July 2018

Seeking antibiotics at Angelo

Soil microbes are a prime source for the antibiotics we use to combat infections. But our ability to isolate these compounds has been hampered by the need to culture the organisms that deploy them in the struggle to survive. Advanced gene sequencing methods known as metagenomics could render this approach obsolete, as demonstrated by a study of soil bacteria collected from Angelo Coast Range Reserve. Read more >>

Northern nurseries for sea lions

Año Nuevo Island Reserve is experiencing a boom in California sea lion births. Zalophus californianus females living off our coast have traditionally preferred to give birth around the Channel Islands. But in 2016, the population of pups at Año Nuevo Island soared from the typical few dozen to more than 500, and more than a thousand pups last year. The Farallon Islands west of the Golden Gate has seen a similar uptick. A coalition of scientists from UC Santa Cruz, the NRS, and NOAA's Marine Mammal Laboratory is studying the phenomenon. Possible drivers include a burgeoning population needing more nursery sites, and the effects of a marine heat wave that made prey items scarce in southern California waters. Image courtesy Patrick Robinson. Read more >>

Inspiring love for nature

The NRS is now an official partner of #NatureForAll, a global movement to encourage everyone to connect with nature and take action to support its conservation. #NatureForAll provides a means for groups engaged in nature connection to share their successes, collaborate, and learn to engage broader audiences to fall in love with nature. A brainchild of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the oldest and largest global environmental organization, #NatureForAll was launched at the 2016 World Conservation Congress held in Honolulu. The NRS already participates in IUCN's biosphere reserves and Commission on Ecosystem Management—Mediterranean-type Ecosystems Thematic Group programs. Look for the NRS logo on the #NatureForAll partners page. Learn more >>

Jepson Herbarium classes

UC Berkeley’s Jepson Herbarium Workshops aim to provide educational opportunities for professional and amateur botanists.

Aug. 2-9
Introduction to Sierra Nevada fire ecology
Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

California has been referred to as the “pyrostate.” Instructor Hugh Safford will discuss as fire as a physical process and evolutionary force, its effects on ecosystems and vegetation, plus fire history and regimes (including fire scar dendrochronology), and consequences of climate change. Class will include several trips to eastern Sierra sites and moderate to strenuous hiking.

Sept. 29-30
IS for botanists
Hastings Natural History Reservation
Start mapping with geographic information system software. Instructors Heather Constable and Michelle Koo will show you how to create your own maps to answer questions about biodiversity, conservation and ecology using field or historic data plus freely available information. The course will use a free, open source GIS program.

McLaughlin art wins award

An art project depicting native vegetation restoration at McLaughlin Natural Reserve has received a presitigious award. Artist Jodi Connelley created the work for her UC Davis masters thesis project. The Keister and Allen Art Purchase Prize enabled the the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis to acquire the work for its permanent collection. Read more >>

Forest burn funding

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a state agency created to improve the environmental, economic, and social well-being of the Sierra Nevada, has awarded Sagehen Creek Field Station nearly $500,000 to burning undergrowth on up to 1,500 acres within the next three years. The treatment is designed to improve habitat and water supplies while increasing resiliency to destructive wildfire. The efforts are part of the Sagehen Forest Project, which is demonstrating how science-informed policy and community collaboration can produce large scale management improvements in California forests.

Art class at Valentine Camp

A jewel within the NRS, Valentine Camp encompasses a waterfall, a wet meadow lined with conifers and aspens, a glacial moraine, and priceless views of the Sierra Nevada. Seize the chance to explore this Mammoth Lakes locale via an art class this summer. Read more >>

The art of naming
Kyle Osland
July 7, 9 a.m. to noon and 6 to 8 p.m.
Spend the day walking and journaling in one of the most pristine spots in the eastern Sierra.

Drawing at Valentine Reserve
Lori Michelon
July 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Spend time walking and sketching the reserve in both pencil and pen; supplies included.

NRS IN THE NEWS

Awakening the grizzly
Sedgwick Reserve
Pacific Standard

Fire dangers keeping UC Davis reserves in western Yolo County on high alert
Quail Ridge Reserve
Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve
McLaughlin Natural Reserve
Sacramento Bee

You'd never guess what an acorn woodpecker eats
Hastings Natural History Reservation
KQED/NPR

Creating potential antibiotics from soil microbes
Angelo Coast Range Reserve
The Daily Californian

Sierra Business award to Jeff Brown
Sagehen Creek Field Station
YubaNet.com

Sensor, drone research will paint a more accurate picture of California's water
Systemwide
Government Technology

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