upcoming

The San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the United States, and is home to a wide range of birds, from rails to shorebirds, waders, and ducks. Over 90% of the tidal wetlands around the estuary have been lost, but there is now large-scale local support for protecting and restoring the estuary. We’ll review efforts to restore San Franciso Bay wetlands, including challenges and opportunities associated with sea-level rise and climate change, and implications for local birds. 

About Our Speaker

John Callaway is a wetland ecologist who specializes in plant and soil ecology of tidal wetlands, but his original motivation for researching wetlands was driven by an interest in waterbirds. He recently retired from Department of Environmental Science at the University of San Francisco. His research has focused on sea-level rise impacts, carbon sequestration, and restoration issues for salt and brackish marshes in the San Francisco Bay estuary.

Date: Thursday, April 17, 2025 (7pm)

Location: Online via Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87631566197?pwd=Eb7h5It2RWiLoBoJbzAML0KE2TYHG7.1

Passcode: 381334…

Alcatraz Island Brandt’s Cormorants moved into San Francisco Bay in the early 1990s during a coastward population shift. Alcatraz is now one of the largest Brandt’s Cormorant breeding colonies, outperforming its ocean counterparts despite a high level of human disturbance in this urban setting. The bay hosts a large anchovy population and demersal fish nursery, with strong tidal currents and the river plume into the ocean concentrating prey for seabirds and other predators.  We are working to mitigate anthropogenic stressors to support this important colony and increase seabird resilience to climate change.

Julie Thayer has worked in the California Current marine ecosystem for three decades, with a brief hiatus on the north coast of Brazil. She studied at the University of California at Santa Cruz/Long Marine Lab and UC Davis in Marine Biology and Ecology. Thayer has done field research on Alcatraz seabirds, studying population changes, diet, productivity, and human distrubance to Brandt’s Cormorants and Western Gulls since 1990.

Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025 (7pm)

Location: Online via Zoom

Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82062580580?pwd=JbHzA9NssDTyrD0Vs58Yy1S2XX8xV0.1

Passcode: 404139…