A Virtual Celebration of Oaks and Acorns

2:00- Slide Lecture, “Oaks: A Hub of Biodiversity,” by Kate Marianchild, Author of the best-selling Secrets of the Oak Woodlands.

California’s oak woodlands support more life than any other type of terrestrial ecosystem in the state. Kate Marianchild will discuss some of the countless organisms that depend on oaks, from caterpillars and lizards to woodrats, wood ducks, and bears. She’ll talk about mycorrhizal fungi and scrub-jays, both of which are beneficially symbiotic with oaks, and other species, such as oak mistletoe and acorn woodpeckers, that give little to the oaks that feed them but “pay it forward” by supporting numerous other oak woodland animals.

2:45- Illustrated Talk, “Acorns: Telling Good Nuts From Bad Nuts,” by Sherrie Smith-Ferri (Dry Creek Pomo) exhibit curator.

Many people know that acorns were a major food source for many California Indian peoples and that, given acorns' high tannin content, it takes a lengthy preparation process to make them edible. However, few people understand the seemingly simple point where this process begins, harvesting acorns. Come and hear from Dry Creek Pomo elder Sherrie Smith-Ferri on what makes good nuts good and bad nuts bad

Space is limited. Register today: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84013255454.