Video - Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Paleoclimatology

This month, the Geology Gents explore what has happened to the Earth throughout its history when sudden climate change has occurred. Hint: it usually involves mass extinctions. Look back at last month’s episode exploring Ice Ages as a primer for this discussion of paleoclimatology, or the study of ancient climates.

About the Series: Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for monthly conversations about rocks live on Facebook. Each month we’ll explore a different geologic topic, from Santa Cruz formations to tips for being a more effective rockhound. Graham Edwards and Gavin Piccione are PhD candidates in geochronology with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Pro-tip: the better the picture, the better the ID.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Naturalist Night: Santa Cruz Sandhills

The Santa Cruz Sandhills are a rare habitat in the Santa Cruz mountains that support a very specific niche of plants and animals. Many of our endemic species in the County are limited specifically to the Sandhills. Join us for an overview of this habitat’s geologic history, rare plants and animals, and the human impacts that have added to its scarcity. This is a great class for budding naturalists and those looking to revisit the basics.

We are excited to be joined this month by paleontologist, science teacher, and Sandhills-local Wayne Thompson who will help us dig deeper into the geology of the habitat by showing off his fossil finds.

About the series: Join fellow nature enthusiasts for monthly explorations of the biodiversity of Santa Cruz County. Each month, our Public Programs Manager Marisa Gomez will share the stories of a specific Santa Cruz habitat as we develop our skills as naturalists.

This series will feature a presentation as well as an interactive session and is in partnership with Santa Cruz Public Libraries. Come prepared to share and to learn alongside naturalists deep in their journey and just starting out.

Resources

THE SANDHILLS CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN A: Strategy for Preserving Native Biodiversity in the Santa Cruz Sandhills. Prepared by Jodi M. McGraw with Contributions from Matt Freeman, Richard Arnold, and Caitlin Bean. Prepared for The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County June 2004.
Sandhills Alliance for Natural Diversity (S.A.N.D.)

Watch other Naturalist Nights

Collections Close-Up: Tide Pools and Touch

Take the plunge into the interactive world of our intertidal touch pool exhibit, which has provided visitors with an intimate look at the interior world of the sea outside our doors for decades.

Museum staff explore the history of these hands-on exhibits, from beachside Victorian tubs to today’s collecting permits. We further investigate the care of these seaworthy collections, including the practical challenges of creating intertidal conditions, and their special capacity to connect people to nature.

Resources

Collections Close-Up blog, In Touch with Tide Pools
More on the history of the Victorian Pioneers of Aquaria
Phillip Henry Gosse’s “The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea”
Tide Chart for the Santa Cruz-Monterey Bay area
Aquarium advice forum for hobbyists
Snapshot Cal Coast December 2020 project
Tidepooling Tips from Hilltromper

About the series: Zoom into the stories, secrets, and science of our collections during monthly webinars with Collections Manager Kathleen Aston. This live event is an extension of our monthly Collections Close-Up blog, with added insights and intrigue. Members are invited to participate in this program before it is made available to the general public as well as ask questions directly of Kathleen.

Not yet a Member? Join today!

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Ice Ages

Join the Geology Gents as they explore how Earth freezes over! Sure, the weather is getting cooler in Santa Cruz as we head into winter, but far cooler temperatures have prevailed on Earth during “ice age” climates. In this Rockin’ Pop-Up the Gents dive into the history of Earth’s ice ages. Some ice ages may have covered the entire planet with ice, while other periods are punctuated by cold “glacial” ice ages and warm “interglacial” periods — which is what our Earth is currently undergoing.

Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Pro-tip: the better the picture, the better the ID.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Fire and Mud: Why Fires Cause Debris Flows in California with Noah Finnegan

Geomorphologist Noah Finnegan provides an overview of the science linking wildfires and debris flows in California, including lessons learned from the 2009 Lockheed Fire in the Santa Cruz mountains. Particular emphasis is paid to how residents impacted by the CZU Lightning Complex can navigate resources to better understand their debris-flow risks.

Resources

Below are resources referred to in the presentation and major take-aways from Noah Finnegan:

Debris flows are possible within the Santa Cruz Mountains this winter. The USGS Landslide Hazards Program has numerous resources geared at helping the public understand post-fire hazard: landslides.usgs.gov/hazards/postfire_debrisflow/
This is a county map showing areas of risk from inundation or blockade from debris flows as well as potential evacuation: https://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/FireRecovery/DebrisFlowsMudflows.aspx
Debris flows can flow downstream of recently burned regions along stream channels into regions that did not burn.
Debris flows can also flow out of existing channels Understanding the debris flow hazard upstream of you is crucial. CGS has made interpretations of where debris flow deposition is likely. These maps are a good community resource: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/FireRecovery/pdfs/CZU_OES_Mission_Task_2020-SOC-42611_Boulder_Creek_Post_WERT_Study_CGS_Final_20201102.pdf
The National Weather Service SF Office is very focused on post-fire debris flow hazards. Their forecasters and forecast products can help you anticipate upcoming storms that may pose a hazard because of rainfall intensity: www.weather.gov/mtr/
NWS forecast discussion: https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=CI&glossary=1&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&site=MTR&version=1

About the Speaker

Noah Finnegan is a professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. Noah’s research and teaching are focused on processes of erosion and sediment transport on hill slopes and in river channels.

Naturalist Night: Coastal Prairies

California’s Coastal Prairies are a rare and incredibly biodiverse habitat found in Santa Cruz, and the most species-rich grassland type in North America. Despite its rarity and species-richness, this is a habitat-type at risk of continued range loss due to development, fire suppression, invasive plants, and other factors. During this interactive class we will explore these threats to this habitat type, as well as what makes coastal prairies unique, including the geology of coastal terraces, notable species, and ecological factors that have impacted the habitat type over millennia, including cultural burning by indigenous communities.

We are also excited to have a special guest join us this time! Justin Luong is a Ph.D. researcher in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz, currently focused on grassland restoration in California, and will share his research regarding potential impacts on coastal prairies due to climate change and drought.

Watch other Naturalist Nights

Collections Close-Up: The Interwoven History of Baskets and Museums

Spend an evening unraveling the complex ways in which consumer trends and museums influenced early 20th basketry collections and craft. Collections Manager Kathleen Aston will elaborate on these trends and how they relate to our collection. Joining us will be Julie Sidel, Interpreter 1 for Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, to share how the intersection of museum artifacts and interpretation illuminates daily life at the Santa Cruz Mission.

Not yet a Member? Join today!

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Supercontinents

An illustration that shows the continents in different positions on a circle representing the earth. To the right is text and images of two men.

There have been a dozen major and minor supercontinents over the earth’s 4.567 billion year history, and odds are that there will be more. Explore plate tectonics and continental drift in this month’s Rockin’ Pop-Up.

Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Pro-tip: the better the picture, the better the ID.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Macabre Mushrooms: Ghouls of the Woods with Christian Schwarz

Mycologist Christian Schwarz is back to explore the macabre side of the mushroom kingdom during this online lecture. From bizarre appearances to odd sexual proclivities, and digestive modes that are downright appalling, these mycological tales will delight Halloween revelers and offend Victorian sensibilities.

Image of Christian Schwarz holding up a mushroom to a group of people.

Christian Schwarz is a naturalist currently living in Santa Cruz, the land of milk (caps) and honey (mushrooms). He studied Ecology and Evolution at UCSC, and now spends his time photographing, teaching about, collecting, and researching macrofungi. He is coauthor of Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Fungi satisfy his curiosity with their seemingly endless forms – from the grotesque to the bizarre to the sublimely beautiful. Besides dabbling in mushroom taxonomy, he loves fish, plants, nudibranchs, moths, and dragonflies. He is passionate about citizen science, especially iNaturalist.

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Caves (Special Edition)

Photo of stalactite formations in a marble cave.

In honor of Halloween, we’re exploring the curious, the scary, and the strange all week during our series, Museum of the Macabre. And what’s scarier than a deep, dark cave? For the special Halloween Pop-Up, Gavin and Graham will explore the different ways that caves form. Learn more about caves in this month’s Rock Record blog post.

Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Pro-tip: the better the picture, the better the ID.