Speaker Series: Vernal Pools

Vernal Pools – Kaleidoscopes of Life

Guest Speaker: Carol Witham

Kaleidoscopes were a favorite holiday gift for children many years ago. They displayed a quickly and constantly changing series of brilliantly colored patterns. The metaphor works for California’s vernal pool landscapes. Carol Witham will help us to explore the short-lived, weird-looking, fascinating fauna that evolved millions of years ago, and dazzling swaths of tens of thousands of tiny flowers that change from week to week through a two- to- three month “season.” This tour of California vernal pools will answer questions such as “what makes a vernal pool” and “why are they found almost nowhere but California” plus explore vernal pools from throughout the state.

Carol Witham is a self-taught vernal pool ecologist and has been studying that ecosystem for over three decades. She is a private consultant specializing rare plants and animals of vernal pools plus their management. Carol is author of Field Guide to the Vernal Pools of Mather Field, Sacramento County and co-editor of Jepson Prairie Preserve Handbook, 3rd Edition. She is also very active in vernal pool conservation advocacy and education.

To Attend

Please RSVP below by 6pm the evening prior. Space is limited. Parking and admission are free, but donations are encouraged ($5-$20 per person recommended).

SVC’s Environmental Speaker Series at Camp Pollock

Join us for a different topic the second Thursday of the month, February through June. Printable flier.

• March 9 – Dr. Michelle Stevens – Bushy Lake: Rising from the ashes
• April 13 – Angela Laws – Gardening for pollinators and protecting pollinators in our communities
• May 11 – Chris Conard – Changes in local bird populations over 25 years (and it’s not all depressing)
• June 8 – Kathy Kayner – Eagles of the American River Watershed