As part of the San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin bacteria reduction project focusing on Oyster Creek, H-GAC will host a public stakeholder meeting. This meeting will consist of presentations, followed by an open house-style discussion period. Participation of local leaders and residents is crucial for the implementation of these projects.

Topics for each meeting include:

• presentation of the technical support document for Oyster Creek;
• options for developing a bacteria reduction plan for the basin; and
• identification of stakeholders to participate on a coordination committee to guide this effort.

Agencies are invited to set up an informational table for stakeholders.

To RVSP to attend or reserve a table, please contact Steven Johnston or 832-681-2579.

Join Houston Audubon to learn about Sandhill and Whooping Cranes and where to find these beautiful birds in the United States. Ray Bednar is an amateur photographer who loves discovering new places to photograph nature. He has been developing his photography skills for 10 years and his favorite subjects are Sandhill and Whooping Cranes. Ray will talk about cranes and amazing places to photograph them in Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas. He will provide tips on viewing and photographing cranes. Hear about Ray’s experiences and see his best crane shots at this informative talk.

This event is free and open to the public.

You are invited to join the Houston Audubon education staff for a fun and educational presentation about local owls, meet three live rehabilitated owls in the Bayou Barn at Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center and take a hike through the woods in search of wild owls. Popular for all ages and especially for owl enthusiasts. Space is limited; register today.

Attend this lively discussion about the changes in the 2015 IECC as they relate to the building enclosure. Rub shoulders and talk face-to-face with presenters Peter Yost and Steven Baczek, two of the industry’s top guns on building enclosures and integrating material selections. Discussions focus on how performance components of insulation, water management, air leakage, and HVAC relate to a whole as the building enclosure.

Meeting the new code can be challenging. Come understand the opportunities available in meeting these challenges. Walk away with easy-to-understand solutions you can use everyday that meet the new code, while providing the means to a comfortable, durable, energy efficient, valued building enclosure. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from real-world examples. Space is limited. By attending, you’ll earn 5 AIA|HSW credits.

This complimentary program is designed for builders and contractors, code officials, HERS raters, architects, and channel partners.

As landfill space and raw materials become scarcer, recycling of used materials becomes a more cost-effective and sensible option. Periodically H-GAC hosts workshops to bring new ideas and knowledge to local governments on a wide range of recycling-related topics.

Regional Recycling Roundtable

The next roundtable will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, November 15, 2018, in H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor.

The topic is Composting as a recycling strategy. Presentations will include:

• Trends and Status in Commercial Composting
• Municipality Case Study
• Master Composter Overview

Registration is requested.

For more information about the roundtable, please contact Becki Begley at becki.begley@h-gac.com or 713-993-2410.

2018 Update on Nesting Shorebirds in Galveston County presented by Kristen Vale of American Bird Conservancy

The Galveston County Audubon Group (GCAG) of the Houston Audubon Society hold monthly meetings jointly with the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council (GINTC). The meetings are held in the Wortham Auditorium on the first floor at the Rosenberg Library, 7 – 8 p.m. They welcome guests to come early at 6:30 p.m. to visit with other birders about their recent outings and sightings before the meeting. Membership is free and meetings and field trips are open to the public. Membership in Houston Audubon Society is encouraged but is not required.

Texas City Dike Field Trip: Saturday, November 17: 8:30 a.m. – Noon

Meet at the Texas City Dike Pavilion parking lot.

This meeting of the Bay Area Sierra Club will feature a slideshow that will help you take more interesting photos of all of your holiday guests, of all of the flowers you receive, etc. Local Member Peter Bowman will teach four techniques that he learned from his famous Vietnamese teacher Do Anh Tuan.

At the end of the lesson, attendees themselves get a chance to identify these four techniques in photos which Peter will show without comment.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for social hour.

Christof Spieler, urban planner at Huitt-Zollars, lecturer at Rice, and former METRO board member, will present  his new book, “Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of Transit.”

The book compares rail and Bus Rapid Transit systems in 47 US metropolitan areas.

Christof will talk about what lessons Houston can learn from the systems that have succeeded — and those that have not.

The book is available from Amazon; more information at trainsbusespeople.org.

You are invited to join the Houston Audubon education staff for a fun and educational presentation about local owls, meet three live rehabilitated owls in the Bayou Barn at Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center and take a hike through the woods in search of wild owls. Popular for all ages and especially for owl enthusiasts. Space is limited; register today.

The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston invites you to their 2019 Kick-Off Event at 1st Congregational Church. You will hear from faith leaders of a variety of faiths on the ethics of eating, from their faith perspective. There will be a presentation on the top ten actions that houses of worship can take to preserve the earth. IENoH will recap activities from 2018, and discuss plans for 2019. You will get an opportunity to provide your input into 2019 planning via a survey.

They also ask those, who can do so, to bring some snacks to share for the break-out sessions, during which everyone will get to know each other better. IENoH will provide beverages to accompany the snacks. People of all faiths are encouraged to attend, as are representatives of local environmental non-profits that would like to work with people of faith on environmental issues.