CNPS Chapter Council Activities – 6/5-7 2026 – UC Berkeley
hosted by East Bay & Bryophyte chapters
hosted by East Bay & Bryophyte chapters
"Flora of the East Bay, California" by Lech Naumovich and Barbara Ertter. Use it on the Sunday field trips. Recently published by the East Bay Chapter, in association with the University and Jepson Herbaria. An update to the older annotated checklist, now with 2000 vascular and nearly 150 bryophyte species. Purchase at the meeting or pre-order, specifying the Council Meeting as your pick-up option.
image: Saxon Holt
Morning & Afternoon
- 9:30a - Regional Parks Botanic Garden - Garden Manager and CNPS Fellow Bart O'Brien will show us the tremendous variety of native plants grown in the 10-acre garden. He’ll share stories about how the ingenious use of site conditions such as topography, slope, and exposure, plus the addition of imported soil and rock, have encouraged a wide diversity of plants to thrive here – plants originating from the foggy north coast to the deserts of southern and eastern California, to high alpine habitats, and everything in between.
- 11:15a - Native Here Nursery - The East Bay Chapter’s nursery, Native Here, was founded by CNPS fellow Charli Danielsen in 1994 and opened to customers in 1996. Charli and John Danielsen built the nursery (literally) and trained many volunteers, some of whom later founded their own nurseries. The nursery’s mission is to provide native plants from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties propagated from local genetic stock. All plants are grown from seeds/cuttings/spores collected with permits from local native plants. The all-volunteer nursery is open year-round and offers between 150 and 200 taxa each year. Nursery volunteers Arleen Feng and Beth Wurzburg will lead the tour.
- 12:00p - Lunch - Lots of options near campus, especially on Shattuck Ave. and on Telegraph Ave.
- 1:00p - University & Jepson Herbaria - Meet at the T. rex in the rotunda, lower level of the Valley Life Sciences building, near room 1001. Brent Mishler (curator of bryophytes) and Nina House will lead the tour. The University Herbarium was founded in 1895 and holds botanical collections from around the world. The Jepson was founded in 1950 and specializes in the vascular plants of California. Its official logo is Calochortus pulchellus, the Mount Diablo fairy-lantern (1B.2)
- 2:00p - Board of Directors Meeting - Contact Board president Vivian Neou if you wish to attend. Valley Life Sciences Building, room 1002.
- 3:00p - Regional Parks Botanic Garden - See morning tour for details.
image: Beth Wurzburg
- Starting 5:30p - Food & Beverage Meet-up
Headlands Brewing, on campus in Eshleman Hall, 2465 Bancroft Way (at the north end of Telegraph Ave, off Sproul Plaza). Join our no-host gathering; we have no specific area reserved, but we’ll gravitate towards the patio. Come when ready, grab a drink and/or food at the bar, and socialize with your old friends and new! Late arrivals welcome.
click on map
VLSB
Alumni House
SATURDAY 6/6
Morning & Afternoon - Valley Life Sciences BuildingRoom 2063. Enter via SE corner of the building - the rest of the building will be locked. (Click on campus map for detailed view. More maps on the Lodging & Travel page.)
CHAPTER COUNCIL
- 8:00a - Light breakfast - (no charge) courtesy of Bryophyte chapter
- 9:00a-5:00p - Council Meeting - agenda pending
- noon - Lunch - salad or lunch bowl options (select preferences when you register)
- 5:30p - Social Time - beverages and catered edibles
- 6:45p - Dinner - two cuisine styles, two options each (select preferences when you register).
- After-dinner slide talk - Glen Schneider, “From Weeds to Wildflowers - Restoration of Berkeley Hills High Meadows” - “Skyline Gardens” is the local name for the richest botanical hotspot of its size in the entire East Bay. This 250 acre-protected watershed straddles the spine of the Berkeley Hills. Glen Schneider has been exploring these hills for decades and has led volunteer restoration crews here for 10 years. His team initially worked along the narrow trail before moving into the high meadow areas. Glen will discuss the pioneering methods they used to convert hillsides of invasive annual grasses and weeds to native meadows filled with wildflowers and wildlife. Their success has inspired similar restoration projects in three regional parks and on SFPUD land. Glen and Cynthia Adkisson will lead a tour to four meadow restoration sites here on Sunday.
image: Laurie Nielsen
SUNDAY 6/7
image: Cynthia Adkisson
- 9:30-11:30a - Skyline Gardens Restoration Project - “Skyline Gardens” is the local name for the richest botanical hotspot of its size in the entire East Bay. These 250 acres of protected watershed straddle the spine of the Berkeley Hills. Glen Schneider has been leading volunteer restoration crews here for 10 years. Glen and Cynthia Adkisson will lead a tour to four sites in the high meadows where they will discuss the pioneering methods they’ve used to convert fields of non-native annual grasses and weeds into native habitat filled with wildflowers and wildlife. Their astounding success has inspired similar projects in three East Bay Regional Parks and on SFPUD land in Sunol.
- 11:00a-2:00p - Bryophytes and vascular plants of the East Bay Hills - Brent Mishler, Kirsten Fisher, Jordan Collins, and other members of the CNPS Bryophyte Chapter will lead a tour in Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve to look at bryophytes and vascular plants. There are multiple Phytophthoras on site so we will be sanitizing our shoes before, during, and after the trip. meeting location
"Huckleberry RP lies just below the Bay Hills ridge line and faces east, offering a respite from the afternoon summer sun. The native plant community here is found nowhere else in the East Bay. It represents a relictual plant association found only in certain areas along California's coast where ideal soil and climatic conditions exist. The vegetation of Huckleberry RP finds its roots in past climates and geologic history. Many plants originated in the distant past along the southern coast of California when the climate was moister and tempered by the cool coastal fog. Today, similar vegetation is found on the islands off the Santa Barbara coast and in isolated pockets on the mainland coast from Point Conception to Montara Mountain, south of San Francisco." (adapted from the East Bay Regional Parks brochure) - 10:00a-12:00p - Fuels Reduction Projects in the East Bay - Jim Hanson will lead a driving tour through the scenic and ecologically-rich East Bay hills to view seven wildfire vegetation treatments and how our plant communities respond to California's current vegetation treatment standard. There will be one stop to walk part of a vegetation treatment site (distance about ¼ mile), enjoy refreshments, and discuss the Chapter's role in the East Bay's evolving wildfire approach. Limit 11 (3 cars).
image: Eivind Torgersen
| Council Chair - Judy Fenerty | Host chapter - Beth Wurzburg | website issues - Larry Levine |