Golden Gate Audubon’s monthly Speaker Series in San Francisco and Berkeley features renowned naturalists, photographers, ornithologists, and other fascinating speakers. To cover event costs, we ask non-members for a donation of $5. Non-members may attend for free if they join that evening. As always, GGAS members are welcome to attend free of charge.
Doors open for refreshments at 6:30 p.m. and the speaker will start promptly at 7 p.m.
Berkeley location:
Northbrae Community Church
941 The Alameda (between Solano and Marin Avenues)
NEW S.F. location:
S.F. State University Downtown Campus
835 Market Street, 6th Floor
(Westfield Shopping Center)
Rodenticides: The New DDT?
Lisa Owens Viani
Berkeley: Thursday, February 20, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program
Are anticoagulant rat poisons the new DDT? Lisa Owens Viani will describe the epidemic of wildlife mortality caused by these poisons. She’ll explain their impacts on birds of prey such as hawks and owls, among many other animals. She’ll summarize proposed legislation to reduce the use of dangerous rodenticides, and what we can do to help beneficial predators thrive and provide us with their free, natural pest control services.
Environmental writer Lisa Owens Viani co-founded Raptors Are The Solution, which educates people about the ecological role of raptors and the danger to wildlife from widespread use of anticoagulant rat poisons.
Creating Urban Bird Habitat
Amber Hasselbring
San Francisco: Thursday, March 12, 2020
Note: Second Thursday of the month
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program
Note new transit-friendly location: S.F. State University Downtown Campus, 835 Market Street (next to the Westfield Shopping Center, at Powell Street BART station), 6th floor.
Birds need native plants and the insects that feed on them, but how to provide native habitat in our urban backyards and public open spaces? Nature in the City’s Backyard Natives Nursery enlists volunteers to grow native plants in their own yards. Learn how these volunteers engage with each other to harvest seed, clone plants from cuttings, and coordinate large-scale habitat restoration… and how your own backyard birds can benefit from this collaborative effort.
Amber Hasselbring is Executive Director of Nature in the City, whose mission to connect everyone in San Francisco to nature by cultivating and conserving local habitats.
Native Plants for Birds
Kathy Kramer
Berkeley: Thursday, April 16, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program
“Garden As If Life Depends On It – and How the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Can Help You Do So”
You may have heard about the thirty percent decline in bird populations, and the insect apocalypse. Come learn how you can help reverse these trends in your own garden, and find out how the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour can help you transform your garden into a place that provides food, shelter, and nesting areas for wildlife.
Kathy Kramer has been developing programs that educate Bay Area residents on local environmental issues for over thirty years. The programs developed under Ms. Kramer’s leadership have received local, state, and national awards. Ms. Kramer currently runs the “Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour,” a Bay Area based environmental conservation program.
Pier 94 Restoration
Mike Perlmutter
San Francisco: Thursday, May 21, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program
Since 1997 Golden Gate Audubon has partnered with the Port of San Francisco to enhance shoreline wildlife habitat at Pier 94, located along the south eastern bay shoreline, on property owned and operated by the Port of San Francisco. After completing successful wetland and beach enhancement projects, in 2013 Golden Gate Audubon initiated habitat enhancements in the adjacent upland areas of Pier 94. Through creative partnerships and modest funding, Golden Gate Audubon mobilized materials, equipment, and people to transform a mostly barren area of shoreline rubble and road into a viable place for native plants and wildlife. This project is a model for beneficial sediment reuse – using clean local “waste” sediment from mining, dredging, and excavation projects for habitat enhancement rather than disposal.
Mike Perlmutter is the Environmental Stewardship Team Supervisor for the City of Oakland Public Works Environmental Services Division. The Environmental Stewardship Team supports volunteer cleaning, greening, and beautification projects throughout City of Oakland public spaces such as parks, creeks, and rights of way. Mike holds a Bachelor’s of Science from Tufts University, and a Master’s of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Mike has worked in San Francisco Bay Area environmental conservation since 1998. His experience includes native plant and wildlife habitat restoration with the National Park Service, wildlife advocacy with the National Audubon Society, regional invasive plant management with the Bay Area Early Detection Network, and urban environmental stewardship with the City of Oakland.
Sand Dunes and Salt Flats: A GGAS Trip to Namibia, Africa
Bob Lewis
Berkeley: Thursday, June 18, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program
Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, with 2.6 million residents. It has the largest sand dunes in the world, and it hasn’t rained for over 10 years in parts of the Namib Desert. But it hosts many birds and animals that have learned to survive in this arid place. We spent some time in Cape Town with GGAS friends (Eric and Susan), and then four of us drove to Walvis Bay where we met our GGAS tour group. We’ll show you many of the desert creatures we saw on our tour.
Bob trained as a chemist, but his second career is very avian. He’s served on the GGAS board where he led the Adult Education Committee. He’s an award-winning photographer and world traveler, and frequent public speaker on avian topics at libraries and Audubon Societies. He has co-taught Master Birding, Avian Evolution and Bay Area Birds for GGAS, and his bird life list stands at 5037.
Audubon California - Tricolored Blackbird
Samantha Arthur
Berkeley
Thursday, January 17
6:30 p.m. refreshments,
7p.m. program
The Tricolored Blackbird is a colonial breeder that is nearly endemic to California. Historically, these birds bred on wetlands in the Central Valley. As a result of the loss of 90 percent of the wetlands, Tricolors increasingly nest in agricultural fields. When nesting and farmers’ harvest schedules conflict high proportions of the Tricolor population are put at risk. Tricolored Blackbirds were listed as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act in April 2018 due to sharp, ongoing population declines. In this presentation Conservation Project Director, Samantha Arthur, will discuss Audubon California’s multi-pronged approach to save the Tricolored Blackbird. This approach includes creating new wetland habitat, working with dairy farmers to delay harvest until after chicks have fledged from nests, and advocating for protections under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.
Samantha Arthur is a Conservation Project Director for Audubon California, focusing on improving wetlands management for the benefit of bird species in the Central Valley. She also manages Audubon California’s campaign to save the Tricolored Blackbird.
Innovative Habitat Enhancement for Birds
Since 1997 Golden Gate Audubon has partnered with the Port of San Francisco to enhance shoreline wildlife habitat at Pier 94, located along the south eastern bay shoreline, on property owned and operated by the Port of San Francisco. After completing successful wetland and beach enhancement projects, in 2013 Golden Gate Audubon initiated habitat enhancements in the adjacent upland areas of Pier 94. Through creative partnerships and modest funding, Golden Gate Audubon mobilized materials, equipment, and people to transform a mostly barren area of shoreline rubble and road into a viable place for native plants and wildlife. This project is a model for beneficial sediment reuse – using clean local “waste” sediment from mining, dredging, and excavation projects for habitat enhancement rather than disposal
Mike Perlmutter is the Environmental Stewardship Team Supervisor for the City of Oakland Public Works Environmental Services Division. The Environmental Stewardship Team supports volunteer cleaning, greening, and beautification projects throughout City of Oakland public spaces such as parks, creeks, and rights of way. Mike holds a Bachelor’s of Science from Tufts University, and a Master’s of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Mike has worked in San Francisco Bay Area environmental conservation since 1998. His experience includes native plant and wildlife habitat restoration with the National Park Service, wildlife advocacy with the National Audubon Society, regional invasive plant management with the Bay Area Early Detection Network, and urban environmental stewardship with the City of Oakland.