Speakers

  • Sand Dunes and Salt Flats: A GGBA Trip to Namibia, Africa

    Bob Lewis
    Berkeley: Thursday, June 18, 2020
    6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

    Burchell’s Courser by Bob Lewis

    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 GGBA friends (Eric and Susan), and then four of us drove to Walvis Bay where we met our GGBA 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 GGBA 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 GGBA, and his bird life list stands at 5037.…

  • Pier 94 Restoration

    Mike Perlmutter
    San Francisco: Thursday, May 21, 2020
    6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

    Killdeer Eggs at Pier 94 by Mike Perlmutter

    Since 1997 Golden Gate Bird Alliance 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 Bird Alliance initiated habitat enhancements in the adjacent upland areas of Pier 94.  Through creative partnerships and modest funding, Golden Gate Bird Alliance 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.    

    …

  • Native Plants for Birds

    Kathy Kramer 
    Berkeley: Thursday, April 16, 2020
    6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

     

    Anna’s Hummingbird by Bob Gunderson

    “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.…

  • 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

    Townsend’s Warbler by Bob Gunderson

    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.…

  • Rodenticides: The New DDT?

    Lisa Owens Viani
    Berkeley: Thursday, February 20, 2020
    6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

    Red-tailed Hawk with rodent, by Rick Lewis

    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.…