What are glowworms?

October 1, 2010 •  by

We don’t have fireflies in the Bay Area, but we do have glowworms. What are they and why the heck do they light up?

Berkeley Puma Caught at the Intersection of Habitat and Humanity

September 12, 2010 •  by

When a mountain lion showed up at 3 a.m. on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, things weren’t going to end well for that lion. Statewide, though, many times more lions die on the road or for killing domestic animals. On Wednesday, September 15, community members and puma researchers will get a chance to talk it all over in person.

Alameda Creek Dam Policies Could Decide Frogs’ Future

August 27, 2010 •  by

Sarah Kupferberg, a research scientist at UC Berkeley, is fascinated by foothill yellow-legged frogs, once common but now scarce in Alameda Creek. The SF Public Utilities Commission is rebuilding the Calavares Dam, and the way that dam gets managed may well determine the fate of these rare frogs.

Graham Chisholm, One for the Birds

August 20, 2010 •  by

Graham Chisholm is a powerhouse for conservation in California. He’s director of Audubon California, used to run the Nature Conservancy’s California programs, has co-authored a couple of birding guides, and even has a Ph.D. in political science from UC Berkeley. Not too shabby!

Don’t Miss the Summertime Blues!

August 11, 2010 •  by

This summer has been a great year for whale watching in Monterey Bay. The giant blues showed up early and have stuck around, making for daily sightings of these amazing animals. Humpbacks are lunge-feeding and breaching. At the heart of it all? The humble krill…

Tarantula Trekking

July 1, 2010 •  by

Come fall, the male tarantulas get restless and go looking for a mate. Look carefully, and you just might see some of the action.

Habitat and Humanity

July 1, 2010 •  by

With millions of people and millions of acres of open space, the Bay Area is a lively, and sometimes uneasy, blend of wild and urban. In the East Bay, dozens of rare species — from birds along the Bay to wildflowers in the hills — survive against the odds thanks in part to the East Bay Regional Park District, whose staff does everything from creating nesting islands to clearing trees for the sake of imperiled plants and animals.

Marbled Murrelet, Mariner of the Old-Growth

July 1, 2010 •  by

This is a story about a little-known bird that’s no owl, eagle, or peacock. It’s not featured on a stamp or in a Disney cartoon. Most people haven’t heard of it and can’t even pronounce its name. But dig deeper into the marbled murrelet (that’s MER-let, not mure-a-LET), and you’ll find a story of scientific mystery and dedicated people working to help an increasingly scarce bird and its habitat.

Painted Wings

July 1, 2010 •  by

MaryAnn Nardo’s luminous watercolors capture species’ whole life cycles, from larvae feeding on host plants to winged adults in search of nectar.