Please Note: This workshop will take place at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education located at 400 Encinal St.
Join the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History for a FREE workshop connecting local educators with tribal leaders.
This workshop aims to deepen knowledge, clarify terminology, and provide a space for dialogue about incorporating a Native perspective into K-12 curriculum. Teachers will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with colleagues and tribal representatives as they consider the strengths and weaknesses of their current curriculum and consider ways that they might better incorporate an Indigenous perspective into future lessons.
Featuring Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Thank you to our generous sponsors for supporting this event
There’s never been a better time to become a Museum Member and take advantage of the benefits! Membership is perfect for anyone who loves all that Santa Cruz County has to share, from its shoreline to the summit. You’ll love the hikes, walks, talks, and fun events the Museum offers. Join our diverse community now and gain unique opportunities to immerse yourself all year long in nature experiences and environmental education that informs and inspires! Meet fellow nature lovers of all ages and backgrounds.
Standard Membership Benefits
Our programs, exhibits, walks, talks, and events are exceptional and will have you ready to sign up for more. With just two standard program fees, your membership pays for itself.
Included in all Memberships:
• Free admission to the Museum
• 10% off at the Museum Store
• Exclusive invites to Exhibits
• Early Bird Program Registration
• Exclusive Free Programs for Members
• Program Discounts and more…
Annual Membership Levels and Benefits
Friend Membership | $100 Family level benefits plus participation in the ASTC Passport Program. Discounts on Summer Camps, and invitations to small member-only events.
Family Membership | $50 Standard benefits plus free admission to the Museum for two adults, two single-use guest passes, and discounts on Summer Camps.
receive enhanced recognition and special access to the Museum
Pat & Kirk Smith Club | $250 Friend level benefits plus an invitation to additional VIP Club events throughout the year, an invitation to our Patrons reception, and recognition in our annual report to the community.
Humphrey Pilkington Club | $500 Friend level benefits plus a 20% discount on purchases at the Museum Store during promotional events, an invitation to our Patrons reception, and recognition in our annual report to the community.
Laura Hecox Club | $1,000 Friend level benefits, a 20% discount on purchases at the Museum Store during promotional events, an invitation to our Patrons reception, and recognition in our annual report to the community. Plus a private guided tour of the Museum for you and up to 4 guests.
Laura Hecox Club level benefits, a 20% discount on purchases at the Museum Store during promotional events, an invitation to our Patrons reception, and recognition in our annual report to the community. Plus a private guided tour of the Museum for you and up to 4 guests.
Other ways to join or renew: stop by the Museum to join during regular business hours, call the Museum at (831) 420-6115, or send a check to 1305 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. Give the gift of Membership! Share your love of nature with friends and family through the purchase of a gift membership. Let us know how we can make your gift special.
People find fossils in Santa Cruz County all the time! Some of these objects are important for research, while others are best left as part of the landscape. This guide will help you decide what to do when you find something during your outdoor exploration.
Always know before you go when collecting. Determine whose property you are on and what their rules are for collecting. Generally, collecting fossils is not allowed on most public land.
Vertebrate fossils (including all mammals like whales and mastodons) are protected on all public lands and require a permit for collecting. In California, plant and invertebrate fossils on non-federal public lands are also protected. This means that you are not allowed to collect fossil shells embedded in rock from Capitola and Aptos beaches without first getting a permit from the appropriate agency (either County or State Parks).
In addition to knowing if you are legally allowed to collect, consider that when you collect an object, you are removing it from its context — without good data, it’s unlikely that specimens can be used for science. Every specimen collected from nature impacts the surrounding ecosystem which is why certain species and properties are protected.
If you find something interesting, rather than collecting it, you can leave it where you found it, take a picture, and notify the agency whose property you are on and/or the Museum. Fossil shells around Capitola are incredibly common, but if you find something unusual that doesn’t seem to be commonplace, it might be worth getting in touch with us.
May I bring my fossil to the Museum?
If you’ve found something that you would like us to take a look at and help you identify, take a photo and send it to collections@santacruzmuseum.org. Be sure to include something for scale and mention where you found it. The museum cannot physically accept objects without prior consent. If you’re interested in donating your specimen to the Museum, our collections staff will need to first assess how it fits within our collections policy.
Why are museum collections important?
Our Museum has a long history of working with collectors to preserve important objects for research and education. Our founder, Laura Hecox, was an amateur collector who grew up on West Cliff Drive, collecting fossils, shells, and other objects that captivated her attention. Over time, she worked with scientists who even named new species after her, and donated her vast collection to the foundation of Santa Cruz’s first public museum.
Many of the objects in our collections were found by community members while exploring nature. The first mastodon specimen recorded in Santa Cruz County was discovered by 16-year-old Jim Stanton while exploring Aptos Creek in 1980.
When collections are brought to museums, they are able to benefit whole communities through research, education, and accessibility.
Cast of a fossil sea cow (Dusisiren jordani) excavated from the Santa Margarita Formation at a Zayante sand quarry in 1963.
Fossil skull of a Pacific Mastodon (Mammut pacificus) discovered in March 1980 by Aptos resident Jim Stanton. He spotted the giant molars protruding from a gravel bank along Aptos Creek.
Fossil jaw bone of a baleen whale from the Santa Margarita Formation in Scotts Valley.
An array of shark teeth (including Megalodon), bivalves, plants, and the skulls of a fossil dolphin, walrus, and sea lion, as well as microfossils.
Garden fossils: Take a stroll around the Museum’s Garden Learning Center and see if you can spot our large whale fossils.
Activities for kids: Multiple dig boxes feature Santa Margarita Formation fossils of sand dollars and casts of a fossil sea cow.
Rent a kit to explore local fossils at home. Kit rentals are $10 per week and can be requested here (you do not need to be a teacher to request a rental).
A very special tooth in Santa Cruz County has captured the attention of the world. A widespread community campaign to recover a mastodon tooth that went missing after being recorded on a local beach culminated on May 30, 2023 when Jim Smith brought a special treasure to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.
Here’s How the Story Unfolded
As Memorial Day weekend ramped up in Santa Cruz County, a tourist with ties to the area spotted an unusual object on Rio Del Mar beach. Uncertain of what she was seeing, she photographed her unusual find and shared it on social media in the hopes that it would be identified. That’s when Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Paleontology Collections Advisor, Wayne Thompson, posted online to clarify the significance of the discovery.
“This is (a) … molar tooth of the Pacific Mastodon Mammut pacificus, and an extremely important find. Give me a call when you get a chance…” Thompson wrote in response to the post.
When Thompson arrived at the location where the tooth was originally discovered, it was gone. A public call to find the tooth went out across multiple platforms, with local and international news outlets joining the Museum’s efforts to recover and protect the important specimen. On the morning of May 30, Jim Smith, a local man who had seen the news about the tooth, called the Museum.
“I was so excited to get that call,” said Liz Broughton, Visitor Experience Manager at the Museum. “Jim told us that he had stumbled upon it during one of his regular jogs along the beach, but wasn’t sure of what he had found until he saw a picture of the tooth on the news. He was so excited to hear it was a mastodon tooth and was eager to share it with the Museum.”
Mastodons in Santa Cruz County
The Museum has a long history with local mastodons. In 1980, 16-year-old Jim Stanton found a mastodon skull in Aptos Creek, which Thompson excavated and spent years meticulously repairing. Visitors can explore this skull, the only other locally recorded specimen, at the Museum of Natural History where it is on permanent exhibit.
Thompson first came to the Museum in 1976 as a high school sophomore, eager to continue to explore the world of paleontology. A youth employment program launched by former President Jimmy Carter granted the option to work here at the Museum alongside Charles Prentice and Frank Perry, and Thompson jumped at the chance. He prepared fossils, guided guests through the galleries, and tended to our collections, among other duties.
After retiring as a middle school science teacher recently, Thompson rejoined the Museum as Paleontology Collections Advisor. In this new role, he helps catalog collections, shares his expertise with staff and the community, and is working on digitizing our paleontology collection.
With the discovery of this new tooth, he and the Museum’s collections department have a slew of new tasks to look forward to as we work with State Parks to ensure the ongoing preservation, study, and display of this unique object.
More on Mastodons
The Pacific mastodon (Mammut pacificus) is one of many recognized mastodon species. M. pacificus is the newest species to be named. Once thought to be M. americanum, DNA analysis helped reveal that certain specimens actually belonged to a newly designated species. Mastodons generally roamed California from about 5 million to 10 thousand years ago, but were much more prevalent in the eastern areas of North America.
What’s Next For the Tooth
The Rio Del Mar tooth has a lot of potential to reveal information about the life history of mastodons, as well as what led to their extinction.
The mastodon skull on exhibit at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History is that of a juvenile, and the discovery of this adult tooth on Rio Del Mar beach may provide the first evidence that a herd roamed Santa Cruz County during the last Ice Age.
We’re also interested in having the tooth analyzed with carbon dating and stable isotope analysis so that we may determine how long ago the individual lived, what it ate, and more. This information can help us know more about the implications of climate change and human impacts on the extinction of this species, as well as how they lived in the area.
The Museum looks forward to collaborating with State Parks on the ongoing care, study, and exhibition of this special specimen.
Photo 1: Museum staff Liz Broughton holding the Rio Del Mar tooth alongside the mastodon skull that is in the Museum’s collections Photo 2: Jim Smith delivering the tooth Photo 3: The mastodon skull found in 1980, on exhibit at the Museum Photo 4: Rio Del Mar mastodon tooth
Fire is a natural part of the California landscape and plays an integral role in our local ecology. For millennia, Indigenous communities have stewarded the land with fire, but centuries of fire suppression, periods of extreme drought, and an expanding populace into the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) have led to increasingly intense fires that threaten communities. The burning question in recent years has been: how do we protect our communities from fire while also supporting “good fire” on the landscape?
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park has implemented a new prescribed burn program that allows community members to actively participate in forest management practices that support the health and resiliency of the park. Join us for this two part program where we’ll:
1. Learn about fire ecology in the redwoods and current forest management practices underway in the Redwood Grove of Henry Cowell Redwoods, including burn piles that are being created by community volunteers.
2. Practice building burn piles alongside State Parks staff and volunteers for future burn days. This is a unique opportunity to actively support land management both for and with fire in Santa Cruz County.
Explore the role of fire on our landscape through a series of walks that invite our community to reflect on the CZU Lightning Complex fires of August 2020, while learning about proactive steps being taken throughout the County to manage the landscape both for and with fire. Explore fire resources from past events here.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park has implemented a new prescribed burn program that allows community members to actively participate in forest management practices that … Read more
Fire is a natural part of the California landscape and plays an integral role in our local ecology. For millennia, Indigenous communities have stewarded … Read more
Accessibility and What to Expect
Participants should be prepared to walk 1-2 miles on mostly paved and flat trails.
Restrooms are available near the parking lot.
Wear layers, comfortable shoes, and bring any snacks/water you might need.
The first hour of the program will be a guided tour, and we will end with an opportunity to help build brush piles for those who are interested. NOTE: We will be building the piles, not burning them. Please wear boots, bring work gloves, and be prepared to work in varying terrain/conditions should you like to participate in this portion of the program. Please watch this video before attending.
Please leave your pets at home. Trained service animals are permitted.
Youth under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Explore the role of fire on our landscape through a series of programs that invite our community to reflect on the CZU Lightning Complex fires of August 2020, while learning about proactive steps being taken throughout the County to manage the landscape both for and with fire. Explore fire resources from past events here.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park has implemented a new prescribed burn program that allows community members to actively participate in forest management … Read more
The climate, beautiful coastline, and majestic mountains that draw countless people to the Santa Cruz region every year were developed by the same forces that wreak havoc along the coast on a regular basis: floods, landslides, earthquakes, and storms.
Join Dr. Gary Griggs for a presentation about the historical and geologic context of the perils we endure to live in paradise, followed by a panel discussion featuring Tiffany Wise-West (Climate Action Program Manager for the City of Santa Cruz) and Nate Mantua (climate scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Office) where we will turn our attention to the future of this landscape, exploring the implications of climate change and community actions to address these challenges.
Thank you UC Santa Cruz and the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience for making the livestream and recording possible. The new center aims to advance campus research and to partner with state and federal agencies as well as private foundations to address coastal climate change, resilience, and sustainability.
About the Speaker
Gary Griggs is a Distinguished Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz, where he has taught for 54 years. He received his B.A. in Geological Sciences in 1965 from the University of California Santa Barbara and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Oregon State University in 1968. Gary served as the Director of the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences for 26 years, where he led the development of a Coastal Science Campus. His research, teaching, writing and lectures have been focused on the coast of California and include coastal processes, hazards, and the impacts of and responses to sea-level rise. Read more about Dr. Griggs.
Accessibility
The event will occur in the auditorium of London Nelson and is wheelchair accessible.
Free Family Programs | Programas familiares gratuitos
Join our free programs, connect with science and nature, and have fun with your family and friends. Share this invitation and join our community! To receive email reminders about upcoming programs and events in Watsonville, subscribe to our monthly newsletter below.
Venga a disfrutar de nuestros programas gratuitos, conéctese con la ciencia y la naturaleza, y diviértase con su familia y amigos. ¡Comparta esta invitación y únase a nuestra comunidad! Para recibir notificaciones sobre los próximos programas y eventos en Watsonville, suscríbase a nuestro boletín mensual.
January 14- February 4, 2025 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | Environmental Science Workshop
Join us at the Environmental Science Workshop to participate in the “Nature Insipred Studio” workshop. Every Tuesday between 1/14-2/4. Come learn about different forms of printmaking!
Actividad después de la escuela: Taller de Ciencias Ambientales
14 de enero a 4 de febrero, 2025 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | Taller de Ciencias Ambientales
Venga al Taller de Ciencias Ambientales para participar en el programa “El taller inspirado en la naturaleza”. Todos los martes entre el 14/1 y el 4/2. ¡Venga a aprender sobre diferentes formas de grabado!
Family Fun: Toddler Tumble Time
February 11, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Watsonville Public Library
Come for Toddler Tumble Time each second Tuesday of the month. We will be showcasing our museum collections. Come join us to learn about natural history!
Diversión Familiar: Hora de Toddler Tumble
11 de febrero de 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Biblioteca pública de Watsonville
Venga a disfrutar la Hora de Toddler Tumble cada segundo martes del mes. Mostraremos nuestras colecciones del museo. ¡Venga para aprender sobre historia natural!
Mobile Museum
February 14, 2025| 2:30-4:30 p.m. | Watsonville Public Library
Join us at the Watsonville Public Library. We will be showcasing our skull collections. Come learn about the different local animals and their adaptations!
Museo Móvil
14 de febrero de 2025| 2:30-4:30 p.m. | Biblioteca pública de Watsonville
Venga a la Biblioteca pública de Watsonville. Mostraremos nuestras colecciones de cráneos. ¡Venga a vernos para aprender sobre los diferentes animales locales y sus adaptaciones!
February TBD, 2025| 3:30-4:30 p.m. | Environmental Science Workshop
Join us at the Environmental Science Workshop every first and third Tuesday of the month. Discover this botanical process with fresh flowers and a cardboard press. Come and learn how to make a plant press to dry and preserve your favorite flowers.
Actividad después de la escuela: Taller de Ciencias Ambientales
febrero de 2025| 3:30-4:30 p.m. | Taller de Ciencias Ambientales
Venga al Taller de Ciencias Ambientales cada primer y tercer martes del mes. Descubra este proceso botánico con flores frescas y una prensa de cartón. Venga y aprenda a hacer un prensador de plantas para secar y conservar sus flores favoritas.
These programs are funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.
Estos programas son financiados por el Programa de Subvenciones de Equidad al Aire Libre, creado a través AB 209 y administrado por la Oficina de Subvenciones y Servicios Locales de Parque Estatales de California.
Explore the nature of Santa Cruz — wherever you are! Connect with local experts and deepen your understanding about nature, science, and stewardship online and in-person. Stay updated about upcoming events!
¡Explore la naturaleza de Santa Cruz, dondequiera que esté! Conéctese con expertos locales y profundice su comprensión sobre la naturaleza, la ciencia y la gestión en línea y en persona. Mantengase actualizado sobre los próximos eventos.
This January, the Museum will once again partner with the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz to transform the London Nelson Community Center into a mycology paradise. Stroll through a re-created woodland forest, discover hundreds of mushroom species, and enjoy hands-on activities for all ages. Sign up to volunteer! Fair Volunteer Signup Link / Fair Setup Volunteer Signup Link.
Este enero, el Museo se asociará una vez más con la Federación de Hongos de Santa Cruz para transformar el Centro Comunitario London Nelson en un paraíso micológico. Pasee por un bosque recreado, descubra cientos de especies de hongos y disfrute de actividades para todas las edades. ¡Regístrese para ser voluntario! Fair Volunteer Signup Link / Fair Setup Volunteer Signup Link.
From the glorious wingspan of our golden eagle to the small haunches of our slender salamander, our taxidermy displays are an impactful tool for connecting people to science and nature. For half a century, we have been lucky enough to build out this toolkit with specimens from a local pioneer in the ancient tradition of taxidermy. It is in the memory of this good fortune that we reflect on the life of local taxidermist Richard Gurnee, who passed away this fall.
From the glorious wingspan of our golden eagle to the small haunches of our slender salamander, our taxidermy displays are an impactful tool for connecting people to science and nature. For half a century, we have been lucky enough to build out this toolkit with specimens from a local pioneer in the ancient tradition of taxidermy. It is in the memory of this good fortune that we reflect on the life of local taxidermist Richard Gurnee, who passed away this fall.
Gurnee, a thoughtful man who radiated warmth and knowledge, was also an artist who excelled at preserving the animal world through freeze-dry taxidermy. This unique process of Gurnee’s own invention enabled him to preserve challenging specimens with minimal construction of otherwise typical physical supports. From the bright plumage of traditional game birds to the unusual preservation of a sea anemone, his taxidermy process captured tremendous diversity. Gurnee’s distinctive work is an endless inspiration. A closer look at his specimens, like our taxidermied octopus, can teach us not only about the creature itself, but also about the history of the science and art of taxidermy
Some have been lucky enough to take field trips to his Watsonville-based shop – just over ten years ago, museum staff and volunteers got to explore Gurnee’s studio as part of an enrichment experience. As we reflect on the legacy of this incredible naturalist, artisan, and community member, we wanted to share some highlights of that experience for those of us who did not get the chance to explore Gurnee’s studio while he was still with us.
Gurnee’s work has brought us closer to our nonhuman neighbors, as well as more exotic and endangered animals, for more than five decades. Given the nature of taxidermy, it will continue to do so for many years, just as Gurnee’s legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of nature nerds in the Central Coast and beyond.
Museum staff and volunteers visit Gurnee’s Watsonville shop in 2012.
