A weekly guide to what’s happening.
Green Fix
Naturalist Night: California Dinosaurs
This month, the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History’s Naturalist Night is all about the Mesozoic. Also known as the age of the reptiles, the Mesozoic era occurred around 65 million years ago. Dinosaur fossils are few and far between in California, but their importance to dinosaurology far outweighs their numbers. This talk from UCSC lecturer Hilde Schwartz will focus on the types of dinosaurs that inhabited California, the environments in which they lived and died, why traces are rare, and what we’ve learned from their remains. The lecture will also include a discussion about California’s recently anointed state dinosaur: augustynolophus morrisi. Say that five times fast. Registration recommended.
INFO: 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17. Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, 1305 E Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. 420-6115. santacruzmuseum.org. Free with $4 general admission/$2 students and seniors.
Art Seen
All About Theatre’s ‘Honk! The Musical’
Everyone knows the story of the ugly duckling, wven if they haven’t heard it in a while. Since this musical version composed by British duo Stiles and Drewe first hatched in 1993, it’s flown all over the world in over 8,000 productions. Winner of multiple awards, including the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Musical, this heartwarming story proves that being different isn’t a bad thing—sometimes it leads to greatness.
INFO: 2 and 7 p.m. Friday Jan. 18-Saturday Jan. 26. Louden Nelson Community Theater, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz. 345-6340. allabouttheatre.org. $16 general/$13 students and seniors.
Sunday 1/20
Polar Bears and Climate Change
Polar bears are an iconic symbol of climate change. These unique marine mammals exist in a remote and inhospitable Arctic where only a few scientists have documented their basic behaviors. Join post-doctoral research fellow at the San Diego Zoo Global Institute for Conservation Research, Anthony Pagano, to learn how advancements in electronic devices, combined with research on wild and captive polar bears, are helping scientists to understand how polar bears use sea ice and how they’re responding to its decline.
INFO: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz. 459-3800. seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. Free with $9 general/$7 senior. UCSC students free.
Sunday 1/20
Greyhound Meet and Greet
This is a meet and greet for current and future greyhound dog owners (not bus riders). Greyhounds are perhaps most known for racing, but there’s much more to them than that. They are the most polite dogs around—they don’t really bark and are docile, affectionate and calm. But hopeful adopters beware: they are the cheetahs of the dog world and do need time to run around off leash. Can’t make it to this one? No problem. Meet and greets are held every third Sunday each month.
INFO: Noon-2 p.m. Pet Pals Discount Pet Supplies and Pet Food, 3360 Soquel Drive, Soquel. 464-8775, epetpals.com. Free.
Thursday 1/17
Local Amah Mutsun Tribal Relearning Program
The Amah Mutsun tribe, a band of the Ohlone, managed local ecosystems and plants for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. UCSC Arboretum Director of Horticulture Rick Flores is going to explain how. Today, descendants of the Amah Mutsun survivors of the Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista missions are working to relearn the ecological wisdom of their ancestors in order to restore and steward their traditional tribal territory. Join Flores and the Sierra Club in discussing their efforts for cultural revitalization, recuperation and relearning of dormant cultural knowledge, and environmental justice. Mural by Ann Thiermann.
INFO: 7 p.m. Live Oak Grange Hall, 1900 17th Ave., Santa Cruz. act.sierraclub.org/events. Free, donations appreciated.
