"In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."

- Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet  

BAYVIEW SLOPE RESTORATION PROJECT

OCSCB's restoration project in Newport Back Bay will be held the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month from 9am-12pm. Please check our calendar for specific dates! Here are Bayview Slope Directions.

CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

June 6th, 2009: Banning Ranch Fundraiser Cruise, Long Beach
The cruise will leave from the Queen Mary dock on one of the retired Catalina ships and for three hours (6:30 pm - 9:30 pm) we'll cruise around LA and Long Beach harbors. This will be an excellent opportunity to check out the beautiful sunset!!!. The cruise will have food, a bar and feature the old time acoustic music of Sausage Grinder. This will be a really nice event and a wonderful time to contribute to the Banning Ranch Conservancy. If you can't make it, you can still support us by buying a ticket or two. Please see Flyer.

Banning Ranch is one of the last pieces of open space available on Orange County's coast. It is at the mouth of the Santa Ana River and is inhabited by rare vegetation and wildlife. Protecting Banning Ranch as open space is important for the health of the Santa Ana River and the coast of Orange County.
 

June 4th, 2009: Monthly Meeting, Thursday 6:00pm Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Annual business meeting with elections for OCSCB President and Secretary.
Poster session by UC Irvine undergraduates doing local conservation research and brief talk on the research of undergraduate OCSCB members.
 

June 1st, 2009: WHOLE FOODS TOUR AND TASTING: Monday 6:00pm The District shopping center in Tustin at 2847 Park Ave. Tustin, CA 92782
Learn about the benefits of consuming organically grown produce and enjoy a few treats around the store as well.
 

May 17th, 2009: ANNUAL MEMBER APPRECIATION PICNIC Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm at the UCI Arboretum.
Bring your family and friends to join us for an afternoon picnic, a yummy lasagna lunch, and a relaxing walk through the UC Irvine Arboretum and San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve, led by UC-Irvine professor Peter Bowler.
Picnic is free for members, and $10 for non-members. Children under 5 eat free. Bring your picnic blankets, lawn chairs, and your own silverware to help minimize waste.
Please RSVP to ocscbiology@gmail.com BY Wednesday, May 13th to save your spot
 

May 7th, 2009: Monthy Meeting, Thursday 6:00 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
SPEAKER: Dr. Peter Bloom, raptor biologist, to speak about his current research on the California Condors
 

May 6th, 2009 7:00-9:00pm: SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD NIGHT
Real Food Challenge, a club dedicated to bringing sustainable food systems to UCI, is hosting a Sustainable Seafood Night to bring awareness about how our fishing practices and consumption habits have had an effect on declining fish populations and marine ecosystems.
Please RSVP yes at this website: http://ucirealfoodchallenge.weebly.com/sustainable-seafood.html
 

April 2nd, 2009: Monthy Meeting, Thursday 6:00 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus. SPEAKER: Speaker Dr. Jay H. Jones to give a talk entitled "Finding environmental hope in economic disaster, and lead a discussion and question/answer period about economics and conservation and how the current economic status affects conservation and environmental initiatives. For more information, check out steadystate.org
 

March 20-22nd: Anza-Borrego Camping Trip to see the Wildflowers and hopefully the desert pupfish- Please RSVP before March 15th to save your spot. Contact (ocscbiology@gmail.com) for more details.
 

March 5th, 2009: Monthy Meeting, Thursday 6:00 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus. SPEAKER: Dr. Jon Keeley works for the U.S. Geological Survey and is an adjunct professor at UCLA. He studies the ecology of fire-prone ecosystems and the alien plants that invade these systems. For more information here is his Website
 

February 14th-15th: The annual OCSCB trip to Pismo Beach and Cambria. Please RSVP before February 1st to save your spot! Contact (ocscbiology@gmail.com) for more details.
 

February 5th, 2009: Monthly Meeting, Thursday 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Make your own creative reusable bag. We will provide cloth bags- one free to each member, and $2 for each additional- fabric paints and stencils. Come and personalize your new reusable bag and just say no to plastic. Friends and family are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
 

January: Monthly Meeting has been canceled
 

December 6th, 2008: Monthly Meeting, Thursday 6:00 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Our guest speaker for the month of December will be Dr. Seth Riley. Dr. Riley works for the National Park Service and is a professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at UCLA. His research focuses on the ecology and conservation of wildlife in fragmented urban landscapes.
 

November 25th 2008 Sea and Sage Audubon Society presents: Coastal Cactus Wrens in Orange County presented by Robb Hamilton
7:00PM, IRWD Duck Club, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine
Admission Free. Click Here for more information.
 

November 15th 2008: Bird of Prey Workshop & Raptor Release, 9:00-11AM, Rancho Sonado
Visit www.insidetheoutdoors.org to register.
 

November 6th, 2008: Monthly Meeting, Thursday 6:00 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Dr. Tim Bradley from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at UC Irvine will be giving a presentation on the conservation issues surrounding Mona Lake. Dr. Bradley was involved in research at Mona Lake during the time when LA County was diverting water from the streams that feed the lake resulting in increased water salinity that threatened much of the lake's biodiversity. We will also be hearing an update about other conservation issues in Orange County from some of our members. Light refreshments will be provided.
 

October 26th 2008: Sunday restoration event at the Bayview Slope, 9:00-12PM, Newport Back Bay.
This will be the initiation of our two year restoration project funded by the Sonoran Joinnt Venture Foundation. if you have trouble finding the site, call Quinn at (949) 910-6700 or Jess at (949) 872-5072
 

October 2nd, 2008: Monthly Meeting, Thursday 6:00 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
First Meeting of the year. We are going to introduce our new board members, what we have accomplished in the past year, and also discuss our new restoration project at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve for which we received our first awarded grant.
 

September 23, 2008 7:00PM Sea & Sage Audubon Society Conservation Lectures. Free Admission. Held at the IRWD Duck Club San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.
For more information and directions, Click Here.
 

August 24, 2008 1:00-3:30PM Whale watching with the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. There have been Blue Whales, Fin Whales, Risso's Dolphins and much more sighted this summer off the coast of Orange County. There are also many sea birds that could be sighted off the coast as the migration is starting to happen.
They have given us a discounted rate of $24 per person. Please RSVP to Barry Nerhus (bnerhus@gmail.com).
 

June 23, 2008 7:00PM Lecture by Alan Lieberman at the Muth Interpretive Center at Upper Newport Bay
Laguna Ocean Foundation, in coordination with the Zoological Society of San Diego will host a lecture/slide show by conservation ecologist Alan Lieberman. The topic will be birds and conservation, focusing on tropical birds. Alan is the founder and manager of the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program, operated by the Zoological Society's group of scientists at CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species).
 

July 12, 2008 8:00AM Tour of California Least Tern Preserve
State Parks Ecologist, David Pryor, has invited OCSCB members and friends on a tour of the California Least Tern Preserve located at Huntington State Beach. Please join us to learn about the ecology and conservation history of this endangered subspecies.

Where: the preserve is located at the southernmost end of Huntington State Beach on PCH. Free admission to the beach will be given to tour attendees at the entrance found at Magnolia and PCH . Upon entrance to the park, continue south until you reach the preserve.

Please RSVP to ocscbiology@gmail.com so we can let David know how many to expect and please carpool if you can.
 

June 4, 2008 6:30PM Natural Sciences II room 2201
Annual business meeting. This meeting is a members-only affair, but we will accept new member dues at the meeting. We will be electing and welcoming new officers (Vice President and Treasurer- see attached ballot), introducing our interim secretary, giving a membership and financial report, and conducting a member survey. Following this short business meeting, members will have the opportunity to design their own reusable shopping bag with supplies left over from Creative Reusable Bags at the Imagination Celebration. Refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!
 

Tuesday, June 3rd 2008
Speaker Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland from 6:30-7:30pm in Howard Schneiderman Lecture Hall (HSLH) 100. See Campus Map. Building number for HSLH is 501. You may park in lot 16 behind Natural Sciences II. Question and Answer Session & Reception will follow the lecture.

Dr. Rowland won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work. His best-known work is the discovery that chlorofluorocarbons contribute to ozone depletion. Rowland's research, first published in Nature magazine in 1974, initiated a scientific investigation of the problem. The National Academy of Sciences concurred with their findings in 1976, and in 1978 CFC-based aerosols were banned in the United States. See his autobiography at: http://nobelprize.org
 

May, 2008
Meeting for those interested in surveying butterflies in Orange County. Time and Date TBA.
 

May 10th, 2008, at 1:30pm
Tour of Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach (http://www.pacificmmc.org/). Carpool will leave Steelhead Brewery Parking Lot at 12:45 PM. Contact Barry Nerhus (bnerhus@gmail.com) to sign up!
 

May 7th, 2008
Monthly Meeting, 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Speaker: Dennis Kelly, Professor of Marine Sciences at Orange Coast College, giving a talk entitled: "Why have coastal bottlenose dolphin started entering Newport Harbor, on a regular basis, when they have never done this before?"
 

April 19th, 2008
Imagination Celebration: Creative Reusable Shopping Bags

Decorate your FREE reusable shopping bag right in time for Earth Day! Customize your bag with paints, fabrics, buttons, and markers and do your part by using your bag for shopping needs instead of using a paper or plastic bag. Learn about other art activities that can be made using recycled materials. Imagination powers the planet!

When: Saturday, April 19th
Time: 11am-1pm
Where: The Road Less Traveled Store

2202 1/2 N. Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706

April 5th 2008
Anza-Borrego Dessert State Park Camping Trip: If you plan to attend but have not RSVP'd, please do so ASAP at (prattr@uci.edu). Camping is free for chapter members, $5 for non-members. Please include in your response the number of people in your party and indicate if you need a ride OR if you can drive others in your car.
 

April 2nd, 2008
Monthly Meeting, 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Speaker: Dr. Vic Leipzig, a professor at many local colleges in the county. His lecture will focus on the Natural History of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands.
 

March 5th, 2008
Monthly Meeting, 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Speaker: UC Irvine Professor Peter Bryant speaking about Bugs in a Biodiversity Hotspot: The Amazing Arthropods of Orange County
 

February 6th, 2008
Monthly Meeting, 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences II room 2201 on UCI campus.
Speaker: Dr. John Avise speaking about Genetics and Conservation
 

January 30-31 2008
Focus the Nation at UC Irvine: Sustainability and Climate Change Solutions.

T-Shirts are still available for Sale!

Off white $15
Green $18
Navy Blue $18

Contact us at ocscbiology@gmail.com

January 9, 2008
Monthly Meeting, 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences room 2201 on UCI campus.
Speaker: Dick Zembal Speaking about the Santa Ana River Watershed.
 

Spring Quarter 2007
Silent auction fundraising Event! Come bid on lots of cool stuff for a great cause. All proceeds go toward future OC-SCB activities.
 

December 2007 Event
Overnight camping trip to see the migration of the Monarch butterflies overwintering in Pismo Beach and elephant seals at Piedras Blancas. (December 15-16th)
 

December 8, 2007
ROOTS Habitat Restoration: Newport Backbay (9am-12pm). If interested, please contact Matt Yurko (myurko@coastal.ca.gov)
 

December 5, 2007
Monthly Meeting, 6:30 PM, Natural Sciences room 1201 on UCI campus. Speaker: Allan A Schoenherr- retired professor of Ecology from Fullerton College and author of several books including A Natural History of California. (map)
 

December 2007
Bat Monitoring: Newport Backbay (4:15pm). Potential monitoring dates are: December 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th. No experience necessary! If interested, please contact Anna Pursell (AnaPursell@aol.com)