California Naturalist Advanced Topics Webinars

Join us to increase your knowledge about our unique and diverse bioregions, ecosystems, watersheds, and coastal resources, wild and urban alike!

This forum will engage Naturalists in learning about topics relevant to the current state of California natural history, stewardship, restoration, and conservation. Each free one-hour webinar is accessible state-wide using Adobe Connect software and includes 30 minutes of on-line presentation by an expert followed by discussion and questions from participants.

The ultimate goal of the CNAT webinars is to promote dialogue between University of California academics and California Naturalists, build the California Naturalist network and community of practice, and advance lifelong learning opportunities for California Naturalists.

PLEASE PRE-REGISTER HERE

The Spring 2014 CNAT Series of four webinars (listed below) is co-sponsored by University of California Press and focuses on authors and their work in the areas of stewardship, discovery, and action.

Founded in 1893, University of California Press is one of the largest and most adventurous scholarly publishers in the nation. The nonprofit publishing arm of the University of California system, UC Press is the largest university press west of the Mississippi and attracts manuscripts from the world's foremost scholars, writers, artists, and public intellectuals. Download the Spring 2014 CNAT webinar series flier here. You must pre-register for webinars. You must be a California Naturalist, Naturalist-in-Training, or guest of our co-sponsors UC Press to attend the webinars.

STEWARDSHIP • DISCOVERY • ACTION

Discovering Suisun Marsh: a history of natural diversity, stewardship action, and reconciliation ecology.

March 20, 2014; 4-5pm. Speakers: Peter Moyle and Amber Manfree

Selected books: Suisun Marsh: Ecological History and Possible Futures

and Protecting Life on Earth

Author Biographies: Peter Moyle has been working on the ecology and conservation of California's freshwater and estuarine fishes since 1969 and is author of Inland Fishes of California (2002). He has studied fishes of the San Francisco Estuary since the 1970s, including a 32+ yr study of Suisun Marsh. He has been part of an interdisciplinary team that has created two books on the future of the Delta, one published by the Public Policy Institute of California (2007) and the second by UC Press (2010). He is professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis.

Amber Manfree is a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of California, Davis. Her primary research interests include landscape change, biogeography, and cartography. Amber holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University and as previously worked on watershed management issues including restoration planning and invasive plant management with the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation.

UC Natural Reserves for discovery and education in a time of global change

April 23, 2014; 4-5pm. Speaker: Peggy Fiedler

Selected book: The Environmental Legacy of the UC Natural Reserve System

Author biography: Peggy Fiedler is a plant conservation biologist, best known for her work on defining the nature of rarity in vascular plants. She is Director of the Natural Reserve System at the University of California’s Office of the President. From 1989-2000 Dr. Fiedler served as the foundation professor in Conservation Science at San Francisco State University.

The West without Water: What Past Floods and Droughts Tell Us About Tomorrow

May 15, 2014; 4-5pm. Speaker: Lynn Ingram

Selected book: The West without Water: What Past Floods and Droughts Tell Us About Tomorrow

Author Biography: Professor B. Lynn Ingram studies the history of climate change in California using sediment cores from lakes and estuaries, including San Francisco Bay. Dr. Ingram is a Fellow of the California Academy of Science, and is a Senior Fulbright recipient. She has been a Professor in the Departments of Earth and Planetary Science and Geography at UC Berkeley since 1995. She is the author of more than sixty published scientific articles on past climate change in California, the West, and other regions across the Pacific.

The Past, Present, and Future of Endangered Species in California

June 26, 2014; 4-5pm . Speaker: Peter Alagona

Selected book: After the Grizzly: Endangered Species and the Politics of Place in California

Author biography: Peter Alagona is an associate professor of history, geography, and environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara. He received his PhD from UCLA in 2006, and worked at Harvard and Stanford universities before joining the UC faculty in 2009. His research examines the histories of land use, natural resource management, environmental politics, and ecological science in the North American West and beyond