Beltran Lab Truck

The Beltran Lab, Costa Lab, and Año Nuevo Reserve have a dedicated truck (Blue 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT, #7508) for transportation between UCSC and Año Nuevo Reserve. Funding was provided from two sources:  (1) Office of Naval Research as part of a Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grant (PI: Beltran; Co-PIs: Costa and Robinson) and a (2) Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering (PI:  Beltran). The primary goal of the truck is to facilitate DoD-relevant research on long-lived marine vertebrates, with a focus on the elephant seal program at Año Nuevo Reserve. Use of this truck incurs a $1/mile cost that will be charged to each Principal Investigator’s FOAPAL annually (calculated from the Google Calendar use data). This recharge rate covers charging, wear & tear, and fleet services costs. 

Beltran Lab Blue Truck (7508)

Procedure:

1. Only authorized drivers are allowed to drive the Blue Truck or sign-up in the Google Calendar. Contact Roxanne Beltran (roxanne@ucsc.edu)

2. See prioritization list below - morning and afternoon trips to Año Nuevo Reserve will be common. For other uses, please try to schedule around fieldwork.

3. Always sign-out the truck in the Google Calendar prior to use and include your Name and Destination. (Please be sure to select the correct calendar and not your personal google calendar!)

4. The truck lives in the parking lot on the inland side of the Coastal Biology Building.

5. The key lives in the Beltran Lab (CBB 169) on the whiteboard 

6. Check the battery status of the truck before you depart (there are no charging stations between Santa Cruz and Año Nuevo.

7. Please drive slowly (10mph) on the Año Nuevo equal access road to preserve the road condition and watch for snakes!

8. If you get into an accident, please refer to the information in the glove box.

9. Natalie (nastorm@ucsc.edu) is the lead charging expert (she has the charging app and credit card info). Please let her know when the truck charge drops below 30% so she can re-charge it (it takes ~1/6 of the truck battery to get from the lab to Año Nuevo and back). 

10. Upon return, immediately return the key so it is ready for the next user.

11. Keep the inside of the car clean (remove trash, vacuum, etc. as needed)

12. Please remember that the speed limit between Santa Cruz and Año Nuevo is 55mph

13. Please report any problems to Roxanne Beltran (roxanne@ucsc.edu, 619-820-7839)

Requests for use will be prioritized as follows:

• Beltran Lab elephant seal projects at Año Nuevo Reserve

• Costa Lab elephant seal projects at Año Nuevo Reserve

• Long-term elephant seal monitoring at Año Nuevo Reserve

• Transportation of grad students to main UCSC campus