Join us this summer for the Mono Lake Committee’s Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists lecture series, featuring scientists presenting their work in the region. The talks are great opportunities to hear from the researchers who are conducting studies in the Mono Basin and the surrounding area on topics like hydrology, wildlife, birds, climate change, and more. Lectures will happen on Wednesdays at 4:00pm in the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore gallery, starting July 10th. Presentations last about one hour and include light refreshments.

Join us for these scheduled talks:

• July 10th: "A New Detection of the Sierra Nevada Red Fox" with California Department of Fish & Wildlife researcher Brian Hatfield. Brian will discuss the Sierra Nevada Red Fox (SNRF), a subspecies of red fox native to the high-elevation regions of California and Oregon, which scientists thought to have been extirpated from California. However, in 2018 researchers detected at least three SNRF in the Mono Creek study area, marking the southernmost confirmed occurrence of them in nearly 100 years. Brian will discuss this elusive carnivore and the exciting questions this new detection raises about their contempory distribution and population trajectory in California.

• July 17th: ""Save the Pupfish!": History, Water, and the Surprising Persistence of the Devils Hole Pupfish" with environmental historian Kevin Brown. The Devils Hole pupfish is one of the rarest species in the world, confined to just a single natural habitat in southern Nevada's Amargosa Desert. Amidst a biodiversity crisis that some are calling the "sixth extinction," it is worth asking how is it that the pupfish survived the twentieth century when some of its close neighbors have not? This talk explores the ways that water law has both threatened and protected the pupfish from the 1910s to the present.

• September 4th: "From Chemistry to Community: Sage-Grouse Conservation Across the Sagebrush Sea" with UC Davis PhD candidate, Eric Tymstra. Greater sage-grouse populations have declined approximately 95% across their range, largely due to habitat loss and degradation. Eric will discuss his findings on how habitat quality may influence their reproductive success on the lek (breeding and display areas) and how as diet selection varies across the range, it will allow us to identify habitats and populations that may be in danger.

Lectures will be listed as they are scheduled, so be sure to check back to reserve your seat for upcoming talks. We hope to see you there!