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Underground

Naturalist Night | Animals Underground: The Burrowing and Cave Dwelling Creatures of the Santa Cruz Mountains with Matt Sharp Chaney and Alex Jones (watch recording)

Beneath our feet is a world of creatures seldom seen. Join local experts for this set of short presentations at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History exploring the mysteries of the underground. Alex Jones, UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve Manager, will share the secrets of UC Santa Cruz’s karst caves and burrowing insects, while Matt Sharp Chaney, Midpen Wildlife Biologist, will share stories of salamanders and squirrels, badgers and broad-footed moles, kangaroo rats and kingfishers, and more.

This program is in support of the new exhibit, Underground: Unearthing Unseen Worlds, and is presented in partnership with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

Matt Sharp Chaney is a Wildlife Biologist and the Lead Mammologist for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) where he has worked for the past 8 years. Prior to working at Midpen Matt worked as an Educational Assistant at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and he is excited to return for this Naturalist Night. Matt received a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from California State University Monterey Bay in 2015, and a master’s certificate in wildlife management from Oregon State University in 2018. Midpen manages over 65,000 acres of public preserves located within the Santa Cruz Mountains along the San Francisco Peninsula. Matt’s work focuses on the conservation of native mammal species from bats, to kangaroo rats, to mountain lions. 

Alex Jones has been an environmental educator for 25 years, practicing natural history while leading students ranging from preschoolers to senior citizens, though he traces his naturalist roots to his own childhood experiences of playing with mud, scaring ducks, and hiding in the shrubbery. Alex currently works as the UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve Manager and supports education, research, and stewardship activities on campus natural lands. He brings his passion for natural history, ecology, and stewardship to UCSC students through undergraduate course field trips, internships, and volunteer opportunities. As part of his duties, Alex is responsible for monitoring and managing for the federally endangered Ohlone tiger beetle populations that occur on the UCSC campus. Prior work has given him the opportunity to participate in inventories and studies involving plants, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds in the eastern and western US.

Accessibility

  • The event will occur inside the Museum and is wheelchair accessible.
  • Restrooms, water fountains, and light snacks will be available.
  • Parking is first-come-first-served in the neighborhood. Bike parking is available near the museum entrance.
  • This program will be in English.
  • If we are able to record the program, it will be added to this webpage after the event.
  • Masks are not currently required indoors, but we will alert registrants if an increase in covid transmission rates triggers that requirement.
  • Reasonable accommodation requests can be made by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org.

Photo credit Matt Sharp Chaney, Alex Jones, Santa Clara County Parks, and Christine Fielding.

Museum of the Macabre 2023

Thank you to the many community members who joined us for the 7th annual Museum of the Macabre! You can peruse photos from the event here.

Come in costume and imbibe cauldron-concocted cocktails while exploring the chasms of the world beneath our feet. The seventh annual Museum of the Macabre will be bigger than ever with freakish festivities and special exhibits outdoors and inside the Museum’s galleries. This year’s tricks and treats will unearth the mysteries of the underground:

  • Costume contest (see below for details)
  • Outdoor movie screening of Tremors from Westside Video
  • Natural dyes with mushrooms
  • Freakish features including mysterious fossils, creepy crawlies, magnificent minerals, fascinating fungi, and more
  • Admission to the new exhibit Underground: Unearthing Unseen Worlds
  • Treats for sale including Areperia 831, Adobo2Go, Discretion Brewing, and curated cocktails
  • Many other shocking examples of nature’s dark side…
  • Explore photos from last year’s event here.

$15 Members | $25 General

21+ | Admission includes one free drink ticket.
Online presale discounts end October 27.
$30 at the door. Space is limited.

Saturday, October 28, 2023
6-9 p.m.

Online sales have closed. Tickets available at the door for $30.

Costumes

  • Dress on theme for a chance to win a costume prize! This year’s theme is THE UNDERGROUND (think creepy crawlies, caves, mushrooms, earthquakes, landfills…)
  • Costumes should not be obstructive or offensive in nature.
  • Costumes should not contain sharp or pointed objects, or materials that may accidentally strike guests or exhibits.
  • Costumes should not contain any elements which resemble or could easily be mistaken for an actual weapon.

Accessibility

  • The event will occur at Tyrrell Park and inside the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.
  • Limited number of tickets available and online presale discounts end October 27.
  • Please follow local guidelines for COVID safety at the time of the event.
  • The Museum and restrooms are wheelchair accessible. Park festivities will be on both level and slanted grass. The movie and costume contest will occur in the amphitheater behind the Museum where there are steps to enter. Both will be visible from the grass above.
  • Please leave your pets at home. Trained service animals are permitted.
  • Review more details on our Accessibility page.
  • Email events@santacruzmuseum.org with any question, help with registration, or accommodation requests.

Thank you to our partners!

Caves and Climate Change with Jessica Oster | Online Talk

The Santa Cruz Mountains are full of limestone caves that hold many secrets, including records of our climate past. Join Dr. Jessica Oster for an exploration into White Moon Cave where she researches stalagmites (mineral formations growing up from cave floors) that record the climate and environment above the cave as they grow. One stalagmite from White Moon Cave has revealed linkages between the plant community and fire activity above the cave and “climate whiplash” or oscillations between extreme wet and dry periods that occurred over 8,000 years ago. We will discuss how climate records from stalagmites are created as well as the unique things we have learned about California climate from Santa Cruz Mountains caves.

This program is in support of the new exhibit Underground: Unearthing Unseen Worlds.

About the Speaker

Jessica Oster is an Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. She completed her PhD at the University of California, Davis. Oster studies chemical variations in cave mineral formations such as stalagmites to reconstruct climate change in the past, including changes in rainfall, vegetation, and fire activity above the cave. She has developed stalagmite-based records of climate change from caves in northern and central California, Wyoming, Tennessee, India, and the island of Curaçao.