Today, I attended the beginner level Create-An-App Workshop, put on by SSU’s Women in Tech program, and it was pretty cool! We were walked through the steps of creating an app for a whack-a-mole game on an Android phone, using the MIT App Inventor. The program was pretty simple to use, and it looks like it has loads of functionality. It took me about half an hour to create my MoleMash game:
Read moreWelcome to Teacup Rex
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated and inspired by the natural world. Now, as an ecologist and science educator, I strive to inspire others with a similar love and appreciation for science.
Copeland Creek
This is the stretch of Copeland Creek running through the Sonoma State University campus, right behind the Environmental Technology Center. In nearly 10 years on campus, I’ve never seen Copeland Creek with this much water, or running so fast. It was worth giving my Conservation Biology students a quick break so we could walk down and see the creek, and take a quick video.
Scientists Increasingly Speak Out – Scientific American
“Scientists across the country are increasingly interested in communicating directly with the public, media and elected officials in the wake of President Trump’s inauguration.” Read the full article here: Scientists Increasingly Speak Out – Scientific American
What Do We Want?
Salmonid Field Trip
Restoration Ecology’s final field trip of the Fall, 2016 semester was a wonderful adventure in the redwoods, looking at restoration projects aimed at restoring habitat for salmonid fishes, including chinook and coho salmon. Our hosts for the day were Sarah Phillips of the Marin Resource Conservation Department (RCD), Erik Young, a lawyer affiliated with Trout Unlimited, and Eric Ettlinger of the Marin Water District. Each of them shared with us a different perspective on the creek, and how restoration projects happen.
We started out in the Leo T. Cronin parking area for a brief introduction, and then we headed a bit downstream of the lot for our first close-up look at Lagunitas Creek.
Read moreEnvironmental Forum
I was invited to speak as part of this year’s Environmental Forum at SSU, a lecture series put on by the Environmental Studies and Planning Department. I had a GREAT time giving this talk – I focused on the salmonid restoration that’s been done on Dutch Bill Creek near Occidental, and it went really well. The students were attentive, and asked a bunch of great questions at the end. Loved it!
Laguna de Santa Rosa
My Restoration Ecology class spent the day in the Laguna Santa Rosa, helping plant sedges on a site being restored by the Laguna Foundation. Hard work, and good fun.
Point Reyes Field Trip
Another Restoration Ecology field trip . . . this time, to Point Reyes, to visit the long-term field exclosure experiment being conducted by Dr. Hall Cushman, to investigate the effects of Tule elk on vegetation. We also practiced some field sampling techniques. We did see a number of Tule elk, although I didn’t manage to get any good photos. Still, they’re magnificent to see.
Science 120 Field Trip
Fantastic field trip today with A Watershed Year (Science 120 freshman experience course). First, we visited the brand new salmon viewing area at the water treatment facility in Santa Rosa, and then over to Occidental to look at salmon restoration efforts along Dutch Bill Creek.
