Earth Day, UC Berkeley and Albany Bulb City Nature Challenge Bioblitzes, Trash Pick-up, Mouth of Temescal Waterhood Tour, Meet Board Members and Staff Artists, ALL THE THINGS! |
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Welcome back to In-Person Events!
Maybe we're too excited but we've loaded up the rest of 2022 with ways to get out and meet your Waterhood neighbors in clean-ups, tours, bioblitzes, and more.
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Emeryville Mudflats Clean-Up |
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When: Tuesday, April 12, 5:30-6:30 pm
Where: Emeryville Mudflats, Emeryville CA (across from the Shell Station at 1800 Powell St, Emeryville, CA 94608, see red dot on image above)
At one time, the mouth of Temescal Creek was one of the most beautiful places in the entire Bay Area, wide and open, and full of human and natural life. With the development of the Bay shoreline, many wetlands and mudflats were filled in, depleting habitat for all of us. With a highway nearby and trash carried over from San Francisco on the Bay waves, there is sadly a huge amount of trash in this active breeding ground for Canada Geese and many shoreline bird species. Join us to clean up the mouth of Strawberry Creek, close to Bay Street and the Emeryville Marina.
We'll be meeting every 2-3 months to reclean so join us starting Tuesday night.
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Earth Day at Point Molate |
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There will be a plant tour, osprey talk with sighting scopes, a naturalist-led walk in the upper watershed, a bioblitz, native plant seed sowing, DANCING, run around like crazy people thrilled to have the natural world's beauty all around us.
Never been to Point Molate? Well, this is your BIG BIG chance. It's a stunningly beautiful section of the coastline just north of the Richmond Bridge. Bring a picnic and loads to drink and join the fun.
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City Nature Challenge 2022 Bioblitzes:
U.C. Berkeley and Albany Bulb, April 29 & 30
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Join us for a super fun and FREE citizen science BioBlitz at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, CA! Get ready to enjoy being a community scientist by observing and photo-documenting what's living in a section of Strawberry Creek on the UC Berkeley campus. Grab a (phone) camera and show up with a desire to meet some new neighbors in your ecosystem. We'll be using iNaturalist as our observation platform.
This event is part of the City Nature Challenge 2022, an annual event sponsored by the California Academy of Sciences and San Diego Natural History Museum.
You can investigate some of the 2000 species already seen by community scientists in over 20,000 observations along Strawberry Creek here. There are currently 20,000+ observations of ~2,000 species! Let's add to this important pool of knowledge.
Date: Fri, April 29th
Time: 2-5 pm
Location: UC Berkeley, Berkeley, C
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Join us at one of our favorite places to blitz on the east bay shoreline - the Albany Bulb! Lots of plants are blooming, which means flowers, which means bugs, which means birds, which means raptors.
Get ready to enjoy being a community and citizen scientist by observing and photo-documenting what's living at this cool haven for shorebirds and many other species that once was a landfill.
Check out some of the species we've already seen at the Albany Bulb in iNaturalist. There are currently ~ 5000 observations of around 550 species!)
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The San Francisco East Bay area is just loaded with creek watersheds. Once upon a time, Temescal Creek was a huge creek that supported life of ancient and modern-day humans, as well as flora and fauna, some of which has been lost forever through climate change of earlier ages and the development spawned by European colonizers from 1700s to the present.
Check out one of the stops on the Temescal Waterhood Tour, Lake Temescal, where you can learn about the Hayward Fault, how Chinese worked built the dam for Anthony Chabot, what species live there and at what time of year, lake water quality that impacts the rest of the watershed. From the Lake Temescal Dam and the beautiful beach to the diverse selection of ecology you can find, Lake Temescal is full of unique species and a deep history.
One example of the fascinating history that can be found at Lake Temescal is the point of interest describing an important form of transportation for immigrants in the 20th century: Electric Train.
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In the first half of the 20th Century, an electric inter-urban train named The Comet travelled across Lake Temescal. The train took passengers from San Francisco to Sacramento or Chico. The train was built primarily by Chinese Immigrants. The Comet ran in the morning and was one of the fastest trains with the Sacramento Northern Railway. It travelled beginning in downtown San Francisco, along the lower deck of the Bay Bridge, through Emeryville, Shafter St, HIghway 24, Chabot Rd, Lake Temescal, Highway 13, Thornhill and Moraga Ave, Mountain Blvd, Montclair, Pinehurst, Walnut Creek, Concord, Sacramento, and finally Chico. The population size of Alameda County doubled after 1906 earthquake and Oakland became an industrialized area. Besides population boom, introduction of automobiles changed people's everyday transit from streetcars and walking to automobiles. Like many local "interurban" railroads, it was expensive to maintain, and passenger service ended in the 1940s due to the decrease in demand for trains as they were replaced by cars, and due to the after affects of the Great Depression. For a while, the railway made money by shipping freight, especially during WWII. Today, much of this railroad's former equipment is part of the Western Railway Museum in Suisun City, CA.
Learn more about the transportation structures in Lake Temescal, different animal and plant species, improvement projects and so, so much more about Lake Temescal on our walking tour on PocketSights, and many more of the tours we've published along Temescal Creek.
Stay tuned for more tours on Temescal, Sausal Creek and Strawberry Creek tours in the future and the ability to add your own content to our tours.
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MEET OUR BOARD: Eddie Dunbar |
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Say hi to Eddie Dunbar, the founder and president of the Insect Sciences Museum of California, and the first member of Wholly H2O's board of advisors! At Wholly H2O, Eddie’s main role is to support our executive director, Elizabeth Dougherty, by helping her find new talent and sharing his knowledge from his experience with leading bioblitzes. At the Insect Sciences Museum of California, he creates working field guides on insects in certain areas and his goal is to have a photograph of every single insect in California in his guide.
Outside of the Insect Sciences Museum of California and Wholly H2O, Eddie teaches at Merritt College, educating his students on the vast ecological resources that insects provide. An important lesson he teaches is the importance of insects as stream help as they participate in processes like decomposition and predation that produce nutrients that plants depend on. Plants are extremely important to both marine life and healthy waterways as they essentially turn dirty water into fresh water. At Merritt College, Eddie emphasizes the importance of responsibility when using fertilizers and pesticides as it can often result in toxic algal blooms that affect marine organisms. He stresses that "people's response to insects needs to be metered" because it can often cause more harm than good.
Eddie has also led multiple Bug Camps throughout the year since 2013, a super cool, day-long bioblitz where people can come out and take photos of insects to add to the field guide. During Bug Camps, he enjoys getting to know new people and learning tips and tricks from how they capture insect photos. Being surrounded by people that are as passionate about insects as he is, Bug Camps are also an incredible opportunity to see a "whole different spectrum of organisms and ecology you don't usually see!"
The more Eddie is presented about insects, the more he wants to learn. From insects that can only develop if they are with a certain plant to insects that can carry threatening diseases, he is extremely passionate about everything there is to know about insects. However, his motivation to learn about mosquitoes is brought on by his son's battle with sickle cell anemia. Eddie was inclined to discover more about the correlation between the sickle cell trait and malaria, which is carried by parasites on mosquitoes. But with new treatments, human adaptation, and a climate that keeps insects in check, both sickle cell anemia and malaria have been able to be responded to.
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Eddie's passion for insects extends past etymology and into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his favorite superhero being Spiderman. Eddie is even friends with the insect handler that worked on the original Spiderman movies! Insect expert by night, business analyst by day. Eddie’s job outside of his research on insects is being a business analyst for the city of Oakland. When he’s not hard at work learning more about every insect in California, Eddie enjoys learning about new technology on YouTube and shopping for new cameras to capture the brilliant insect photos in his guides! While he watches Youtube, he loves eating Japanese food or his favorite food, potstickers!
Having worked on the Insects of San Francisco Bay Area project since 1997, Eddie hopes to scale up and finally complete the formidable task of publishing all of the insect field guides. With over 5600 insects that he has information and research for, he plans on hiring more interns to get more people adding information. Currently working on his priority insects, those often found at his commonly surveyed areas, Eddie is building a unique cross section of insects that you can find. Check out the Insect Sciences Museum of California to learn more about how to participate in this massive community science endeavor!
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SPECIES HIGHLIGHT: Green Heron |
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While you walk along the shore of Lake Temescal, you might meet the small but mighty Green Heron! The green heron (Butorides virescens) prefers streams, freshwater ponds, and lakes with nearby trees. You’ll often spot them perched in trees or standing still near the water's edge, waiting for prey. They like to dwell near shallow waters, concealing themselves with vegetation as they scan the area so make sure to look closely and carefully when you're searching for the green heron. Sometimes they'll even drop “bait” such as an insect or a twig on the surface of the water to lure fish closer to them. They feed on small fish, insects, shellfish and lizards, and tend to live alone or in small loose groups of three or four. Distinguishable by its velvet green back, chestnut colored body, and a dark head, the green heron is truly a treat to see. Another unique feature of this heron is its dagger-like bill that it uses to snatch up fish or grab fish when it chases them deep into water. Even if you aren't able to spot this special heron, you might be able to hear its distinct skeow as it slowly beats its rounded wings as it soars above you. |
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ARTIST FEATURE: Tatteera Srethbhakti! |
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Say hi to Tatteera, Tat for short, the illustrator of our amazing 28 Common Birds of NorCal and Their Songs poster! While an architecture major at UC Berkeley, Tat interned with Wholly H2O the spring and summer of 2021 as a part of an environmental science and policy management class project. Given COVID, Tat, was taking classes from her home country of Thailand and she decided to extend her internship over the summer. Her work resulted in the beautiful yet extensive Bird Song Poster with dozens of bird pictures, details, and even their sounds!
Creating the poster was intense as Elizabeth had assigned her 28 birds from another continent that she had to learn about, having never seen them herself. With no experience in drawing, each bird required research into their scientific names, size, prey, color and about 2 hours for Tat to draw on Procreate on her iPad. Despite how tedious it was at time, it was an incredibly fun and new experience for her as she ventured into the world of digital illustrations. She drew the background and learned how to use Adobe XD for the first time in order to input the bird information and sounds she found from various sources, including Cornell University's extensive bird sound library.
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Apart from the wonderful bird song poster that she created as an intern, Tat also worked on a digital collage of precolonial species and documented the animals and plants present in the bay area during that era. It was especially unique because she was able to utilize her photoshop skills to compile tons of different species together and recreate a scene with a variety of animals to emphasize the biodiversity in the region.
Because she’s never really gotten an experience like her internship with Wholly H2O to really explore nature and biodiversity, Tat loved connecting with and learning from the organization. She was able to research and learn about unfamiliar species and she loves when she recognizes birds out in the wild from her research and her own drawings from the bird song poster. The positive feedback that she received after the first poster was shared to the public inspired her to continue her work as people wanted even more posters.
When she has down time from school or working on projects for Wholly H2O, Tat loves to play the guitar and hike or rewatch her favorite movie, Love Simon while snacking on some mochi. Her absolute favorite place in the entire world is Australia because of the incredible nature and diverse selection of animals. Her favorite animal is the sloth and her friends even joke that she’s like one because she works slowly sometimes.
Tat is super excited to work with Wholly H2O again during the summer as a paid illustrator as she improves the current interactive bird poster. She also has big plans to create a printable version that can be sold or used by schools as poster for students to easily spot the birds. Stay tuned to see all of the amazing things Tat will do with Wholly H2O in the future!
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Paid Internship: Research BIPOC History in East Bay Watersheds |
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This position is for someone who is passionate about historical research, and more specifically the discovery and inclusion of BIPOC histories in the San Francisco East Bay. Working with a historian and oral history expert supervisor, you’ll be trained in how to conduct archival research, how to find photographs, how to search social media sources, as well as how to conduct in-person interviews with current residents of the watersheds. This work includes research into the creek's history, community groups, and activities, restoration activities, social and environmental justice as well as writing text and gathering existing images for website.
You'll be doing online research, going to archives at the Oakland Library and East Bay Regional Park District, as well as a host of museums and historical societies, and once ready, conducting some interviews. We greatly BIPOC people to apply for this role. READ MORE ABOUT THIS ROLE AND APPLY
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Our lives depends on healthy watersheds, and Wholly H2O depends on YOU!!!
Support Wholly H2O as we plan so many more events over the next year, like our super interactive watershed tours as well as more bioblitzes! We will (re)use your donation to pay a BIPOC Research-trainee to help us document the history of BIPOC groups in the East Bay! Wholly H2O creates educational content that connects YOU to the watersheds you live in, and we love doing what we do! No matter how much you decide to donate, you will make an impact on what we can accomplish! Click the button below to contribute a tax-deductible donation or check out the Facebook page for our fundraiser!
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Our Interns Do Really Cool Stuff |
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We always have a pod of 10-15 interns researching creek histories, creating wildlife guides, editing livestreams, writing copy for our watershed tours, and more. We promise you will never be bored - lend your skills or add your curiosity to our work!
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Wholly H2O catalyzes dynamic, informed connections between people and their watersheds that yield proactive and appropriate water management through conservation and reuse. Our watershed-positive educational programs engage Californians in community and citizen science, art, and green infrastructure education.
Our activities - waterhood tours, bioblitzes, painting underground creeks on street surfaces, Moth nights, and art events - are bringing waterhoods to life for hundreds and hundreds of water users around the San Francisco Bay area. Join us for an event, follow us on social media, volunteer or intern (as 16 dedicated souls are doing right now) or donate to our fun and innovative work. (We love matched donations from your workplace!)
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