Tuesday, December 25th, 2012 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 (133) Contact Elin
Members mingle with Committee Board and staff at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Last March, the Mono Lake Committee brought the Wild & Scenic Film Festival to LA—featuring our film, The Mono Lake Story, in its Southern California premiere. The evening brought together local members, the filmmakers and composer, many of our partners in the area, and Committee Board and staff, all celebrating Mono Lake at (more…)
Sunday, November 11th, 2012 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 (30) Contact Bartshé
For science! Students reach the top of Panum Crater on a chilly November day. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
The temperature was maybe 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun, but the wind made it feel much colder. Students, used to much warmer temperatures, shook off the cold and hiked up one of the Mono Basin’s most dramatic classrooms: Panum Crater.
Friday, July 20th, 2012 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 (91) Contact Arya
For some, half the fun of hiking is the fact that you can wear your favorite worn-out T-shirt with the holes in the shoulders and those faded shorts at the bottom of the drawer. For others, there’s “Trail Chic.”
Trail chic: [treyl sheek] adjective Fashionable while recreating outdoors; stylish: “That is a seriously trail chic outfit.“
Trail chic: [treyl sheek] noun Style and elegance, especially in dress: “Eastside residents have such trail chic.”
Trail Chic: [treyl sheek] the event A fashion show fundraiser for the Committee’s Bus Money Fund to help students get to Mono Lake for outdoor education programs
It’s funky, it’s fun, it’s your friends in a fashion show on a green-carpet runway that you don’t want to miss:
Friday, July 27, 2012 at 7:30pm at the Lee Vining Community Center.
Monday, March 12th, 2012 by Carolyn, Former Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Carolyn, Former Project SpecialistName: Carolyn Weddle Title: Project Specialist About: Graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Environmental Policy, Carolyn loves the outdoors and the Eastern Sierra and is known to make forays in the Nevada hills for further exploration. After spending summer 2011 as a Retail Assistant in the Information Center & Bookstore, Carolyn stayed through winter 2012 as a Project Specialist.See All Posts by Carolyn (22) Contact Carolyn
Lively discussions followed the premiere of The Mono Lake Story at intermission. Mono Lake Committee Board member Vireo Gaines chatted with festival attendees at the Landmark Theater West Los Angeles. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 by Carolyn, Former Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Carolyn, Former Project SpecialistName: Carolyn Weddle Title: Project Specialist About: Graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Environmental Policy, Carolyn loves the outdoors and the Eastern Sierra and is known to make forays in the Nevada hills for further exploration. After spending summer 2011 as a Retail Assistant in the Information Center & Bookstore, Carolyn stayed through winter 2012 as a Project Specialist.See All Posts by Carolyn (22) Contact Carolyn
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 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 (91) Contact Arya
Mono Lake Committee Outdoor Experiences Manager Santiago Escruceria gives everyone a nickname. Beyer High School senior Tom Rydquist’s was “Mr. Muffin.”
In December 2011 the California Museum and Comcast announced that Rydquist won the Northern California Grand Prize in their Dreamers Challenge for a video he produced. His video “Funding the American Dream: Helping California Lead the Way in Water Reclamation” suggests a fee on sewage utilities to create water recycling programs. You can see Rydquist’s video here.
Beyer High School senior Tom Rydquist, left, monitoring water quality at Mono Lake with his classmates. Photo by Santiago Escruceria.
Along with fellow Beyer students from Modesto and their teacher Kay Myers, Mr. Muffin (more…)
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 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 (91) Contact Arya
The Committee’s Outdoor Experiences program began in 1994 with visits from two community-based organizations: Mothers of East Los Angeles, Santa Isabel and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps—who were part of the water conservation toilet retrofit program in LA. Who would have imagined that in 2011 we would host 20 groups from Los Angeles and beyond at the Outdoor Education Center here in the Mono Basin? In the program, participants are empowered through work on personal growth and community-oriented activities to build an understanding and appreciation for the Mono Basin/Los Angeles watershed. Through education programs and muscle-powered recreational activities, participants learn that balanced solutions are possible for (more…)
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 by Santiago, Outdoor Experiences ManagercloseAuthor: Santiago, Outdoor Experiences ManagerName: Santiago Escruceria Title: Outdoor Experiences Manager About: Since Santiago runs the Outdoor Experiences Program, you can usually find him out exploring the Mono Basin with groups of inner city youth from Los Angeles, showing them where their water comes from and the importance of water conservation. He also frequents the County Park birdwalks and the Lee Vining Creek trail with binoculars in hand, and sings the praises of Macs everywhere.See All Posts by Santiago (4) Contact Santiago
The Mono Lake Committee’s Outreach Staff, along with the Outdoor Experiences Program Manager, are gathering in the Los Angeles area to start a two-week visit to local schools and community based organizations in preparation for the 2011 Outdoor Experiences season here at Mono Lake.
Outdoor Experiences students from Urban Semillas enjoy time at Mono Lake last summer. Photo by Rosa Brey.
Every year, the OE staff visits these groups, presents a slide show, and does a “question and answer” period for the groups so that leaders, teachers, participants, and students (more…)
Friday, September 24th, 2010 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 (30) Contact Bartshé
One of the existing buildings at the Cain Ranch complex, home of the Committee's Outdoor Education Center. Site improvements would allow more youth to experience the Mono Basin. Photo by Elin Ljung.
Last week the Mono Lake Committee submitted a grant request to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to complete a Specfic Plan and Environmental Impact Report for an outdoor education center at the Cain Ranch. The site is located near Highway 158N and Highway 395, on property leased from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. The Cain Ranch has been serving students from Los Angeles and California since 1995, (more…)
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 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 (91) Contact Arya
On July 24th the Mono Lake Committee and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly held a fashion show fundraiser for the Outdoor Experiences Program. There was a great turnout for a fun show featuring locals strutting down an astroturf runway in the Lee Vining Community Center.
Trail Chic 2010 models.
Trail Chic is a fundraiser for the Outdoor Experiences program, specifically to raise money for the Bus Money Fund, which helps Los Angeles youth with transportation costs of getting to Mono Lake. Quite often we find school groups, youth groups, and community groups that (more…)
