Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 by Erik, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erik, Project SpecialistName: Erik Lyon Title: 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 at Mono Lake for a third summer as a Project Specialist. At Whitman, Erik finished up a bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Biology in 2012, and returned to his alma mater later that year as a staff member for Semester in the West. When he is not at work, Erik can be found playing guitar, hiking, taking photos, and playing volleyball.See All Posts by Erik (6) Contact Erik
Volunteers count California Gull nests at Mono Lake. Photo by Russ Taylor.
You are on a rocky volcanic island surrounded by an alkaline sea. Your only protection from the high-desert sun is your khaki-colored Mono Lake Committee logo bucket hat. It’s also your only protection against the frenzied California Gulls flying every which way and trying, as you suspect, to whitewash you with an airborne “splat!” (more…)
Sunday, April 28th, 2013 by Erik, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erik, Project SpecialistName: Erik Lyon Title: 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 at Mono Lake for a third summer as a Project Specialist. At Whitman, Erik finished up a bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Biology in 2012, and returned to his alma mater later that year as a staff member for Semester in the West. When he is not at work, Erik can be found playing guitar, hiking, taking photos, and playing volleyball.See All Posts by Erik (6) Contact Erik
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 by Erik, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erik, Project SpecialistName: Erik Lyon Title: 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 at Mono Lake for a third summer as a Project Specialist. At Whitman, Erik finished up a bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Biology in 2012, and returned to his alma mater later that year as a staff member for Semester in the West. When he is not at work, Erik can be found playing guitar, hiking, taking photos, and playing volleyball.See All Posts by Erik (6) Contact Erik
Beginning Friday, May 10, join Mono Lake Committee and California State Parks staff all summer long for free, guided bird walks every Friday and Sunday morning at 8:00am at Mono Lake County Park.
Erica Tucker, left, leads a group of birders at Mono Lake County Park. Photo by Lynette Villagomez.
Bring your binoculars and join us by the parking lot for a leisurely one- to two-hour birding adventure! No reservations are (more…)
Saturday, April 13th, 2013 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Degenhardt Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. When she's not in the office you might find her running with her dogs Dublin and Poco, volunteering with the Lee Vining Fire Department, listening to any music with a banjo in it, or willing the plants in her garden to grow. Her favorite things to do in the Mono Basin include ice skating on nearby lakes, skiing the Mono Craters, and getting to smell the sagebrush when it rains.See All Posts by Arya (97) Contact Arya
It was Friday night at the movies in Lone Pine, and a wonderful and dedicated crowd gathered to watch The Mono Lake Story film. Only, this was not your average movie night.
Setting up for the film showing in the garden. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
It was as unlikely a spot as it was perfect—the Metabolic Studio’s IOU Garden on Main Street in downtown Lone Pine. Yup, right out there on the highway, nestled in between garden boxes bursting with budding strawberries and young onions, we had one of the (more…)
Thursday, April 11th, 2013 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Degenhardt Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. When she's not in the office you might find her running with her dogs Dublin and Poco, volunteering with the Lee Vining Fire Department, listening to any music with a banjo in it, or willing the plants in her garden to grow. Her favorite things to do in the Mono Basin include ice skating on nearby lakes, skiing the Mono Craters, and getting to smell the sagebrush when it rains.See All Posts by Arya (97) Contact Arya
New this year, the Mono Lake Committee Scholarship has a new, and hopefully fun, component that you might not see in other scholarship applications. It starts like this … “Get yourself down to Mono Lake, close to the shoreline. You will need to take some time to be outside with no distractions….”
After taking some time to take in their surroundings applicants are asked to reflect on the question: Why do places like Mono Lake matter? We can’t wait to read the answers, and we hope the students have a good experience in the process (more…)
Saturday, March 30th, 2013 by Bartshé, Education DirectorcloseAuthor: Bartshé, Education DirectorName: Bartshé Miller Title: Education Director About: Bartshé directs the Committee's Outdoor Experiences Program, Canoe Program, and Interpretive Programs, and manages the Mono Basin Field Station. He has been an Eastern Sierra resident since 1993.See All Posts by Bartshé (32) Contact Bartshé
Vesper Sparrow singing in the Mono Basin. Photo courtesy of Bob Steele.
In just two short weeks, registration for the 2013 Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua will open on Monday, April 15 at 6:30am sharp. This is the twelfth year of this popular weekend, and many field trips fill within minutes of registration opening! Make sure you take a look at the draft program and have your field trip and program choices prioritized for registration day. Keep your eye on the website for more updates in the next week.
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin is an EMT on the Lee Vining Fire Department, loves sitting at Latte Da Coffee Cafe immersed in a good book, and watches English Premier League football (soccer) at any opportunity.See All Posts by Elin (147) Contact Elin
After our OCWD GWRS facility tour, the Committee staff had water recycling on the brain. We were fortunate to be able to meet with Evelyn Cortez-Davis, Manager of Water Recycling Regulatory Affairs at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), and two of her staff, Jennifer and Ralph, to continue the recycled water discussion.
Committee staff arrive at DWP's water recycling headquarters in downtown LA. Photo by Elin Ljung.
Since Los Angeles depends largely on imported water sources (like the water that flows from the Mono Basin down the Los Angeles Aqueduct), looking for ways to increase their recycled water capacity is (more…)
Friday, March 22nd, 2013 by Bartshé, Education DirectorcloseAuthor: Bartshé, Education DirectorName: Bartshé Miller Title: Education Director About: Bartshé directs the Committee's Outdoor Experiences Program, Canoe Program, and Interpretive Programs, and manages the Mono Basin Field Station. He has been an Eastern Sierra resident since 1993.See All Posts by Bartshé (32) Contact Bartshé
Imagine 70 million gallons of pure water. This is the total amount of water being recycled each day in Orange County, California. Seventy million gallons of water is 215 acre feet of water a day. Production over a full year totals 72,000 acre feet, which in Mono Basin terms, roughly equals the total annual, average flow of Rush, Parker, and Walker creeks. In terms of supply value, this is enough water to sustain the domestic water needs of 600,000 Southern Californians.
The Mono Lake Committee staff got samples of water treated through the GWRS at the end of our tour---delicious! Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Two weeks ago Mono Lake Committee staff had the opportunity to visit the largest water recycling facility in North America. The Groundwater Replenishment System facility (GWRS) is located in Fountain Valley and is a joint public project by the (more…)
Thursday, March 21st, 2013 by Angie, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Angie, Project SpecialistName: Angie Glaser Title: Project Specialist About: Originally from coastal Southern California, Angie answered the call of the mountains and has spent the past three summers in the Sierra, including one as the Mono Lake Committee's Canoe Coordinator. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara she worked in outdoor education and interned for the National Park Service. When she’s not paddling through swarms of brine shrimp, you can find her backpacking, climbing, or cooking really spicy Thai curry.See All Posts by Angie (24) Contact Angie
Sally Gaines at the reception. Photo courtesy of michelleanddamien.com.
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival—Los Angeles, hosted by the Mono Lake Committee earlier this month, featured a very special reception to honor a very special person. The Committee teamed up with our friends at Barefoot Wine & Bubbly to celebrate Committee co-founder Sally Gaines, one of Barefoot’s seven “Soles of the Year!”
Barefoot has a long history of supporting non-profit organizations, and they took their support one step further this spring when they launched their Soles of the Year program to honor extraordinary individuals, like Sally, who have made a lasting impact in their communities. The reception at the film festival was a great (more…)
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013 by Geoff, Executive DirectorcloseAuthor: Geoff, Executive DirectorName: Geoffrey McQuilkin Title: Executive Director About: Geoff's goals for the Committee are: assuring Mono Lake's continuing protection, restoring Mono Lake's tributary streams, developing a permanent education program, and assuring that the strong tradition of scientific research at Mono Lake continues. A graduate of Harvard in the history of science, Geoff has worked for the Committee since 1992 and was an intern and volunteer before that. He's happy to live close to the lake with his wife Sarah and their daughters Caelen and Ellery.See All Posts by Geoffrey (106) Contact Geoffrey
On Monday, April 1, a group of Los Angeles-area environmental organizations will host a Los Angeles Candidate Forum on the Environment, Transportation, and the Economy. The forum will be held in the Yosemite Hall at the California Endowment from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
In recognition of the connection between the City and its Eastern Sierra watershed, the Mono Lake Committee is an event endorser. With the heated race for LA Mayor garnering lots of press, this is a chance to hear from candidates running for other City positions. The forum will enlist all council district races (districts 1, 3, 6, 7 (more…)
