The Friends of San Pedro Valley Park welcome Shelby Kawana, an Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who will present a lecture via Zoom on Saturday, May 13th at 4 pm entitled “Kelp Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration in California.”  California’s iconic canopy-forming kelp forests are a critical resource and ecosystem engineer. Kelp forests provide structural habitat, shelter, and food for hundreds of marine organisms, including important local fisheries.  Kelp forests face several environmental stressors which can operate independently or synergistically to cause localized kelp declines and, in some cases, widespread deforestation.  This presentation will discuss marine algae resource management in California and the collaborative efforts exploring various restoration approaches aimed to facilitate kelp recovery along the coast.

About the Speaker:  Shelby Kawana is an Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Marine Region, working primarily on kelp restoration and management. Shelby grew up abalone diving in the bull kelp forests on the Sonoma and Mendocino County coasts, which led her to pursue an education in marine science. She obtained her BS in Marine Biology at UC Santa Cruz, where she was trained as a scientific research diver. Shelby began working for CDFW in 2012 for the Invertebrate Management Program, where she conducted extensive subtidal monitoring and research to support the management of the northern California recreational red abalone fishery. In addition, she worked for the UC Davis Endangered White Abalone Captive Breeding and Restoration Program, conducting active abalone restoration efforts in southern California. Shelby began working in her current position with the CDFW State Managed Finfish and Nearshore Ecosystem Program’s Kelp and Marine Algae Team in 2022.

Please register with the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_s69ADz30TJWLjjeCLzTO3w