Heterosigma akashiwo can photosynthesize like a plant and wiggle like an animal, and it’s here to stay — but it’s still something of an enigma.
Urban Nature
In the San Francisco Bay Area, slices of nature pop up in the most unexpected places, a testament to the region's wealth in biodiversity and the resilience of its natural systems. Bringing nature to urban areas is not just about ensuring the survival of species, but enhancing people's quality of life through a fulfillment of our innate need to be with nature.
A Feather Forecast to Help You Tune Into Fall’s Magnificent Migrations
September 8, 2022 •
Up to a half-billion birds migrate across the U.S. each night, cloaked in darkness. BirdCast helps you see what they’re doing.
A Former National Parks Director’s Guide to Not Wasting Your Precious Greywater
August 23, 2022 •
Jonathan Jarvis installed his own laundry-to-landscape system, and with a little elbow grease, you can, too.
Soon-to-Open Tunnel Tops Park Supports a More Inclusive Future
July 14, 2022 •
This weekend, on Sunday, July 17, the new 14-acre Tunnel Tops park opens to the public in San Francisco’s Presidio, a former military base turned urban national park that hosts around 10 million visitors a year
Meet A West Oakland YouTube Celebrity Who Brings Plants and People Together
July 11, 2022 •
Santore is known for Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, a self-described lowbrow approach to plant ecology.
Naturalist’s Notebook: Whale, Dolphin and Porpoise ID Guide
June 23, 2022 •
How to identify individual cetaceans in the San Francisco Bay.
The Wild Things Live at the Airport
June 22, 2022 •
Snakes, frogs, eagles and owls thrive next to the planes at Bay Area airports.
What’s the Secret of Strawberry Hill, a Butterfly Haven in a City That’s Rough on Butterflies?
June 21, 2022 •
For urban butterfly habitats, more is more.
The Bay Area is the Center of an Evolutionary Race Between Hungry Snakes and Toxic Newts
April 6, 2022 •
Newts carry enough toxin to kill a dozen people. Yet in the Bay Area garter snakes feast on them without harm.
Country Cat, City Cat
March 30, 2021 •
A Marin County-based conservation photographer spends many hours looking at wildlife, and bobcats—both in the wild and around the neighborhood—are her favorite subject.