February 2018: Classes, Trainings, and Community

Citrus Workshop for the Home Gardener and Small-Scale Grower
Come to this workshop that is all about citrus, led by Orin Martin, manager of UCSC's Alan Chadwick Garden, and Daniel Paduano, owner of Abounding Harvest Mountain Farm. Participants will learn about the best varieties of citrus for the Monterey Bay region, how to select and prepare a planting site; how to plant; and how to irrigate, fertilize, prune, and control pests and disease in a range of citrus trees. The workshop takes place in the Hay Barn on February 11th from 9:30-12pm and includes a tasting of locally grown citrus! To register online or for more information click here.

Common Ground Center World Cafes
Kresge Common Ground Center is hosting World Cafes this Quarter at the Kresge Seminar Room on Mondays from 5-7pm. The World Cafe is a weekly potluck of both food and ideas. These events bring a diversity of people together to explore whatever topics matter to them. Each night is focused on a different theme. For more information, check out their website or Facebook page. Can’t wait to hear what actions emerge from these conversations!

Cycling the New Urban Frontier: Bicycle Infrastructure, Gentrification, and the Urbanization of Environmental Politics
This is a free presentation, lectured by John Stehlin. It draws on research conducted in several big cities to examine two main forms of bicycle infrastructure: bike lanes and bicycle sharing systems. Through the institutional alignment of bicycle advocacy with key actors in the urban growth machine, these infrastructures have become core features of inter-urban competitive strategy. This leads to a demand-led form of infrastructure provision that reflects and reinforces sociospatial inequality at the neighborhood and regional scale. Stehlin argues that these contradictions pose real limits on the potential for bicycling as a meaningful response to climate change. This event takes place at Rachel Carson College 301 on February 8th 11:45-1:12pm. Learn more about this presentation here. 

Rare and Extraordinary Plant Lecture Series by Bruce Lyon, Ph.D.
Come to this free lecture given by Bruce Lyon, Ph.D., on the distinctive birds of Australia. He will cover some of the broad-brush features that make Australia's birdlife different from most other places and present natural history vignettes of a few of the more charismatic species to give a sense of the diversity of birds and their behaviors and breeding systems that one might see in a typical temperate Australian woodland. This event will take place in the Arboretum on February 2nd at 7:00pm. For more information click here.

Sun-Work Rooftop Solar Energy Training: February 24th
A free three-hour training session about rooftop solar energy will be offered on Saturday, February 24th at 2:15pm in the Berkeley Library. This training is being sponsored by SunWork, a Bay-Area nonprofit that installs rooftop PV systems on small-energy-footprint homes with the help of volunteers. Register for the training here.

UCSC IEEE 2nd Technology of Today and Tomorrow Student Conference 
This conference works to inspire students to create the technology of tomorrow. It will bring in speakers from industry to talk about research and career opportunities both in and outside of the traditional tech world. This event is on February 3rd at Baskin Engineering. To purchase tickets or for more information click here.

Weekend Bootcamp For the Home Orchardist
Whether you are interested in planting a single tree or a whole orchard come to this two-day workshop. It will equip you with the information and techniques to grow a wide variety of deciduous fruit trees successfully! The workshop is on February 24th and 25th. Pre-registration is required for this event. To register online or for more information click here.

Women/Trans Bike Church Workshop
Bicycle maintenance has traditionally been an overwhelmingly male-dominated area. This workshop provides a safer space for women and trans-identified folks to work on their bikes and learn new skills. Workshops are facilitated by female and non-binary mechanics and occur every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month from 12-3pm. For more information click here.