Sandy Beaches are everything to us here in Southern California, a central pillar of both our cultural identity and economic engine. They are where we birthed surf culture (on beaches like Huntington and Surfrider), invented beach volleyball (on beaches like Manhattan Beach and Redondo), trained our young people to fight the axis powers of WWII (on beaches across Coronado Island and Mugu Lagoon), have filmed our entertainment for a century (on beaches like Leo Carrillo and Will Rogers), see the manifestation of climate change/sea level most clearly (at Ventura’s Surfer’s Point Beach), pump ourselves up to become the next action movie star or guvernator (this really only ever happens on Venice…check out the Jim’s killer glass if you go), stare over the tops of our sunglasses at scantily clad people (on any beach you can think of this holiday weekend) and first learned how devastating an oil spill can really be (on beaches across Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties in 1969.
Tentative Agenda for 11th Annual Winter Meeting January 14, 2014
CCB 140, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
9:30, “Welcome,” Karen Martin, Professor, Pepperdine University
9:35, “Introductions,” Dennis Simmons, President, Beach Ecology Coalition
9:45, “Update on the MPA Watch Program,” Dana Murray and Sarah Sikich, Heal The Bay
10:00, “The City of San Clemente Beach Ecology Policy,” Sharon Heider (Director of Beaches, Parks, and Recreation), Dennis Roger Reed (Beaches and Parks Manager), and Mark Chavez (Inspector Coordinator), City of San Clemente
10:45 “Record Droughts in 2013 – What’s the Forecast for 2014?” Bill Patzert, Oceanographer, JPL and NASA
10:55 BREAK
11:00, "Update on Western Snowy Plovers" by biological consultant Tom Ryan, Los Angeles Audubon Society
11:25, “An Amazing Year for (all sorts of) Whales in Southern California,” Diane Alps & Bernardo Alps, Naturalists & Wildlife Photographers, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
11:55, “SeaGrant Explore Beach Ecosystems website,” Monique Myers, CA Sea Grant
12:05, Group Photo!
12:15, Lunch (provided), open discussion with your colleagues
1:00, “Discussion of BMPs, continuing education, and desired future directions for the Beach Ecology Coalition”
2:15, Meeting of Board of Directors, Beach Ecology Coalition