as well as UC Berkeley students to help restore this ecosystem to one closer to what it may have looked like before Berkeley’s urbanization. Covering over 3,600 square feet, this project was meant to be very visible and provide a “green gateway” at the Oxford Street entrance to campus. The project introduced over 500 students from different ages to land stewardship and hopefully inspired other students to continue to work to maintain the campus’ ecosystems.
Grinnell Pathway
You are currently on the Grinnell Pathway. Like a number of things on campus, this strip of land is named after the late Joesph Grinnell. Grinnell was a professor at UC Berkeley and the school’s first director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ). Grinnell was influential in his field, and many of his ideas and practices are still integral to the field of zoology today. Notably, he developed the concept of the ecological niche, created an in-depth observational note-taking technique that is still used, and spearheaded a survey of large swaths of California wildlife that was replicated in 2008 with the Grinnell resurvey project, partially in celebration of the centennial of the MVZ. Grinnell’s other recent notable namesake was that of one of the well-loved Cal falcons, whose dramatic story you can learn more about here.
Three Spined Stickleback
Aptly named, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) does in fact have three spines that stick out of its back. The fish uses their spines for protection against predators such as birds and other fish. Three-spined sticklebacks are native to Strawberry Creek and were reintroduced during the Strawberry Creek Restoration Program that started in 1987. The offspring of the original fish that were reintroduced still live there today. One fun fact about these fish is that when the males begin to search for a mate, they turn red!
UC Berkeley and Strawberry Creek
Strawberry Creek is both the reason UC Berkeley stands here today and the reason it almost shut down. UC Berkeley began as the College of California, and was located in Oakland. It moved to Berkeley following an extensive search for a land with a water source that would be able to accommodate its expanding campus. A friend of Henry Durant, who lived in the area, suggested developing Strawberry Canyon to allow enough water to flow into the creek to fuel the student body and downtown. The College of California bought and developed land by Strawberry Creek and quickly realized that it would need to secure the land around the creek’s headwaters to ensure the longevity of campus. Without control of the upstream waters, the farmers who lived and operated out of Strawberry Canyon could decide to cut off the creek’s access to the college, so the college began efforts to raise enough money to cover the investment. Unfortunately, at the same time, liberal arts education became less popular than it had been. The college faced bankruptcy and was forced to beg for corporate bailouts from the governor of California. The Strawberry Creek is both the reason UC Berkeley stands here today and the reason it almost shut down. UC Berkeley began as the College of California, and was located in Oakland. It moved to Berkeley following an extensive search for a land with a water source that would be able to accommodate its expanding campus. A friend of Henry Durant, who lived in the area, suggested developing Strawberry Canyon to allow enough water to flow into the creek to fuel the student body and downtown. The College of California bought and developed land by Strawberry Creek and quickly realized that it would need to secure the land around the creek’s headwaters to ensure the longevity of campus. Without control of the upstream waters, the farmers who currently lived and operated out of Strawberry Canyon could decide to cut off the creek’s actress to their college, so the college began to raise enough money to cover the investment. Unfortunately, at the same time, liberal arts education became less popular than it had been. The college faced bankruptcy and was forced to beg for corporate bailouts from the governor of California. The public land grant system provided funding for an agricultural college so the state designated College of California that role and renamed it University of California in 1868.
House Finch
Both a city and a country dwelling bird, house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) are native to Western North America. The house finch's natural habitat consists of desert-grassland regions, such as the chaparral biome, where they use twigs and leaves to create their nests. However, house finches also reside in settled habitats, such as the urban area of Downtown Berkeley, taking advantage of residential building structures to build their nests. House finches typically eat plant materials such as seeds, fruits and buds that fall on the ground, and are rarely observed alone.
Hooded Oriole
Meet the hooded oriole (Icterus cucullatus). This bright yellow bird should be pretty easy to spot as it flies and nests in the high canopy of riparian woodlands from March to mid-September. They also have been known to enjoy a roost in the palm fronds of the UC botanical gardens. This migratory bird gets both its common and scientific name from its appearance, as its yellow markings give the illusion of a bird wearing a yellow hooded jacket of some kind. The hooded oriole is omnivorous; it hunts meticulously in the leaf litter for insects but also consumes nectar and fruit when available. It is also not uncommon to see this yellow feathered friend drinking from hummingbird feeders. Life is not always smooth sailing, however, as the bird must worry about predation by crows, ravens, jays, and hawks, as well as nest parasitizing from brown-headed cowbirds. Their nests are a delicate patchwork of grass, plant fibers, and feathers that the hooded orioles sew onto the underside of leaves. No wonder some birds like to deposit their young in these nests; they are incredible! Luckily these bright birds aren’t going anywhere soon. They are in the conservation status category of least concern, and they are a common sight in the area during breeding season.
Demo Rain Garden with Native Plants
It’s raining, it’s pouring; asphalt creates scoring, but not right here; it’s rather clear, rain gardens keep water absorbing! Often, asphalt paths like these have deep ditches on either side, from where rain runs beside the path after hitting the ground because it cannot soak through the impermeable asphalt. That is not the case here, where UC Berkeley students and staff created a rain garden. In the garden, you will find stones and native plants, which help return stormwater to the soil. Stormwater is rainwater that has hit the ground level, and it can cause flooding and creek pollution when it has nowhere to go, which is often the case in heavily paved areas. Rain gardens are a low cost way to provide excess water with a place to soak. You can check out more examples of rain gardens by Hearst Gym and Blum Center, and learn more about stormwater and its effects in Wholly H2O’s January 2023 newsletter.
Strawberry Creek Restoration Student-Run Course
Strawberry Creek has long served as a resource for UC Berkeley students learning about everything from biodiversity to hydrology to environmental policy. In order to give back, UC Berkeley students in 2011 designed a DeCal course called "Restoration of Strawberry Creek." DeCal classes are student-run courses that explore niche topics from Eco-Poetry to Parkour. The Restoration of Strawberry Creek DeCal fosters stewardship by helping students explore historical ecology, evaluate creek ecosystem health, and work with others on various Strawberry Creek restoration projects. Because the course is student-led, it is not offered consistently.
Rock Step Pool
Rock step pools, like the two check dams that they replaced, dissipate the energy flow of the water as they are graded. However rock pools create more habitat in addition to erosion control. UC Berkeley students, funded through UC's The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), designed and installed the Strawberry Creek Ecological Stabilization Project in 2014, and included rock step pools to control erosion along the creek. Fish fry (baby fish) need small nonturbulent pools to hang out in when they are young. Rock step pools also provide a pool habitat for species like the Sacramento sucker (Catostomus occidentalis) which generally lives at the bottom of the creek for cover from birds and to consume algae and invertebrates. Additionally, the California roach minnow (Hesperoleucus symmetricus) waits in midwater facing into the current to eat algae and crustaceans. The Three-spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) also waits in the midwater to eat crustaceans, larvae of small insects, and small fish.
Death cap
The death cap (Amanita phalloides) looks like any other mushroom to the naked eye, but be very cautious -- it is one of two poisonous, potentially deadly, mushrooms observed on the UC Berkeley campus. It contains amatoxins -- a type of poison that can lead to liver and kidney failure in humans and animals. There is no known antidote. The death cap is identified by its cream-colored cap, rings, and white sac at the bottom. It is found throughout the year in this region and is mainly associated with oak trees. While some mushrooms on campus are edible, it is not recommended to harvest them.
Strawberry Creek Ecological Stabilization Project
The beautiful creek you see today is the culmination of years of restoration efforts, starting with Robert Charbonneau’s work through the Environment Health and Safety Office in 1985. Charbonneau collected data about the creek’s geology, ecology, and hydrology and determined that the existing concrete embankments were ineffective. He advocated for a biotechnical solution to the erosion: native vegetation and redwood crib-walls help to hold the creek’s shape and support native fauna. Following in Charbonneau’s footsteps, a group of UC Berkeley alumni and students headed by Aysha Massell proposed an updated Ecological Stabilization Project focusing on building a fish habitat in the eucalyptus grove. The Green Initiative Fund helped finance the project in 2014 and 2015.
The Urban Creeks Department
As you will learn in other points on this tour, Strawberry Creek has been put through the wringer on numerous occasions. At various points in its history, it has been turned into an open sewer, forced underground, filled in to make way for building projects, and reshaped with check dams that threaten native fish populations. Still, the creek before you is teeming with life. The water quality was marked as “good” by the Family Biotic Index scores for the aquatic macroinvertebrate community in 1991, and many native species have been successfully reintroduced into its waters. The revitalizing of the creek is thanks in large part to the effort of the Urban Creek Department on UC Berkeley campus, founded by Robert (Bob) Chardeneau. Chardeneau was hired out of grad school in the 1980s after writing his thesis, “Strawberry Creek Management Plan.” Today Creek restoration continues with bank stabilization, replacements of check dams, planting natives, and the education of Cal students on continued restoration and history of the creek.
Yellow Stainer
The yellow stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus) is a mushroom with a unique ability: it quickly turns yellow and produces a noticeable odor when touched, bruised or scratched. The yellow stainer mushroom is a decomposer, meaning its ecological role is to break down dead organic matter and generate energy for higher levels in the ecosystem. Be careful with this mushroom- it's poisonous and can cause sickness if consumed! If you're more curious about bay area mushrooms, why not check out the Bay Area Mycological Society? They hold local and long distance forays, and meetings are held at UC Berkeley. Go to bayareamushrooms.org for more info.
Blue-green Sharpshooter
The blue-green sharpshooter (Graphocephala atropunctata) is an insect native to California. It can be distinguished by its bright green-blue wings and its yellow underside. This species grows to be nearly 0.4 inches long and can be found in coastal areas near riparian habitats. Unfortunately for wine makers, it carries a bacteria that causes Pierce’s Disease in grapes, leading to the death of the entire vine. It is fought as a pest in commercial vineyards.
Water Strider
One of the most easily identifiable insects in Strawberry Creek is the water strider (Aquarius remigis). Find a still pool of water in the creek and you are likely to find a water strider there, gliding along the surface. Water tension combined with their narrow bodies and four longs legs enable striders to stay atop the water. Their legs also help them catch and eat their prey. Striders use the sensory organ at the tip of each leg to detect water vibrations, and then they use their front legs to seize their meal out of the water. Water striders sometimes eat other aquatic insects, including mosquito larvae, but they mostly eat terrestrial or aerial insects that fall into the water.
Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival
“…the snowmelt will have trickled into Dead Man’s Creek and the / creek spilled into the Stanislaus and the Stanislaus into the San Joaquin / and the San Joaquin into the slow salt marshes of the bay.” – Spring Rain, Robert Hass 1981. Hass, a U.S. Poet Laureate and UC Berkeley professor, read this poem at the first annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival in 1995 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.This event evolved from Hass's Watershed initiative during his two-year term as Poet Laureate, which celebrated the connection between American rhetoric and natural history. As a self-described ecopoet, Hass urges environmentalists to utilize the power of poetry in activism. Since its inception, the October festival moved bases and expanded to include a leisurely walk along Strawberry Creek on campus organized by Nevada County Poet Laureate Chris Olander, often with special tour content from Wholly H2O!
Lily of the Nile
Despite its name, the lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus) is neither a lily nor of the Nile — it's from South Africa. The Dutch found them and brought them back to the Netherlands where they quickly became popular in public and private gardens. They now thrive in Mediterranean climates all around the world, such as here in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are so drought tolerant, that they are commonly found flourishing even on California freeways!
Aboreal Salamander
Arboreal salamanders (Aneides lugubris) are native to California woodlands and forests, though San Francisco Bay Area residents have been known to find them lurking under garbage cans in their own backyards! These salamanders have large, thick bodies and triangular heads. Their backs are colored dark brown or gray, while their undersides are a light cream color. Surprisingly, they don't have lungs, instead breathing through their skins and through membranes in their mouth and throat. Because of this, these salamanders like to live in very moist environments. To defend themselves, they might squeak, jump, or even bite a predator! Unfortunately, habitat loss and pollution pose a great threat to arboreal salamanders.
Strawberry Creek Stabilization Log Weir
Log weirs create scour pools that spread the energy of Strawberry Creek’s flow, maintaining the stability of its channels. In the event that upstream log structures fail, log weirs will act as a safeguard. Aysha Massel, a UC Berkeley alum and environmental engineer, worked in the UC Creeks Department and noticed that Strawberry Creek was eroding due to failing check dams. Massell obtained grants from the campus-based Green Initiative Fund and created the Strawberry Creek Ecological Stabilization Project. With this project, she implemented log weirs and designed a system that would mitigate erosion, improve habitat health, and also educate the public about urban creek ecology.
Strawberry Creek Check Dam
Check dams are one of the most ancient infrastructure technologies, with archaeological evidence dating back to the second century. The basic function of a check dam is to ‘check’ stream velocity and reduce erosion by channelizing the waterway. The University of California Berkeley constructed Strawberry Creek’s first check dams in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, check dams are only a temporary solution: while channelization can initially reduce erosion, it also encourages the creek to cut deeper along its ravine, requiring stronger retaining structures to prevent long-term erosion. Today, a balanced approach of ecological stabilization through vegetation and man-made dams helps keep Strawberry Creek stable.
Bear's Breeches
If you've ever looked up at a neoclassical column on a building, you might see acanthus leaves carved at the top. Also known as bear’s breeches (Acanthus mollis) these plants grow long, winding stems and prickly leaves that unfurl in the early summer season. This species thrives in a semi-shaded environment with damp rich soil, such as here around Strawberry Creek. It is known as an escaped cultivar, meaning it was brought to California from the Mediterranean region as a garden plant before spreading to the surrounding environment. It aggressively competes for resources, and will typically overrun other smaller plants grown in close proximity.
Deodar cedar
Deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara) is a large evergreen conifer that reaches a height of 131-164 feet, close to the height of an eight or nine-story building. It has a conical crown with horizontal, drooping branches. If you could look down from above, you, would see that it resembles an oversized Christmas tree. This makes for an excellent home for squirrels! Native from Afghanistan to the Himalayas, deodar cedars are widely planted in the western world. Don't be surprised if you sneeze. Cultivation of deodar cedars has produced wholly male trees. This means that they don't have seeds or pods to drop, only pollen. Urban planners who plant trees such as male deodar cedars in the city of Berkeley are worsening allergy problems for city dwellers.
Seven-spotted Lady Beetle
If you pause for a moment on the small lawn of the Berkeley Center, you might notice a seven-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) searching for aphids. Not to be confused with other lady beetles, the seven-spotted lady beetle has a red dorsal spine with three black spots on each side and one spot distributed at the junction of the two dorsal spines for a total of seven spots. Though you might find them cute, these beetles are an invasive species. Introduced in the U.S. as a form of biological pest control from 1951 to 1971, they now pose a threat to native species of lady beetles in California.
Little Robin
Little robin (Geranium purpureum) is a nonnative, invasive herb located in grassland and woodland regions in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as coastal ranges throughout California. It has not been reported elsewhere in the United States, however the little robin is rapidly expanding its range, as its sticky seeds allow it to get physically attached and dispersed by other organisms. Once this invasive plant establishes itself, it has the potential to displace native species. In fact, it can form an entire carpet under an oak woodland canopy!
Big Periwinkle
With shiny, thick leaves and lavender flowers, big periwinkle (Vinca major) is a beautiful plant. But don't let that fool you- it's an invasive species in California. First introduced for ornamental and medicinal purposes, big periwinkle escaped garden landscaping and is now invasive in many climates, including coastal Berkeley. It spreads rapidly, especially in creek areas, forming a thick ground cover and choking out native plants. It can even alter local hydrology! Help prevent invasive species from spreading by choosing native plants for your garden. A better alternative to big periwinkle would be the native Douglas iris (Iris douglasiana), which also has lovely purple flowers.
London Plane
Despite its grisly look, this tree is one of the most common street trees in the world, as it tolerates pollution and urban conditions quite well. A signature element of the UC Berkeley campus along Sproul Plaza or towards the Campanile, the London plane (Platanus x acerifolia) is a mix between the Oriental planetree (Planatus orientalis) and American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). Campus groundskeepers start pruning the trees during late fall and early winter by removing new-growth shoots before they mature into thicker branches. The London plane's unique look is a natural response to the pruning. The trees are perhaps most visually striking on a crisp, foggy winter morning stroll on campus.
The Last Dryad
Meet the guardian of Strawberry Creek: The Last Dryad. This whimsical sculpture portrays a dryad, a woodland nymph traditionally bound to watch over a specific tree or wooded area. Our dryad keeps a watchful eye over the Strawberry Creek's riparian woodland. Crafted by Stirling Calder in 1921, this sculpture was gifted to the University by Calder's family after his passing. Interestingly, during its early years on campus, this guardian had a bit of a wandering spirit and was relocated several times because it was "extremely naked." However, it was finally embraced in the 1970s and The Last Dryad finally found its forever home in the Faculty Glade.
Peregrine Falcons
A love story for the ages started atop UC Berkeley's Campanile in 2016, when two peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), Annie and Grinnell (named after naturalist Annie Montague Alexander and zoologist Joseph Grinnell, respectively) established territory on the historic bell tower together. Typically, peregrine falcons nest on cliffs for protection from predators and humans, but the Campanile protected Annie and Grinnell just as well. Annie, the female falcon, and Grinnell, the male, crafted a makeshift nesting site from old sandbags, and later upgraded to a nesting platform to prevent their eggs from rolling away. Peregrine eggs usually begin to hatch 32-33 days after the third egg is laid. In 2017, their first two chicks Fiat and Lux (named for UC Berkeley’s motto Fiat Lux or, Let There be Light) were born, and the pair went on to have a total of 13 chicks before the beloved Grinnell was killed by a car in March of 2022. Annie briefly found a new peregrine partner — Alden, who helped her incubate her eggs prior to his disappearance in November 2022 — before eventually settling down with her current mate, Lou. The pair welcomed 3 chicks in April 2023 and continue their romance and family building atop the Campanile.
Vivid Dancer
As you walk along the creek, your eye catches a vivid flash of blue. You've probably spotted a vivid dancer (Argia vivida), a type of damselfly found all over California. It is common to see it in urban settings, so is comfortable here on the creek. Male damselflies are usually blue, while females are tan or gray. However, their coloring changes along with the temperature. Young damselflies will feast on aquatic insects in Strawberry Creek, such as mosquito larvae. Adults prefer the flying insects of Strawberry Creek such as mosquitoes, flies, or small moths. If you see two vivid dancers attached to one another, they're probably mating or releasing eggs — the male remains attached to the female during this process.
Orange Bush Monkeyflower
The orange bush monkeyflower (Diplacus aurantiacus) is native to California and blooms from July to September. Its sticky leaves prevent the orange tube-like flower from drying out. Moths, larvae, and other insects consume the sweet nectar from inside the flowers. Not just a pretty plant, the orange bush monkeyflower has practical uses. The Ohlone created extracts from monkeyflower plant parts to treat liver and bladder problems.
Indian Walking Stick
Is that stick moving? Wait, that's not a stick. That's an Indian walking stick (Carausius morosus)! Originally from India, this invasive species can be found all throughout California. They are nocturnal, so you're more likely to see them at night. These insects come in a wide variety of colors, from light green to a much darker brown, and blend in with leaves or bark accordingly. UC Berkeley researchers are studying their genetics to learn more about their excellent camouflage skills.
Retaining Walls and Hardbed
Retaining walls are vertical cemented walls built along the banks of Strawberry Creek where bank erosion and flooding pose a threat. They were first built soon after wide-spread destructive flooding in 1962, and the creek has rarely overflown since. In practice, concrete retaining walls have harmful effects on ecosystem health because they remove the natural variation in creek flow, can cause water to be sluggish, and accumulate extra sediment over the creek beds, which buries habitats. Currently, many of these retaining walls are undercut and unstable, which threatens the foundations of buildings nearby. For instance, when a concrete wall was failing at Stephens Hall Bridge, Creeks of UC Berkeley oversaw the installation of a redwood crib wall with native vegetation. The redwood decomposed and the native plant’s roots controlled erosion. Funny how natural systems work well when we return to using them appropriately!
Western Skink
The western skink (Plestiodon skiltonianus) is one of two species of skinks native to California. Skinks are born with a vibrant blue tail, which becomes duller as they mature. This tail is easily broken off, and wriggles around to distract predators while the skink escapes! Although skinks can adapt to a variety of habitats, they prefer to live near water reservoirs in dry forests or grasslands. Their diet primarily consists of insects such as spiders, earthworms, crickets, beetles, and flies. Though common in the San Francisco Bay Area, by burying themselves below leaf litter, western skinks are a rare sight. When the weather is warm, keep an eye out for them foraging in leaf litter or burrowing under rocks!
Founding of Save The Bay
Did you know that people almost completely destroyed the San Francisco Bay? In the 1960s, there were few legal environmental protections in California, and most of the Bay’s shoreline was privately owned. Over 70% of the Bay was less than 20ft deep, making it a desirable location for developers to turn the area into housing and businesses. However, this never came to fruition, largely due to the tireless efforts of the Save the San Francisco Bay Association, now called Save the Bay. Three women, Esther Gulick, Catherine Kerr, and Sylvia McLaughlin, founded this group after an article was published in the Oakland Tribune in 1961 detailing the development plans. They sent countless letters asking people to support their cause and funded their efforts through lobbying. In 1964, they helped elect representatives that were conscious of San Francisco Bay preservation and they convinced Senator Eugene McAteer to pass a bill studying the effects of Bay development. By 1969, a permanent commission had been implemented to control permits for Bay-filling projects. Today, Save the Bay continues its mission of protecting this incredible body of water by advocating for wetland protection, flood prevention, education, and current attempts to fill sections of the Bay along the shoreline.
Monterey Cypress
The Monterey cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa) is native to the central coast of California, most commonly found near Monterey and Carmel. Its natural habitat is characterized by sea fog and cool, humid summers. Its size varies from 59 feet to 82 feet tall, and it prefers full sun and partial shade. The Monterey cypress became popular in Europe because they grow fast, especially along the shore. However, UC Berkeley and Italian researchers traced a fungus back to California that has killed cypress trees on six continents. This goes to show: planting trees outside of their native range can be dangerous.
Dump No Waste Stencils and Markers
In the early 1990s, the main goal of the Strawberry Creek Restoration Project was to prevent storm drain pollution and garner public awareness of the connection between the storm drain system and the creeks and the bay. With permission from the City of Berkeley, storm drains were stenciled with, "Dump No Waste, Drains to Creek" markers. By 2004, over 400 oval curb markers were stenciled by campus catch basins.
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology
Welcome to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Initially founded in 1901 in San Francisco, the museum moved to Berkeley’s campus in 1931. The institution’s namesake was a global anthropologist, feminist, and suffragist who donated a portion of her personal collection to start the museum. Today, the museum’s collection spans the breadth of human history with 3.8 million artifacts from all over the world, such as Oceanic masks and figurines, cuneiform tablets, and Peruvian textiles. In 2022, the museum closed for over a year to the public in order to focus its resources on returning some of these artifacts to their rightful owners. Acting in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA 1990) and CalNAGPRA (2001), the university is repatriating over 209,000 human remains and cultural artifacts to Indigenous peoples from whom they were stolen. Given the 30-year gap since the laws were passed, the museum has faced strong criticism for being too slow to act.
Cafe Ohlone
Previously located in the Berkeley University Press Books building in 2018, Cafe Ohlone is the world's only Ohlone restaurant. The cafe is meant to create a space for representation connected to the Ohlone living culture and teach about Ohlone culinary traditions. Owners Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino focus on bringing pre-colonial cuisine, from acorn bisque and hazelnut flour biscuits to mushroom stew and a variety of traditional teas. In 2017 they created mak-‘amham, Chochenyo for “our food,” a culinary institution with programs that educate about Ohlone culture and languages, and provide gathering trips and cooking classes. Cafe Ohlone utilizes seasonal and native ingredients, many of which can be found on the UC Berkeley campus, to create a center of Ohlone culture. The cafe opened at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology in September 2022 and continues to serve the community today.
Rainwater Harvesting
We’ve been saving this infrastructure for a rainy day. The Hearst Field Annex Buildings is home to the Rainwater Harvesting Program funded by the Green Initiative Fund in 2017. UC Berkeley currently underutilizes its nearly 24 annual inches of rainfall, allowing the rainwater to run unfiltered into Strawberry Creek. Rather than using rainwater, the campus uses imported Mokelumne River for irrigation. A single student, "Jocleyn" Chia Yun Tsai, initiated this project, securing $24,000 in funding and design support from Wholly H2O and D.I.G. Tsai created a rain harvesting system and bioswale to provide water to the lawn at the heart of the complex. For those wondering, a bioswale is distinct from a rain garden. Bioswales have a more linear shape, while rain gardens tend to be arranged in more of a bowl formation. Both provide water capture and filtration.
Political Activism
UC Berkeley has a long, complicated history of political activism. The first big protest was in 1949 against the school’s anti-communist oath requirement. It was the largest student protest in the country, and officials like UC Chancellor Clark Kerr condemned the activism. In front of you are the steps upon which Mario Savio delivered his famous "Bodies Upon the Gears" speech after fellow student activist Jack Weinberg was arrested in Sproul Plaza for speaking out against censorship, launching the Free Speech Movement. The student protests of the 1960s launched UC Berkeley as a major center of student political activism, with massive demonstrations in support of the Civil Rights, Free Speech, and against the war in Vietnam. In 2011 Occupy Cal set up camp on these same steps, where they were joined by Occupy Oakland and many Free Speech advocates from the 1960s in an amazing display of solidarity. UC Berkeley eventually renamed these steps in honor of Mario Savio.
Mario Savio
Mario Savio spent the summer of 1964 working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to bring national attention to racial injustices and white terrorism in Mississippi in what came to be known as Freedom Summer. This project's main goal was to fight Jim Crow institutionalized racism by registering Black Mississippians to vote. It was dangerous work: civil rights workers faced police brutality and outright murder. This experience galvanized Savio, and he came back to UC Berkeley with a heightened sense of social responsibility. His famous "Bodies Upon the Gears" speech delivered in December 1964 urged listeners to "you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus — and you've got to make it stop! And...indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!"
