Naturalist Night: State of Change- California’s Forgotten Landscapes

Join us for an evening celebrating the highly anticipated reissue of the book “A State of Change: California’s Forgotten Landscape”. Author Lara Cunningham’s work is a natural history masterpiece and a California classic, influential among naturalists, artists, educators and lay readers alike, that envisions in exquisite artistic and scientific detail what California looked like pre-colonization. This fully redesigned edition features new material on the reintroduction of wolves to California, the promise of regenerative agriculture, and traditional Indigenous uses of fire on the land. At this event, author Laura Cunningham will read from her book, present highlighted artwork and speak about the historical biodiversity of California and her approach to envisioning a precolonial ecology of the Golden State. A book signing will follow the presentation. REGISTER HERE Ticket Price: $12 General | $8 Students Discounts: $5 Member discount About the Speaker: Laura Cunningham is an artist-naturalist who studied paleontology and biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked field biology jobs for the California Department of Fish and Game, the United States Geological Survey, and various universities, gaining experience with such species as Owens Valley pupfish, salmon and steelhead trout, Yosemite toads, Panamint alligator lizards, and tule elk. Simultaneously, she taught herself the arts of sketching and oil painting and pursued studies of California’s historical ecology. She currently works in the conservation nonprofit field. Her studio is next to Death Valley National Park along the Amargosa River. Accessibility and Logistics: This program will take place indoors at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. Seating will be provided, and light refreshments will be available. Feel free to bring a notebook or sketchbook and something to write with if you’d like to take notes during the talk. Come prepared with questions for the Q&A with the speaker. Parking is available on Pilkington and street parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood. Parking permits will not be required for this nighttime event. Please allow a few extra minutes to find parking and get settled before the program begins. Cancellation Policy