UC Merced SCICON Field Station

  • Located in the foothills of the Southern San Joaquin Valley,  adjacent to the beautiful Circle J-Norris Ranch in Springville (a 2.5 hour drive south of Merced), the UC Merced Science & Conservation (SCICON) Field Station serves as a base for research and educational activities in the southern Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley. The field station is a partnership between the Tulare County Office of Education and UC Merced.  Field station facilities consist of two buildings; 1) a newly renovated laboratory and classroom space with an upstairs apartment that accommodates up to four researchers, and 2) a standalone ADA-accessible bathroom and shower facility. The nearby SCICON K-12 campus also offers additional lodging, conference, and workshop facilities on weekends and in the summer, when not in session. The field station is perfect for providing research and educational space for lodging, workshops, and conferences, that are adjacent to nearby conservation lands that serve as living laboratories in the heart of foothill oak woodland, grassland, and vernal pool habitats, some of which have active cattle grazing programs.  The field station is also a short drive to Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, representing high elevation ecosystems. 

  • North America
  • 40802 Balch Park Road
  • United States
  • Springville
  • CA
  • 93265
  • 36
  • 118813321823728
  • scicon@ucmerced.edu
  • https://scicon.ucmerced.edu/
  • 2018
  • 2025
  • Jessica Malisch
  • jmalisch@ucmerced.edu
  • Associate Director UCM NRS
  • 5200 Lake Rd
  • +19515004907
  • Jessica Malisch
  • jmalisch@ucmerced.edu
  • Jessica Malisch
  • jmalisch@ucmerced.edu
  • Jessica Malisch
  • jmalisch@ucmerced.edu
  • 101-500
  • No
  • Yes
  • 1-2
  • 1-2
  • 1-10
  • 26-50
  • On Grid
  • 21-40 minutes
  • Yes
  • Onsite public programs
  • Terrestrial
  • Intertidal - rocky
  • Temperate Woodland and Shrubland
  • 1501-3000 meters
  • 1501-3000 meters
  • C (temperate)
  • Rural
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • 45
  • 5
  • 45
Year Founded
2018
Year Joined OBFS
2025
Size of Field Station (hectares)
101-500
FSML Web Address
https://scicon.ucmerced.edu/

Private nonprofit organization?
No
Universities affiliated / Parent Organization
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Member of the Virtual Field
Yes

Additional Information

Private nonprofit organization?
Names of Universities affilated
0
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Name of partner
Tribal partners/users
Yes
MSI/HBCU users
Yes
Community College users
Member of the Virtual Field
Yes

Visiting a FS/ML

Open to the Public
No
Year round staff
1-2
Seasonal staff
1-2
Overnight housing facilities/# of beds
1-10
Distance to emergency services
21-40 minutes
Library
Yes
Hiking trails
Internship employment
Yes

Environmental Information

Biomes
Temperate Woodland and Shrubland
Minimum Elevation
1501-3000 meters
Maximum Elevation
1501-3000 meters
Köppen climate classification
C (temperate)
Freshwater habitats
Yes
Urban or rural
Agricultural fields
No

Research

REU host station
No
Dry lab space
Yes
Wet Lab space
Research vessels available
No
GIS capacity on site
Long term data sets
Yes
On site herbarium or voucher species
Formal Data Management Plan
Mesocosms, plots, stream diversions, or other sets ups for outdoor manipulative experiments
Yes
Date Joined OBFS
June 19, 2025