Dedicated to the study, exploration, and appreciation of natural history
in the Santa Ynez Valley region.

First Lecture of the Season ~ Wednesday, January 20: Rock Creek Wildflowers

Free Lecture with Cathy Rose and Stephen Ingram. Wednesday, January 20, 7:00 p.m. Wildling Museum. 1511-B Mission Dr., Solvang, CA 93463. Author Cathy Rose and photographer Stephen Ingram will present their new book, Rock Creek Wildflowers, published by the California Native Plant Society.  Cathy will discuss the alpine and subalpine flora native to the eastern […]

Saturday, February 20: Planting Native Oaks

Free Workshop with John Evarts and Sedgwick Docents. Saturday, February 20, 10:00 a.m. to noon. UC Sedgwick Reserve. 3566 Brinkerhoff Avenue, Santa Ynez. Participation is limited to 30. Advance registration required at synature@west.net 693-5683. What outdoor activity is fun, and in future years will help beautify any landscape, support wildlife, and combat global warming? Planting […]

Saturday, February 27: Why Are There So Many Manzanitas? An Ecology and Evolution Journey

Free Lecture and Book-Signing with Tom Parker. Co-sponsored by Solvang Library. Saturday, February 27, 7:00 p.m. Santa Ynez Valley Grange #644. 2374 Alamo Pintado Ave. Los Olivos, CA. The California Floristic Province (CFP) is the center of diversity for manzanitas (Arctostaphylos species, Ericaceae). The CFP contains 104 of 105 species known worldwide.  Manzanitas are the […]

Saturday, March 12: Coreopsis Hill and the Guadalupe Dunes

Field trip with Larry Ballard. Saturday, March 12, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Participation is limited to 25. Advance registration required at synature@west.net or 693-5683. Members free/nonmembers $20. The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge lies within the largest coastal dune system in California. The hike takes us through dune scrub, a shrub-dominated habitat that includes […]

Sunday, March 20: Local Spring Wildflower Foray

Field trip with Liz Gaspar. Sunday, March 20, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Participation is limited to 20. Advance registration required at synature@west.net or 693-5683. Members free/nonmembers $20. As we go to press, the rains have just begun in earnest, and we can’t predict where the best wildflowers will be in late March. It may […]

Saturday, April 16: Volunteer Opportunity at Burton Mesa

Help pull thistles at beautiful Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve. Saturday April 16, 2016. 9:00-noon with optional after-lunch walk. Join the SYVNHS for a morning of weed abatement followed by a short trek into the beautiful Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve.  Tim Matthews, SYVNHS board member, will lead us in removing noxious Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum, and […]

Saturday, April 23: Poetry in Celebration of Earth Day with Paul Willis

Free evening event. Saturday, April 23, 7:00 p.m. Tipton Meeting House. UC Sedgwick Reserve. 3566 Brinkerhoff Avenue, Santa Ynez. The Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society and UC Sedgwick Reserve are pleased to host a poetry reading in honor of Earth Day with former Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara Paul Willis. The human relationship to […]