Symposium: Local Food Systems, Dec. 2-3
On Dec. 2 and 3 (Tuesday and Wednesday), a symposium at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis will showcase local food-systems projects linking consumers, distributors and producers in rural and urban areas. Members of the public interested in regional food systems are invited to attend.
Participants will include Cooperative Extension personnel, researchers, government agencies, nonprofits, farmers and community members. Paul Muller of Full Belly Farm will be the keynote speaker.
The event will be held in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis. It is funded by the statewide 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), an affiliate of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI).
Co-sponsors include 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Agriculture and Natural Resources (North Coast and Mountain Region) and the California Communities Program, a Cooperative Extension unit of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Department of Human and Community Development.
More information: .
Speakers: How People of Color Get Left Out of Delta Debates, Dec. 3
Analyses of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta -- its sinking islands, endangered smelt, imperiled pumps and climate change challenged levees -- are similar in calling attention to crises, but also in what they leave out --- the voices, experiences and concerns of low-income communities of color for whom the Delta is the place they live, work, play and pray.
Often depicted as "third parties" in the market transactions of buying and selling Delta domains (drinking water, irrigation water, wildlife habitat), these populations are largely invisible and entirely inaudible in the cost-benefit assessments used for most policy analysis.
The Dec. 3 presentation examines the policies and practices deployed to solve the Delta problem (CALFED and its progeny, the Delta Vision Process), using the analytical lens of social science to explore questions about democratic governance, dynamics of social marginalization and social mobilization in pursuit of environmental justice.
The presentation will be held from 12:10 p.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 3201 of Hart Hall at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis. Speakers include: Jonathan London, director of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Center for Regional Change, and Gerardo Gambirazzio and Trina Filan, both graduate students of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Environmental Justice Project.
It is a program of the John Muir Institute of the Environment Distinguished Speaker Series "Environmental Solutions: Lenses on the Delta." It is co-sponsored by the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Center for Regional Change.
Speaker: The Asian Clam Invasion in Lake Tahoe, Dec. 3
51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis ecologist Marion Wittmann will discuss the potential impacts of a new invasive species in Lake Tahoe: Corbicula fluminea, also known as the Asian clam.
51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis researchers recently discovered large populations of Asian clams in some nearshore areas in the southeast corner of Lake Tahoe. Asian clam is a common freshwater invader that is known for its dispersal abilities and tolerance of a wide range of environmental conditions.
Wittmann will discuss the ecology and biology of Asian clam and its potential impacts, including habitat loss and algal blooms. She will also touch on other potential invasive bivalves, such as the quagga mussel.
Wittmann recently completed her doctoral studies at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Santa Barbara, where she focused on the dispersal of the Eurasian watermilfoil plant by recreational boating in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin. She is now a researcher at the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
Her lecture begins at 6 p.m. at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, Nev. A $5 donation is requested; a no-host bar will open at 5:30 p.m.