We need your help and support.
Donate to the Mountain Lakes Research Group at SNARL
today.
Fundraising in Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 is critical to keep us operating!
Our frog recovery work and research rely on grant funding from federal and state agencies. We are fortunate to have maintained a consistent baseline of grant funding that fueled an ever expanding and evolving 30-year research program that has literally changed the Sierra Nevada landscape – and the planet – for the better: acting locally but communicating to a worldwide audience, we have led the way in removing non-native fish, reintroducing native frogs, and otherwise leaving no trace.
Unfortunately, today we are faced with a shrinking number of and increased competition for government funding opportunities. We have an annual budget of approximately $350,000. We aren’t just working to pay for supplies and equipment; those are a small piece of the pie. We need money for people: in our line of field work, our greatest asset is people’s hands, eyes, legs, and brains. Our annual budget is less than some people’s salaries, but it allows us to employ several permanent scientists and six seasonal research staff.
Our salaries do not come from our university, only from our grants. Thus, as grant funding ends and becomes harder to obtain, we face combined threats that will reduce our research and recovery efforts, and threaten our excellent human capital. In short, donations and financial gifts will help keep people employed.
Conversely, more funding means we can maintain our large and skilled team, and thereby continue to increase the pace and scale of frog recovery in the Sierra Nevada, continue to pursue big research questions, and train and employ more early career scientists. We believe all of these things are worth investing in.
We are always grateful for the past grants and support that we have received from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and previous private donations and foundations. As of Fall 2026, gifts from foundations and individuals who donate to the Mountain Lakes Research Group at SNARL are
existentially critical.
To conduct any frog recovery actions in summer 2027, we are asking for your help now.
Direct donations and gifts
fund employees, jumpstart research and fuel frog recovery.
When you donate to the Mountain Lakes Research Group at SNARL, you can support both endangered species conservation, cutting-edge science, and workforce training for young and early career scientists.
How to Help.
If you are interested in making a financial gift, please contact Tom Smith ( tcsmith[at]ucsb.edu ), Roland Knapp ( roland.knapp[at]ucsb.edu ), and Cecilia Sousa ( cecilia[at]eri.ucsb.edu ) at UCSB’s Earth Research Institute. UCSB is a non-profit 501(c)(3) academic institution. Gifts are made to The UC Regents, EIN: 95-6006145. University overhead on gifts is 6%, and gifts also fund our information technology fees (5.77%).
Larger contributions ($5000 – $20,000+) can cover the cost of critical data analyses, a summer field technician salary and benefits, or a crucial piece of laboratory equipment for molecular diagnostics or immunology research. Smaller contributions (<$1000) may help cover the cost of technician housing, qPCR disease testing for a population of frogs, or a hand-held scanner required to read the tags we insert under frog skin to identify and track individuals in the field.
Other Financial mechanisms.
If your employee benefits include employer donation matching, you may be able to double your impact. If you have a donor-advised fund, you can recommend a grant to our project through your DAF provider. To get started, contact Cecilia Sousa (cecilia[at]eri.ucsb.edu) at Earth Research Institute; your employer or DAF sponsor can make a gift to The UC Regents, EIN: 95-6006145. You can also review UCSB’s directory for giving: https://giving.ucsb.edu/how-give.
Some people may be more comfortable donating to a “traditional” non-profit versus the university (although we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit). In that case, we direct you to our close collaborations with San Francisco Zoo, Oakland Zoo, Yosemite Conservancy, and Sequoia Parks Conservancy. We are happy to provide contact information for these organizations. Although less direct, gifts to these organizations also supports our conservation goals!
In-kind donations.
Donating physical items is another way to support our research that may feel more within reach for many. We can use prepared backpacking food, hydration products, high quality coolers/ice chests, certain electronics, and new or gently used outdoor gear. We have even received gifts of laboratory equipment and consumables (sounds weird, but it happens!). We accept donations from individuals and organizations or companies. Please contact Alexa Lindauer ( alindauer[at]ucsb.edu ) if you have an item you would like to donate to arrange shipping, drop-off, or pick-up.
Volunteering.
Volunteering is an incredible way to give back to the organizations, communities, and causes that we care about. That said, volunteering with Mountain Lakes Research Group is challenging, because we work in remote, high risk environments and with federally endangered vertebrates. At this time, we cannot accept volunteers for laboratory or field work.
