White Mountain Research Center

We operate three field stations to support college-level instruction and research throughout the entire eastern Sierra Nevada region. The stations, forming an elevation gradient from Owens Valley high into the White Mountains, provide lodging, labs, and work space to scientists and students from all over the country and world. We also maintain a small research hut on the summit of White Mountain Peak at 4342 m (14,242’). The geologic exposure, steep topography, high elevation, arid climate, and potential for winter access make us uniquely valuable for scientific study and education. We have a long history supporting scientific achievement for over 60 years and play an important research role in many scientific disciplines including, but not limited to, physiology, astrophysics, archaeology, anthropology, ecology, biology, geology, geography, and medicine. Research in these and many other subjects continues today. We are known internationally as an unsurpassed site for education in Earth science. Every year geology field camps are based at our stations and thousands of students have been trained here. White Mountain Research Center (formerly White Mountain Research Station) is a unit of the University of California Natural Reserve System, and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.