Greetings!

What could be more “Earth Day” than a National Park? Whether a visitor is hiking her favorite trail, a park scientist is collecting data on the population of an endangered species, a volunteer is restoring a wetland to its historical function, an archaeologist is unearthing prehistoric mysteries, or a family is having a picnic after viewing elephant seals, we are experiencing the pleasures (like thriving ecosystems) and sometimes the pains (like threats to those ecosystems) of why the first Earth Day was born.
Preserving our Public Lands
Together the National Park Service, PRNSA, volunteers, and our many other scientific and educational partners are continuing to preserve and protect this special stretch of coastline for future generations. We are fortunate that so many are dedicated to the study, interpretation, and preservation of these lands and waters. It could be very different if it weren’t for that first Earth Day back in 1970.

Northern spotted owlets photo by Carlos Porrata
A Unique Earth Day
Importantly, for the first time in 50 years, we can’t celebrate Earth Day in a national park. Even most of the park staff are at home. But, hopefully, you can still get outside while staying local and soak in Earth Day in your own neighborhood knowing that the successes and lessons started 50 years ago today still flow out to all our natural and human habitats.
Bringing Park Science to You
On Thursday, May 7, as part of PRNSA's Park In Place campaign, we are happy to bring you another Virtual Brown Bag Lunch Science Talk. Our first webinar, featuring The River Otter Ecology Project , was a success. Join us on May 7 as we welcome Gabe Reyes, with the US Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center , to learn all about bats in and around Point Reyes. We hope you will join us. More details below.
See you back at the Park soon!
Ben Becker, Ph.D.
Chief of Science and Marine Ecologist
Point Reyes National Seashore
Virtual Brown Bag Science Lecture
Bats of Point Reyes and Marin County: Studying Secretive and Nocturnal Mammals of the Night Sky
Thursday, May 7 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
FREE!
Join Gabe Reyes, from US Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center , to learn about bat research being conducted in Point Reyes and across Marin County. We will hear how we eavesdrop on bats to learn where they forage, and the technology we use to track bats to where they roost. Find out what species occurs in Point Reyes, and what role they play in the ecosystem.

REGISTER HERE for this webinar. Instructions and link will be provided upon registration.
#ParkInPlace
Environmental Education Week Activities
Celebrate the Earth at home with these Environmental Education Week Activities. There is a theme for every day of the week... explore your nearby nature!
Click on the earth image below or HERE to access these activities.
Nearby Nature BioBlitz Results
Last week in celebration of citizen science, community members from around the region catalogued the species they observed in their yards, neighborhoods, and on local trails using the iNaturalist and eBird apps. It was a great experience coming together to find out what was going on in everyone’s nearby nature.
Thank you, neighborhood naturalists!
Biret Adden - PRNSA's Education Director

Here’s what you found…
CURIOUS ABOUT BATS?
What role do bats play in their ecosystem? What do bats eat? What makes a good home for a bat? How many offspring do they have per year? Watch the video below which highlights one of the local species being studied in Point Reyes, the Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus).

Brilliant Bat Facts
  • About a quarter of mammal species are bats, with 1,411 species described worldwide and counting!
  • Marin County has 13 species of bats, all of which primarily feed on insects.
  • Bats provide an estimated 4 to 50 billion dollars in pest control services to agriculture in the U.S. alone!
  • Bats live a really long time for mammals of their size, with the longevity record held by a 41 year old Brandt's bat (Myotis brandtii) found in Siberia, which is pretty old for an animal that weighs as much as a nickel.
  • Most bat species have only one to two pups per year, which means their populations grow very slowly and are sensitive to maternal roosts.
Pallid Bats, Echolocation, and Their Prey
Video produced by KQED
We hope you’ll share what you’re up to with us through this new #ParkInPlace campaign! 

Stay tuned on social media and don’t forget to tag us in your posts and stories on Facebook and Instagram .
#ParkInPlace and #PointReyes_PRNSA

If you do not use these platforms, please email me your ideas, stories,
and photos at [email protected].
Point Reyes National Seashore | (415) 663-1200 x 310 | [email protected] | www.ptreyes.org