A Living Laboratory
Swanton Pacific Ranch is a 3,200-acre working ranch and research landscape that provides unmatched experiential learning opportunities for Cal Poly students in agriculture, natural resources, forestry, rangeland and watershed management.
Located in Santa Cruz County, the ranch fosters Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy by immersing students, faculty and community partners in real-world field research and hands-on study across diversified agricultural systems, forest ecosystems, rangelands and watersheds.
Students engage in interdisciplinary projects such as sustainable crop and orchard production, forest stewardship, rangeland monitoring and natural resource management. The ranch also offers field courses, internships, workshops and community outreach that build practical skills and prepare students to address environmental and agricultural challenges.
Fire Recovery
In August 2020 the CZU Complex fire swept through destroying much of the ranch and its structures.
Since that time work has been underway strategically planning and rebuilding in a sustainable way.
The fire also created numerous research opportunities for students and faculty who have been studying the resurgence of trees and vegetation following the burn, as well as community, building and landscape design. At the same time, Swanton has been playing a pivotal role in ongoing wildfire research being done at the state and federal levels to improve prevention strategies and post-fire recovery efforts.