April 2014

ByErik Olson

How Did the More Mesa Symposium Turn Out?
The second More Mesa Symposium was held at Bren Hall of UCSB on Saturday, March 15th. All the feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive and the day seemed to be very appreciated by all. The event also had a nice write-up by Ray Ford in the Independent. See About More Mesa: Symposium Focuses on Area’s Preservation and Development Attempts

All sixty people who attended heard a variety of papers by a team of experienced environmentalists including: Wayne Ferren on ecology, John Storrer on raptors, and Dan Gira on the potential for development of More Mesa. Displays told several other More Mesa stories and our speaker panel discussion gave the community an opportunity to ask questions of this prestigious group of More Mesa experts.

The afternoon walk, lead by Wayne Ferren, and enjoyed by many of the attendees, lasted almost three hours. Wayne discussed how the geology and soils of More Mesa determine the habitats and plants, which in turn, lead to the abundance of raptors and animals that occur on More Mesa. Papers, panel discussion and the afternoon walk were all videotaped.

MMPC is currently exploring various ways to provide the proceedings to those who could not attend, as well as for those who would like to review the material presented. Look for news of the videotape in upcoming e-Updates, and on the Monthly News posted on this website. Also look for reporting, and more images of the Symposium in the “Events” section of this web site.

New Guides on MMPC’s Web Site
Guides to the birds, insects and plants of More Mesa have been created and hosted on this web site. And, since the site is mobile friendly, these guides are especially useful when citizen scientists and other visitors to More Mesa are in the field. Guides are located under the menu items “Birds“, “Insects” and “Plants”.

birdguide

insectguide

plantguide

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