I want to invite all participants in the San Mateo County Bio-Blitz project to share their energies and ideas at the Sequoia meeting this week. It is my personal opinion that community-scientist groups have much to contribute to local conservation projects, from data collection to monitoring to activism. Plus, we have some iNaturalist participants on the panel - @marshalldinowitz , @papiliogal , @janekim1 , @shani , and @joseph103
Environmental Protection is one of the key political and moral issues of our time, from climate change, to development and resource depletion. Some predictive models warn of mass extinctions and population collapse for many species. Sequoia Audubon Society has played an important role in our first seventy years, protecting San Mateo county habitat along the shores and in the Santa Cruz mountains. But what can and should we be doing over the next few decades?
On Thursday March 14, our general meeting will feature a panel of local environmental activists, all with an abiding interest in local habitat protection and avian conservation. Sequoia Audubon’s Conservation Committee chair, Marshall Dinowitz, will be joined by award-winning Amber Hasselbring of Nature in the City, renowned nature artist Jane Kim, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society’s highly successful Environmental Advocate, Shani Kleinhaus, and three of Sequoia Audubon’s finest advocates, each of whom has helped gain protection for birds and habitats in our county: Joe Morlan, Gary Deghi, and Kent Forward. They will share their successes, frustrations, and indicate ways for you (singly and collectively) to become involved, in big and small ways, in saving the planet.
Sequoia Audubon meets at the San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Parkside Way, just off the Alameda de las Pulgas in San Mateo. Meet-and-greet starts at 6:30, complete with delicious snacks and shade-grown coffee. The meeting proper starts at 7:00 PM. Free and open to all, accessible location, free parking. See you there - bring your energy, your curiosity, and your ideas.
Jennifer Rycenga