upcoming

Chelsea will be sharing her thoughts and perspectives on “Nest Building”. No, not bird nests per say, but rather the spaces we build to create a lasting community with our fellow birders.

About Our Speaker

Chelsea Connor is the co-founder of Black Birders Week, a 2024 GGBA Birding for Everyone Fellow, and an MS candidate at SFSU.

Date: Thursday, May 15, 2025 (7pm)

Location: Online via Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86714178233?pwd=l4bsUnQAmdRESjJ25qdNzI2aXZp4St.1

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In this talk, Aaron with discuss the connections that created and define the Delta
from its formation to its ecology and, biodiversity. The talk will also explore some of the
ecological and social complexities the Delta embraces and faces.

About Our Speaker

Aaron N. K. Haiman has been a student of nature his entire life. He spent countless hours
birding across California and has lived and birded in the California Delta for over a decade.
Aaron volunteered from a young age with numerous bird research organizations before
attending the University of California, Berkeley (BS in environmental science), rotating through
several bird-focused internships, attending the University of California, Davis (MS in avian
science and a second MS in animal behavior), working for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Conservancy, and now as a Senior Environmental Scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Board.
Beyond his formal career, Aaron leads bird walks for a variety of organizations, mentors high
school students on ecology and sustainability, leads a youth bird-a-thon team for Point Blue
Conservation Science, gives presentations on birds and habitat restoration, has written for
multiple science websites, and creates content for his own blog, social media platforms, and
YouTube channel all under the A Birding Naturalist handle.

Date: Thursday, June 26 (7pm)

Location: Online via Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83516705279?pwd=a76VLb7FhDsDqGxt2HE9XChkKQHrbW.1

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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…