The 1,800-acre Máyyan ‘Ooyákma–Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve is home to 13 endangered or threatened species. Volunteers played a major role in making it accessible to the public.
Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright
Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright started as Bay Nature’s first editorial fellow in July 2022 and is a recent graduate of the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication master’s program. She loves to cover living fossils (like sturgeon!), people working toward environmental solutions, and the tiny but mighty microbes that control the world. GuananiGomezVanCortright.com
The Secret Lives of Baby Tidepool Creatures
July 27, 2023 •
Imagine if your offspring were unrecognizable as the same species, and lived in a completely different habitat. This is the case for most tidepool creatures: barnacles, sea stars, urchins and more lead secret early lives as zooplankton, microscopic animals drifting out in the open ocean.
Can We Prevent Another Algaepocalypse in the Bay?
July 10, 2023 •
Researchers and water agencies are searching for ways to lower the risk of another worst-case bloom by reducing the amount of nutrients in the Bay.
Recharge Alone Won’t End California’s Groundwater Drought
July 5, 2023 •
Groundwater recharge is a useful way to put surface water back underground, but experts say it is a limited solution.
The Rewilding of California’s Parched Central Valley
July 4, 2023 •
As SGMA deadlines loom, groundwater sustainability agencies, environmental organizations, and farmers in the San Joaquin Valley are scrambling to prepare for a drier future by experimenting with ways to repurpose fallow farmland.
Time Traveling With Clam Fossils
June 22, 2023 •
Ancient clams offer a uniquely detailed fossil record. As they build their shells, layer by layer, they preserve clues to the climate they once lived in.
Birds Flock to a Resurrected Tulare Lake, Peaking at Nearly the Size of Lake Tahoe
June 15, 2023 •
The resurrected Tulare Lake and thousands of acres of nearby flooded farmland are providing a temporary respite for the millions of migratory birds that pass through California along the Pacific Flyway every year.
Don’t Blame the Bark Beetles
May 9, 2023 •
While walking in the woods, you’ve likely encountered a dead log engraved with maze-like squiggles. These natural carvings are known as beetle galleries, and the grooves are munched out by the larvae of bark beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae.
How the DNA We Leave Behind Can Help Conservation
May 3, 2023 •
Bits of DNA linger on the forest floor, in the ocean, and even in the air—and these strands have stories to tell, back at the lab. Here’s how environmental DNA (aka ‘eDNA’) is starting to transform how ecologists work in the Bay Area and beyond.
Avian Flu Claims at Least 7 California Condors—and a Beloved Bay Area Peregrine Falcon
April 13, 2023 •
Avian flu is hitting close to home, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. California condors and a beloved San Jose falcon are the newest victims of this epidemic that is sweeping through domestic and wild bird populations worldwide.