Please join Point Reyes National Seashore staff for Science Lectures, 45 minute presentations on scientific research being performed at Point Reyes and elsewhere in the California. Science Lectures are sponsored by the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center at Point Reyes National Seashore. They usually occur at noon on many Thursdays throughout the year and are normally held at the Red Barn Classroom at Point Reyes National Seashore's Headquarters. All are welcome and admission is free.

To get to the Red Barn Classroom, follow the Directions to get to the Bear Valley Visitor Center. After turning off of Bear Valley Road, proceed up the two-lane, paved driveway toward the Bear Valley Visitor Center. You will see the Red Barn on the left and after about 0.1 miles, there is a brown road sign pointing left to the Red Barn Classroom. Turn left on to the gravel driveway and proceed across the bridge to the parking lot. The Red Barn Classroom is on the end closest to this parking lot.

Ocean Film and Lecture Series
Ocean Lecture Series April 2008 flyer (143 KB PDF)

There are no upcoming films or lectures scheduled at this time.

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Upcoming Brown Bag Lectures:

Date: May 14, 2009
Title: "Seabird Monitoring in Point Reyes National Seashore."
Presenter: Gerry McChesney, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Time: Noon

Date: August 27, 2009
Title: "Opening the black box: post-fledging survival of juvenile Song Sparrows"
Presenter: Kristen Dybala, UC Davis
Time: Noon

Date: October 22, 2009
Title: "Tracking crab population connectivity along the California coast: a new approach."
Presenter: Seth Miller, Bodega Marine Lab, UC Davis
Time: Noon

Date: November 19, 2009
Title: "Differing roles of invaders within introduced and native communities"
Presenter: Julia Blum, Bodega Marine Lab, UC Davis
Time: Noon

POSTPONED
Date: TBA
Title: "A race between an introduced parasitic castrator, and the native mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis: another millstone for salmon and shorebird restoration?"
Presenter: Dr. John Chapman Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University
Time: Noon
Abstract: The native mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis was once a dominant estuary species and their larvae were critical food for estuary dependent fishes, including juvenile coho and chinook salmon. Griffen's isopod, Orthione griffenis was probably introduced to North America with ballast water from Asia in the 1980’s and is the first introduced bopyrid to be recognized anywhere in the world. Orthione griffenis is also one of the first obligate marine species introduced to the eastern Pacific. Blood loss to O. griffenis infestations effectively castrates the females of its new native host, the blue mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis. Orthione griffenis occurs in every Upogebia population examined between Morro Bay, California and Bamfield, British Columbia and since its arrival, dramatic declines or local extinctions have occurred in all U. pugettensis populations examined. These population declines and extinctions of Upogebia and the apparent uniform occurrence of Orthione indicate Upogebia could be threatened by this new invader. Specialist parasites are normally expected to decline to low abundances or extinction as host populations decline and then hosts are expected to recover. These conditions however do not appear to occur with this new invader. Orthione locate Upogebia even at extreme low densities and persists in reservoirs of sterile old hosts, from which it continues to produce infective propagules and limit or eliminate Upogebia reproduction over multiple generations. This non-coevolved parasite thus appears capable of "unnaturally" eliminating its new host and even itself and altering the trophic dynamics of estuaries.

Learn more about Dr. Chapman's work.

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Additional Fall 2009 Talks: Exact Dates TBA:

Title: "The first white shark population estimate at Point Reyes National Seashore"
Presenter: Taylor Chapple, Bodega Marine Lab, UC Davis

Title: "Invasion of Deathcap Mushrooms at Point Reyes NS and Northern CA"
Presenter: Ben Wolfe, Harvard University

Title: "Investigating predator-prey interactions in invaded benthic marine food webs"
Presenter: Amanda Newsom, Bodega Marine Lab, UC Davis

For more information about the Brown Bag Lectures, contact Ben Becker at 415-464-5247 or by email.

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