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SCB Davis Chapter Activities and Committees
(Click on Committee or Activity name for announcements, pictures, and other information!)
Activity summary: mentoring conservation and research projects with local elementary and high schools.
Contact: Katie McHugh at kamchugh@ucdavis.edu.
We are currently doing oak education and restoration, using an oak curriculum to reach out to local elementary and high school classes, who will learn about and participate in native oak conservation and restoration. We are also continuing our endangered species presentations to local elementary schoolchildren.
We have recently partnered with WIDSI (Watch it, Don't Squash it), which presents behavior, ecology, & conservation issues to elementary schools in and near Davis. Visit the WIDSI page for more information.
Restoration and Community Conservation
Activity summary: Working with local restoration groups and schools on
plantings, publicity, etc.
Contact: Jim Thorne at jhthorne@ucdavis.edu.
For the last four years the Chapter has supported oak restoration projects around CA. This year, we are hoping to implement a voluntary contribution account that would allow people in Davis to mitigate their carbon impact. Money donated to the account would go towards growing oaks on campus. Future planting sites have already been identified. We will be planting oaks throughout the year. If you know of schools that may want to participate in these activities, please contact Jim.
Sister Chapter
Activity summary: Working with our sister chapter in La Paz, Bolivia, we help to promote
conservation and science in each other's communities.
Contact: Laura Young at lgyoung@ucdavis.edu.
The Davis chapter has been very active with our sister chapter in La Paz,
Bolivia. Working together, our Chapters have coordinated environmental education exchanges
between elementary schools in Davis and schools in La Paz. These cross-cultural exchanges
have focused on endangered species that occur within the environments surrounding the participating schools. We have also
helped finance members from the La Paz chapter to attend the annual SCB meetings in Brazil (2005) and in San Jose, CA (2006).
Our last event, coordinated through WIDSI, was an Endangered Species Exchange Project in April between elementary school students in Bolivia and Davis. The kids loved the chance to draw and write (en Español!) about their favorite endangered species. We can't wait to see what the kids in Bolivia send back!
Activity summary: researching conservation issues, writing science-based SCB Chapter position statements.
Got a bee in your bonnet about a local, national, or international conservation issue? Then take action and make your voice heard by writing a position paper! In the past, the subjects of our position papers have ranged from Endangered Species Act listing actions, to comments on EIRs for proposed developments, to various Propositions. Contact one of the officers to get the ball rolling on your position paper.
Activity summary: organizing seminars, inviting/hosting guest speakers.
Contact: Noa Pinter at nmpinter@ucdavis.edu.
Over the past two years the SCB has been coordinating an undergraduate seminar series, where graduate students present a topic in conservation biology each week. Undergraduate students learn a lot about conservation, job opportunities, and science, while speakers get an opportunity to talk in front of a welcoming audience and receive some feedback.
Activity summary: public outreach at local events and conferences
The Davis chapter SCB has held information booths at events like UC Davis Picnic Day and last year's international Society for Conservation Biology conference in San Jose. Volunteers are always needed to man the booth and answer questions. Booth attendants have also sold crafts or tickets to social gatherings in order to raise funds for the chapter. Shy volunteers can still help in the weeks before the event by gathering informational materials and creating posters and brochures for the booth. It's a fun way to meet people and represent your chapter!
Our last chapter booth was at the 2006 international Society for Conservation Biology conference in San Jose! Click here to see pictures!
Elections/Proposition Potlucks
Activities: an excuse to eat good food and educate ourselves on candidates, issues, measures, ballot initiatives, etc. for upcoming elections
Contact: Pete Epanchin at pnepanchin@ucdavis.edu.
Prior to each state or federal election, SCB students get together for the Election Roundtable. Typically one person sign ups for each proposition/measure and gives a brief summary of the pros and cons, which groups endorse/oppose it (both financially and politically), and if they want, how they will vote.
Chapter Activity Summaries (by year)
2004-2005
(Microsoft Word document, 29 KB)
2003-2004
(Microsoft Word document, 24 KB)