From our blogs

Update on Aug 25, 2016: This position is now filled. Thank you for your interest.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Environmental Outreach Associate position 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.

The Environmental Outreach Associate will be a part-time employee for the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society (SFBWS), a non-profit friends group to the Refuge. The primary mission of SFBWS is to promote public awareness and appreciation of the San Francisco Bay and its natural history, and to conserve and preserve the remaining Bay lands as essential wildlife habitat. Living Wetlands is a program of the City of San Jose Environmental Services Department.

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and REI Outdoor School present The Amazing Refuge Race.

2 Marshlands Rd, Fremont • August 20, 2016 • 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Armed with GPS units, you and your team will “race” against other teams by attempting to complete required challenges on the refuge first. Teams will be given a set of coordinates where they must try to locate using a GPS unit. Once at that location, teams must work together to complete a challenge. When that task is completed, teams will receive the next set of coordinates. Those who complete all challenges and arrive at the finish first wins!

Intrigued? Log on to http://www.fws.gov/refuge/don_edwards_san_francisco_bay or call Carmen at 510-792-0222 ext. 476 for additional information and rules. Don’t have a GPS unit? Borrow one of ours!

Registration is required! You may register up to 5 people for your team. A minimum of 2 people per team. The refuge may place individuals on teams containing fewer than 5 people to ensure maximum participation. Registration deadline is August 17. Go to amazingrefugerace.eventbrite.com or call 510-792-0222 ext. 476 to register. There is no cost to enter.

Dead whale from an algal bloom. Credit National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Les Neuhaus writes in today's New York Times Science section:

In May, a 33-square-mile algal bloom crept over Lake Okeechobee, the vast headwaters of the Everglades. The mess in Florida is only the latest in a string of algal blooms that some experts believe are increasing in frequency and in severity. An immense plume of blue-green algae last September covered a 636-mile stretch of the Ohio River. A month earlier, the city of Toledo, Ohio, warned more than 400,000 residents to avoid drinking tap water after toxic algae spread over an intake in Lake Erie. The vast algal bloom in the Pacific last year was also fed in part by El Niño, the mass of warm water that forms periodically off the West Coast. But longer-term climate change may also be playing a role, some experts say.

By Pam Bierce, USFWS

“It was April Fool’s Day, so naturally my reaction was disbelief at first,” says 16-year-old Stacy Shen, describing her initial reaction to winning Best of Show in the California Junior Duck Stamp Art and Conservation Contest.

Shen’s color pencil drawing of a pair of Ross’s geese was one of over 5,000 entries in the 2016 contest held earlier this spring at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.

“It’s great knowing that I get to pursue my passion while raising awareness and funds for waterfowl and habitat conservation,” says Stacy Shen, 2016 national Junior Duck Stamp winning artist.

However, winning in California was only the beginning for the Fremont, California, native. Shen’s artwork also was selected by a panel of judges to appear on the 2016-17 Federal Junior Duck Stamp, placing first among over 27,000 national entries.