Since 2020, we have welcomed more than 4,600 students from 56 Bay Area schools on virtual visits. These virtual visits alternate between Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen and Martin Griffin Preserve in Stinson Beach. (Above photo by Liz Martins). 

Students arrive at virtual visits with eager curiosity

Students from the Bridges Academy in Oakland kicked off our fall 2021 season of virtual visits with a good dose of excitement to learn about oak galls, pond life, and more from ACR education staff joining them from the field.

At Bouverie Preserve, we are helping students use their observation skills to compare similarities and differences of two trees and look for signs of animals using the trees for food and shelter. At Martin Griffin Preserve, we explore pond...

The winners of the Second Annual Last House Writing Contest, chosen from more than a dozen essays submitted in youth and adult categories, were announced in early September.

“Once again, we had so many excellent entries our judges had a very difficult job. Writers took to heart our theme this year, which was in the spirit of M.F.K. Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf, to write about the power and magic of survival skills,” said Susie Allen, who manages the programming for Last House.

Nature, gardening, wild animals, and cooking during the pandemic were themes for many writers. Others explored the joy of sharing food and new cooking adventures with loved ones.

The panel of judges, coordinated by food and wine consultant Clark Wolf, included some of the most...

Living with Lions principal investigator Dr. Quinton Martins recently collared four male mountain lions (P24, P25, P30 and P31) in western and northern Sonoma County near Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Cazadero and Geyserville after each was implicated in the killing of a sheep or goat.

The Living with Lions Project is mandated to conduct research on lions in the North Bay and its researchers can monitor lions but not interfere with the management of mountain lions. When a lion-related livestock loss occurs, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) permits our team to collar the animal when granted permission by the landowner. This is a significant step in the right direction for our need to better understand the diet and behavior of lions in our area. If the lion were...

Annual migrations of shorebirds are among the longest treks in the world. Whimbrels are among the most far-reaching, with movements between subarctic and Arctic breeding grounds to non-breeding locations in the southern hemisphere spanning up to 5,400 miles.

Not a simple point A to point B calculation, these annual trips vary in timing, site selection and more. Understanding variation in these traits among populations can help uncover mechanisms driving migratory behaviors and identify potential population threats.

In a study published this month in the Journal of Field Ornithology, ACR Director of Conservation Science Nils Warnock and co-authors set out to discover the nuances in movements of Whimbrels breeding in Alaska, a population that numbers nearly 40,000...