Monday, January 31, 2005, 7:00-9:00 pm:  FIRE STORMS OF SAN DIEGO.  San Diego is world famous for its year-round pleasant weather. But the long dry season has selected vegetation adapted to burn, and when the Santa Ana winds blow, we experience firestorms more destructive than any of our winter rainstorms. Have we prepared for firestorms as well as we have prepared for rainstorms and earthquakes? Join Pat Abbott, Ph.D. for a lecture on San Diego's fire storms, and disaster preparation. Then Anne Fege, Ph.D., co-curator of the Earth, Wind & WILDFIRE exhibition and retired Forest Supervisor of the Cleveland National Forest, will put the October 2003 fires in historical context and review the mortality and fire risks for San Diego's forests. 

Monday, February 28, 2005, 7:00-9:00 pm:  NATURE’S RECOVERY:  IMAGES AND INSIGHTS FROM THE OCTOBER 2003 WILDFIRES.  Join professional nature photographer, Richard Herrmann, and renowned San Diego biologist, Tom Oberbauer, for an evening of dynamic visuals and inspired narration about the 2003 wildfires.  See the dramatic changes that have occurred in the natural world, from just after the fires to today.

Monday, March 28, 2005, 7:00-9:00 pm:  Wildlife after the October 2003 Wildfires.  Some mammals lost their lives in the intense and fast-moving wildfires, and others escaped by fleeing into unburned areas or underground.  As forage and shelter become available, both birds and mammals are returning to burned areas.  Some species will repopulate only after mature chaparral and forests have grown back.  Raptor populations increased after the fires, as many prey species lost cover and protection.  Lecture with Scott Tremor, Research Associate and Principal of San Diego Mammal Atlas Team, San Diego Natural History Museum, and Jeff Lincer, Ph.D., Wildlife Research Institute, Ramona, CA.