Could these Wilson's Phalaropes be a few feet from a shadow biosphere?

Last week the Royal Society in London hosted a discussion meeting about the detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society. During the symposium/discussion Dr. Paul Davies (University of Arizona) presented a webcast lecture The eerie silence: are we alone in the universe? In this webcast he discussed the progress of SETI and the continuing, albeit thus far, quiet search for intelligent life beyond earth. But what of any (more…)

The complete listing of 2010 Field Seminars is now online. Registration for Field Seminars for Mono Lake Committee members begins on February 1 (already a member login here, become a member now here). Open registration begins on March 1. It’s time to begin making your summer and fall Field Seminar plans!

How do you find the listing of seminars? There are three ways to get there:

—Navigate to the Field Seminar page by mousing over “visit” at the top of the page. Click on “things to do” in the menu that drops down. Then click on “click here for the full list” under the Special Field Seminars heading on that page.

—You can also go straight to the Field Seminar page from the Mono Lake Website’s home page. Just click on this button on the right-hand side of the page:

—Also, as you navigate through the Mono Lake Website, you’ll see this ad on the right-hand side of most pages. You can click on it to go straight to the seminar page!

Scheduling is nearly complete for the Mono Lake Committee’s 2010 Field Seminar series … with nearly 20 weekend classes confirmed so far! Field Seminars explore aspects of the Mono Basin’s natural history, provide budding artists and photographers with expert instruction, and offer members and visitors a chance to delve deeply into subjects of their choice.

Sneak peek for 2010: the (more…)

OE Instructor Hillary Behr explains tufa formation to a group of Los Angeles Infrastructure Academy students.

This update comes to the Mono-logue from Hillary Behr, one of the Mono Lake Committee’s Outdoor Experiences Instructors:

The 2009 Outdoor Experiences season has been going strong all summer! It is the first season here for both me and my co-worker Logan Parsons and we are finding the program very fun and rewarding. I drove out to the Mono Basin from New Hampshire this spring and am still trying to get used to the stunning Sierra and vast open spaces of the west. As I get to know this place, it keeps opening up to reveal more and more beauty and mystery.

Two groups in particular have really blown us away as far as the maturity and attitudes of the students. Both were part of a program called Generation Power. All the students attended the Infrastructure Academy, a school sponsored by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) that prepares students for jobs in city infrastructure.

Generation Power students are chosen from their class to work for DWP performing water audits in Los Angeles Unified School District. Since they are already involved (more…)

Instructor Mark Bagley leads the 2008 wildflower seminar through fields of desert blooms. Photo by Elin Ljung.

There’s still room in the Great Basin Wildflowers, Plants, & Habitats field seminar (June 12-14)—reserve your space today!

I recently walked along the Lee Vining Creek Trail and saw a beautiful preview of budding flowers: fragrant desert peach, yellow bitterbrush blossoms, a few bright paintbrush, and (more…)

South Tufa tours are a great way to learn about Mono Lake! Photo by Greg Reis.

South Tufa tours

Weekend tours are currently happening on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00 pm; meet at the South Tufa kiosk/parking lot. Daily tours begin on May 23 at 1:00 pm at the same location.

Bird walks

Sundays and Fridays; now through September 6. Meet at the Mono Lake County Park parking lot at 8:00 am.

See the Calendar of Events for details. The Mono Lake Committee operates under a permits from the Inyo National Forest and the California Department of Parks & Recreation.

I had a good day Sunday, March 22, representing the Mono Lake Committee at March for Water, the Los Angeles celebration of World Water Day. It was organized by Miguel Luna, (Executive Director of Universidad del Agua, Urban Semillas, and several other organizations), and featured David Nahai (DWP General (more…)

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) has committed $10,000 to underwrite transportation and scholarships for more students to participate in Mono Lake Committee’s Outdoor Experience Program (OE). Thanks to WRD’s support, more students will be able to experience Mono Lake and see how solutions work in balancing the water needs of people and their watersheds. OE is (more…)

Starting today, all 2009 Mono Lake Field Seminars are available to view online here. The Committee has put together a series of 20 different seminars on topics ranging from (more…)

4. The Los Angeles Water Plan (more…)