An Introduction to Trees of the Modini Mayacamas Preserves Join this hike with ACR Preserve Biologist Sherry Adams for an introduction to the 15 most common tree species found on the Modini Mayacamas Preserves. Learn how to identify them, where they are found, and a little about their ecology including strategies for surviving fire.Don't forget to change your clocks ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
How to Clone a MammothCould extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life? The science says yes. Enjoy a lively presentation by Dr. Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary biologist, pioneer in ancient DNA research, and author of the recently published book How to Clone a Mammoth. She will describe the controversial ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $5 General, Free for members
Climate change mitigation requires gigawatt-scale deployment of low-carbon energy technologies, including carbon-negative technologies like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations. There are few deployments of BECCS outside of niche markets, creating uncertainty about commercialization, optimal design, and sustainability at scale. Here, I present results ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Undergraduate Learning in Cosmology Using an Interactive Student-Centered CurriculumDr. Kim Coble will discuss her classification of students’ ideas about concepts important to modern cosmology. She and collaborators developed The Big Ideas in Cosmology, an immersive set of web-based learning modules that integrates text, figures, and visualizations with short and long interactive tasks and real cosmological data in an ...
It seems the only thing changing faster than Earth's environment these days is the communication environment. Mainstream media are shrinking. Global connectivity is exploding. Facts and fantasy flow side by side. Filters and bubbles insulate factions. Andy Revkin, who's been communicating about climate, energy and sustainable development for more than ...
In the vein of H Is for Hawk and the works of Rebecca Solnit and Elizabeth Kolbert, award-winning writer and environmental thought leader Mary Ellen Hannibal comes to Cupertino Library for an evening lecture on becoming a citizen scientist. For her latest book, Citizen Scientist, Ms. Hannibal waded in tide pools, followed hawks, and ...
Over the past sixty years, computers have shrunk, networks have spread and flickering bits of information have ever more thoroughly infiltrated all aspects of our lives. The boundary between the virtual world of information and the physical world we ultimately inhabit has been slowly fading to the point that it ...
This talk will help make sense of the Higgs boson, the Large Hadron Collider and CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. Dr. Gagnon�explains in simple terms the latest discoveries from CERN and shows how the theoretical model called the Standard Model describes the basic constituents of matter. The discovery ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members and Seniors
Tracking Time: A lecture/recital by Indre Viskontas and guestsNeuroscientist and soprano Indre Viskontas will give a faculty artist recital this Monday, November 7th, 2016 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Part lecture, part musical performance, Dr. Viskontas will explore how our brains track time, both on the micro and macro levels. In the first half, she will give ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: free
Tuesday, 11/08/16
Surviving Ourselves â€' Making the Most of Earth’s ‘Anthropocene’ Age of HumansAndrew Revkin is a leading environmental journalist, author and educator who has spent more than 30 years covering global change, from the North Pole to the White House to the Amazon, mainly for The New York Times. As Pace University’s Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding since 2010, he has developed ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Meet the Birds at Lake MerrittMigrating birds are here! See what winter visitors are currently at Lake Merritt, the nation's oldest wildlife refuge. A naturalist from the Rotary Nature Center will lead a short walk along the lake. Learn about the Pacific Flyway and how to identify some winter migrants as well as year-round residents.We'll begin ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free!
History of Clays on Mars: How we found them + Astrobiological ImportanceDetecting clays on Mars has had a rocky history over the past 4 decades, but detecting them on the surface today is becoming commonplace. This presentation describes the instruments used for identification of clay minerals, where we have found them, and what their presence means. Most phyllosilicates require abundant liquid ...
Working with wet watercolor and aquarelle will help your journal sketching become more lively and spontaneous. Instead of carefully drawing lines and then coloring them in, we’ll invert the process, splashing down loose watercolor and then drawing into it to define shapes. We’ll also explore some special effects you can ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Suggested donation $20.
Safety Verification of Deep Neural NetworksDeep neural networks have achieved impressive experimental results in image classification, but can surprisingly be unstable with respect to adversarial perturbations, that is, minimal changes to the input image that cause the network to misclassify it. With potential applications including perception modules and end-to-end controllers for self-driving cars, this raises ...
Coastal changes resulting from dam removalâ€'Elwha River, WashingtonDam removal in the United States is increasing as a result of structural concerns, sedimentation of reservoirs, and declining riverine ecosystems. The largest dam removal project in history involved the deconstruction of two dams on the Elwha River in Washington, USA, with the intention of restoring salmon spawning runs. During ...
Where: Moss LandingCost: Free
Meet the Birds at Lake MerrittMigrating birds are here! See what winter visitors are currently at Lake Merritt, the nation's oldest wildlife refuge. A naturalist from the Rotary Nature Center will lead a short walk along the lake. Learn about the Pacific Flyway and how to identify some winter migrants as well as year-round residents.We'll begin ...
Iridium, The World's Most Complex Satellite SystemJoin author John Bloom and panelists Dan Colussy, Ray Leopold and Dorothy Robyn for a lively conversation about Iridium�"the world’s most complex satellite system�"and its transformation from commercial blunder to life-saving network bringing phone service to war zones, disaster areas and other remote settings around the globe.
The application of product-life cycle assessment (LCA) in a policy context highlights the need for a distinct so-called “consequential†LCA (CLCA). Central to the spirit of CLCA is a model of the economy within which the new technology or product is embedded. This statement raises two further questions. One is that what is meant ...
GivePower Foundation is Solar City's contribution to bringing power to people in the poorest areas of the world that just can't get it done by themselves. Such countries as Nicaragua, Haiti, Mali, and Nepal have been provided with power generation capabilities thru the foundation. Please join us on November 10, ...
Where: SaratogaCost: Free
Meet the Birds at Lake MerrittMigrating birds are here! See what winter visitors are currently at Lake Merritt, the nation's oldest wildlife refuge. A naturalist from the Rotary Nature Center will lead a short walk along the lake. Learn about the Pacific Flyway and how to identify some winter migrants as well as year-round residents.We'll begin ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free!
BIG DATA ON A NETWORK: MASSIVE INTEGRATION OF DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE FOR DRUG REPURPOSINGThe time and resources spent in drug development are exorbitant. In parallel, the probabilities that a given lead compound makes it to the clinic are minuscule. Even with the discovery of a few repurposing strategies, the search for a potential repositioning example is still very much trial and error. A ...
Our ancestors evolved a frightened brain for survival in harsh conditions. Today, unnecessary and unwarranted fear can make it harder to speak from the heart, dream big dreams and stand up to the manipulations of advertisers and demagogues. Dr. Hanson will explore the practical neuroscience of courage in ourselves, our ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, Free Students
Rancher John Wick will share the results of 8 years of peer-reviewed research, and the development of a suite of restorative agricultural practices known to be net-climate beneficial. John has been working with agricultural agencies, organizations, and institutions to create a version of agriculture that removes atmospheric carbon, optimizes soil ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: $10 General, Free for members
Friday, 11/11/16
Sounds and Stories at Little SulphurFor folks who love wild areas but can't hike; others are welcome too. Enjoy quiet time with bird calls, the splashing of Little Sulphur Creek, a few nature stories or poems about Pine Flat, and conversation with Dave Self, ACR Resource Ecologist. This is a non-hiking event.
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
DNA Science DayTake a personal trip into your own cells and discover how DNA influences the unique traits that make you who you are. Isolate your own cheek cell DNA, make a DNA bracelet that reflects your traits, and see how biological processes can be used to create medicines, biofuels and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with admission ($10 - $12)
Meet the Birds at Lake MerrittMigrating birds are here! See what winter visitors are currently at Lake Merritt, the nation's oldest wildlife refuge. A naturalist from the Rotary Nature Center will lead a short walk along the lake. Learn about the Pacific Flyway and how to identify some winter migrants as well as year-round residents.We'll begin ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free!
Green Friday: River Otter Ecology ProjectOur presenter will be Robert Aston of the River Otter Ecology Project (ROEP). River otters are charismatic carnivores, and make wonderful ambassadors for river and wetland restoration and conservation efforts. Once extirpated in the San Francisco Bay area, little is known about their current population, range, and seasonal eating habits. ...
