Past Events
Speaker: Author and wildlife biologist Dr. J. Drew Lanham
On Monday January 31, 2022. The Norris Center for Natural History invited author and wildlife biologist Dr. J. Drew Lanham to speak to the UC Santa Cruz natural history community about the convergence of the environmental and social justice movements. Dr. Lanham spoke about this and other related ideas in his recent essay “A Convergent Imagining”. This event is part of the 50 years of Wonder Events, celebrating 50 years of natural history education at UC Santa Cruz.
See Dr. Drew Lanham's talk here.
Natural History Symposium
On Sunday March 6, 2022, the Norris Center for hosted the Natural History Symposium at the UCSC Arboretum. Undergraduate students gave short talks about their work on different natural history-related projects, participants explored the life at the arboretum on guided tours, and participated in a discussion led by new Environmental Studies faculty member Dr. Natalia Ocampo-Penuela, following her talk, "The invisible naturalist: Mrs. Elizabeth Kerr". In the talk Dr. Natalia Ocampo-Penuela spoke about Mrs. Elizabeth Kerr and how most of her legacy to natural history remained unknown and unrecognized. She told the story of how they found Mrs. Kerr, what her legacy means for Colombian science, and how she served as a role model and inspiration for a modern all-female bird expedition in Colombia, the country with the highest bird diversity globally. A tale of old and modern expeditioners through the lens of a field female ecologist.
Look, Act, Inspire
Look. Act. Inspire: Sustaining & Expanding the Community of Naturalists in Santa Cruz County
Our exhibition was open from Jan - June 2021 focusing on the naturalists of Santa Cruz County. It is now closed but you can check out a the web-version of the exhibit here: https://santacruzcountynaturalists.ucsc.edu/
Associated Look, Act, Inspire Programming:
- If you missed our virtual opening on January 31, here is a link to the recording, and a compilation of the participant's hommages to inspirational Santa Cruz Country nature and naturalists.
- If you missed Christian Schwarz's wonderful first lecture on fire-following fungi, here's a link to the recording.
- If you missed our March 7th event on nature journaling with Jessica Carver, here's a link to the recording.
- If you missed our April 13th event about Randy Morgan's Collections, here's a link to the recording.
- If you missed our May 19th event about Coast Redwoods and Fire with Zane Moore, here's a link to the recording. It is also embedded below.
- If you missed our June 14th event "Hidden Wonders" where Jessica Carver and a team of intern worked to refinish some of Fred McPherson's old videos, you can check out the videos in a playist here.
What Makes Us Human: An Art + Genomics Convergence
November 12, 2020 - June 30, 2021
Featuring art from the Norris Center's Art-Science Residency program, What Makes Us Human is an art exhibit that assembles contributions from researchers at the cutting edge of their fields in the arts, the humanities and the sciences. Learn more here.
