When Avalon Qian was 12 years old, she went on a two-week backpacking and kayaking trip to Point Reyes led by the outdoor nonprofit GirlVentures. It was the first time she’d slept outside under the stars. Secure in a campsite … Read more
Bay Nature Staff
2020 Community Hero Award Winner Vincent Medina Changes the Ohlone Narrative
March 24, 2020 •
Vincent Medina learned as a volunteer tending the gardens at Mission Dolores in San Francisco that his grandmother from six generations ago was buried in its cemetery. She lived at the mission against her will until she died. A Chochenyo-speaking … Read more
2020 Conservation Action Hero Sejal Choksi-Chugh Keeps the Bay Clean
March 24, 2020 •
In 2011, when Sejal Choksi-Chugh was in her ninth year as an attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper, their staff scientist was on a routine boat patrol and saw toxic petroleum coke dust blowing into the Bay from the Levin-Richmond Terminal, … Read more
2020 Environmental Educator Award Winner John Muir Laws Introduces the World to Nature Journaling
March 24, 2020 •
He remembers the precise excursion when his future found him. John Muir Laws was with his mother’s botany group on Table Mountain and a woman with a sketchbook captured his attention. She was sitting and drawing the flowers they were … Read more
Remembering the Survival Faire, Earth Day’s Predecesor
March 24, 2020 •
Fifty years ago, San José State students buried a car to symbolize the end of the oil era and the first Earth Day.
More Trails for Social Distancing [Updated]
March 19, 2020 •
Editor’s Note: We’ve revised this story to remove parks affected by the Marin, Sonoma and San Mateo County park closures. Last update March 25, 10:30 a.m. Looking for new trails where you can maintain social distance? We’ve been working for … Read more
Connect With Nature from Your Home
March 18, 2020 •
A social distancing-approved reading list and other indoor nature activities
Nature to Look for Every Month in 2020
December 23, 2019 •
Californians like to complain about missing true “seasons.” But expand your definition beyond humid summer nights and winter sleet and you’ll find nature all around us responding to seasonal change. Here are some of our suggestions of seasonal favorites to … Read more
Our Favorite Bay Nature Stories of 2019
December 19, 2019 •
We published more than 150 stories in print and online this year. We look forward to 2020 and our 20th year of publishing, but before we do, here’s a look back at seven of our particular favorite stories from 2019. … Read more
California Funds Seed-Banking as Hedge Against Climate Change
September 16, 2019 •
California is a world biodiversity hot spot. Full stop. Roughly 32 percent of the nation’s native plants are found in California, and those 6,500 species provide habitat that supports the state’s multitude of wildlife. To protect that biodiversity as the … Read more