Join the Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Blitz at China Camp. This annual community science event, organized by researchers from U.C. Berkeley, invites community volunteers to help monitor the spread of the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, the cause of Sudden Oak Death (SOD). The disease has devastated oak-and-bay forests throughout the West, including at China Camp.  

At our online training session, you’ll learn how to recognize disease symptoms and enter data. You’ll then have a five-day window to collect leaf samples in China Camp, enter location data, and return your specimen packet to our Ranger Station. Your findings will be submitted to the research team and will contribute valuable data to map infection hot spots and guide local forest management. No experience is required, just curiosity and a desire to join an impactful “citizen science” project. 

Difficulty: self-guided (you choose location and time spent collecting in the field)