Gary Langham, Director of Bird Conservation at Audubon California will talk about three recent issues for Audubon California:
Oil Spills in the Bay – Recently 58,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the Bay.Richardson Bay Sanctuary, run by Audubon for 49 years, played a big role in monitoring the effects on birds and the politics surrounding the spill. Condors and Lead Ammunition Ban – Condors have suffered lead poisoning since their re-release in the mid-90s.With the recent passage of AB 821, lead ammunition is banned in condor country.Hear the backstory, the surprise victory over the powerful NRA, and the role of science and activism by Audubon. California Birds and Climate Change -- Audubon California is modeling the impacts of climate change on 541 bird species west of the Rockies. We are using several cutting-edge modeling techniques (MaxEnt, Domain, BIOCLIM) to predict shifts in species distribution based on climate, making full use of the wealth of bird survey data collected by citizen scientists. Hear how this tool will provide invaluable information about where restoration dollars are best spent over the next 60 years and how to best save the birds of California.
Gary Langham, Director of Bird Conservation, joined Audubon California in February 2007 to serve as the lead scientist for Audubon California.Gary grew up in Sacramento in a family closely associated with Audubon (his dad was President of Sacramento Audubon), and Gary has been an active birder since his early childhood.Over a twenty-year period Gary has lead more than 100 birding and natural history tours for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours in the Americas.In 2003 Gary received his Ph.D. from Cornell University having completed a dissertation under Drs. John Fitzpatrick and David Winkler on the role that avian foraging behavior played in the maintenance and evolution of Heliconius butterfly mimicry in Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia. He recently completed a postdoctoral NSF fellowship in Australia working on climate change.He also taught ornithology as a lecturer at U.C. Berkeley.In 2000, Gary was the founding president of a volunteer non-profit called the Neotropical Grassland Conservancy and has a fine appreciation for the power of citizen science in advancing conservation goals.
October 18, 2007 November 15, 2007 January 17, 2008 February 21, 2008 March 20, 2008 April 17, 2008 May 15, 2008
and Scheduled Presentations:
Natural History of North American Red Crossbills - Tom Hahn Bird Banding in Hungary - Jessica Griffiths Christmas Count Workshop - Sacramento Audubon Bluebird nesters want your help - Dan Yoder Kirkland Warbler and others - Bob Steele Checkerspot Butterfly - Tim Bonebreak Sacramento’s Purple Martins - Dan Airola Audubon California Projects - Gary Langham
Past presentations at General Meetings have included: Burrowing Owls in California Birds of the Tahoe Rim Trail Chrismas Count Workshop The Ivory Billed Woodpecker Art, Nature and the Sierra Nevada Raptor tracking at the Golden Gate The California Black Rail Birds and Beauty of Bhutan
The Sacramento Audubon Society Board of Directors meet on the last Tuesday of each month at the Sacramento Municipal Utilities Building at 65th and "S" Streets.
