Programs

Unless otherwise noted, these events are held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, 5001 Pennsylvania Ave. (off 55th St. between Arapahoe and Baseline) and begin at 7:15 PM.

(Currently, it's )

• Tuesday, February 21, 7:00 pm (6:30 for Chinese tea and treats), at Meadows Library: Jan Chu and Friends, "Observing the Giant Panda and Flying Squirrel, Butterflies and Birds of China in their Wild Habitats"

  Join Jan and some of the friends that joined her on a 17-day trip to the Qinling forests and Tibetan Prefecture of China. See beautiful photos and feel like an explorer as you visit these wild ecosystems.

  Jan Chu has traveled extensively in China and is familiar with both its customs and ecology. She also taught high school Biology for 38 years and has conducted butterfly population studies on Boulder County open space for 10 years. Since 1983 she has organized the annual Fourth of July Butterfly Count at the Cal-Wood Education Center.

  NOTE: Special location - Meadows Library is located in the Meadows Shopping Center at Foothills and Baseline, around on the back side of the shopping center.
  
  5-18-2011 Foping Nature Preserve, San Guan Miao,Qinling Mountains, China
  Photo by Jan Chu's camera
  Tracker, Guide Raul, Burt Pattee, Amy Chu, Paul Opler, 300 yr old Buddha statue, ASA Hurst, Joyce Gellhorn, Thea Pyle, Evi Buckner-Opler, Mardy Harrold, Mary Jane Howell, Rich Scully, Leslie Hopf, Jean Morgan, Jeremy Hurst, Bob Pyle, Jan Chu

• February 28: Arvind Panjabi, RMBO, "Birds of Two Worlds: The Mexico-Colorado Connection"

  Twenty-nine of 34 grassland-dependent species that breed in the western Great Plains overwinter in the limited grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert. This globally important region, two-thirds of which lies in Mexico, is less than 15% grassland, and only a fraction of that is suitable for most grassland specialists. Many Chihuahuan Desert grasslands have been radically altered through grazing and cropland agriculture. Since 2005, more than 150,000 acres of desert grassland were converted to irrigated agriculture in central Chihuahua alone, much of it illegally. Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory is cooperating with Mexican and U.S. NGOs, universities, government agencies, and joint ventures to develop and implement plans for protecting these beleaguered grasslands and their unique community of birds. Their actions offer hope for conserving this critical habitat while also increasing sustainability of farming and other economic activities.

  Arvind Panjabi is the International Program Director for Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory. His research focuses on distribution and conservation of breeding and migratory birds throughout the Rocky Mountain West and Northern Mexico.

  
  
  
• March 27: David Buckner, "Why Grassland: A Discussion of Why Grasslands Exist and How They Evolve and Change"
  

  Beyond the standard explanation that grasslands exist where it is too dry for trees, lie very important factors that are often overlooked. Dave will explore those factors while offering a new approach to understanding grass-dominated landscapes. He'll look at local examples and also explore how plants and animals participate in grassland dynamics.

  Dr. Buckner has forty-one years of professional experience in the areas of applied plant ecology, plant taxonomy, reclamation, soils, and statistics. He is currently president of ESCO Associates. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Ecology from the University of Colorado in 1977, and he has written multiple papers on plant ecology.

• April 24: Susan Craig, "Loggerhead shrike banding research"