January 5 -- Carole Adams will present Piedras Blancas Light Station:  Past, Present, and Future. Carole has been a key player in the renovation of this historic light house and its surrounding grounds and will show the extensive progress in returning the lighthouse and grounds to their original splendor. Carole is a retired research librarian and has used those skills to co-write a historical account of the light house with the retired site manager, John Bogacki. Don’t miss this historical photo show that tells the lighthouse story.
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January 12-- Jan Timbrook will share A Glimpse into the Fascinating Plant World of the Chumash.  Chumash people have used 150 species of plants for food, medicine, and raw materials for making clothing, tools and utensils, religious paraphernalia, and other items. Jan explains the relationship between the Chumash, plants and the complex interrelationships between the first people of our region and the environment in which they lived. Jan is the Curator of Ethnography at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Her specialty is the indigenous Chumash people of the Santa Barbara region. She has collaborated on four published books  including one on Chumash ethnobotany, based on nearly three decades of research.

January 19-- In conjunction with the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival Dick Boyd will present Baleen, Boojums and Birds. Join Dick on a photographic tour of Baja California to visit the wintering and calving grounds of the Gray Whales that traverse our central coast to and from Alaskan waters. Dick also photographed the flora of the normally dry peninsula in bloom after a wet spring. Baja provides wintering grounds for many species of birds that he has captured on film. Dick retired from an academic career teaching engineering and lives in Morro Bay when he is not traveling the world.

January 26-- Fred Otte will speak about the Coon Creek Steelhead Restoration Project.  Mr. Otte, San Luis Obispo’s City Biologist, will talk about the City’s program to restore steelhead habitat to Coon Creek.  This includes how funding was obtained, construction, monitoring and reporting status to ensure success of this special resource here on the Central Coast.  He will also review other open space management programs and development to ensure sensitive habitats are protected in SLO County. 

February 2-- Steve Hendricks of Cuesta College will present a program on Sustainable Seafood. This presentation will cover the positive and negative aspects of various methods of harvesting seafood and a discussion of how to make environmentally sound seafood choices. Steve will lead a group activity using the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Card to select sustainable seafood from a hypothetical restaurant or market.  Steve has worked as a fisheries biologist in California, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.  Since 2005 he has taught biology, marine biology, and environmental biology at Hancock and Cuesta Colleges.

February 9-- The Carrizo Plain National Monument  is one of America's newest national monuments. Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Kathy Sharum will present a slide show depicting this vast and fascinating natural area of our east county including fascinating Soda Lake, the Carrizo's spectacular wildflowers and its vast grasslands. Learn about the unique and varied plant and animal communities and how many species have adapted to this hostile environment. Kathy became the wildlife biologist in 1999 and lives on the Monument where she shares a space with pronghorn antelope, bobcat, badgers, coyotes and lots of birds including long-eared owls.

February 16-- Matt Ritter will speak about the Plants of SLO, Their Lives and Stories.  Dr. Ritter is a botany professor in the Biological Sciences Department and Director of the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory at Cal Poly. He teaches courses in general biology, general botany, plant diversity and ecology and has authored scientific papers about plants, contributed to botanical references including the upcoming second edition of the Jepson Manual, and a natural history guide to the plants of the San Luis Obispo area.

February 23-- PG&E marine meteorologist, John Lindsey, will discuss Using Waves in the Fight against Global Warming. Learn how ocean waves are forecast and measured.  You will also learn how these cascading walls of water moving across the Pacific are a potential type of clean renewable energy, and how they can help reduce our carbon footprint.  John will help you understand the great potential energy contained in waves along the coastline and the science behind current proposals to capture wave energy offshore at Montana de Oro. Come away with a greater knowledge of renewable energy sources.  

March 2—Raptors of the Central Coast: Brooding and Behavior Insights features Kara Hagedorn and Sunshine, an injured Red-tailed Hawk. Every year Sunshine builds a nest and lays infertile eggs, In April, wook Kara and Sunshine were given a two-day old Red-shouldered hawk chick and a pepping egg. Hear the entertaining story about raptor adoption!

March 9---Photo Favorites of Local Photographers is a dazzling display of photographs from local photographers chosen from literally thousands of photos and coordinated by Docent Jerry Kirkhart. Types of photography will feature exceptional flora and fauna including birds, marine biology, botany, macro, telephoto, and night time photos and several surprises seldom seen.  Several of the talented photographers  will be available to answer questions.   Jerry Kirkhart is a retired biology/zoology instructor from Fresno City College who spends much of his leisire time behind a camera when he is not volunteering as a docent.
March 16—Understanding Invasive Non-native Species in our State Parks and Park Restoration  by State Park Ecologists Sarah Bull and Jodi Isaacs will help you learn about the direct and indirect threats of non-native species to native species, habitats and natural processes.  Hear about different non-native species, their occurrences in our parks, their impact on native ecosystems, and how State Park staff is gaining understanding of how to manage these species now and with an eye on the future.

March 23---Turtles and Tortoises From Around the World  will feature animals from all continents except Antarctica (too cold). Docents Bob and Judy Thomas will discuss each one and tell where they come from as well as describe why some species are endangered.  Bob and Judy Thomas run the "Home for Wayward Turtles and Tortoises" in Arroyo Grande.  They have over 300 turtles and tortoises and about 40 species. 

March 30—Gray Whale Calf Production in the Eastern North Pacific. How is it linked to Arctic Climate? Wayne Perryman will outline the techniques used to collect two independent data sets:  estimates of the number of northbound gray whale calves; and information on the temporal and spatial distribution of seasonal ice in the Arctic.  The talk will focus on the link between climate change (both short and long term) and life history parameters for gray whales. Perryman will include a prediction for the total number of calves to be seen off the California Coast in April and May 2009.