About Natural History of the Vertebrates

Welcome to the 104th year reunion of the Natural History of the Vertebrates class at UC Berkeley! This centennial event celebrates the long-running course started by Joseph Grinnell, first director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Originally taught as Zoology 113 (Advanced General Vertebrate Zoology), Grinnell moulded this renowned class into “a systematic and ecological study of the vertebrate fauna of California” that has influenced countless numbers of students. Although the concepts and course title (Zoology 107, Integrative Biology 104) have evolved over the past century, the way that the class is taught today has remained true to Grinnell’s legacy of combining lectures with hands-on laboratories, field trips, and field-note taking in the Grinnellian method.

We are excited to invite you to a special reunion that brings students and instructors together to reminisce with old friends, share stories, and hear from others about the importance of teaching vertebrate natural history in undergraduate education.

Read more about the history of this class and teaching natural history at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.