Ongoing research

Freezing temperatures damage plants by causing ice crystals to form in their cells. Frost-damaged vegetation withers and turns a dark brown or black. Ice crystals can also form in citrus fruit, causing juice vesicles inside the fruit to rupture and the fruit to dry out.

Boxwood. You see it all over and for good reason. They are oh so versatile, easy to prune and shape, and a lovely bright green. They've been a mainstay of residential and commercial landscapes for as long as I can remember.

The year 2020 felt like a close encounter of the worst kind. The raging COVID-19 pandemic, the California wildfires, the political scene, the poverty, the racial uprisings, the stay-at-home mandates, the strife...

With the rainy season coming our way, I've had a sense of optimism I've had a hard time finding these days. I've always loved the rain. As a young student growing up in the tropics, I loved the rainy season when we had typhoon No. 2 and didn't have to go to school.

How do I keep my poinsettia alive and then get it to bloom again next year? Most of us can keep them alive, however, to get them to bloom and display color we enjoy during the holiday season is difficult and sometimes achievable with a lot of effort.

When the Detwiler Fire broke out near his family's ranch in 2017, Tony Toso was home to take defensive action to protect his family and animals. The Mariposa County rancher feels fortunate that he was on site. We were on the front end of the fire damage and it started on a Sunday, recalled Toso.

2020 was a troubling year for the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. The severe population decline led the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation to seek endangered species status from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). USFWS announced Dec.

The 2020 COVID19 pandemic changed the way educators work across the board. Like many groups, we had to quickly retool our geospatial workshops from a largely in-person format to online delivery.

In Part I of this blog post, I reflected upon some of the lessons and conversations from 2020 as we migrated our geospatial technology workshops from in-person to online formats.

Missing the Wreath Workshop Spreading much Christmas Joy See you Next Year for Sure...