Author: Wendy

Padlet

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Introducing my new favorite app: Padlet! I first encountered the app during an on-campus training – TIPS Toward Justice – and saw its potential for use in my own classes.

According to their website:

“Padlet is a software people use to make and share content with others. Somewhere between a doc and a full-fledged website builder, Padlet empowers everyone to make the content they want, whether it’s a quick bulletin board, a blog, or a portfolio.”

I’m using it as a way of gathering real-time, in-class feedback during class. Students are able to post anonymous comments from their laptops or smartphones, and then we collectively discuss the things they’ve posted. I started out on the very first day of class with some low-stakes questions:

Now – a few weeks into the semester – I’m including a mix of “how are you doing right now?” questions along with prompts that will give them a chance to talk about course content, particularly any topics that they are finding difficult. Here’s an example from my Sustainable Development course:

For context, we were in the middle of a pretty brutal heatwave this week – temps above 100°.

My students took to Padlet very quickly, realizing before I did that they could post animated gifs and links to songs or YouTube videos. I’ve encouraged them to post pictures of their pets, and tell me about their plans for the weekend. It’s been an amazing way for me to connect with them, and get to know them a bit better.

They seem to give honest assessments of how they are doing, which run the gamut from “slaying!” to “I’m stressed out and hungry” and “I miss my dad and my dog.” Especially when students express that they’re not doing so well, I take the opportunity to say something (hopefully!) motivational to the entire class. For example, “It sounds like some of you are struggling – it’s super normal at this time of the semester to be missing home, especially if this is your first semester here,” or “make sure you’re getting enough sleep and staying hydrated during this heat wave.”

Here’s another board, also from Sustainable Development:

One of the things I’m appreciating most about using padlet this way is that it gives them an opportunity to safely express controversial ideas anonymously, which will hopefully allow us to have more honest and open discussions. This is particularly important in my Sustainable Development course, where we will be digging into a lot of very difficult topics, and it can be difficult to publicly share a “hot take.”

Using Padlet also allows me to give immediate feedback to student questions and comments (and sometimes they hop on to answer one another’s questions).

So far, I am loving the student interactions I’m having using Padlet, and I feel like it’s helping me foster a good learning environment for my students.

Logistics: I have a free account, which allows me to have 3 padlets at any one time. So, after I’ve taken a survey in the classroom, I export the data to Excel, and then delete the Padlet to give me room to create a new one. It’s working so far, and saving me the money of getting a paid account. It would be a lot more convenient to be able to have unlimited Padlets, and I’m going to try and make a bit of noise to see if the university would be willing to buy in campus-wide. But in the meantime, having 3 rotating Padlets is working out fine. I’m using it with equally good results in an online (Zoom) course, and an in-person course, for groups between 75 and 100 students.

You can sign up for Padlet here: https://padlet.com/. (I’m not making any money from this. I just genuinely love this app).

Vertebrate Biology Field Trip to Fairfield Osborn Preserve

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For the first time since COVID, I’m able to take my students on field trips again, and we had a fantastic one yesterday: I took my upper division Vertebrate Biology class to one of our university’s preserves: the Fairfield Osborn Preserve on Sonoma Mountain. One of the preserve’s researchers and naturalists – Julie Wittmann – was our host for the day, and our primary target was herpetofauna (reptilian vertebrates and amphibians). We started out by surveying some of the coverboards that were established in 2015, and then we headed down to the creek to look for salamanders. All along the way, we saw AMAZING wildlife, with a couple of absolute highlights for the day.

Surveying coverboards, and a Western Skink we discovered under one of them:

Down by the creek, we found a variety of great wildlife:

California Giant Salamander

While we were down at the creek, we also heard an exciting bird (although I was never able to spot it) . . . a Pileated Woodpecker was calling loudly (although sporadically enough that I was not able go get even an audio recording).

Not long before we were getting ready to head back from the creek, we had one more treat: an endangered Yellow-legged Frog (being handled here by an authorized preserve naturalist). This is only the second time I’ve seen one of these frogs in the wild.

On our way back to the parking lot, we took a swing by Turtle Pond, where we found this friend (a female Western Fence Lizard):

As we headed back to where we would have lunch before leaving the preserve, there were still two more surprised for us. First, one of my students spotted and captured this Coast Garter Snake:

A few minutes after finding the garter snake, one of the students backtracked on the path the way we’d just come, and discovered one more amazing friend.

It might look like a run-of-the mill blackberry bush, but if you look more closely . . .

Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! This sighting absolutely made my day. Oh, who am I kidding, it made my whole year to this point. 🙂

Overall, we had a fantastic day on the preserve, and we have more vertebrate adventures planned for the semester, so keep an eye out for more updates soon.

Adorable baby Western pond turtle discovered at S.F. lake in Presidio, a sign of ecological comeback

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This article is from April, but it’s the first I’ve heard of this. The turtles we reintroduced to Mountain Lake in SF have HAD BABIES! This is amazingly good news! These turtles had been extirpated (driven locally extinct) from the lake at some point in the past, and the fact that the introduced turtles are able to reproduce means that this population might be able to sustain itself into the future. LOVE THIS SO MUCH!

Jessica Flores
April 29, 2021

Article originally posted here: https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/Adorable-baby-western-pond-turtle-discovered-at-16140128.php



Presidio Trust ecologists found a tiny, quarter-size Western pond turtle at Mountain Lake in San Francisco in April. Courtesy Jonathan Young

Two Presidio Trust ecologists said they found the first baby turtle at Mountain Lake this month after reintroducing the species to the lake in 2015.


Presidio Trust ecologists found a tiny Western pond turtle at Mountain Lake in San Francisco. Courtesy Jonathan Young

The tiny, quarter-size Western pond turtle was found two weeks ago at the lake while a group of ecologists were testing turtles for a deadly fungus at Mountain Lake in San Francisco.

It was “a major milestone for urban aquatic ecology,” ecologist David Harelson told The Chronicle on Thursday. “The fact that we identified that they’re breeding — they become more of a sustainable population, which is the exciting part.”

The small, but very cute discovery was an exciting accomplishment for the ecologists because invasive fish in the lake tend to eat everything — including baby turtles. Western pond turtles are also the last remaining native freshwater turtles in California, said Harelson.

“There are likely more, but of course there are predators,” he said.

In partnership with the San Francisco Zoo and Sonoma State University, ecologists reintroduced 55 Western pond turtles in 2015. The lake’s restoration project started in 2012, removing more than 4 million gallons of sediment and increasing the lake’s depth by 15 feet, according to park officials.

“The Presidio Trust is making strides to increase biodiversity in the park by restoring habitat that enables native species to thrive,” spokeswoman Lisa Petrie said in an email to The Chronicle.

As of this year, ecologists have reintroduced chorus frogs, three-spine stickleback fish, the California floater mussel and the San Francisco forktail damselfly to the lake.

If you want to see some turtles basking in the sun, Harelson recommends going to the south shore of the lake near the playground and bringing a really good pair of binoculars.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Natural History Illustration

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Earlier this year, I completed an online certificate through the University of Newcastle, Australia: “NHI101x: Drawing Nature, Science, and Culture: Natural History Illustration 101.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this 6-week course, and it genuinely helped me improve my illustration skills. Partly due to the techniques we learned and practiced, but possibly more important, by boosting my confidence as I worked through the assignments successfully. I am wholly satisfied with my progress, and am already planning to take another course in illustration in January (this time, focusing specifically on digital artwork).

My final project:

Here are some additional examples of the work I did during the course:

Inktober

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Last month, I decided to do an Inktober challenge, combined with a set of “Drawlogies” prompts inspired by the science show “Ologies.” Here is the entire month’s worth of prompts. I’m re-rendering many of them in different styles, and I’ll be posting some of those as I go.

The Prompts:

1: Mycology (Fungi)2: Selenology (the Moon)3: Ichthyology (Fish)
4: Cnidariology (Jellyfish and kin)5: Ursinology (Bears)6: Malacology (Mollusks)
7: Forest Ecology8: Bufology (Toads)9: Opossumology
10: Plumology (Feathers)11: Sparklebutt-ology12: Pinnipedology (Seals)
13: Functional Morphology14: Selachiimorphology (Sharks)15: Maritime Archaeology
16: Biomineralogy (Shells etc.)17: Cervidology (Deer)18: Ophthalmology (Eyes)
19: Lepidoperology (Butterflies)20: Paleontology (Fossils)21: Pelicanology
22: Chiropterology (Bats)23: Cicadology24: Oology (Eggs)
25: Myrmecology (Ants and kin)26: Eudemonology (Happiness*)27: Spheksology (Wasps)
28: Scorpionology29: Dendrology (Trees)30: Condorology
31: Cucurbitology (Pumpkins)
  • Interpreted a bit differently. 😀

Ecosystem Exploration

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This week, I’m using some Virtual Field materials in one of my classes (Ecosystem Exploration: https://thevirtualfield.org/virtual…/ecosystem-exploration).

In addition to the questions provided with the videos, I’m going to ask them to do some additional field journaling, including sketches. Here are the two I drew as examples (based on the Mojave Desert video), to give them some inspiration. (They aren’t expected to render things as completely as the tortoise, but the level of detail in the plant illustration should be doable by everyone).

As an aside, I think that Gopherus agassizii was the first scientific name I ever learned. My parents had hand towels with these tortoises (along with the name). Wow. It’s not actually too surprising that I’m such a nerd.

My Analog Digital Adventure

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Earlier this week, I went in search of a new notebook to carry with me, to jot down notes during meetings and whatnot. Why? Well, for years, I used a Franklin Planner, but I gradually moved away from that, as I spent more and more time on a computer. Now, I have my laptop with me most of the time, and my smartphone handy always, so it seemed that going digital would be the way to go, in terms of daily planning and note-taking. It’s a bit awkward to pull out my cell phone during a meeting, but I just assume everyone knows I’m taking notes, and not sending random texts. It was a system, but it wasn’t really working as well as it could. More often than not, I find myself grabbing whatever is handy for jotting down notes when I’m in a meeting, or chatting with students. Blank paper, post-it notes, restaurant napkins – whatever is nearby, I’ll grab it. Sure, my phone and computer are nearby, but it’s just less disruptive to write things down on paper.

So . . .I decided that it’s ridiculous to rely on random pieces of paper, which sent me in search of a little notepad to carry with me. I needed it to be small (for portability), and I needed it to be pretty (so it would make me happy to look at, which makes me more likely to remember to use it). I headed over to the campus bookstore only to find that the things they had on offer were not going to fit my requirements. Moleskine – BORING. Letter sized notebooks – TOO BIG. Tiny spiral-bound books – UGLY URGH. Then, something caught my eye . . .

 

An Everlast notebook. I hadn’t heard of this company before, and apparently it’s a fairly new product, but it seemed to fit the bill for my needs.

I can write or draw on it in pen, just like regular paper. But instead of throwing away the paper, the ink wipes away with water, and the pages can be used again. Environmentally friendly! AND it has a nifty scanning feature that allows me to snap photos with an app, and automatically email them to myself or to Evernote (or a variety of other Cloud services). It will also give me a medium for doodling little drawings when I get in the mood.

Whoa. This seems like it might be the best of both words. The comfort and analog convenience of paper, with all the advantages of a digital medium.

Pretty! I knew it would be worthwhile to hang on to all these random STICKERS!

The only drawback was that it’s not pretty. But I can fix that . . . with STICKERS for now, and maybe I’ll eventually figure out a way to make a slip cover (or a variety of slip covers). So, now it’s pretty cute (with just stuff I already had at home. When I get tired of these, I can peel them off and start again). And I really like the scanning feature.

And now that I’ve gotten started with it, I think it might be a great tool for me to incorporate into my daily planning. I feel pretty comfortable with my document management system (almost everything in Evernote, and tagged for fast searchability), but I don’t have a “trusted system” for planning at the moment – haven’t had since I ditched the Franklin Planner. I use OmniFocus when I remember, but I need something to help me tie it all together. So, I’ll be playing around with the Everlast in this role. Maybe a running to-do list that I can wipe out and start again as often as needed. I might be able to set it to send scans directly to OmniFocus, and turn them into tasks. Lots of possibilities, so, we’ll see where this goes.

Scanned meeting notes
Doodle! Yeah, I bought some colored pens, and more are on the way from Amazon. Color makes me happy.
Testing out the pens with a random tanager sketch. Not great, but there’s certainly potential here.

For now, though, I’m just going to be happy to use this in meetings. No more cell phone notes for me.

Copeland Creek “Clean-up”

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Last weekend, we had the first Copeland Creek event of the fall semester: a clean-up sponsored by JUMP and the Friends of Copeland Creek campus club. We had a small turnout, but it was a fantastic day out on the creek! Originally, we’d intended to pick up garbage and go after some of the Himalayan blackberry that’s creeping back into the restoration areas. When we went out to get started, however, I decided that there was more wild radish to be dealt with (and it’s much easier to work with than the blackberry – no thorns!!), so we had a radish-removal day instead.

Before:

Working, working, working:

A rather large spider!
Conquering the hemlock!

 

After:

After we’d finished pulling radish for the day, we took a walk in the creek, to look for blackberries (we found a few, but it was a bit too late in the season to find a lot of good ones). Just as we were finishing up, it started to sprinkle on us. A nice way to end the day!

Here’s the wonderful work team!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to help us along the creek today!

Roberts Family Development Center Outreach, 2018

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Once again I helped introduce a bunch of local youths to the wonders of biology, by tabling during this year’s Roberts Family Development Center visit to the SSU campus. As always, it was loads of fun . . . you can read my blog post about last year’s event for more details in general. SSU published an article about this year’s event, and I thought I’d share that here (since I didn’t remember to take any photos of my own this time around).

SSU hosts 400 kids to highlight higher education*

The Roberts Family Development Center and Sonoma State team up for the third annual “I am the Future Day”
June 29, 2018
By Nate Galvan

 

From SSU website

Inside Sonoma State University’s Person Theater, hundreds of K-8 students from the Roberts Family Development Center fidgeted in their seats while echoing a familiar phrase. “G-O-O-D M-O-R-N-I-N-G, good morning, good morning, good morning,” chanted the students in unison, following the mulitude of instructors at the front of the stage. The theater full of enthusiastic students signaled the university’s annual hosting of the RFDC for “I am the Future Day” to give future generations a taste of college life.

From SSU website

The students were treated to lunch at The Kitchens, the student cafeteria, activities with faculty and staff, including dance battles, bounce houses and dodgeball, as well as a speech from Vice President of Student Affairs Greg Sawyer. “Higher education levels the playing field for all of us,” said Sawyer, “But no matter what you can always act better, be better and do better every day to make your family, school, or anywhere that you go for sanctuary, proud.”

RFDC serves mainly low-income families who are not in ideal situations to assure quality care and academic support for their children. According to the RFDC, most of the children in the program would be the first in their family to go to college, making the “I am the Future Day” all the more important in planting the idea of higher education within their future goals.

Sonoma State has made diversity and inclusivity a top priority, including supporting initiatives and programs with the message that everyone has the potential to attend a university. This is represented in SSU’s recent recognition as a Hispanic Serving Institution last year.

“As a campus, we believe in access, affordability and excellence in public education,” said Provost Lisa Vollendorf. “The RFDC and SSU program is a great opportunity for Sonoma State to welcome future seawolves and give these younger students a chance to experience life on a college campus.”

*****

Here’s a video about the day . . . I’m not actually in it, but the last scene (with kids looking at some pinecones) is the Biology Department table, where I was sitting just off camera. 🙂

* Originally published here: http://news.sonoma.edu/article/ssu-hosts-400-kids-highlight-higher-education