Wild fungi give us a window into the health of our ecosystems, play a vital role in plant growth and communication, and can remove heavy metals from soil and water. For the sixth consecutive year, students and the community will comb the hills of the Galbreath Preserve to collect and record as many fungal species as possible. Join us to build identification and sustainable harvesting skills while adding to our research database. A sister event takes place at Osborn Preserve December 8th.

University students and community docents will be your guide. Our guides are trained in natural history of the mountain and interpretation of preserve programs. They will lead you on one of many trails into this 450-acre preserve on the shoulder of Sonoma Mountain. Hike options include visits to the headwaters of Copeland Creek and spectacular vistas of the Santa Rosa Valley and Valley of the Moon.

On clear days, you can see the ocean, Mt. St. Helena, and the Valley of the Moon from the highest point on the Osborn Preserve. Join us for a guided tour to this stunning viewpoint, through the grasslands, ponds and oak woodlands that dot Sonoma Mountain’s western slope. We will learn about student projects--including new findings and results--focused on Sonoma Mountain igneous rocks and amphibian research. We may have the opportunity to gather data for the Red-Legged Frog Habitat Restoration (Bullfrog Mitigation) Project, and find animals under the Osborn Preserve’s habitat boards.

The hike is jointly sponsored by SSU's Center for Environmental Inquiry and Sonoma Mountain Preservation.

University students and community docents will be your guide. Our guides are trained in natural history of the mountain and interpretation of preserve programs. They will lead you on one of many trails into this 450-acre preserve on the shoulder of Sonoma Mountain. Hike options include visits to the headwaters of Copeland Creek and spectacular vistas of the Santa Rosa Valley and Valley of the Moon.

While California's native grasslands tend to be more reliable carbon sinks than our woods, the forests of the northeastern United States are one of the fastest-growing terrestrial carbon sinks globally, attributed to historical declines in large-scale agriculture, timber harvesting and fire disturbance. However, climate-induced tree migration is altering forest community composition and carbon dynamics. An investigation into tree physiological responses to temperature across resident and migrant trees in a northeastern US forest revealed evidence suggesting that resident trees may have a physiological disadvantage compared with their migrant counterparts. Compounded with this result, an array of ecological disturbances further threatens the dominance of resident species, resulting in species replacement that may reduce the carbon storage potential of northeastern US forests.

University students and community docents will be your guide. Our guides are trained in natural history of the mountain and interpretation of preserve programs. They will lead you on one of many trails into this 450-acre preserve on the shoulder of Sonoma Mountain. Hike options include visits to the headwaters of Copeland Creek and spectacular vistas of the Santa Rosa Valley and Valley of the Moon.

But I can’t draw!! Yes, you can. You just need to look very carefully, study each element of the plant. And by drawing you will learn much more about the plant you choose to study.

The world of plants surrounds us, providing us with food to eat, materials to provide us shelter and air to breathe. All creatures depend upon plant life. We take it for granted at our own peril. In order to protect and sustain this life-giving organism, we need to understand it. To understand it, we need to study it, feel it in our hands, smell it, turn it over, marvel at its complexity and beauty.

In this series, you will be offered an optional rapid overview of the structure of plants in a one-hour online tutorial. A week later, you will venture into the field to learn the basics of botanical illustration, a key tool to learning about a plant through careful observation and drawing.

University students and community docents will be your guide. Our guides are trained in natural history of the mountain and interpretation of preserve programs. They will lead you on one of many trails into this 450-acre preserve on the shoulder of Sonoma Mountain. Hike options include visits to the headwaters of Copeland Creek and spectacular vistas of the Santa Rosa Valley and Valley of the Moon.