The Sierra College Press is one of the very few academic presses operated by a community college in the United States.
The Sierra College Press was formed in 2002 to publish Standing Guard: Telling our Stories as part of the Standing Guard Project’s examination of Japanese-American Internment during World War II.
Building upon that foundation, the Sierra College Press expanded its role and function to become a wide-ranging academic press and information outlet.
Today, we publish books and two eJournals, Snowy Range Reflections and the Journal of the Sierra College Natural History Museum.
The mission of the Sierra College Press is to inform and inspire scholars, students, and general readers by disseminating ideas, knowledge, and academic scholarship of value concerning the Sierra Nevada region. The Sierra College Press endeavors to reach beyond the library, laboratory, and classroom to promote and examine this unique geography.
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Dr. Terry Beers
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Dr. Patric Ettinger
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Tom Killion
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Tom Knudson
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Gary Kurutz
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Scott Lankford
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John Muir Laws
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Beverly Lewis
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Malcolm Margolin
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Mark McLaughin
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Kim Stanley Robinson
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Jesika Maria Ross
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Michael Sanford
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Lee Stetson
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Catherine Stifter
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René Yung
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Board of Directors
- Kim Bateman, Executive Dean of the Tahoe-Truckee campus
- Sean Booth, Professor of Geography
- Kerrie Cassidy, Graphics Manager and Designer, Sierra College
- Daniel DeFoe, Professor of History and Communications Studies, Sierra College
- Ralph De Unamuno, Professor of History, Sierra College
- David Dickson, retired Sierra College Professor of English and German; President of the Sierra College Friends of the Library
- Tom Fillebrown, Chair, Applied Arts and Design Department, Sierra College
- Christine Freeman, retired online educational specialist
- Rebecca Gregg, Professor Emeritus, Photography
- Brian Haley, retired Dean of the LRC/Library, Sierra College
- Rick Heide, Community member, award-winning Author, Co-editor of The Illuminated Landscape
- Jay Hester, Professor of History and President of SCFA, Sierra College
- David Kuchera, Professor of History
- Joe Medeiros, Professor of Biological Sciences Emeritus, Sierra College; Illustrator and Contributor to The Illuminated Landscape
- Sue Micheals, former Manager of Marketing and Public Relations, Sierra College
- Josh Morgan, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Sierra College
- Gary Noy, retired, former Editor-in-Chief of Sierra College Press; former Director of Sierra College Center for Sierra Nevada Studies; Co-Editor of The Illuminated Landscape
- Bart O'Brien, retired superintendent of the Placer Union High School District
- Vincent Pacheco, Professor of Applied Art and Design, Sierra College
- Sabrina Pape, Dean of the LRC/Library, Sierra College
- Mike Price, retired Sierra College Webmaster
- Jennifer Skillen, Professor, Biological Sciences, Sierra College
- Barbara Vineyard, Former President and member, Sierra College Board of Trustees; former Sierra College student
- Lynette Vrooman, Professor of English, Sierra College Nevada County Campus
- Randy White, retired educator, Publisher Blue Oak Press
Sierra College Press entered into a multi-year, multi-book publishing partnership with Heyday Books in 2012.
The mission of the Heyday-Sierra College Press Publishing Partnership is to produce quality books with unique and thought-provoking perspectives that examine and celebrate Sierra Nevada history, culture, science, and public policy. The works published by this partnership will strive to inspire, entertain, inform
The Heyday-Sierra College Press Publishing Partnership:
- Works with and strengthens Sierra Nevada scholars, institutions and organizations that are striving to protect, preserve and improve the future well-being and good health of the region
- Develops new artists and authors with a goal of preserving the memories, achievements
and traditions of past generations - Introduces young people, students, visitors and newcomers to the extraordinary Sierra Nevada story
- Builds upon the reputation of Sierra College, the Sierra College Press and Heyday for scholarship and outreach to help nurture a more informed Sierra Nevada community
- Promotes discussion of important issues facing the Sierra Nevada both today and in the future
Under the renewable agreement, Sierra College provides $75,000 to produce at least three books within a five year period.
The partnership was approved by the Sierra College Board of Trustees in honor of retiring College Trustee Barbara Vineyard, in recognition of her 28 years of extraordinary service to Sierra College.
About Heyday Books
Heyday Books is an independent, nonprofit publisher and unique cultural institution. They promote widespread awareness and celebration of California's many cultures, landscapes, and boundary-breaking ideas. Through their well-crafted books, public events, and innovative outreach programs they have built a vibrant community of readers, writers, and thinkers.
Heyday was founded by Malcolm Margolin in 1974 when he wrote, typeset, designed, and distributed The East Bay Out, a quirky, personal, affectionate guide to the natural history of the hills and


The Journal of the Sierra College Natural History Museum
Provides information about Sierra College’s extraordinary Natural History Museum and the natural history of our region and world.
- v1n1: Wonders of the Natural History Museum.
- v1n2: The Sierra Nevada and the conservation movement it inspired.
- v2n1: Nature and history along the Interstate 80 corridor.
- v2n2: Evolutionary theory on the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.
- v3n1: Ways in which various organisms fly.
- v3n2: How we use science in our decision making.
- v4n1: The celebration of Sierra College's 75 years by giving a history of field trips at Sierra College.
- v4n2: Directory of museums of the Sierra Nevada
- v5n1: Natural History Museum lecture series
- v5n2: Six on the Sierra: Rock Stars. Audio lectures relating to the geology of the Sierra Nevada.
- v6n1: Women in Nature: A Gallery of Influential and Pioneering Female Naturalists
- v6n2: State symbols related to the Sierra Nevada
Snowy Range Reflections: The Journal of Sierra Nevada History and Biography
Examines the fascinating history and characters of what John Muir called “The Range of Light.”
- v1n1: The Range of Light itself: earth, fire, water, and wind.
- v1n3: Education and entertainment are entwined in an issue devoted to entertainment, Gold Country style.
- v2n1: Explores the rugged romance and the harsh reality of the California gold fields.
- v2n2: The highways and byways, buildings and bridges that connect all of us who live in the shadow of the “Range of Light.”
- v3n1: Alonzo Delano: nomad denizen of the world
- v3n2: For your reading and listening pleasure a small sampling of the prose and poetry to be found and enjoyed in The Illuminated Landscape.
- v4n1: The celebration of Sierra College's 75 years by providing a few examples of the inspiring history, and, especially, people who contributed to the history of the Sierra College.
- v4n2: On the Sierra Nevada: Women writers of the 19th Century—presents the writings of fourteen 19th century women writing on their experiences in, and opinions of, the Sierra Nevada region.
- v5n1: Seventeen little-known figures from Sierra Nevada history
- v5n2: Six on the Sierra: Authors. Audio lectures on authors writing about the Sierra Nevada.
- v6n1: Hetch Hetchy Restored?
- v6n2: Mark McLaughlin: Sierra Nevada Weather and Cultural Historian
The following books were published by Sierra College Press or in collaboration with Heyday Books.
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California GlaciersPhotographs and text by Tim Palmer
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Gold Rush Stories: 49 Tales of Seekers, Scoundrels, Loss and LuckBy Gary Noy
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The Illuminated LandscapeEdited by Gary Noy and Rick Heide About the Book
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King Sequoia: The Tree That Inspired a Nation, Created Our National Park System, and Changed the Way We Think About NatureBy William C. Tweed About the Book Featuring an entrancing cast of adventurers, researchers, politicians, and environmentalists, King Sequoia reveals how one tree species has transformed Americans’ connection to the natural world. |
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Sierra StoriesBy Gary Noy The Sierra Nevada, with its 14,000-foot granite mountains, crystalline lakes, conifer forests, and hidden valleys, has long been the domain of dreams, attracting the heroic and the delusional, the best of humanity and the worst. Stories abound, and characters emerge so outlandish and outrageous that they have to be real. Could the human imagination have invented someone like Eliza Gilbert? Born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1818, she transformed herself into Lola Montez, born in Seville, Spain, in 1823, and brought to the Gold Country the provocative “Spider Dance”—impersonating a young woman repelling a legion of angry spiders under her petticoats. Or multimillionaire George Whittell Jr., who was frequently spotted driving around Lake Tahoe in a luxurious convertible with his pet lion in the front seat. These, and scores more, spill out of the pages of this well-illustrated and lively tribute to the Sierra. |
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Tahoe Beneath the SurfaceBy Scott Lankford About the Book Tahoe beneath the Surface brings this hidden history of America’s largest mountain lake to life through the stories of its most celebrated residents and visitors over the last ten thousand years. |
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Standing Guard: Telling Our StoriesEdited by Dr. Debra Sutphen and Lynn Medeiros, Sierra College history professors About the Book |
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Sierra Foothills Nature Guide: A Guide to Biology and Ecology of the Sierra College Nature Trail (Fourth Edition)Edited and updated by Shawna Martinez, Sierra College Professor of Biological Sciences along with colleagues and students About the Book |
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Sierra Stories/Gold Rush Stories/Hellacious CaliforniaWritten by Gary Noy About the Book |
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Sierra Wildflowers: A Hiker's GuideWritten and illustrated by John Muir Laws About the Book |
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Hansen's Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra NevadaWritten and illustrated by Keith Hansen, Edward C. Beedy and Adam Donkin About the Book |
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First held in 2016 as a collaboration between Sierra Writers and Sierra College, now supported by Sierra College Press, the Sierra Writers Conference is an annual event that provides inspiration, thought-provoking discussions of timely topics, access to professional writers and publishers, and writing activities for Sierra College students and the greater community through lectures, panels, workshops, and networking opportunities. |
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The Sierra Journal is an important touchstone in the history of Sierra’s students and staff. First created in the English Department by faculty and students in 1960, the publication transitioned from View-point (1960–72) to I Am (1973–75) and finally to the Sierra Journal in 1976. The publication continued annually until 2011–12. It was published online in 2012–13. Publication was suspended until it was resumed by the Sierra College Press in 2017–18. Today, the Sierra Journal continues as an example of the typical spirit that exists at this institution. The Sierra College Press Board of Directors eagerly voted to act as a reliable and sustainable supporter of the Sierra Journal. Sierra College Press hopes to stabilize this student-produced publication, especially to free up the precious faculty time that it takes to be creative, work on submissions, vet, edit, and fine-tune the literature, photographs, and art that graces its pages—as well as design and layout the winning sub-missions, and finally creating a cohesive collection for publication. Copies of the entire run of this literary and arts publication can be found in the Sierra College Archives in Rocklin, CA. |