Survival in Southern California, Mother Nature and her Birds and the Bees

Speaker: Richard W. Halsey 

Time and Date: 6 PM on June 8, 2017

Location: Temecula Library

Address: 30600 Pauba Rd, Temecula, CA 92592

Richard W. Halsey is a writer, photographer, and the director of the California Chaparral Institute, a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to the preservation of native shrub land habitats throughout the world and supporting the creative spirit as inspired by the natural environment.

There was a time when understanding the environment around you was a matter of survival – when the flowers bloomed, where the flowers were, and how to avoid the grizzly bear. Now, our local knowledge is limited to street names, navigating freeway off ramps, and avoiding traffic tickets. Join Richard Halsey as he explores ways to find more joy in life by understanding and connecting with the local landscape, what rock is underfoot, and being able to distinguish male and female shrubs while driving seventy-miles-per-hour. It is time to become intimate with the wild nearby and know what home truly means.

Richard W. Halsey is the director of the California Chaparral Institute, a non-profit, research and educational organization dedicated to the preservation of native shrubland habitats throughout the world and supporting the creative spirit as inspired by the natural environment. Mr. Halsey also works with the San Diego Museum of Natural History, publishes The Chaparralian, a periodic journal focusing on chaparral and wildfire issues, and continues to teach natural history. He has given more than 350 presentations about the chaparral ecosystem over the past decade. Mr. Halsey taught biology for more than twenty years in both public and private schools and was honored as the Teacher of the Year for San Diego City Schools. He has also conducted numerous research projects and published several papers concerning the ecology of California’s chaparral ecosystem. Halsey has also been trained as a Type II wildland firefighter, past an age most would consider prudent. The second edition of his book, Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California, was published in 2008 and was awarded the Best Nonfiction-Local Interest Book by the San Diego Book Awards Association.