Saturday, December 29th, 2018 by Geoff, Executive DirectorcloseAuthor: Geoff, Executive DirectorName: Geoffrey McQuilkin Title: Executive Director About: Geoff's goals for the Committee are: ensuring Mono Lake's continuing protection, restoring Mono Lake's tributary streams, developing a permanent education program, and ensuring 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, Ellery, and Cassia.See All Posts by Geoffrey (158) Contact Geoffrey
Photo courtesy of John Dittli.
The Mono Lake Committee celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. What started out as a handful of shaggy biologists has grown into the organization we are today—you, me, every single member, together.
Together we’ve been advocating for the Mono Lake ecosystem for more than half of the years that the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has been exporting water from the Mono Basin.
Together we’ve engaged in a full slate of restoration, protection, education, and science projects—building on the victories of the past and laying the foundation for a sustainable furture for Mono Lake.
We are only able to continue this work thanks to donations from each and every one of the Mono Lake Committee’s 16,000 members. I hope you will consider making a year-end donation to keep this work going strong. Making a donation is quick and easy—click below or give us a call at (760) 647-6595. Thank you!
Tuesday, December 25th, 2018 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Harp Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter and the Mono Lake Calendar. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. 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 (204) Contact Arya
Wishing you joy, peace, and plenty of snow this holiday season…
…from us here at Mono Lake to you, wherever you are.
Wednesday, December 12th, 2018 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Harp Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter and the Mono Lake Calendar. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. 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 (204) Contact Arya
The 2018 Mono Lake Committee Annual Report is now available! Cover photo courtesy of Richard Erb.
The report is full of photos of the Mono Lake Committee in action in our focus areas of protection, restoration, education, and scientific research. It also has the Committee’s (more…)
Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 by Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorName: Andrew Youssef Title: Digital Engagement Coordinator About: A graduate of Vanderbilt University and a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Andrew came to the Sierra to volunteer in Tuolumne Meadows in 2014. He fell in love with the area and began working at the Committee as a Mono
Lake Intern. Today he combines his passions for education and the environment by working in all of the Committee's program areas on everything from organizing the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua and Field Seminar programs to creating social media and video content to editing the
Mono Lake Newsletter. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing at Lee Vining Creek, paddling on Mono Lake, hiking in the High Sierra, and skiing wherever there is snow.See All Posts by Andrew (74) Contact Andrew
This year, to commemorate the Mono Lake Committee’s 40 years of protection, restoration, and education work in the Mono Basin, we created a guestbook for visitors to sign in the Information Center & Bookstore. Visitors from around the world signed their names and shared their favorite Mono Lake moments. In fact, visitors from 21 countries, 24 US states, and 139 different cities signed the guestbook this summer.
Be sure to sign the guestbook and share your favorite Mono Lake moment the next time you’re in Lee Vining.
Reading through each entry, it’s clear how much Mono Lake has made an impact on all who have visited. One visitor wrote about (more…)
Tuesday, November 27th, 2018 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 grew up in on California's Central Coast dreaming of the two weeks each summer that her family would spend in the Eastern Sierra, and as soon as she graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 she moved to Mono Lake full-time. She prefers to travel at high speed on either telemark skis or a mountain bike, or be completely still, immersed in a good book.See All Posts by Elin (368) Contact Elin
We are astounded.
Just as every drop of water helps Mono Lake rise, donations of any size help keep the Mono Lake Committee’s work going strong.
In an incredible outpouring of support, you helped us reach our Giving Tuesday fundraising goal. Together with our challenge-match we’ve already raised $13,000 for Mono Lake.
If you haven’t had a chance to give today, it’s not too late to add your drop!
Sunrise at Mono Lake this morning. Photo by Andrew Youssef.
Thank you—for stepping up, pitching in, joining us for sunrise, sharing your love of Mono Lake, and for supporting protection, restoration, education, and science at Mono Lake with your donation too.
Monday, November 26th, 2018 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Harp Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter and the Mono Lake Calendar. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. 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 (204) Contact Arya
It’s the Mono Lake Committee’s 40th anniversary, so for Giving Tuesday we thought raising $4,000 for Mono Lake would be pretty clever.
But then an even-more-clever, anonymous donor challenged us to raise even more … $6,392 to be exact.
6392 feet above sea level is the management lake level—one of the Committee’s top goals. So now we’re extra motivated to raise the additional funds—for protection, restoration, education, and science at Mono Lake.
Tuesday, November 20th, 2018 by Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorName: Andrew Youssef Title: Digital Engagement Coordinator About: A graduate of Vanderbilt University and a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Andrew came to the Sierra to volunteer in Tuolumne Meadows in 2014. He fell in love with the area and began working at the Committee as a Mono
Lake Intern. Today he combines his passions for education and the environment by working in all of the Committee's program areas on everything from organizing the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua and Field Seminar programs to creating social media and video content to editing the
Mono Lake Newsletter. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing at Lee Vining Creek, paddling on Mono Lake, hiking in the High Sierra, and skiing wherever there is snow.See All Posts by Andrew (74) Contact Andrew
In celebration of the Mono Lake Committee’s 40th anniversary, this year for Giving Tuesday, our goal is to raise $4,000 to jump start the next 40 years of our work at Mono Lake.
Beginning today, until midnight on Giving Tuesday (November 27), all donations will be matched, dollar for dollar. With your support, we can do more to ensure the protection of this unique place for future generations.
Monday, November 12th, 2018 by Sally, Board of DirectorscloseAuthor: Sally, Board of DirectorsName: Sally Gaines Title: Chair, Board of Directors About: Sally was a co-founder of the Mono Lake Committee in 1978, and now serves as Chair of our Board of Directors. She wanted to save Mono Lake for the animals—from the diatoms to the birds on the shore, in the water, on the wing. An avid swimmer, Sally often visits the Committee after taking a dip in Mono Lake. She now lives south of Mono Lake with her husband Rick and is an accomplished amateur triathlete.See All Posts by Sally (3) Contact Sally
Editor’s note: To celebrate the Mono Lake Committee’s 40th anniversary in the Newsletter, Sally Gaines, co-founder and Board Chair, is writing a series of reflections on the past, present, and future of the organization.
Even if I squint or put on my reading glasses, most aspects of the future are impossible to foresee, as if the crystal ball is clouded with brine shrimp like the aquarium in the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore.
Everyday technology and style is already beyond my understanding. Genetic engineering on plants, animals, and humans is a big unknown as is artificial intelligence, for just a couple examples. What is clear to me is that everything the Mono Lake Committee does today is with the future in mind. (more…)
Friday, November 9th, 2018 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 grew up in on California's Central Coast dreaming of the two weeks each summer that her family would spend in the Eastern Sierra, and as soon as she graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 she moved to Mono Lake full-time. She prefers to travel at high speed on either telemark skis or a mountain bike, or be completely still, immersed in a good book.See All Posts by Elin (368) Contact Elin
At the 40th anniversary storytelling roundtable held during the Defense Trust Weekend, listening to Sally Gaines, Martha Davis, Geoff McQuilkin, and Peter Vorster reminisce about the early days of the Mono Lake Committee, I had a sudden, clear thought:
The roundtable was held at the brand-new Pioneer Solar Pavilion in Hess Park, a project brought to life by the (extra) ordinary people of Lee Vining, who believe in a better future for Mono Lake and all who love it. They’re defending the public trust.
During the early days of the Committee’s efforts to save Mono Lake, even before the legal argument that the lake should be protected for the public good was articulated, Sally and David and the other founders were defending the public trust. (more…)
Wednesday, September 19th, 2018 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Harp Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter and the Mono Lake Calendar. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. 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 (204) Contact Arya
Join us for a reading and book signing with Naming Mt. Thoreau editor Laurie Glover and contributors Gary Snyder, Tom Killion, Kim Stanley Robinson, and more!
• 2:00pm on Sunday, September 30, 2018
• at the Lee Vining Community Center
• free and open to the public
• books by the authors will be for sale, and all proceeds from the event support the Mono Lake Committee’s work
The new book, Naming Mt. Thoreau, is edited by Laurie with contributions from Michael Blumlein, Dick Bryan, Darryl DeVinney, Hilary Gordon, Tom Killion, Paul Park, Kim Stanley Robinson, Carter Scholz, Gary Snyder, Christopher Woodcock, and David Robertson. (more…)
