Bay Nature offered a record 85 events in 2025 reaching nearly 6,000 registrants!
Our growing events program is powered by our journalism. We take stories on the page and bring them to life—whether through an expert sharing details about their research in a virtual talk, a hike to immerse ourselves in a changing forest, or a boat trip among rebounding otter populations. Each event is a unique window into Bay Area nature. And as Bay Nature’s events coordinator, I was lucky enough to attend nearly all of them! Here are some standout highlights and memories. Here’s to more fun events with knowledgeable experts in 2026!
Bay Nature Members can watch recordings of all our virtual talks. They also get free and discounted access to events: sign up here to become a Member.
Feb. 26, 2025 • Online
Bay Nature Talk: Moss Landing Battery Plant Fire
A cool live-journalism-style event with two experts with information that was timely and relevant to our audience. Jillian Magtoto, our editorial fellow, was a terrific moderator for the event, and researchers Wesley Heim and Ivano Aiello of San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Lab were the perfect people to have on for this public forum given their proximity to the fires and their research.
March 1, 2025 • Gazos Creek Beach, Pescadero
Bay Nature Hike: Tracking with Garth Harwood
It’s incredible to watch someone read the landscape the way Garth does. He took us on a walk, pointing out clues and building the story of what had happened the previous night and who had visited the beach before us. It felt like we were a group of trainee detectives guided by Sherlock Holmes (Garth) to piece together context clues and decipher the landscape. Very fun.
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September 3, 2025 • Online
Bay Nature Talk: Marine Invertebrates with Eric Sanford
Such great photos and video clips of out-of-this world critters. Eric Sanford holds so much knowledge and shares it very clearly. His photos and talk content was very compelling. It opened up the close-to-home alien planet that is the marine world, and it deepened my respect for coastal invertebrates and the many forms biodiversity can take.
September 6, 2025 • Antioch
Bay Nature Hike: Summer Blooms at Black Diamond Mines
Wow. Ken-ichi Ueda, iNaturalist cofounder. Cat Chang, iNat power user. Black Diamond Mines. Plant Nerds. Need I say more. This one felt so fun. People were spirited, friendly, and jovial the whole time, it felt more like a group of friends going on a walk than a more formal hike. Lots of experts joined, which enhanced the whole experience. We saw a number of tarweeds and insects. It was thankfully not too hot on the hike. We could still smell the tarweeds’ pungent aroma the whole hike.
August 9, 2025 • Berkeley fire trails
Bay Nature Hike: Jumping Spiders
So fun! It was a treat to poke around the fire trails for all things tiny and eight-legged. We saw turret spiders’ holes, crab spiders, and many others. And finally, at the very end of the hike we saw two jumping spiders, the inspiration for the entire event. It was the perfect end to the walk, and Trinity Walls was a great leader.
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October 31, 2025 • Online
Bay Nature Talk: Tarantulas
Ken Lavin is an incredible speaker. (I heard someone at a different hike call him a “Bay Area treasure.”) He turns all information into a story that you want to listen to, and he has such deep knowledge of and appreciation for the tarantulas and other Halloween creatures he described. Great stuff. His presentation style resonated with the audience (lots of heart emojis in the event chat).
December 4, 2025 • Pillar Point, El Granada
Bay Nature Hike: Tidepooling at Pillar Point
Just amazing. We saw so many stunning creatures and had just the best afternoon at Pillar Point. We saw gooseneck barnacles, many varieties of sea stars, several nudibranchs (including a HUGE clown dorid!), and much more. Cassie Vaniotis’s expertise made the experience even richer and we were able to actually learn about the things we saw. The moon was a massive glowing orb in the sky when we left—such a magical end to a beautiful outing.
