San Francisco Natural History Series
Monthly illustrated lectures by expert naturalists.
Presentations begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. in the Randall Museum Theater.
Admission is free; donations are always appreciated.
For more information, call 415 641-7457 or email Philip Gerrie at
glassgerrie@earthlink.net.
Please visit our blog for past speakers
and lectures notes.
June 24, 2010
Historic Watercourses of SF ~ Focus on the Wiggle & the Panhandle
The Lower Haight once
had lakes and streams. The valley had been the site of Spanish Mission trails
and Ohlone trails before. Its zigzag of streets is known as the Wiggle by
today's bicyclists avoiding hills. Come glimpse the past and future of this
fascinating urban valley with Joel Pomerantz, local geography researcher,
founder of Thinkwalks.org and co-founder of the SF bicycle Coalition.
July 15
Twain’s Frog & the Beautiful Serpent – Brent Plater,
Executive Director of Wild Equity Institute. Come hear the hopeful story
about building a new unit of the GGNRA at
Sharp Park,
which is a controversial golf course in
Pacifica. You’ll learn how this exciting
vision will save endangered species and build a better public park everyone can
enjoy.
August 19
The History and Prospects for the Western Pond Turtle – Our only
Native Freshwater Turtle Wildlife biologist and natural historian Matthew Bettelheim takes us on a trip through
time as seen from our struggling terrapin and the future of turtle
conservation.
September 16
Helping our Most famous Butterfly: the Mission Blue on Twin Peaks In 2009,
the Natural Areas Program of SF Recreation & Park Department collaborated with
US Fish and Wildlife to fulfill part of the 1976 recovery plan for the
endangered Mission Blue butterfly. Leading SF lepidopterist, Liam O'Brien, was
invited to be part of the team to relocate and monitor 22 females from
San Bruno
Mountain. Since
butterfly relocation is a recent science this evening promises glorious
photography and stimulating conversation.
October 21
The Country in the City: The
Greening of the San Francisco
Bay
Area Professor Richard Walker of UC
Berkeley, narrates the many stories of land preservation, saving the bay, and
fighting toxics that have made this a global bastion of environmentalism.
November 18
What Are We Managing For? Restoration Strategies – Hear case studies in
wildlife and habitat restoration by Consulting Ecologist, Josiah Clark,
restoring ecosystem function and preserving native biodiversity. The last of the
least and the best of the rest.