People Who Made The Nat: Kate Brown and Frank Stephens
She was a paleontologist. He was a mammalogist. They fell in love. The rest is natural history.
San Diego County Plant Atlas Reaches 1 Million Observations on iNaturalist!
The San Diego County Plant Atlas project has officially reached 1 million observations on iNaturalist! This is a monumental milestone in botanical discovery and conservation in our region.
People Who Made The Nat: Ethel Bailey Higgins
After the financial crash of 1929 and her husband’s death, Ethel Bailey Higgins was alone in the world. She was widowed, age 67, with 14 cents to her name. But her life was about to bloom.
People Who Made The Nat: George Marston
In 1928, a group of nature lovers proposed a protected park in the Borrego desert.
Voters rejected a bond to fund the project, and the idea stalled. But one nature lover—a member of the San Diego Society of Natural History—wouldn’t give up.
May 6 2024: Mushrooms of Baja California with Alan Rockefeller
May 6, 2024
Balboa Park
Casa del Prado, Room 101
6:45pm Identification
7:00pm Lecture and Q&A
Alan is an expert mycologist in high demand at mushroom events where he teaches workshops on DNA barcoding, field photography, and fungal microscopy. Committed to his cause, Alan has been studying fungal diversity for more than two decades, and since 2001 he has photographed more than 2,500 species of fungi. Alan’s contributions to community science have been widespread, and his dedication to teaching thousands of people over several years how to extract and amplify the DNA of their mushroom finds for sequencing is remarkable, and remains unparalleled.
Eventually, Alan hopes to be able to offer free barcoding services to the mycology community via his newest endeavor into Nanopore sequencing. As of today, Alan has uploaded more than 700 of his own fungal DNA sequences to Genbank, and he is a co-author on several scientific papers, including publications documenting new species of bioluminescent Mycena and Psilocybe. Nothing short of a powerhouse, Alan Rockefeller is an authority on the leading edge of mycology, who is beloved by his community for the knowledge and value he contributes to the field.
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Earth Day 2024! April 20th @ Balboa Park
See you at the San Diego Earth Fest this upcoming Saturday, April 20!
A few of our fungi friends will be there too!!!
A FREE Earth Day celebration presented by Vegan Food Popup. Featuring over 100 sustainable food, product and service vendors as well as environmental, conservation and animal rescue groups. Enjoy a full day of entertainment with speakers, music and activities for kids.
Since the first Earth Day observation in 1970, more than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day events each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
We are excited to continue the tradition of celebrating Earth Day at Balboa Park. This event is held on the expansive lawn located at Park Boulevard and Presidents Way.
San Diego EarthFest is family-friendly and dog-friendly with free parking available. This is a zero-waste event — please bring reusable eating utensils!
Location: Park and President’s Lawn, Balboa Park
Date: Saturday, April 20th, 2024, 11 am to 5pm
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People Who Made The Nat: The Original Tree Huggers
Way back in the 1800s, a small but dedicated group of members from the San Diego Society of Natural History worked to preserve the Torrey pine, unique to our area.
Biodiversity: What’s the Big Deal?
Have you heard the term “biodiversity” lately? It’s quite the buzzword, especially in Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula—this region is one of the most biodiverse places in the world. That means this place is home to an incredible variety of plants and animals, some found nowhere else on Earth.
People Who Made The Nat: Ray Gilmore
Ray Gilmore was a marine biologist and huge fan of whales. His work with The Nat began in 1953 and continued for over 30 years. The research he did on whale migratory patterns helped preserve the California gray whale.