Current Lectures
All Lectures Fall 2024 Season
Butterflies of Santa Barbara County
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024
Free live lecture and Zoom webinar with Hugh Ranson
Photographer and naturalist Hugh Ranson has had a lifelong love of species that fly. Although a dedicated and expert birder, 10 years ago, Hugh became interested in identifying and photographing dragonflies. He presented a lecture and mini field trip for the Society on Odonata, an insect
Extinct California: Lost, Missing, and Resurrected Species from the Golden State
Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024
Free live lecture and Zoom webinar with Dr. Douglas Long
Co-Sponsored by the Solvang Library
California has the highest biodiversity of any state in the nation, but also has the most species at risk, and many species are now extinct. Dr. Douglas Long will address this difficult subject. He will explain what makes California such a
Parasites: Here, There and Everywhere!
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024
Free lecture with Dr. Kevin Lafferty
Dr. Lafferty reveals what some may view as a darker side of complex ecosystems. Every kind of bumble bee, buttercup, budgerie, and human, is host to a parasite – perhaps two, and possibly hundreds. Indeed, parasitism is the most popular lifestyle on earth.
Mammals Hit the Beach!
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024
Free lecture with Zoe Zilz
Co-hosted by Solvang Library
In 2021, UCSB doctoral student Zoe Zilz was shown photos taken along the Gaviota coast by local residents, surprisingly revealing terrestrial wildlife near and in intertidal areas. Intrigued, Zoe set up 40 trail cameras in that area and further west, including Vandenberg Space Force Base and the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve.
Carrizo Plain National Monument: A Wild Life in California’s Largest Remaining Native Grassland
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024
Free lecture with Chuck Graham
Co-Hosted by Solvang Library
The 250,000 acres of Carrizo Plain National Monument are quietly spectacular, as they encompass one of the highest concentrations of threatened and endangered species in a California protected space, comprise the largest protected habitat along migrating birds’ Pacific Flyway and, important to both of these, protect the largest remaining