Dear California Naturalists,
We tallied your #CalNat2016 nominations for the 2016 service pin and we're announcing a winner: Stagmomantis californica, the California mantis! In exchange for logging at least 40 service hours in the 2016 calendar year, certified California Naturalists will receive a beautiful 18k gold and enamel pin service pin as our thank you. The link to the volunteer portal will always be available on the top yellow menu of our home page under “Record Service Hours.”
Want to start collecting the CalNat Annual Service Pins?
Step 1) log your 2016 hours into the Volunteer Portal by January 15. Here's a guide that explains the categories of service and how to log your volunteer hours.
Step 2) update your capstone project title and mailing address in the "Edit your profile" section of the volunteer portal.
We'll take care of the rest! And we'll remind you again in January. (Pepperwood and Tejon Ranch stewards only, we'll get your hours from your instructor, but we still need you to update your address in the portal, please)
Why log hours? Our community of over 1600 certified California Naturalists has volunteered over 71,000 hours in five years! We suspect that is a HUGE under representation of the time you actually spend volunteering. And we understand- logging in and reporting isn't likely your motivation or the most rewarding part of your efforts. But the bottom line is that when you report your activities, we have a metric we can share with our colleagues at UC and the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, our partnering organizations, and beyond that demonstrates that our collective efforts are making a significant impact in this state. That metric eventually translates into allocations of resources from collaborators and sponsors to keep offering and expanding programming (like the Statewide Conference that ALL Naturalists received a discount and/or scholarship to attend!) that will keep our network growing, connected, and learning together. You are part of a larger, longer UC legacy of stewardship. Please help us measure your impact!
What are the rules for volunteer hours? Volunteer hours are defined as any time spent for which you are not paid tending nature, teaching others, doing environmental science, or taking action on behalf of conservation. Volunteer hours should take place in California and fall into the four categories of restoration/conservation, education/interpretation, citizen science, or program support. Hours also need to be attributed to an institution- please choose your organization in the drop down menu of partner institutions that offer the course, or specify “other” institution. Volunteer work you've already done in 2016 can be counted today! Your 8+ Capstone Project volunteer hours should be logged and will count toward the pin, however class time doesn't! Here's a guide that explains the categories of service and how to log your volunteer hours. We offer a new pin design every year to qualifying Naturalists, so if you can't make it to 40 hours this year, you'll have future opportunities!
Need help? Issues gaining access to the site or logging hours? Here's a guide that explains the categories of service and how to log your volunteer hours. Please e-mail canaturalist@ucanr.edu for further troubleshooting. We can re-send your portal invitation or help if you're having trouble gaining access. We'll be on a short vacation Dec 19-Jan 2, but please be patient and we'll get you the help you need!
We look forward to celebrating your service and sending your new pins in late February/early March!
Thanks for all you do!
Join your people and share your stories at the #CalNat2016 Conference! Special thanks to artist and California Naturalist (Jepson Herbarium class of 2016) Emily Dove Illustration + Design for sharing her beautiful art with us!
Congratulations to the Spring 2016 California Naturalist class of theAmerican River Natural History Association's Effie Yeaw Nature Center. Wishing everyone the best as you bring yournewfound knowledge, skills, and confidence to the service of others and our environment. Special thanks to course instructor, AllisonSkidmore, and course coordinator, Mary Jane Boxer. Hope to see everyone at the conference in September!
We are pleased to announce that due to generous support from our conference sponsors, we've been able to extend the scholarship deadline for the #CalNat2016 Statewide Conference to July 15th! Scholarships cover registration costs and will be prioritized according to need and a brief statement of interest/impact. Please help us get the word out to your friends and colleagues, your organization members and collaborators, who might be interested in this chance to learn more about hot topics in conservation and natural history in California! Learn more and apply at http://calnat.ucanr.edu/2016conference/reg/Scholarship/
- Author: Brook Gamble
Why #CalNat? Director Merenlender, a UC Agriculture & Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Policy, & Management (ESPM) - UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension specialist and conservation biologist talks to California Agriculture Journal about the program's success, conservation, and biodiversity in California.
When UC ANR conservation biologist Adina Merenlender launched the California Naturalist program in 2012, she was looking to do more than just educate people. She wanted to build a community — inspired to be stewards of the natural world and to push for the resources and policies needed to defend the state's threatened biodiversity.
“Success to me,” Merenlender said on an afternoon walk through the oak woodlands of the Hopland Research and Extension Center (REC), “is when the public connects directly with what UC has to offer and will go to bat for UC gardens, reserves and presses, and call for more faculty to study and teach natural history.” Read more here: http://bit.ly/CalAGCalNat.
Have you BioBlitzed this spring? Check out our partner SPAWN, Salmon Protection And Watershed Network's June 4 
80 Percent of Young Environmental Scientists Could Use More Natural History Training. Article in the Scientific American's Artful Ameoba blog. "Natural history is vanishing from the academic ecosystem, and it may be harming our ability to make big theoretical advances" Read more here.
We just sent out notifications to our first round of #CalNat2016 Statewide Conference Scholarship recipients. That feels GREAT! Can't wait to see you, Naturalists! Thanks to our sponsors who help make this conference possible! Save the Redwoods League, U.S. Forest Service, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, The Nature Conservancy, Acorn Naturalists, Heyday Books, University of California Press, Timothy Rodrigues in support of diverse people and perspectives, and in memory of Ruth Esther Durham. Our sponsor page is here on the conference website. 
We welcome another amazing graduating class to our growing community of Certified California Naturalists, this time the inaugural program at the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy! Participants deeply explored the Ventura River Watershed and completed capstone projects in service of OVLC and other organizations, such as Friends of California Condors Wild & Free, the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, and the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy. OVLC will have an open house this fall to showcase the student projects and begin early bird registrations for next year's spring class. Congratulations on your accomplishments! More here.
Please share your story to show Californians why climate adaptation is important to you and your community! CA Natural Resources Agency is collecting stories and to showcase in the August Sneak Peak Edition to Safeguarding California 2017. In order to inspire Californians with your work, they are asking you to email information based on the questions below to Sam.Diaz@Resources.ca.gov. PLEASE mention if you are a CA Naturalist.
1. Please share a brief description of you and your community. Please identify what issue(s) related to climate change your community perceives.
2. Do you or your community have any ideas for addressing these issues?
Here are some examples we have heard:
Plant trees to capture and clean water in urban areas!
Encourage leadership development programs to prepare the next generation for climate change!
Please provide quotes and pictures you would like to see featured with your story in the Sneak Peak Edition.
What's Next?
Sam Diaz will contact you with any follow-up questions. As we collect more projects and stories from Californians, we will draft the Sneak Peak Edition. Be on the lookout for a draft version in late July 2016. You will receive the final version in August 2016.
Please call Sam Diaz at 916.651.5610 or email at Sam.Diaz@Resources.ca.gov.
http://resources.ca.gov/climate/safeguarding/
Join us in congratulating the newly minted class of Sierra Streams Institute
First, a reminder to get your scholarship applications in for #CalNat2016 by Sunday, Naturalists!
Please share your story to show Californians why climate adaptation is important to you and your community! CA Natural Resources Agency is collecting stories and to showcase in the August Sneak Peak Edition to Safeguarding California 2017. In order to inspire Californians with your work, they are asking you to email information based on the questions below to Sam.Diaz@Resources.ca.gov. PLEASE mention if you are a CA Naturalist.
1. Please share a brief description of you and your community. Please identify what issue(s) related to climate change your community perceives.
2. Do you or your community have any ideas for addressing these issues?
Here are some examples we have heard:
Plant trees to capture and clean water in urban areas!
Encourage leadership development programs to prepare the next generation for climate change!
Please provide quotes and pictures you would like to see featured with your story in the Sneak Peak Edition.
What's Next?
SamDiaz will contact you with any follow-up questions. As we collect more projects and stories from Californians, we will draft the Sneak Peak Edition. Be on the lookout for a draft version in late July 2016. You will receive the final version in August 2016. Please call SamDiaz at 916.651.5610 or email at Sam.Diaz@Resources.ca.gov.
Heads up: there are still a few spaces left in the Sagehen Creek Field Station CalNat immersion course in the Sierras this summer. This is the best "summer school" you can dream of sending a loved one to or participating in! June 20-26. Presentations and field sessions held in the outdoor classroom at Sagehen Creek Field Station near Truckee, as well as at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.This year the field station is offering a special local commuter price break to encourage participation among Tahoe and Truckee residents!http://calnat.ucanr.edu/Take_a_class/Sagehen_Creek_Truckee/
We welcome another amazing graduating class to our growing community of Certified California Naturalists, this time the inaugural program at the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy! Participants deeply explored the Ventura River Watershed and completed capstone projects in service of OVLC and other organizations, such as Friends of California Condors Wild & Free, the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, and the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy.OVLC will have an open house this fall to showcase the student projects and begin early bird registrations for next year's spring class. Congratulations on your accomplishments!
