Science & Research

A researcher from the US Geological Service uses a long pole to gather a reading from a mudpot at Sulphur Works hydrothermal area.

 

Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of America’s oldest national parks and has been a source of public enjoyment, scientific wonder, and inspiration for over 100 years. Lassen preserves dynamic volcanic phenomena, scenic values, outstanding wilderness character, and diverse natural and cultural resources; and provides exceptional educational, recreational, and scientific opportunities.

 

Lassen Field Station
UC Natural Reserve System

Lassen Volcanic National Park began a new partnership with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in May 2019, which incorporates the park into the University of California’s Natural Reserve System. The addition marks the sixth UC Davis Natural Reserve in a system that now spans Northern California from its alpine forests and across grassland prairies to the shores of Bodega Bay. It is among 41 reserves in the UC-wide reserve system.

Modeling both the National Park Service Research Learning Centers and the UC Davis’s presence in an UC region in northeast California, the new field station will be based at Lassen’s headquarters in the Tehama County town of Mineral. The Lassen Field Station fills a big ecological and geographical gap in the underserved Natural Reserve System and extends UC Davis field stations into completely new ecosystems. Access to this whole gradient—from the tree line to the UC—is important for studying how the state’s ecosystems change and shift in response to rising temperatures and increasingly variable rainfall.

View the related news release here.

 

 

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  Astrobiology Research

  Scientists from NASA's Ames Research Center document thermal features and microbial populations in the park as an analog for Mars.

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  NPS Inventory & Monitoring

  National Park Service researchers inventory and monitor natural resources in the park, including some considered "vital signs".