Blog Archives - Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Donna Meyers: Board President (former)

Donna Meyers joined the Museum’s Board of Directors in 2011 and has served as Board President since 2014. She brings a wealth of knowledge about natural resource management to her volunteer role on the Board.

Through her company Conservation Collaborative, Donna has worked as a watershed consultant on numerous projects to restore coastal habitats and regional waterways, including the Salinas and Carmel rivers. Previously, Donna served as the Director of Conservation for the Big Sur Land Trust and as the West Coast Regional Water Quality Coordinator for the National Marine Sanctuary Program.

A Sacramento area native, Donna first visited the Museum as a student at UC Santa Cruz, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology before going on to earn a master’s degree in environmental management and planning from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She later joined the Museum as a Member, and for more than 20 years had been enjoying its exhibits and programming when she was approached about joining the Board.

“I just always thought of it as an important community institution,” Donna said, explaining that she has seen the Museum’s relevance increase even more in recent years. “There is more interest in science and natural history in our society these days, and we are starting to fulfill that educational role more prominently. We are just becoming that place where people go to learn about natural history.”

As a woman trained in the sciences, Donna said her dedication to volunteering at the Museum is inspired by its founder, lighthouse keeper and naturalist Laura Hecox, who educated locals and visitors alike about the natural wonders of Santa Cruz more than 110 years ago.

“We are really promoting that legacy of women in science and learning that needs to be maintained and carried forward today,” Donna said. “There is a need to keep people educated in an affordable and accessible way about science and how we manage our resources.”

A 34-year resident of Santa Cruz, Donna also serves as chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission and is an avid hiker and surfer.

August 2017: Volunteers make all the difference

Volunteer docent teaching a group of children

Ever since I was a child, the arrival of August has always signaled that another school year is just around the corner. Here at the Museum, our Education team is leading our last week of Summer Camp and beginning to prepare for this fall’s school programs. Excitement is in the air as we look forward to the return of school groups and our wonderful docent volunteers.

The Museum’s volunteers are among our strongest ambassadors, helping us to foster a love of nature through their enthusiasm for natural history and greatly expanding our capacity to fulfill our mission. This past year we expanded our educational programs, introduced great new gallery experiences and reached over 32,000 children and adults through our programming, exhibits and outreach. That’s a 17% increase in attendance over last year’s record! We honestly could not have accomplished this success without our terrific volunteers. Together they provided us with over 3,600 hours of service; to put that into perspective, a full-time employee works 2,080 hours per year. For our small organization, this support made a huge impact on what we were able to accomplish.

However, the value of our volunteers goes way beyond the number of hours they serve. Volunteers enrich the experience of our visitors and members through their interactions. Our docents (school program volunteers) spark school children’s excitement about the natural world by leading our Ohlone and “Our Animal Neighbors” Museum-based programs and our nature-based school trips in Neary Lagoon and Pogonip. With our specimens and artifacts—as well as local natural spaces like the Museum’s Native Garden—docents facilitate first-hand experiences that bring to life scientific lessons children learn in the classroom. They engage students in dynamic experiences and ignite a greater fascination in the natural world, which we hope will lead to future naturalists, scientists and better-informed citizens.

This hope extends far beyond our school programs; it is nurtured in all of our programming. Our volunteers are important partners in helping us to build strong connections between our visitors and nature. We’re lucky to have folks like Emily Harmon, who has been a leader in our Summer Camps, which end August 4. She is featured in this month’s Faces of the Museum, and personifies how community support can help strengthen our programming.

Similarly, volunteers engage the community by participating in Naturalist Nights, walks and workshops, and our bi-annual Rio Theatre lecture series. These events form the foundation of our public programming, and would hardly be as engaging as they are without volunteers greeting guests, interpreting concepts, highlighting our collections, and providing a host of other support.

We hope you might consider joining our Museum family as a volunteer. We welcome a wide range of folks, from retirees to teenagers and every age in between. Docents must be 18 years of age, but those as young as 12 who are looking for a fun way to serve our community can also help us out. If you have a love of nature and wish to share it with others, please join us for our fall volunteer training. All we require is your enthusiasm and availability—we’ll teach you the rest! Learn more.

Thank you,

Heather

July 2017: Summer Camp = Scientific Adventure

Do you have fond memories of attending Summer Camp as a child? If even just for a couple of weeks, camp often provides a special opportunity to learn as much about ourselves as we learn about nature. Perhaps you swam in a lake for the first time, discovered you were good at arts and crafts, or spotted an animal in the wild that you had only seen in picture books. And, if you were lucky, perhaps you met a few new friends along the way and kept in touch over the years.

Part of what makes Summer Camp so exciting is the chance to travel far away from home to experience places that look, smell and sound different from where we live. But in Santa Cruz County, we are fortunate to be surrounded by the ocean, the forest and other ecosystems that offer endless possibilities for exploring. This summer, the Museum is offering two week-long Summer Camps — Winged and Wild and Can You Dig It? — for budding naturalists in grades Kindergarten through 5^thwho are seeking some scientific adventure in their own backyards. Our campers will explore bird habitats, examine bug species, excavate fossils and rocks, play games and make crafts. The Museum’s education team has put together inventive and interactive opportunities to observe the natural wonders that exist right outside the Museum and at our local state parks and beaches.

While our campers have fun outdoors, the Museum is once again bringing nature indoors for appreciation and contemplation. Building on the popularity of our annual The Art of Nature exhibit each spring, the Museum is launching our first Summer Art Series from July to September. Each month, the Museum will feature a different Santa Cruz artist whose works depict and interpret nature through diverse media. Our three — Marlene Mirrasou (July), Sandra Cherk (August), and Stephanie Martin (September) — will attend free First Friday receptions during the month their works are on display. We hope you’ll stop by, take a look and mingle with the artists.

Additionally, on the day after her First Friday reception, Marlene Mirrasou will host a Cyanotype Workshop on July 8 inside the Museum and in our Native Plant Garden. She will teach us how to make photographs of plants using sunlight rather than our cameras. It’s yet another chance for us all — regardless of age — to simultaneously recreate and learn during these summer months that always fly by too quickly.

See you at the Museum!

Heather

Frank Perry: Laura Hecox Naturalist Award Winner

Frank Perry is an institution within our institution.

Frank’s professional relationship with the Museum dates back to his time as a student at Soquel High School, when a stint as volunteer led to a job during college. Several decades later, we are lucky to still have him today as a freelance exhibit creator and an irreplaceable resource of knowledge about our history and collections.

In June, the Museum presented Frank with the annual Laura Hecox Naturalist Award, which honors our founder’s love of nature. As a naturalist who is as comfortable leading a hike as he is examining fossils, Frank personifies the Museum’s mission of communicating the importance of the natural world.

Frank (center) was given the award by longtime Museum supporter Randy Widera (left) and Museum Executive Director Heather Moffat McCoy (right). In his introduction, Randy said: “Frank has a deep and relentless curiosity that has uncovered and brought to light so much of our natural, as well as cultural, history. To quote Frank, ‘You can’t separate human history and natural history.’ By combining both, Frank uses them as a lens to focus and share his insights and discoveries with all of us.”

After volunteering to catalog fossils at the Museum in his teens, Frank was hired to work the front desk on Sundays. He was employed at the then city-owned museum throughout his college career, first at Cabrillo College and later at UC Santa Cruz, where he earned a degree in Earth Sciences. One of Frank’s professors was Dr. Gary Griggs, the renowned marine sciences researcher who received the first-ever Laura Hecox Award in 2016.

For Frank, building a career around museum life was a natural fit. “As a kid, I loved museums and had my own nature museum at home,” he said.

Eventually, he became the Museum’s unofficial collections manager, learning a great deal from longtime Curator Charles Prentiss. Frank’s first wage was $1.95 per hour.

“I learned about the way things work in a museum, but I also just learned the kinds of things every young person does when they get a job and need to make it in the world,” Frank said. “I learned how to make change, talk to the public and get along with people.”

Frank went on to work for the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco as a curatorial assistant before coming back to Santa Cruz and working most of his career as a freelance exhibit creator for the Museum of Natural History, as well as other museums and park visitor centers in Monterey, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.

As someone who knows the Museum’s collections better than nearly anyone, Frank also was hired in recent years to help the Museum deaccession items determined not to be central to its mission, an ongoing process that has resulted in transferring more than 100 items to the Museum of Art & History and other museums.

Frank became the Capitola Historical Museum’s curator in 2013 and also serves as a member of the Collections Committee of the Museum of Natural History. In September, the Museum will premier a new temporary exhibit by Frank called “Rocks and Waves.”

June 2017: Personifying Our Mission

A museum is many things — it is a keeper of collections and the important stories they hold, a space to explore exhibits with loved ones, and a community center to come together to learn and discover through engaging programs, just to name a few. In our case, it is also a strong team of talented individuals who strive to share its mission every day. I am so proud of the creative and dedicated team of staff and volunteers we have here at the Museum, such as Education Manager Felicia Van Stolk and Museum Programs Coordinator Marisa Gomez (pictured here having fun in the Santa Cruz Naturalist Exhibit.) I hope you will take an opportunity to get to know us better through our Faces of the Museum blog, which this month features our newest team member, Development Manager Ami Davis.

Throughout my two years leading our Museum, I have encouraged my team to expand our programming in new directions, establish and strengthen community partnerships and seek fresh ways to connect our community to nature and fulfill our mission. This month they have outdone themselves!

In June, we will have something for everyone, from compelling adult programs like Dr. Alison Galloway’s talk “Life of the Dead: The Natural History of Human Decomposition” at the Rio Theatre on June 6 to great family friendly events like our free Summer Kick-Off Festival at the Museum and surrounding Tyrrell Park on June 10. We also offering a guided hike of the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve, a Naturalist Night talk on our diverse North Coast, and the opportunity to participate in helping restore Seabright Beach to its pristine glory. In addition, we are starting a new slate of summer camps with a week-long “Future Scientists Camp” in late June through Cabrillo Extension in Watsonville and “Winged and Wild” and “Can You Dig It?” nature-based camps at the Museum in July and August. Whew, the summer is bursting with opportunities to connect to our region’s natural wonders!

This month also marks the end of our wonderful scientific illustration exhibit The Art of Nature. Come by before June 18 to catch this great show — I recommend visiting on June 2 during our First Friday Art Tour event, which will feature scientific illustration demonstrations by exhibit artist Mattias Lanas. First Fridays are a special way to see this exhibit, complete with libations, nibbles and exhibit artists on hand to talk about their inspirations and technique.

I hope you’ll join us on one of these upcoming programs or simply stop by and say hello to our team at the Museum. We’d love to hear from you!

Thank you,

Heather

May 2017: Examining the Historic to the Forensic

With the recent rains, spring is in full bloom and it is a wonderful time to discover new natural beauty all around us. Here at the Museum, our garden is alive with color and the sound of happy pollinators. Each day there is something new to observe. Throughout May and June, our programs are focusing on the natural world through a wide variety of lenses, from the historic to the artistic to the forensic.

We rang in May with the premiere of the new book “Santa Cruz’s Seabright” which chronicles the evolution of the Museum’s neighborhood, whose story has always been intricately tied to the nature around it. We are so grateful to the book’s authors, Randall Brown and Traci Bliss, and the Seabright Neighborhood Association for designating the Museum as the beneficiary of the book’s proceeds. The Museum, which is featured in the book as a longtime Seabright landmark, was proud to host a launch party and reading event at the Museum and we are now selling the book in our gift store.

On May 18, we are offering a new DIY workshop for the green-minded consumer who is interested in pampering themselves with handmade, eco-friendly products. Our Eco-Friendly Workshop & Mixer will be a fun way to create your own bath and body products from organic ingredients while enjoying good company and yummy libations after-hours at the Museum.

As we look to June, we are thrilled to announce our next Rio Theater talk: On June 6, Dr. Alison Galloway, UCSC Professor of Anthropology whose work in forensic anthropology has earned her high acclaim, will give a talk titled “Life of the Dead: The Natural History of Human Decomposition.” Dr. Galloway will explore what happens after death, the intricate ecosystem of insects, bacteria and natural forces that continue to live after a body dies. She will reveal the scientific methods she employs when determining what impact the natural world has on a decaying body and what circumstances may have contributed to the death.

On June 10, we will celebrate the coming of summer with our Summer Kick-Off Festival. Museum admission will be free all day, and Tyrrell Park will be full of engaging activities, live music, and live animal presentations from 10am to 5pm. It promises to be a day of family science-fun both outside in the sunshine and within our Museum galleries.

It’s a great time to be part of the Museum family – with so many upcoming programs to enjoy, there is something for everyone! We hope during our May Membership Drive that you’ll consider renewing your membership or deepening your relationship with us. Please come by and see us soon!

Thank you,

Heather

April 2017: Celebrating Citizen Science

Citizen scientists collecting data in a marine environment

For those of us working at the Museum, there is nothing more satisfying than when we witness someone having an “ah-ha” moment as they learn something new about nature or observe it in action. That sense of discovery and the excitement that comes with a deeper understanding of how the natural world works are the foundational elements of our mission and at the very heart of science itself.

Science is far more than a body of knowledge; it is a dynamic, ongoing process which enables us to piece together many individual observations and tested hypotheses to comprehensively understand our universe – past, present and future. It is a global endeavor that is continually refining and expanding our knowledge of the natural world. Science has no borders; people all over the world participate in science, sometimes even together, adding to our ever-growing understanding.

From April through June, we are celebrating Citizen Science, the growing movement through which scientists and non-scientists alike make observations, collect data and help answer questions about the world around us. Opportunities to participate in citizen science range from citizens independently recording their observations to organized projects led by professional scientists. Projects can involve a single person in a single day to large scale, multi-decade collaborations across the globe. Public participation, particularly projects involving thousands of individuals contributing data, helps answer questions that a single scientist could never tackle alone.

We hope you’ll consider joining us on Earth Day, April 22, and delve first-hand into citizen science with our first BioBlitz along the San Lorenzo River. Together with the Coastal Watershed Council, we are hosting this fun outdoor ecological survey. Participants of all ages will have the opportunity, alongside experts, to identify, observe and document plants and animals living on the water’s edge. Together, we will provide a natural “snapshot” of the biodiversity along a segment of our river. What better way to celebrate Earth Day and science itself than to join us in a community project exploring and documenting the biodiversity of the San Lorenzo.

In addition to our upcoming BioBlitz, our monthly Naturalist Night on April 20 will also focus on Citizen Science. Come meet Alison Young, Citizen Science Engagement Coordinator at the California Academy of the Sciences, as she discusses her organization’s efforts to encourage citizen science up and down the coast. I hope to see you at this inspiring program as we learn more about some of the wonderful project opportunities available in our region.

Thank you,

Heather

March 2017: Exploring the Natural History of Food

Cooking demonstration in the amphitheater

We live in a foodie culture. Intellectual fascination with the ingredients, techniques and traditions surrounding food has exploded in this era of celebrity chefs, farm-to-table restaurants, and highly creative handcrafting of everything from jam to beer. Inspired by this enthusiasm and our regional bounty, the Museum has dedicated public programming in February and March to exploring the natural history of food.

Following February’s Naturalist Night talk on organic farming principles, State Park Ranger Alex Tabone joined Rick Flores, Curator of California Native Plant Collection at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and Associate of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, for a special workshop on native foods and preparations. We were also so grateful to have Chairman Valentin Lopez from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band honor us with his presence and cultural insights. The engaged audience watched demonstrations of the traditional, indigenous methods of preparing manzanita cider, roasted soaproot, roasted grass seeds, and acorn porridge.

March is equally bubbling over with food-related events. We have two Naturalist Nights this month dedicated to further exploring the natural history of food and how we connect to it:

On March 21^st, the Museum is partnering with Mutari Chocolate, to reveal what it takes to make a delicious cup of the ultimate comfort drink, hot chocolate. During the “Bean to Cup” presentation, Mutari’s owners, Katy Oursler and Stephen Beaumier, will educate us about the origins and history of chocolate making. Then they will lead us in a guided tasting of their delicious sipping chocolate!

Then on March 30^rd, the leaders of the Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project — Sierra Ryan, Liz Birnbaum, Jody Biergiel Colclough and Katie Hansen — will bring us up to speed on more than four years of research into the stories behind local foods such as beets, berries and wine grapes. And we’re very excited to welcome the Teen Kitchen Project for a special food demonstration before the talk.

Santa Cruz is synonymous with a menu of culinary delights — from pop-up restaurants to small-batch artisanal foods emphasizing local ingredients. We hope that this month you will join us in connecting to the natural history of some of our favorite foods and seeing them in a whole new way.

Thank you,

Heather

Nancy Lenz: Volunteer

Nancy Lenz, champion of Pilkington Creek, is a veteran volunteer with the Museum.

After retiring to Santa Cruz from Berkeley in 1990, Nancy became connected with the Museum, which is near her home in Seabright. For several years, she did Museum publicity as a volunteer before spending countless hours in the gardens encircling the Museum.

Nancy has learned the names and Ohlone uses of plants such as beach strawberry, pink flowering currant and Indian soaproot that surround our historic building. Volunteers under her watch have recorded 1,200 hours since 2010 working on Pilkington Creek, which flanks the east side of Tyrrell Park, to remove non-native plants.

While the creek and gardens around the building are much improved, there is much more planting Nancy would like to do. “Live each day like it was your last, and garden like you’re going to live forever,” she said, quoting William Kent.

During the last several years, Nancy also has been a docent for the Ohlone Program, which teaches students about native peoples. “I like to see the kids light up and I like that moment when you realize you’re getting to the child sitting quietly in the back of the room,” she said. “That is really worthwhile.”

Anyone interested in supporting the efforts to restore Pilkington Creek, to work in the garden around the Museum or to co-lead our Ohlone Programs, please contact the Museum at volunteer@santacruzmuseum.org.

February 2017: Honoring Our Founder and Knowing Our History

Natural history museums are as much about the past as they are about the future.

It’s difficult to fully appreciate the present or contemplate the future without an understanding of our history. That’s one reason among many I was so grateful for the community’s participation in a day of remembrance and service in honor of our founder, lighthouse keeper and naturalist Laura Hecox.

On Sunday, January 29^th, on what would have been Laura’s 163^rd birthday, two dozen community members and Museum supporters joined Hecox relatives to celebrate her memory by dedicating a new headstone at her final resting place. Bill and Brigid Simpkins of Santa Cruz generously donated the headstone depicting the lighthouse and crashing surf where Laura spent most of her life.

Cynthia Chase honors our founder At Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery, Mayor Cynthia Chase read a proclamation from the City of Santa Cruz designating January 29^th as Laura Hecox Day. And I had the opportunity to talk about the love Laura had for the natural world, collecting shells, and other specimens and artifacts that formed the basis of our Museum, which opened in 1905 while she was still our city’s lightkeeper. Laura’s life served as inspiration for the Santa Cruz Naturalist exhibit that opened in June 2016, the first new permanent addition to the Museum’s galleries in over 20 years.

Clean-up in Lighthouse Field After the graveside ceremony, the Museum led a clean-up project in Lighthouse Field. Laura moved to Lighthouse Field at age 15 when her father assumed the role of the first lightkeeper of the then-new Santa Cruz Lighthouse. She took over her father’s position after his death and continued in that role through most of her life, living in the original lighthouse. Today, in its place, the Mark Abbott Lighthouse now guides vessels around Lighthouse Point. But the field across from West Cliff Drive remains open space full of opportunities to explore. About three dozen volunteers collected over 100 pounds of trash from the field, which was a particularly fitting way to honor Laura and her commitment to stewarding the natural world.

The curiosity and appreciation of nature that defined Laura’s life also informs our desire to be forward-thinking about the future of our environment. Just 10 days before Laura’s birthday, the Museum was delighted to host a sold-out event at the Rio Theatre featuring renowned UCSC geologist Gary Griggs, whose riveting presentation titled “Perils in Paradise” explored Santa Cruz County’s history of and vulnerability to natural disasters.

Doctor Griggs lectures on the geology of Santa Cruz Dr. Griggs captivated the 550-member audience with an engaging overview of geological processes and a historical look at the most impactful natural disasters of our region, one where earthquakes, landslides, floods, fires and other calamities are an ever-present danger. As several storms wreaked havoc across the county on local cliffs, tributaries and roads, Dr. Griggs’ presentation served as a timely reminder that landmark events such as the 1955 and 1982 floods, or the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, have long shaped our region and that we cannot control nature. That’s a key reason the Museum exists — to share an understanding of the awesomeness of nature and inspire stewardship of it.

Looking ahead to the spring, we have many opportunities to connect our community to nature in innovative, meaningful ways. In February and March, we will offer several events celebrating the natural history of food. And in April, we will launch our first-ever Spring Camp and welcome back the popular The Art of Nature scientific illustration exhibit. More can be found about our upcoming programming and exhibits on our website.

I hope you will join me at some of these exciting opportunities in the coming months.

Thank you,

Heather