The forests, grasslands, and chaparral of the 410-acre UCSC Campus Natural Reserve are an outdoor classroom and living laboratory where each year more than 3,000 undergraduate students in more than 60 classes and 100 interns gain real-world skills through immersing themselves in hands-on learning. Our internship program supports students from a diversity of backgrounds and majors. Your contribution to our program will support these students in an empowering way---by providing funds to hire undergraduate interns to work as student field crew leaders on the Campus Natural Reserve and its premier research project, the UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot. The peer-to-peer learning this enables enriches the experiences of all involved, and provides a mentorship pathway for students to walk as they navigate their college careers and seek to answer questions about their life beyond graduation. Our world needs diverse environmental leaders, and direct experience with conducting research in nature can foster the passion needed to make lasting change. Previous student crew leaders on the Campus Natural Reserve have gone on to successful employment in ecology, research, and land management, as well as pursuing graduate degrees. Being a crew leader proves to students that their interest in nature can actually become a viable career choice, and the experiences they have in turn provide invaluable skills that will set them apart from their fellow job applicants during and after college. So join us out in the forest! We'll name a tree after you, shout your name into the treetops, and be incredibly grateful. Thank you, and we'll see you out there.