Calendar
Are you over 50 and eager for birding and natural history adventures? Are you tired of driving through Houston traffic to reach a birding destination? We have the solution! Our monthly senior bus trips with buses provided free of charge by Harris County Precinct 3 as a senior service by Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack can easily satisfy your “natural” side. Houston Audubon books a bus every month for our Houston Audubon members who are 50 and over. We provide snacks, refreshments and an experienced tour guide at our destination.
Reservations are required and attendance will be limited to the bus capacity. The buses are provided by Precinct 3 free of charge. A small fee is charged by Houston Audubon to cover snacks, water, and any entry fee at destination. Participants will be required to sign Precinct 3 and HA liability release forms for the trip. Precinct 3 regulations require that all participants must be 50 years or older. Remember to bring your binoculars, insect protection, sturdy shoes, and raingear if necessary. For more information and trip updates, contact Mary Anne Weber at maweber@houstonaudubon.org.
Monday, January 8, 2018
100 Acre Wood Preserve & Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve
Register online for the January bus trip.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Rio Villa Nature Trails & Sheldon Lake State Park
Monday, March 5, 2018
Cullinan Park, Sugar Land Memorial Park, Brazos River Corridor
Register online for the March bus trip.
For more information, please visit houstonaudubon.org/birding/field-trips-travel.
Start your weekend by enjoying a leisurely Saturday morning breakfast drifting down the bayou on our pontoon boat, the “Bayou Ranger”. Observe wildlife searching for their breakfast on the bayou. This trip through the heart of the Nature Center presents an uncommon opportunity to watch and learn about bayou life. Enjoy pastries, juice, and coffee while underway.
The boat will pick you up at the Bay Area Park boat launch (NOT at the nature center). Reservations required, call 281-474-2551.
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 Innovationâ€.  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.
You are invited to join Texas Campaign for the Environment at their Annual Membership meeting and potluck lunch. Speakers: Dr. Robert Bullard, professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at TSU, and Yvette Arellano, Research and Policy Advocate at Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (T.e.j.a.s.). Prior to the meeting, from 9AM-1PM, T.e.j.a.s. is offering a tour of local communities affected by polluting facilities and toxic sites. Participants will meet at the Houston Green Building Resource Center at 8:30AM. To RSVP for the meeting and the tour, visit www.texasenvironment.org.
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.
In recent years, lionfish derbies have served to raise awareness of the invasive lionfish problem and remove large quantities of lionfish throughout the tropical western Atlantic (southeastern United States, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico). Unfortunately, this type of one-day dive/snorkel event is not practical for Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary due to the remote location and the depth of the reefs. As an alternative, the sanctuary hosts a Lionfish Invitational. This four-day event is a science-based effort in which 11 dive teams work to remove as many lionfish as possible, while also recording helpful data on lionfish activity and sightings. In addition, a science team of 8 divers conducts surveys to determine what species, quantities and sizes of fish are present at each designated site before and after the removals. The sanctuary have scheduled two trips for the 2018 season: June 24-28 and Aug. 26-30, 2018. Applications for these trips are now available and must be submitted by Mar. 31, 2018. For more information, visit flowergarden.noaa.gov.