Free to attend, donations appreciated. Work on your bird watching skills while helping the Arboretum monitor bird populations on a fun, relaxed morning walk. Join the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center on the second Saturday of each month at the front door of the building for a two-hour bird walk led by Kelsey Low and Theo Ostler, a resident bird enthusiast. We welcome all levels of bird watching skill and all ages (as long as you’re quiet) – but no dogs, please! If you have binoculars of your own, please bring them. We do have some binoculars available to borrow. For more events with the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, visit their Events Calendar!

Workdays are held once a month, October through March on the second Saturday of the month. We start work around 8:30 AM and work until about noon, when we break for lunch, provided by Houston Audubon and prepared by the lunch crew. Lunch at the picnic area of Boy Scout Woods is a good chance to visit with other volunteers and recharge from a morning of exercise and work. After lunch, we take about an hour to tie up any loose ends and clean up.

Come be a part of sanctuary maintenance, habitat restoration, and Houston Audubon’s amazing volunteer workforce. Email Pete Deichmann at pdeichmann@houstonaudubon.org for more information or to be put on the email list.

• November 10
• December 8
• January 12
• February 9
• March 9

Mayor Landrieu will discuss lessons learned from a natural disaster.

The Bitter Herbs of Passover presented by Jean Fefer, PhD.
You can contribute to the educational value of Wednesday’s program by bringing a food item to the pot-luck dinner that contains at least one bitter ingredient. This is easier than it sounds – there are all the endives, chicories, and cruciferous vegetables to choose from; quinoa, millet or amaranth; artichokes, eggplant or white asparagus; anything with citrus (especially the peel); and anything flavored with chocolate, beer, or coffee. If that’s not enough inspiration, here is a list of herbs classified as bitter – peppermint, dandelion, arugula, cilantro, oregano, sorrel, chamomile, lovage, chervil, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary, tarragon, and bay leaves. And bitter spices to consider include turmeric, fenugreek, cardamom, pepper, and ginger.
If you have any of these herbs growing in your garden, please bring a few stalks to share. This will help make a Bitter program a Sweet experience for all!

Vox Culture will be continuing its 2018 Homegrown Initiative addressing the environment with “Homegrown: Green Innovation”.   Vox Culture is hosting this event in partnership with Houstainable. Based locally, Houstainable seeks to build and enable the platform for clean technology entrepreneurs and sustainable capital to thrive in Houston.

Together, the organizations are bringing a select group of rising Houston startups that are building and implementing new technologies to encourage local innovation and address the various environmental issues that plague Houston and the world. Also featured will be environment related art work created by Houston artist Johnathon Michael Espinoza – who will also talk about the possible intersection of arts and green businesses.

Discover how superheroes like the Avengers use chemistry to keep villains in check and save the world, and how forensic chemistry can help real-life crime fighters. Join Dr. Burks as she shares her experiences, from working in a crime lab to being a professor and TV personality, all while developing research tools for chemical sleuthing.
We encourage attendees to dress up as their favorite superhero and join us at this family friendly event. We ask that costumes do NOT include facsimiles of weapons (including toys or props).
Dr. Raychelle Burks is a professor at St. Edwards University who enjoys the challenge of developing methods for detecting a variety of materials, including illegal drugs and explosives. She designs portable sensors, including those that work in your smart phone, that can make chemical measurements in the field. She helped create and organize SciPop Talks!, a popular talk series blending science and pop culture. Dr. Burks is a popular science communicator, appearing on the Science Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science, American Chemical Society’s Reactions videos, Royal Society of Chemistry podcasts, and at conventions such as DragonCon and GeekGirlCon.
Directions and Parking
The talk takes place in Burdine Hall, Room 106 located at 2505 University Avenue. Hot Science – Cool Talks attendees may park at the 27th Street Garage (TSG) located at 109 W. 27th St. at the discounted rate of $4. Only if you park at this garage will you receive the discount. Please bring your parking ticket with you to the event. Parking staff will sell discounted parking passes from 5:30-7:15 p.m. Only debit and credit cards are accepted. There will not be PTS staff at the garage.
From parking garage to event venue: Exit the garage on Wichita St. Walk south on Wichita St, crossing Dean Keeton St, and entering the Burdine Courtyard through the archway next to the Biomedical Engineering Building. See a map here.
Check-in
All talk attendees are required to have a ticket to attend the talk. Check-in is available at 5:30 p.m. or no later than 6:50 p.m. in the hallways outside of Room 106 in Burdine Hall. Please bring your Eventbrite ticket (printed or email) to check-in. We ask that everyone is seated by 6:50 p.m. or you may lose your seat. We expect the talk and its Q & A session will end by 8:15 p.m. though ending times may vary depending on the speaker.

Cool Activities
Explore the evening’s topic through hands-on activities and information from 5:30 – 6:40 p.m. Closer to the event date, we will share a list of organizations participating in Cool Activities.
We encourage attendees to dress up as their favorite superhero and join us at this family friendly event. A prize will be awarded to the winner with the best superhero costume. We ask that costumes do NOT include facsimiles of weapons (including toys or props).
About Hot Science – Cool Talks
Hot Science – Cool Talks provides a front row seat to world-class research. Presented by the Environmental Science Institute (ESI) this nationally recognized series allows leading researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and other prominent universities to share their passion about science, technology, engineering and math with the general public. Events are held six times a year.

Classroom location: Houston Audubon’s Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary. 440 Wilchester Blvd., Houston, TX 77079. Telephone: 713-932-1639

Classroom sessions are normally held in the administration building which is the brick building you first come to on the gravel drive as you enter the sanctuary. On a rare occasion we meet in the log cabin, which is the second building.

Field trip locations: We will review all the details for the field trip in class. The instructor will be checking for bird activity the week of the class to maximize our opportunity to see birds. You will be provided info by email on what to bring and complete driving directions to our meeting location a few days before the field trip.

Shorebirds: March 27-31, 2018

Shorebirds are an elegant and beautiful group of birds that grace our shores, marshes, and fields. The upper coast is one of the best places in North America to enjoy and learn about Shorebirds. Some species are seen primarily in migration, some primarily during winter and others we have throughout the year. Join us to learn how to simplify the identification of shorebirds. Through an organized and systematic approach to identification, you will soon learn to recognize most of the shorebirds. For the peeps, well that takes a little more time and practice but we will get you on the right path to learn these small, challenging and beautiful shorebirds also. This class is open to all levels of birders and photographers.

Class: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 (7:00-8:45 PM)
Field Trip: Saturday, March 31, 2018 (7:30 AM – 3:30 PM)

Warblers & Songbirds: April 3-7, 2018

People come from all over the world to the Houston Audubon High Island Sanctuaries to experience the migration and arrival of the “jewels” of the bird world. Learn about the remarkable migration journey of these small and beautiful birds. Learn the principles to identify the 37 different species of warblers that are possible to see in our area as well as other spring migrant songbirds. This class is open to all levels of birders and photographers.

Class: Tuesday, April 3, 2018 (7:00-8:45 PM)
Field Trip: Saturday, April 7, 2018 (7:30 AM – 3:30 PM)

INSTRUCTOR

Glenn Olsen leads natural history and birding tours with GOBirding Ecotours and teaches bird identification, gardening for birds and butterflies, and nature-related classes through Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, Houston Audubon, Katy Prairie Conservancy, and the Texas Master Naturalist program. He has served on the Houston Audubon Board as Vice President of Education and also served as an Audubon Warden monitoring colonial nesting birds in Rockport, TX. He is currently Region 8 Director for the Texas Ornithological Society. Two of his many other efforts towards conservation include monitoring endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chickens at the Nature Conservancy’s Texas City Preserve and co-founding the Wildscapes Workshop through the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) where he served as president of both the Houston Chapter and the State NPSOT. He has led field trips and/or given programs for meetings of the Texas Ornithological Society, Houston Audubon, Houston Arboretum, the Native Plant Society of Texas, Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, Rockport Hummer/Bird Festival, Galveston FeatherFest, and other groups and festivals.  Glenn has led trips to such exotic locales as Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Amazon Rainforest, Costa Rica and the hottest birding locations in the U.S.

Annual Audubon Texas Women In Conservation Luncheon featuring the Terry Hershey Awards

Sponsor Reception 11AM | Luncheon 12PM

2018 LUNCHEON CHAIR

Jan Cato 2018

TERRY HERSHEY AWARD RECIPIENTS

Maxine Johnston

Claire Caudill

Linda Shead

The National Audubon Society is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our federal tax ID number is 13-1624102.

Join the Big Bend Conservancy for another round of Brews for Big Bend this March. Houston area Big Bend fans, this is your chance to meet and greet with other West Texas enthusiasts.  For those attending, the Conservancy invites YOU to submit your photos of the Park.  Selected images will be shown onscreen at the event. Ticket purchasers can submit their photos of the Park to director@bigbendconservancy.org for consideration.

Click here to register for the event today.

There will be no tickets sold onsite, there are limited tickets available.

The Conservancy thanks everyone who purchases a ticket for the event and looks forward to seeing you there.