The Hastings Natural History Reservation was established in October 1937 as a field station of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), University of California, Berkeley. At that time, Jean M. Linsdale of the Museum staff became the first resident director and initiated a program of research and instruction. Human disturbance to the land was kept to a minimum, a policy which continues to be enforced.
Since the beginning of the Reservation's history, at least one ornithologist has been permanently resident, and a large file of records and field notes on the avifauna has been compiled. Contributors to this file include Reservation and Museum staff members, students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scientists, and members of visiting classes.