_____________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, March 12, 2025, 7:00pm
Doors (with refreshments) at 6:30PM
San Francisco Bay Environmental History
Speaker: David Schmidt
Live at the Southeast Community Center, San Francisco
San Francisco Bay Area: An Environmental History is a sweeping and richly detailed account of how one of the world’s most ecologically diverse regions has been shaped over millennia by natural forces and human hands. It gives readers a lens to understand not only the Bay Area’s past, but also the ecological and cultural choices that will shape its future. With 20 thematic chapters covering fire and flood, species extinction and resilience, urban expansion, and restoration efforts, the book sheds light on both ecological losses and the resilience of cultural traditions. It is written for students, educators, naturalists, and anyone seeking to understand how the Bay Area became what it is today.
David D. Schmidt is a historian, writer, and researcher whose work explores the intersections of ecology, history, and culture.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, April 9, 2025, 7:00pm
Alice Eastwood, a Talk
Speaker: Rebekah Kim, California Academy of Science's Head Librarian
On-line, Zoom registration required (link here)
Alice Eastwood was the Academy's curator of Botany from 1893 until 1949, when she retired at 90. Eastwood is a beloved and cherished Academy figure best known for her heroic efforts in saving collections during the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. See how a high school graduate from Colorado became a world-renowned botanist with her intellect, curiosity, and charming personality.
In her career, she grew the Botany collection to 350,000 specimens and was involved in over 300 scientific publications. In her personal life, she had friends from around the globe. Her influences expanded beyond the Academy, from the plants in Golden Gate Park to the creation of the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the San Francisco Garden Club, and many more plant-loving groups.
Come and hear about Alice, the botanist, dear friend to many, intrepid explorer, clever seamstress, investor, librarian, and so much more.
Rebekah Kim is the Head Librarian at the California Academy of Sciences for the past 8 years. As the Head Librarian she oversees the Academy's library and archives and often talks about the Academy's history. Previously she has worked in other Bay Area institutions such as Dolby Laboratories, Google, the Computer History Museum, the GLBT Historical Society and The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In these roles, she helped capture Google’s early history, assisted the production team for the movie “Milk” (2008, directed by Gus Van Sant) and processed physical and digital archival materials from the dawn of the computing age.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Mark your calendar!
Thursday, July 9, 2026, 7:00pm
From crisis to conservation: Empowering action for biodiversity
Tejon-Ranch-2-Nick-Jensen
Speaker: Jun Bando
Live event, venue to be determined
We are living in extraordinary times that can challenge our ability to feel hopeful about the future. To meet this moment, California Native Plant Society has launched two ambitious multi-year biodiversity campaigns: a conservation campaign focused on saving native plants in their natural habitats, and an urban biodiversity campaign that aims to transform the built environment with native plants. In this talk, we’ll discuss the virtuous cycle of hope and action, and where the native plant movement can have the greatest impacts, now and for future generations.
Dr. Jun Bando is the executive director of the California Native Plant Society, a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 13,000 members, 35 volunteer-led chapters, and a statewide staff based in Sacramento. She earned her Ph.D. in ecology from UC Davis and her professional background includes work in public policy, higher education, foreign affairs, and national security.
Video of past speaker programs can be found on our Yerba Buena YouTube Channel
We're pleased to share video links of Susan Karasoff's (CNPS-YB Outreach chair) popular gardening series with the San Francisco Public Library
Colorful Year Around Gardening with San Francisco Native Plants
Shrubberies, Wind Screens and Ground Covers
Succulent Gardening with Kipp McMichael
Children’s Gardens with San Francisco Native Plants