All Vaxxed Up and Ready to Roost, Six Captive-Born Condors Fly Free
But, faced with freedom, they take their sweet time about it. "We're on condor time," says one program manager.
A Jewel of the South Bay’s Serpentine Grasslands Is Now Protected (and Open to the Public)
"Coyote Ridge is the mother lode for serpentine habitat," says Andrea Mackenzie
Can We Prevent Another Algaepocalypse in the Bay?
Nitrogen from wastewater fuels algae blooms. We can’t stop peeing, but we can upgrade our wastewater plants.
Recharge Alone Won’t End California’s Groundwater Drought
Groundwater sustainability will take more than one epic rain year, and recharging aquifers is just one piece of the puzzle.
The Rewilding of California’s Parched Central Valley
Amid droughts and depleted aquifers, farmers must choose which land goes dry. Their choices will shape California’s future.
Birds Flock to a Resurrected Tulare Lake, Peaking at Nearly the Size of Lake Tahoe
Tulare Lake and nearby floodwaters could stick around for over a year, providing ample wetland habitat for birds in the southern Central Valley.
Don’t Blame the Bark Beetles
The squiggly grooves on dead logs are the telltale traces of bark beetles, which shape the lives and deaths of stressed-out trees.
How the DNA We Leave Behind Can Help Conservation
California land and water managers are adopting genetic tools to monitor biodiversity, detect invasive and endangered species, and track how ecosystems change over time.
That Foam on the Beach Is (Probably) Fine
Storms on the California coast whip up frothy sea foam, which is like a planktonic meringue.
Meet the Protists, Marvelous Misfits in the Tree of Life
From creeping slime molds to brain-eating ciliates to kelp, protists may be the strangest and most misunderstood group of creatures in the tree of life.
Avian Flu Isn’t Just For the Birds
As the latest strain of avian influenza—Gs/GD HPAI, it’s called—spreads through the U.S., birds are not the only creatures the virus has felled.
The Latest Bird Flu Pandemic Is Terrible—And Strange
“We don’t want to vilify the carriers,” says one expert. “They’re just doing their thing. They’re being ducks.”
After 2022’s Fatal Algal Bloom, Scientists Fear the Bay’s Sturgeon Could Go Extinct
In an open letter, they’re calling for California to consider making white sturgeon fishing catch-and-release for now.