Our recent trip to Mountain Lake was featured on the Presidio Trust’s blog (http://www.presidio.gov/blog). The post seems to have scrolled off their blog, so I’ll reproduce it here:
Author: Wendy St. John
2015 Science Symposium
(As published in the Fall, 2015, Science and Technology’s Newsletter”)
“This past May, the School of Science & Technology in partnership with the WATERS Collaborative hosted its third annual Science Symposium. As in past years, the event was kicked off with the 2014-15 Science 120 cohort presenting talks on the research project they conducted over the past year. This year many of the students also presented posters. We had a record number of 81 posters presented from departments across campus highlighting the work of 193 students.”
I was especially pleased to see this photo in the newsletter, as I worked with this cohort of Science 120 students, as a consultant to help them with field techniques related to their individual research projects. What a great group of students!
At Mountain Lake, One Last Chance to See the Turtles Off
Another Bay Nature article featuring turtles from our lab. I’m quoted in this one!
A Western pond turtle, ready for release into Mountain Lake. (Photo by Charity Vargas Photography, courtesy Presidio Trust)
by Lauren McNulty on October 14, 2015
“This turtle release is symbolic of so much transformation,” said Michael Boland, chief of planning, projects, and programs at the Presidio Trust. Mountain Lake, he said, is not just about Mountain Lake, it’s about how the environment is managed: “Nature survives in cities because of people.”
Which, said Sonoma State lecturer Wendy St. John, is one reason the project has succeeded. People around the lake have rallied to its restoration. “This is their neighborhood, not just a touristy area,” St. John said. “It’s been a community effort.”
Read the rest of the article here: https://baynature.org/article/at-mountain-lake-one-last-chance-to-see-the-turtles-off/
Super Science Saturday – Mountain Lake
I was at this event, representing SSU. (As a matter of fact, that’s my son at the far left of the first photo, at the booth he and I were manning). Super cool!
Mountain Lake Release
I was able to bid farewell to some of our juvenile turtles today when they were released into the newly-restored Mountain Lake in the Presidio of San Francisco. This is one of the later phases of the project – reintroducing native species that were extirpated after the lake was severely degraded by a variety of human impacts. It’s nice to see these turtles back in an areas where they previously thrived.
Native Turtles Return to Mountain Lake
Originally posted on the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks Science and Learning Blog
Although no one knows exactly when western pond turtles vanished from Mountain Lake in the Presidio of San Francisco, they are known to have been abundant historically. Now, as part of the ongoing restoration of Mountain Lake, this long-extirpated species is back. On July 18th, 28 western pond turtles reared by the San Francisco Zoo were released into the lake before an audience of more than 70 people. The release follows similar releases of other native species including Pacific chorus frogs and three-spined sticklebacks earlier in the year.
The western pond turtle release is also part of a research effort to determine which of two different release methods is better for the turtles in terms of their stress hormone levels. Half of turtles were brought to Mountain Lake and kept in a protected enclosure for three weeks to acclimate ahead of their release, while the rest were released without an acclimation period. All had their stress hormone levels measured upon their release and are equipped with radio transmitters so they can be relocated and have their hormone levels re-measured in the coming weeks and years. The preliminary results will inform another round of western pond turtle releases at Mountain Lake on September 12th and contribute to knowledge about native species reestablishment efforts in general. Future reestablishment projects at Mountain Lake may include the Pacific newt and the California red-legged frog.
Check out the SF Gate article or the Bay Nature article for additional coverage of the recent western pond turtle release.
And It Begins . . .
Here I am, in my OFFICE, on the first day of the semester. SUPER EXCITED!
I Have an Office!
For the first time (ever?), I have my very own office!
Western Pond Turtle Links
Here is a collection of links to articles I’ve written about western pond turtles.
This “Western Pond Turtle” category menu also includes a variety of content published by other people, most of which involves turtles from my lab. Just continue scrolling down through this category page to see articles, images, and videos I’ve shared from other sources.
Read moreFun in Diversity Lab!
So, probably the most exciting moment of my day (maybe of my life) was finding these little jellyfish in the tanks in Darwin 4. I didn’t actually find them, some of my students did, but I isolated them and managed to get some decent photos. At first, I assumed they were babies, but after poking around a bit, I think maybe they’re just a very small species. I’m thinking they’re in the genus Cladonema, but I can’t really identify them any closer than that. To me, they look a bit more like the introduced C. pacificum, but maybe they’re the native californicum? Or some other species entirely? They’re really small – maybe 2mm in diameter.
Either way, we had a GREAT time in lab today – in addition to the jellies (and, of course, the Echinoderms), there were copepods and worms (probably polychaetes), and adorable tiny crabs (at least four species of crabs altogether between the two tanks, including the big crabs). Awesome.