The mission of the Vernon and Mary Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) at UCSB is to support:

• Education
• Research
• Natural History Collections
• Ecosystem Management, Restoration and Conservation
• Professional Advising
• K-12 Academic Preparation and Community Education Program (Kids in Nature)

CCBER promotes the teaching of diverse courses at the University of California, Santa Barbara in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology; Environmental Studies; and Geology. It supports faculty, staff, and student research interests by providing field and lab-based resources. In addition, CCBER houses regionally focused natural history collections of terrestrial plants, algae, and vertebrates, as well as an extensive plant anatomy collection. Through the ecological restoration program, CCBER encourages land restoration on and near campus and satisfies the University's obligation to provide stewardship of campus lands, rich in biodiversity. The Kids in Nature outreach program fulfills K-12 educational goals, while staff and faculty curators provide scientific information and advice to private entities.

The union of these elements into CCBER creates a campus facility dedicated to education, research, and outreach related to regional biological diversity and restoration.