the sandhills of santa cruz county

there is a dwindling swath of sandhill habitat in the santa cruz mountains that used to be at the bottom of the ocean. we used to take biology students from ucsc to some of the areas to sieve for shark teeth (usually successfully). the habitat is threatened because historically there have been numerous sand quarries profiting from the unique structure of the sand. as it turns out, the sand around here has a high aluminum content, making it ideal for manufacturing silicone chips for our tech-nation on the other side of the mountains. many mining operations have closed, but the plants and animals that inhabited those areas are not able to out-compete the invasive species that have taken hold. 

however, there are still some areas that are being preserved. one such spot is above a regional park a couple miles from our house, quail hollow. each year the department of fish and wildlife allows the park to lead four tours of fifteen people each into the forbidden sandhills. i had a great fortune this year of getting one of those spots! many of the plants we saw are rare, threatened, or endangered because they are endemic (only grow in this habitat) to the sandhills. such a beautiful landscape...

 an acorn woodpecker granary! how cool is this?! 

the acorns were stashed in holes all the way to the ground.

i'm not exactly sure why no other critter was stealing these!

the whole ponderosa pine was covered!

 fields of silver lupin

 i was too busy taking photos of other flowers to catch

the name of this one (oops!) - perhaps a Clarkia of some sort?

 bonny doon spine flower (endemic & endangered)

 sandhill poppy (distinct species from CA poppy)

 birds-foot fern (endemic)

woolly dandelion

 

 sandhill habitat

catching up: spring in yosemite national park

taking a detour back to april, pete and i, with our friends andrew and jenny, spent a lovely weekend in yosemite hiking around and enjoying the spectacular scenery. 

yosemite falls

on the hike up - and he says he is afraid of heights! ha!

 andrew, jenny, & pete at the top of the falls

 half dome

 post-hike recovery in the meadow

 sunrise on el capitan

the ever picturesque yosemite valley

Kamchatka, Russia

sorry - this took longer than i imagined to get posted. but here we go!

two days after matt and michele got married, i hopped on a plane to petropavlovsk-kamchatsky, russia. thirty six hours and four flights later, our entourage arrived on the kamchatka peninsula, the far eastern bit of the country (just across from the aleutian islands). we were invited on this adventure by wwf (the world wildlife fund) to do a science exchange with students and professors at the kamchatka state technical university. the central government is giving them more freedom to develop courses so they wanted to hear about research and classes in marine ecology, conservation, and fisheries. giving an 80 minute talk with slides in russian and a live translator is definitely something to experience! 

giving my marine conservation lecture - note the translators on the
right in the front; text on the slides is russian; attendees were
listening to the translators through headphones

 university building where our lectures were held

the department has a little museum showcasing many species

of fish from around avacha bay and the bering sea

we arrived wednesday afternoon; figured out logistics on thursday; gave talks on friday, saturday, and monday; and flew out tuesday. whirlwind. we did get a chance to do a bit of exploring around town. the city is nothing to write home about, but the scenery surrounding it is pretty spectacular. we got glimpses of the volcanoes and mountains that surround the town on three sides. we got some fresh snow while we were there as well, which took the industrial edge off the town for part of a day.

 shops near our hotel

garages - that seem difficult to access in the winter

nearly everyone in the town lives in apartments like those shown 

here - hence the rows of garages in the previous photos. 

there are very few houses.

 SERIOUS snow blower. yikes.

 statue of peter and paul - whom the town is named after - 

and the mountains in the distance

 apparently a relatively recent tradition in russia that started in 

st. petersburg.  after getting married, couples affix a lock in a 

public location. all these locks have dates and many with names. this 

is just a subset of them.

 lenin, of course

 the regional government building

 boat house (ocean is just behind me)

 frosty morning

 the industrial port

avacha bay

on our off day, we had an adventure unlike any other i've ever had...we went dog sledding! i was really nervous, but it was fun (even in my dansko clogs). for the little sled we had, it wasn't too different from water skiing, in terms of turning the sled. stopping the dogs, well...that is a different story. but all the dogs were sweet - i wanted to take one of them home with me. they didn't pull too fast because it was warm out for them (32 F). okay by me! we also learned a bit about the native culture around kamchatka and had a delicious reindeer stew to close out the day (yes, the vegetarian just said the reindeer stew was delicious).

 spencer and me (spencer is responsible for getting 

me into this whole russian adventure)

 learning about clothing and cultural practices

 seal boots. they looked really warm!

 dress up - kamchatka style!

 my favorite girl! i wish she fit in my suitcase...

 puppies! one of the few words i learned in russian (outside of hello, thank you, please, etc.) was dog - sabacca. this guy - sabacc-ito. i bet no one ever imagined a mix of russian and spanish. :)

dog sledding!

taking a break to cool the dogs down

although it was a whirlwind, it was a fun trip. i only created one incident when i didn't preweigh my apple at the grocery store. oops. stern russian lady yelling at you in a language you don't understand is a bit intimidating. but i did eventually get the apple. i survived the food scene okay. i brought lots of snacks with me that got me through the hard meals, particularly breakfast. 

most importantly, our talks were well received by the students and the professors and they seemed very grateful. i hope to have a chance to go back in the summer (five hour flight from anchorage!) in the future and see some of the natural wonders that were covered in snow. i mean, my visa is good for three years... :)