"Balancing Act"
Presented by
Brooks Institute - Visions Gallery
National Park Service
USGS Western Ecological Research Center
October 16, 2012 to January 7, 2013
Ventura Beach Marriott
2055 East Harbor Boulevard
Ventura, CA
http://extension.brooks.edu/visions-gallery-balancing-act/


For more than a century, the ecological give-and-take on the Channel Islands among plants, animals and their environment was mainly "take." Nonnative grazing animals removed plants, the topsoil reoded away, springs dried up and alien plants invaded these new open spaces.

USGS Western Ecological Research Center scientist Kathryn McEachern has been studying the many endemic and endangered plants of the Channel Islands and collaborating with Channel Islandis National Park on their monitoring and restoration.

In a new partnership with the Brooks Institute, student photojournalists have been traveling with McEachern to the remote national park to document the fragile survival of these often-forgotten plant species. The resulting multimedia exhibition, "Balancing Act", will debut at the 8th California Islands Symposium at a special reception on Thursday, October 25, 5 p.m. PDT.

Meet the Brooks Institute photojournalists and McEachern in person, and learn about the hidden world of Channel Island ecosystems -- and the survival lessons they offer mainland southern California.

The exhibition at the Ventura Beach Marriott runs through January 2013.


Kathryn McEachern: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/mceachern