. Banner Image by Gary Hundt

Community Education
Walks, Talks & Classes

May | June

Click here to review our cancellation policy

The Laguna Foundation is proud to collaborate with local biologists, artists, educators, herbalists, naturalists, and partner organizations to offer a wide range of natural and cultural history workshops, walks, presentations, and classes all year long. Whether you’d like to learn a new skill, enjoy the beautiful Laguna scenery, or attend a fun event with your family, the Laguna Foundation has a variety of offerings to deepen your appreciation for the Laguna de Santa Rosa, connect with nature, and inspire a vibrant community dedicated to lifelong learning.

We have canceled most in-person outings and events, volunteer activities, and closed the Laguna Environmental Center to the public until further notice. However, we are adapting to our unprecedented circumstances and are excited to offer new accessible ways to connect to the Laguna from home! See our events listed below and register to participate in our free webinars and other virtual events.

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Most events require a registration fee. These fees cover the cost of our instructors' time, workshop materials, and directly support the Community Education program and the work of the Laguna Foundation. Eventbrite, our registration service, also charges a nominal processing fee for each ticket.
  • We offer select discounts for students and interns. Please email allison@lagunafoundation.org or call Allison directly at xt. 110 to receive your discount code for a Community Education program.
  • All events require pre-registration to secure your place, unless noted otherwise. To register for an event, click on the “Register Now” button below.
  • We frequently post new events, so check our website again soon!

 

May



The Art of Wildlife Tracking: Learning to See Beautifully
Webinar with Meghan Walla-Murphy
Thursday, May 28, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Free, suggested donation $5 - $15. Pre-registration required.

What can the wildlife behavior and movement reveal to us about where we live and our sense of place? Join Meghan Walla-Murphy, wildlife ecologist, writer, and educator, to learn foundational principles of animal tracking and go beyond identifying the critters in your backyard to the nuances of what wildlife can teach us. Through keen observation and listening, the stories of landscape emerge to help us build close, lasting relationships with wild creatures and the land on which we all reside.

Meghan Walla-Murphy has had the great fortune of being able to combine her passions for animal tracking, writing and people into vocations of habitat conservation and public awareness. As an educator, wildlife ecologist and writer of books, essays and articles, Meghan strives to help people connect to their external and internal landscapes through observation and tracking. In addition to a formal academic background, Meghan has had the privilege of tracking across the U.S. and internationally with indigenous cultures who continue to live close to the land. This academic and practical training has given Meghan the ability to meet and unravel some of our most pressing environmental, social, and political challenges from many diverse perspectives. Some of Meghan’s current work projects in California include a habitat connectivity project in Sonoma County and lead of the North Bay Bear Collaborative. In addition, Meghan is faculty in the Natural Resource Management Dept. at Santa Rosa Junior College and an instructor for University CA Master Naturalist Program.

To contact Meghan or read more about her background and work, please visit her website at www.meghanwallamurphy.com

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June



A Match Made in Evolution: Plants and Pollinators
Webinar with Caprice Disbrow, Botanist and Instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College
Wednesday, June 3, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Free, suggested donation $5 - $15. Pre-registration required.

Have you heard about the intimate, million-year relationship between flowering plants and their animal pollinators? Involving nearly 170,000 plant and 200,000 animal species, these relationships have become essential to the survival of natural and modern ecosystems. They present one of nature's most striking examples of adaptation and reveal how these closely associated species have influenced each other’s evolution over time. Tune in to learn about the game-changing role of active pollination over passive pollination, and how this match made in evolution sometimes involves trickery and manipulation. While reviewing coevolution, we’ll look at incredible and ingenious examples of generalist and specialist plant-pollinator mutualisms, the result of which has driven much of the stunning floral diversity we see today!

Caprice Disbrow is a professional botanist and instructor of botany at Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in plant biology from the University of California Davis and her master’s degree in biology from Sonoma State University. Caprice is passionate about the diversity and evolution of California native plants and serves on the board of the California Native Plant Society’s Milo Baker Chapter where she edits the newsletter, serves on the scholarship committee and helps with education, outreach and communications. She enjoys teaching people about biology and ecology and strives to make education accessible to all people.



Laguna de Santa Rosa: Past & Present
Hosted by Irma Cuevas (Sonoma County Regional Parks) and Allison Titus (Laguna Foundation)
Tuesday, June 9, 3:00pm - 3:30pm
Free. Pre-registration required.

Sonoma County Regional Parks and The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation come together to give you a glimpse of the morphing cultural land uses that have taken place at the Laguna de Santa Rosa. This 254-square-mile watershed is pivotal to various neighboring habitats, humans and the flora and fauna of our county. Join us for this informative webinar to explore the changes and revitalization of this amazing watershed.

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Cancellation Policy

If you are registered for an event and need to cancel, please notify us as soon as possible so that others may attend. Cancellations received more than 30 days in advance of the event date will receive a refund minus a $10.00 processing fee. Cancellations made between 30-7 days in advance will receive a 50% refund. We are sorry but refunds cannot be given on cancellations made less than 7 days in advance. Please also note that we often need a minimum number of participants to conduct most events. If the Laguna Foundation needs to cancel the event for any reason, we will notify you as soon as possible (at least 1 day prior to the event) and you will receive a full refund.

Non-Refundable Fee

Events that cost $20 and less are non-refundable (except in case of our canceling for inclement weather or other extenuating circumstances, in which case we will issue full refunds). This is due to administrative costs and processing fees associated with online registration services such as Eventbrite. Thank you for your understanding and for your interest and support of our programs!

For more information, contact Allison Titus, Community Education Program Manager
(707) 527-9277 xt. 110 or by email at Allison@LagunaFoundation.org.

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