Call for Nominations for Environmental Steward Awards

Explore Ecology invites everyone to submit their nominations for an Environmental Steward Award online by January 31. Categories are:

Teacher Award, Grades Preschool to 6th grade

Teacher Award, Grades 7th to 12th

Class or Club Award, Grades Preschool to 12th

Student Award, Grades Preschool to 6th

Student Award, Grades 7th to 12th

School Support Staff, Grades Preschool to 12th

411: https://exploreecology.org/environmental-stewardship-awards/

Entomologist at SB Botanic Garden

This year is the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s 100^th Anniversary. Kicking off their events list is a symposium by entomologist Doug Tallamy on January 31 from 10 am-1 pm. The event is part of the garden’s annual Conservation Symposium presented by the Nakashima-Rennie Family. Titled, “Planting with Purpose,” it will present how public and private landscapes can be imagined as both beautiful and ecological. Tallamy will be awarded for his work with the 2026 Honorable John C. Pritzlaff Conservation Award.

Free however registration is required.

411: https://sbbotanicgarden.org/classes-events/symposium-2026/

Celebration of Life for Great Horned Owl Max

Max, the beloved Great Horned Owl, has passed away, he was 27 human years old. Max served as an Eyes in the Sky Avian Ambassador for the SB Museum of Natural History. A celebration of his life is on Saturday, February 7, 3-5 pm, at the museum’s Fleischmann Auditorium. Max remained in captivity his whole life as he had fallen from his owl nest at an early age and was “imprinted with humans” thus making his life in the wild at risk. Adopted by the museum, Max fostered orphaned Great Horned Owl chicks helping them return to the wild, as well as being in the museum’s education programs.

411: www.sbnature.org/visit/calendar/8990/max-the-great-horned-owl-celebration-of-life

Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians named a “Clean California Community” 

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians (SYBCI) is one of 39 communities in California to be designated as a “Clean California Community,” in accordance with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $1.2 billion Clean California initiative, launched in 2021 by Caltrans to clean up, reclaim, transform, and beautify public spaces statewide. The tribe’s efforts include environmentally conscious programs and its enterprise employees’ involvement in clean-up events – picking up trash along Highways 246 and 154 as part of Caltrans’ Adopt-a-Highway program, and the Santa Ynez Chumash Environmental Office serving as site captain in Goleta for California Coastal Cleanup Day, as well as being joined by employees from “Team Chumash,” the tribe’s volunteer group, to collect trash from the beach. In addition, innovative recycling programs and community partnerships continue to help the Chumash Casino Resort achieve a 91.9% waste-diversion rate from local landfills – an accomplishment that earned the resort TRUE© Zero Waste distinction from Green Business Certification Inc. in 2019.

Tribal Chairman Kenneth Kahn said in his press release, “Our tribe is proud of our Team Members’ contributions of both time and effort to keep the areas around our resort clean, while also volunteering to support larger causes that are focused on improving the environment. Being named a Clean California Community is a testament to our resort’s leadership and the great work of our Team Members who understand the importance of being stewards of the land.”