January 2, 2012 Polynesian Contacts with the New World: The Chumash Connection and Beyond Dr. Terry Jones, anthropologist and social science professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, will review the evidence for Polynesian contact with the Americas.

January 9, 2012 Holding Hands with Reptiles Dennis Sheridan, professional photographer and entomologist, will discuss the life histories of some native reptiles and amphibians. Live animals make this a program geared for people of all ages.

January 16, 2012 The Power and Pitfalls of Reliable Bird Counts Dr. Francis Villablanca, biological sciences professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, will discuss how bird counts are done, how they can be done better and how they are used to make conservation management decisions.

January 23, 2012 Rise Above Plastics Jeff Sproul works with Moss Landing Marine Lab’s BeachCOMBR program, assisting with beach surveys in SLO County. He will discuss the effects of plastic debris on animals, including humans, and how we can work to reverse this growing global problem.

January 30, 2012 All of California History Passed Through Here Mary Golden, Executive Director of the Central Coast Natural History Association, will present newly unearthed history from the wild Pecho Mountains that currently bears the name of Montana de Oro State Park.

All events below this notice will be held at the Inn at Morro Bay, 60 State Park Road.

February 6, 2012 Morro Bay Underwater Wonders Ken Bondy and Gary Powell, underwater photographers for more than 30 years, will share photographs of beautiful and bizarre animals living among the man-made junk beneath the North T-Pier in Morro Bay. Will be held at the Inn at Morro Bay

February 11 (Saturday) and February 13, 2012 How We Sent Probes to Mars and What We Learned From Them Rouvaishyana, Manager of the Morro Bay Museum of Natural Histroy, will summarize what we have learned about Mars, and Jean Fanselow, former computer modeler at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, will describe some of the science and engineering behind space exploration projects.

February 20, 2012 California’s Glorious Trees Matt Ritter, botany professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, will present a photographic exposé of the lives and stories of some of the fascinating trees featured in his new book “A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us”.

February 25 (Saturday) and February 27, 2012 Staying Alive—Basic Butterfly Morphology and Behavior Peggy Coon, State Park Docent, former interpretive ranger and Chairperson of the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove, will talk about protective coloration, flight characteristics, mimicry and crawl behavior in butterflies.

March 5, 2012 Morro Bay Commercial Fisheries—Past and Present Rick Algert, former Harbor Director for the City of Morro Bay, will give a short history of commercial fisheries in Morro Bay Harbor and will talk about the Morro Bay Community Quota Bank, which is intimately linked with the future of commercial fisheries in the area.

March 10 (Saturday) and March 12, 2012 Spring Blooms, Red Tides and Dead Zones Karen Watts, former high school science teacher and molecular biologist, will explore the dynamics of plankton blooms and how they are related to worldwide oxygen production, carbon dioxide sequestration, oil deposits, toxic shellfish poisoning and the health of marine ecosystems.

March 17 (Saturday) and March 19, 2012 Tsunamis along the Central Coast John Lindsey, marine meteorologist, will discuss the history of tsunamis on the Central Coast and explain how new technology is enhancing the accuracy of tsunami predictions.

March 24 (Saturday) and March 26, 2012 Photo Favorites of Local Photographers Jerry Kirkhart, former college biology/zoology instructor and passionate photographer, will present the favorite photos of many local photographers. Photographers will be on hand to answer questions and share their secrets.