Monarch Conservation in the Central Sierra

Higgins Fire Station 23 
Grass Valley, California
Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

Please join The Xerces Society and the Nevada County RCD to learn more about western monarchs, milkweed, and how you can get involved in current conservation efforts.

The workshop will be broken into a classroom and field session.  We will begin with a morning classroom session at the Higgins Fire Station 23.  After that we will head to the Barhydt Ranch (0.5 miles from the fire station) for lunch and a field session where we will search milkweeds for adult and immature monarchs, and talk about habitat restoration practices.

INSTRUCTORS

Emma Pelton, Endangered Species Conservation Biologist, The Xerces Society   Emma is a Conservation Biologist with the Xerces Society whose work focuses on the conservation of the Western population of monarch butterflies. She has a Master's degree in Agroecology and Entomology and experience working on the conservation of rare species of butterflies, bats, and snakes.

Angela Laws, Monarch and Pollinator Ecologist, The Xerces Society  Based in Sacramento, CA, Angela is working on habitat restoration for pollinators and monarch butterflies in the Central Valley.  Angela has over 15 years of experience studying arthropods in grassland habitats, including studies of how climate change can affect species interactions.  She received a M.S. in Ecology from Utah State University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Notre Dame.

Kathryn Prince, Farm Bill Pollinator Conservation Planner, The Xerces Society  Kathryn Prince is a pollinator conservation planner and partner biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. She works on beneficial insect projects throughout central California, and is based in Madera County.

Bonnie Bradt.  Bonnie holds a BS in Zoology and an MS in Entomology from UC Davis. Following that, she worked for over 40 years as a research scientist, mostly in biochemistry research labs. She has authored or co-authored 28 scientific papers and two book chapters. She joined the Master Gardeners in 2005 and gladly became the group’s resident entomologist. She has given public workshops and presentations for many years, mostly on entomology-related subjects.

Jack Rice, Associate Counsel at the California Farm Bureau Federation  Jack is a Senior Counsel of the California Farm Bureau Federation, where he focuses on environmental matters, with a particular focus on water and endangered species issues. Jack grew up in agriculture, maintaining those roots with a hay and cattle operation in Humboldt County and a grassfed beef business. He is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and UC Davis School of Law.

Laura and Dave Barhydt, Rancher  The Barhydts have been raising cattle in Nevada county since 1980. They purchased a second ranch in 2013 after leasing the land for several years. Dave is a board member with Nevada County Farm Bureau and Nevada County Resource conservation district and currently serves as District 15 director for California Farm Bureau Federation.  Laura is a board member of the Placer Nevada Cattlewomen and is a member of Nevada County Ag Advisory Commission.

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