Thursday, August 9th, 2012 by Erik, Mono Lake InterncloseAuthor: Erik, Mono Lake InternName: Erik Lyon Title: Mono Lake Intern About: Erik first visited the Mono Lake Committee in September 2010. He learned about the lake's natural and political history as a participant of Whitman College's "Semester in the West," a hundred-day-long environmental field studies program focused on the politics, ecology, and writing of the American West. He quickly took great interest in water policy and hydrology, and is excited to be back for a second Committee internship to continue to learn about water in his home state of California. At Whitman, he finished up a bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Biology in 2012. When he is not at work, Erik can be found playing guitar, hiking, taking photos, and playing volleyball.See All Posts by Erik (2) Contact Erik
When was the last time you watched a movie on VHS? I can’t remember either.
The Mono Lake Committee’s media library is filled with VHS tapes, cassettes, and a number of other outdated formats. Until recently, the tapes sat unloved in boxes on the library floor, and we could view virtually nothing in our media library. Fortunately, Dan McConnell of local television station Mammoth Channel 72 volunteered to help us (more…)
Tuesday, August 7th, 2012 by Rosanne, Office DirectorcloseAuthor: Rosanne, Office DirectorName: Rosanne Catron Title: Office Manager About: Originally from Bishop, Rose's easy-going, friendly personality make her perfectly suited for her role as Office Director. Rose creates the complicated bookstore schedule, oversees the intern and volunteer programs, and keeps office relations smooth and happy.See All Posts by Rosanne (34) Contact Rosanne
On Friday, August 3, community members, friends, and Mono Lake Committee staff and members gathered to celebrate the re-opening of the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore storefront. The improvements, made possible in part by a generous bequest from longtime Committee member Grace de Laet, were three years in the making, with many decisions, large and small, to make along the way. Let’s take a look at the remodel process and some pictures of our new storefront.
In July 2010, Mono Lake Committee staff met with architects Siegel & Strain to brainstorm ideas for the new storefront. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (9) Contact Erica
Six of us are packed into a small motor boat, laden with kiddie gates, cardboard boxes, and a crate of old sheets. We are reviewing the strategy of our siege as we cross to Twain Island—move quickly, stay low, don’t stop. We are preparing to band California Gull chicks in several research plots on the small islands east of Negit Island in Mono Lake, a monitoring project that started in 1983.
California Gull chicks in a banding corral with the Krakatoa Island basecamp in the background.
By capturing the chicks in small plots that are surrounded by 2-foot-high chicken wire fences, we can examine the birds and extrapolate information on their health and reproductive success. In addition, hopefully the bands we fasten to the chicks’ legs will be seen in the future, allowing us to learn more about these gulls’ migration and nesting. (more…)
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 by Morgan, Policy CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Morgan, Policy CoordinatorName: Morgan Lindsay Title: Project Specialist About: Morgan works to support the protection and restoration of Mono Lake and its tributary streams in the office and out in the field. She loves doing something different every day, from monitoring the lake's rise and groundwater patterns along the creek's bottomlands to researching policy issues. But after three summers sharing Mono Lake with visitors by canoe, Morgan's favorite job will always be making new friends for the lake. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College with an Environmental Studies degree in Water Science & Policy, there is nowhere Morgan would rather be than the Mono Basin. If she's not out hiking, skiing, or digging in the dirt with the Sierra Bounty CSA, Morgan's probably at rehearsal for the next Eastern Sierra theatrical adventure—eager for any socially acceptable excuse to sport a goatee.See All Posts by Morgan (33) Contact Morgan
Policy Coordinator Morgan Lindsay leads Committee staff on a tour of the rock fall project area. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
The California Department of Transportation has released plans for a highway project next to Mono Lake. The project will address rock fall issues for six slopes just north of Lee Vining on the west side of Highway 395. Careful readers of the Mono Lake Newsletter may be familiar with this new CalTrans rock fall project. You can read the complete back story on page 10 in the Summer 2012 (more…)
