Jake Sigg's Nature News is Now a Blog

Jake Sigg is a local San Francisco legend with a life long history as an environmentalist. His Nature News has been getting emailed out for years, but now he has a blog. His wide ranging interests and eclectic points of view never cease to provide education and humor.

Visit Jake's site at http://naturenewssf.blogspot.com/

The 2010 Great Benicia Tree Science Challenge

Tapping into the Collective Brain Power of Benicia Youth: The Great 2010 Benicia Tree Science Challenge

If the equation above intrigues you, then consider participating in the Great Benicia Tree Science Challenge. The mission of this challenge is to tap into the considerable brain power of Benicia youth to help advance the city wide initiative to enhance and promote the Benicia urban forest. The City of Benicia and the Benicia Tree Foundation are joining together to challenge youth to identify tree species in Benicia. The participant who names the most tree species in Benicia will be eligible to win a fully loaded iPad!

This science challenge is open to students from 5^th to 12^th grades who reside in the City of Benicia. Students participating under the age of 16 must have a parent or guardian present at Arbor Day (October 16, 2010, @ 12:00 p.m.) in order to be eligible to receive the award.

In order to participate, all contestants must register at www.beniciatrees.org/treechallengeregister.  

How to Compete in the Challenge

Entries must be submitted via email to the following email address: beniciatree@gmail.com, and must include the botanical name of the tree in the email subject header. Only one tree species submitted per email.

Each message should include the following:

1. 1 jpeg format digital photo of the tree attached to email - images must be identified by the botanical name.
2. Name of the contestant submitting the entry (must be pre-registered at www.beniciatrees.org/treecontest)
3. Geographic Coordinates of the tree in the following format:

38.057535,          -122.148056

Latitude,            -Longitude

The location of the tree must be within the city limits of Benicia!

4. Botanical (full scientific) name of the tree using binomial nomenclature (Genus & Species).  Example:       

Clematis               alpina                     

(Genus)              (species)            

You may submit as many email entries / tree species as you are able. See an example of a correctly formatted entry at www.beniciatrees.org/species_example. Additional information about how to properly identify a tree or establish the coordinates of a tree are provided at www.beniciatrees.org/treechallenge.

The Great Benicia Tree Science Challenge will run 30 days from 12:01 am on September 15, 2010 to 11:59 pm on October 15, 2010. In order to receive the grand prize, the winner must be present at the Arbor Day Ceremony to be held October 16, 2010, where the winner will be announced.

In the case of a tie, the quality and accuracy of the data submitted, proper spelling and use of scientific nomenclature, and photo quality of submissions made by participants, will be considered deciding factors in selecting the final winner. The final winner will be qualified and announced by a Licensed Arborist who resides in the City of Benicia.

Prior to submitting entries, all participants must register to join the challenge at the following website: www.beniciatrees.org/treechallenge.   

A South Santa Clara County Farm

A South Santa Clara County Farm

The Fuel Film

http://www.thefuelfilm.com/

Excellent!

Bay-Friendly 2010 Landscape Conference

Hello,

In case you haven't already heard, Northern California's premier event
dedicated to sustainable landscaping is coming soon. The 2010 Bay-
Friendly Landscape Conference is scheduled for September 17th, from 8
am to 5 pm in San Francisco.

If you are a professional landscaper, planner, or anyone passionate
about urban gardening & habitat, sustainability, water conservation,
minimizing impact our our watersheds.. . you don't want to miss this
event!!

Keynote address by water guru Brad Lancaster: "Turning Drains into
Sponges and Water Scarcity into Water Abundance."

Other notable speakers include Bob Perry, Pam Peirce, Bill Wilson,
Brock Dolman, and Robert Kourik. The conference features sixteen
exciting breakout sessions focused on the latest practices in
sustainable landscaping, networking opportunities, delicious organic
food, and a Bay-Friendly Marketplace of innovative products,
technology and services.

Register today, space is limited! See attached flyer and our website
for more information: http://www.bayfriendlycoalition. org

Join the Bay-Friendly Coalition and receive a $25 discount.
(Memberships can be purchased online.)

New this year! Pre-conference Tour of Bay-Friendly Rated Landscapes
(September 16th). Join us for a veggie-powered bus tour of Alameda
County to visit some of the finest large-scale Bay-Friendly landscapes
with landscape architect and tour guide Cynthia Greenberg. More
information is available on our website: http://www.bayfriendlycoalition. org

Please forward this message widely. Hope to see you on September 16th
and 17th!

Thank you,

Wolfram

p.s. A limited number of 30% discount tickets are available for
eligible students. Please contact me for more details.

2010 Bay Friendly Landscape Conference to Focus on Water

Now is the time to register for the Bay Friendly Landscaping Conference!

Why attend?

• Bay Friendly certification can help you tap into the expanding market for water conserving landscapes
• Bay Friendly is now expanding to a Bay Area-wide program; not just Alameda County
• Bay Friendly will soon be certifying landscapes as well as landscapers
• Bay Friendly can help local governments address multiple goals of stormwater quality, recycling, toxics reduction, and water conservation
• Bay Friendly has a bright future as the best developed sustainable landscape standard available

Click Here for Information and Registration

Transforming Urban Landscapes to Protect Our Water Resources

Friday; September 17th; 2010
8:00am - 5:00pm
St. Mary's Event Center, CA
Keynote Speaker Brad Lancaster
Register by September 1st to qualify for a smart controller raffle!

 

http://www.bayfriendlycoalition.org/2010Conference.shtml