Virtual Lecture Series
Upcoming Virtual Events
Past Virtual Events
2022
April 26, 2022: Mammal Tracking Principles
On April 26, 2022, the California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society was pleased to present Jim Lowery of Earth Skills. In this webinar, Jim Lowery introduced mammal track identification principles useful in the field for general habitat use surveys as well as targeted studies. Common ID issues such as coyote vs. red fox, gray fox vs. kit fox and deer vs. feral pig were addressed in detail. The webinar emphasizes methods that also help identify tracks that are wind-blown, aged or in marginal substrate. Basic track patterns and gaits were covered using video clips.
Watch the recording here.
March 29, 2022: Conservation Genetics of the Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard
On March 29, 2022, the California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society was pleased to host an engaging evening with Mike Westphal from the Bureau of Land Management. Mike provided insights into the numerous ways that molecular genetic techniques have been employed to inform the conservation of BNLL. These included range-wide population structure assessment, requiring intensive fieldwork and good field practices; extraction of DNA from scat and use of genotypes in mark-recapture analyses; and genotyping individuals in the captive breeding program in order to maintain genetic diversity in the zoo colony.
Watch the recording here.
2021
November 19, 2021: Virtual Annual Wildlife Symposium
The California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society hosted a virtual symposium intended to bring local professionals from Monterey to Santa Barbara Counties together to share ideas, professional knowledge, and information on projects, and/or on-going research. California tiger salamanders, Smith’s blue butterflies, native freshwater mussels, California condors, and California wolves were just a few of the topics presented. Watch the recording here.
October 30, 2021: Hi Mountain Condor Lookout Virtual Open House!
The California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society was pleased to host the annual Hi Mountain Condor Lookout Open House on Saturday, October 30th and to celebrate 25 years with the staff, biologists, and volunteers that run this exceptional program. The online webinar included a status update on the condor recovery program, a slide-show overview of the program’s 25-year history, and a virtual tour of the facility, grounds, and interpretive center.
Watch the recording here.
September 28, 2021: California’s Reintroduced Tule Elk
The California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society was pleased to host Julie Phillips for a fascinating talk about California’s Tule elk. Julie has been studying the reintroduced elk throughout their range in California for many years to better understand their natural history and how they have adjusted to living among the new human landscape. Julie has been teaching nature-based field courses for over 30 years and is the author of A Citizen’s Guild to Tule Elk (2013). For more information on Julie Phillips and her Nature Based Teaching, visit her website here!
Watch the recording here.
June 23, 2021: Ojai Raptor Center
The California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society was pleased to host an engaging evening with Jaclyn DeSantis, Education Coordinator and Senior Animal Care Staff, and Kim Lundy, lead trainer and educator, from the Ojai Raptor Center. This presentation included meeting two raptor ambassadors! The Ojai Raptor Center is a state and federally permitted, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of birds of prey and other wildlife, and to providing educational programs about wildlife and our shared environment.
Watch the recording here.
May 26, 2021: Combining Conservation and Community Empowerment to Protect Grauer’s Gorilla
The California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society was pleased to host Master’s students from the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. In this lecture series, Master’s students present their thesis work on Combining Conservation and Community Empowerment to Protect Grauer’s Gorilla. They partnered with Strong Roots Congo to assess community engagement for forest protections and develop a data-driven habitat connectivity and climate model to inform Grauer’s gorilla habitat management between Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Itombwe Nature Reserve.
Recording coming soon.
April 22, 2021: VWS Condor Recovery Update
Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director of Ventana Wildlife Society, presents on the Big Sur California condor recovery program.
Recording coming soon.
March 26, 2021: California Tiger Salamanders
Robert Cooper discusses his work with California tiger salamanders at Fort Ord, Monterey County, California. Robert Cooper is a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at UCLA. Through his research, Robert seeks to answer many urgent conservation questions using modern quantitative techniques. Robert’s research focuses on non-native hybridization between the endangered California tiger salamander and an introduced species of barred tiger salamander, which threatens its continued survival.
Watch the recording here.
2020
October 5, 2020: Lessons Learned while Construction Monitoring
Our first Virtual Lecture Series. David Kisner shares lessons learned while construction monitoring along with wildlife trivia.