From our blogs

Freshwater marshes seen in Google Maps via the interactive maps provided by the Watching Our Watersheds project. Screenshot courtesy SFBWS. Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0.

Watching Our Watersheds is a project to map the creeks, urban drainage network, watersheds, baylands, and points of interest in Santa Clara Valley. You can now download these maps and view them interactively through Google Earth or Google Maps.

You can even compare the waterways and habitats of the late 1800s to their present day configurations. Each map comes with a User's Guide to navigating in Google Earth, and answers to FAQs about the WOW project and the individual layers in the map. The maps cover western, central and southern Santa Clara County and the data is current as of November 2012.

iNaturalist.org - BioBlitz 2012 Map. Screenshot courtesy www.inaturalist.org.

Scientists and naturalists gathered at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge last weekend to document plants and wildlife at the refuge.

Termed BioBlitz 2012, participants at the event uploaded their photos and findings to iNaturalist.org. The website recorded a total of 126 different types of wildlife that were spotted in the 24 hours from 3 PM on October 21 through 3 PM on Oct 22.

To celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week this year from October 14 through October 20, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge is gathering scientists and naturalists on the refuge for another BioBlitz! Meet the experts and see what they do first-hand. Become a field scientist and help the refuge document plants and wildlife, big and small at Refuge Headquarters in Fremont.

The 24-Hour BioBlitz begins at 3:00 p.m. October 20, 2012 and ends at 3:00 p.m. October 21, 2012 at 2 Marshlands Rd, Fremont. A full day’s schedule and more information can be found on the US Fish and Wildlife Service website.

Watershed Watchers Program Coordinator Debra King talks about wildlife and the habitat they depend on during the Habitat Hike. Photograph courtesy SFBWS. Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

This volunteer internship is located at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center in Alviso, CA. The Environmental Education Center provides free programs to schools and the public, while teaching about the local wildlife, conservation, and how to help the environment. The Living Wetlands program is designed to teach about wetlands and the properties of wetlands including watersheds and water conservation. We need a highly motivated individual who has an interest in education and visitor services and will assist in educating, planning, and developing the Living Wetlands program.