Day

October 5, 2017
05
Oct

Profile – Emily Koller

“The best place for our students to learn about the environment is in their own community.” Emily Koller, who has been teaching conservation and environmental science to fifth graders at Bahia Vista School in San Rafael, works with Point Blue Conservation Science’s STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed) to restore a section of wetlands in the student’s own backyard.
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05
Oct

Sturgeon Surgeons

“White sturgeon are a popular species, so we want to keep a close eye on contaminants in their tissues.” Recent RMP studies have unearthed a few new interesting things about sturgeon - first that selenium keeps turning up in specimens from certain areas, and second that testing may not have to be deadly. Growing up to 20 feet long and living up to 100 years, today’s living fish have become valuable for the stories that they tell.
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05
Oct

Toxic Summer for Sea Lions

The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito is wrapping up a busy summer. A potent neurotoxin called domoic acid, propagated by toxic algal blooms, poses a threat to California sea lions. Originally called “Amnesiac shellfish poisoning,” domoic acid targets the hippocampus and can have devastating effects on sea lions.
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05
Oct

Indecision Point

The Delta Stewardship Council was created in 2009 but given no say over a pending dual tunnels plan. The state was pushing a grand program called the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan. However, the BDCP was abandoned in 2015 in favor of two new, independent programs: EcoRestore and California WaterFix (popularly known as the twin tunnels). Rather than adopt a new policy on conveyance, the council has simply framed its discussion of the tunnels as another recommendation.
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