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• U.C. Berkeley’s splendid Blake Garden tour

  • When
    October 20, 2023
  •  
    11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Location
    70 Rincon Road, Kensington, CA 94707
  • Spaces left
    13

  Register

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button. For other options, contact Libby Tyler, ehtyler6@gmail.com; 217-493-4372. 

  A 60-minute tour of the 10.5-acre garden followed by optional lunch in upper Kensington.

  Come join us for a tour of U.C. Berkeley’s splendid Blake Garden, located 4 miles north of campus, in the small hillside community of Kensington.  Learn about the history and design of this 10.5-acre teaching-garden managed by UC Berkeley’s Department of Landscape Architecture and College of Environmental Design.  

  Known for its outstanding collection of plants assembled by the Blake family between 1922 and 1962 and since augmented by the University, the Garden also features stunning views of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge.  The tour will be led by Museum Scientist and Horticulturist Timothy Cole.  Free on-site parking lot.

  

  After the tour, meet up for no-host lunch at Inn Kensington Restaurant, 293 Arlington Avenue in Kensington.

  Group Size:  Minimum 10; Maximum 25

  Cost:  Members $20 (one half to be donated to the PBK scholarship fund and one half to the Blake Garden Fund at UC Berkeley Foundation); non-members $30.

  PBKNCA Leader:  Libby Tyler, ehtyler6@gmail.com; 217-493-4372  

  If on the day of the event you find you can't make it, call Libby Tyler, 217-493-4372. Simply not paying or not replying prevents us from allowing someone else to attend. No-shows do NOT receive a refund!
  

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click HERE, or on "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting Libby Tyler, ehtyler6@gmail.com; 217-493-4372.

  If you are on the waitlist and wish to be removed without being registered, please contact  Libby Tyler, ehtyler6@gmail.com; 217-493-4372.

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• Young Professionals: Join us for a day of food, drinks and community-building at SPARK Social SF, at our annual Young Professionals Key Connections Event

  • When
    October 28, 2023
  •  
    11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    SPARK Social SF, 601 Mission Bay Boulevard North, San Francisco, CA 94158
  • Spaces left
    24

  Register

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button. For other options, contact Danielle West by email.
  
  Join us for a day of food, drinks and community-building at SPARK Social SF for our annual Young Professionals Key Connections Event.

  
  

  Admission cost for PBK YP or recent inductee attendees is $13. 
  Date: October 28, 2023
  
  Time: 11 AM - 1 PM
  
  Location: SPARK Social SF, 601 Mission Bay Boulevard North, San Francisco, CA 94158
  

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click HERE, or on "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting Danielle West. No-shows do NOT receive a refund!
  

  If you are on the waitlist and wish to be removed without being registered, please contact Danielle West.

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• John Muir House and Garden tour

  • When
    November 18, 2023
  •  
    11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Location
    4202 Alhambra Ave, Martinez, CA 94553
  • Spaces left
    18

  Register

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button. For other options, contact O'Neil Dillon by email or at 510-207-8761

  John Muir, " Fruit Rancher, Family Man, Writer… Father of the National Park Service”, lived in this home with its orchard. 

  Learn about the history of this influential conservationist and see how he and his family lived in Martinez.  In addition, the Martinez Adobe tells the history of the Anza Expedition of 1776, establishing the first Spanish settlement at San Francisco Bay. 

  Depending how the orchard does, we may be able to pick some fruit to take home.  Picnic grounds are available for lunch after the tour. Nearby Mt Wanda hiking trails are part of the park and can be enjoyed as well.  Facilities are limited.  Bring water. 

  Event:  1 hour, ranger-led tour of John Muir’s home and orchards   

  https://www.nps.gov/jomu/index.htm as well as the Martinez Adobe 

  https://www.nps.gov/juba/index.htm which may be self-guided or, if there are enough rangers, ranger led.

  
  

  ADA accessible

  Parking: limited onsite.  Street parking on Walnut street opposite parking entrance to park.  All day and 2 hr. parking available.  

  Group limit 30

  Cost:  members $15, non-members $25

  Rain cancels

  If on the day of the event you find you can't make it, call O'Neil Dillon at 510-207-8761. Simply not paying or not replying prevents us from allowing someone else to attend. No-shows do NOT receive a refund!

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click HERE, or on "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting O'Neil Dillon.

  If you are on the waitlist and wish to be removed without being registered, please contact  O'Neil Dillon.

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• Saildrone Ocean Explorer tour (on land!)

  • When
    January 01, 2024
  •  
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
  • Location
    Alameda, January 2024
  • Spaces left
    25

  The date is not real, but the website requires something! Registration coming soon. More later.

  
  

  Interested in Oceanography, Climatology, Sea Level Rise, ocean mapping, marine security, why hurricanes are getting stronger, moving slower and what oceanographic features of a changing planet like sea water salinity and temperature affect hurricane behavior? 

  Ever wonder what it is like being on the sea surface in a hurricane with 143 MPH gusts and 80 foot waves ?   

  Now is your chance from data and video where it has never  been collected before! 

  Richard Jenkins has developed an un-crewed (drone) sailboat with 14 different sensors to monitor ocean conditions both above and below the ocean surface. He is the CEO of the Saildrone company in Alameda.  He works with NOAA and governments and businesses all over the world. 

  We will have a tour of Saildrone facilities in January, date as of yet undetermined

  See https://www.saildrone.com/

  If on the day of the event you find you can't make it, call O'Neil Dillon at 510-207-8761. Simply not paying or not replying prevents us from allowing someone else to attend. No-shows do NOT receive a refund!

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click HERE, or on "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting O'Neil Dillon.

  If you are on the waitlist and wish to be removed without being registered, please contact  O'Neil Dillon.

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• 37th Asilomar Conference - Feb 16-19, 2024

  • Start
    February 16, 2024
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • End
    February 19, 2024
  •  
    12:00 PM
  • Location
    Asilomar, 800 Asilomar Ave, Pacific Grove, CA

  Register

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button. But you may mail the coupon and a check by snail mail. 

  37th Annual Asilomar Conference - February 16 – 19, 2024

  Sign up at https://pbknca.com/event-5159419  or select “Events”, then “Current Asilomar”

  Do NOT make a reservation at Asilomar. Information for reserving full room + meals will be sent to registrants in October.  Please wait for this, rather than reserving directly, since we are committed to 45 such full reservations.

  The goal of liberal education is to understand the world in all its complexities, to challenge us and yes…  to make us uncomfortable from time to time. – Fred Lawrence, General Secretary, PBK Society

  Once again, the antidote to news of fires, floods, fights and criminality – a new season for the PBKNCA Asilomar Conference in the Spring! It is again time to reserve your space for a fresh weekend of learning, inspiration, fellowship and a breath of sanity, on the magnificent Monterey coast! Past participants describe the weekend as “the best aspects of college, without the exams” and “the greatest high of the year – without drugs!” 

  If you have questions on this year’s program, please contact dfrontczak@scu.edu. For registration or logistics matters, please contact Barry Haskell at bghaskell@comcast.net. Registration is $150 (member rate), which goes in part to scholarships.  Lodging cost will be similar to last year, about $640 per person, double occupancy, and includes all nine meals and parking. All registered participants will receive forms to reserve their Asilomar accommodations, including meals; please check your email. (Remember, to be part of the PBKNCA package, do not reserve directly with the facility.) 

  Please join us once again for the annual Asilomar Conference, where we gather to learn, engage in discussions, and to listen to one another in new ways. Speakers are still being confirmed; a sneak peek at what’s planned for 2024: 

  Friday night:  Brant Robertson, Ph.D., PBK James Webb Space Telescope

   In December 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most powerful telescope ever put into space. Prof. Brant Robertson of UC Santa Cruz has been a leader in efforts to use JWST to study the early cosmos with remarkable success, including the discovery of the most distant galaxy known in the universe. In this presentation – an update to last year’s introduction to the Webb -- Prof. Robertson will share the newest discoveries with JWST and reveal how scientists find and study the faintest and most objects in the sky. 

  Dr. Brant Robertson PhD is a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at University of California, Santa Cruz. He previously held the Maureen and John Hendricks Visiting Professorship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton NJ, an Assistant Professorship in Astronomy at University of Arizona, and a Hubble Fellowship at Caltech. He studies theoretical astrophysics, , and works in the scientific areas of galaxy formation and evolution. His research has been featured in the television programs 60 Minutes and COSMOS and covered by news media including TIME Magazine, the Washington Post, FOX News, and the BBC.

  Saturday afternoon:  Michael Dylan Foster, Ph.D., PBK (?)

  “The Persistence of the Kappa and Other Creatures of Japanese Folklore”

  This talk introduces a panoply of Japanese folkloric creatures, often called yōkai. I start with the  kappa, a river imp found in legends and folktales throughout the Japanese archipelago. Although there are references to kappa-like beings in texts from over a thousand years ago, today this water goblin is more common than ever, infesting popular culture formats such as anime and video games. The kappa survives because of its mutability, its ability to adapt itself to the concerns of the given historical moment

  Folkloric creatures like these are often dismissed as trivial or childish, but their persistence in the cultural imagination suggests that they actually reveal a great deal about how humans grapple with a complex and changing world. 

  Michael Dylan Foster is a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis, and the recipient of a PBKNCA Teaching Excellence Award (2022). He teaches classes on Japanese folklore, heritage, tourism, and popular culture and is the author of “The Book of Yōkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore” and “Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yōkai”, as well as articles and reviews. Since 2022, he has served as the “Yōkai Navigator” for a television series about Japanese folkloric creatures on NHK World.

  Sunday afternoon:  Robert Shanklin, Ph.D., PBK, Santa Clara University, Philosophy

  Robert is specializes in Chinese philosophy and American Pragmatism. He has promised to create a talk directly relevant to contemporary issues or concerns…. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

   

  Sunday night:  Kaherine Magoulick, Ph.D. Candidate, PBK (UC Berkeley) Integrative Biology

  

  Katherine's work examines the controls on mammalian migration during the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). She uses the fossil record to study past migrations--why did some species migrate while others did not? During the period under study (approximately 2.5 million years ago), there was a series of migrations across the isthmus of Panama between North and South America. Her dissertation research focuses on establishing the ecological drivers of the patterns of dispersal and thereby, it is hoped, increase our ability to make predictive models to conserve living biota and improve our ability to predict how animals will move across the landscape as the climate changes.

  Her research uses ecological niche modeling (ENM) to determine the extent to which climatic factors alone can account for the migration patterns or whether other factors such as predation intensity are needed to explain these patterns.

  The broader impacts of this work range from strengthening online repositories of paleontological data to enhancing our understanding of how species will respond to ongoing global change.

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• Dogpatch Art Walk - The Minnesota St Project

  • When
    March 23, 2024
  •  
    11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Location
    1275 Minnesota St. San Francisco
  • Spaces left
    18

  Register

  

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button. For other options, contact Tina Hittenberger by email or at 707-738-5607

  This exclusive, guided tour of contemporary art will begin at the Minnesota Street Project, a three warehouse complex dedicated to educating the public through exhibitions, galleries and programs. Led by collector, traveler and art historian, Rhoda Becker, participants will have access to galleries, meet owners and collectors, speak with artists and get an insider’s perspective on this vibrant contemporary art community. Our guide will have previewed the most current exhibits and created a varied itinerary showcasing current artists and works. They recommend allowing three hours to view all galleries and visit with creatives.

  Nearby cafes are available for lunch and refreshments or bring your own and eat in the nearby park.
  
  The Minnesota Street Project is in Dogpatch which is the new epicenter of innovation, craft and artistic expression. The Museum of Craft and Design, California College of the Arts, San Francisco Center for the Book, entrepreneurial ventures and various art spaces make this an internationally recognized art destination. After the tour, people may want to explore this vibrant area.

  Group size: 20
  Cost: members  $40 ($15 for scholarships), Non-members $50 ($25 for scholarships)
  Parking: Ample street parking
  PBKNCA rep:  Tina Hittenberger

  If on the day of the event you find you can't make it, call Tina Hittenberger at 707-738-5607. Simply not paying or not replying prevents us from allowing someone else to attend. No-shows do NOT receive a refund!

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click HERE, or on "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting  Tina Hittenberger by email or at 707-738-5607

  If you are on the waitlist and wish to be removed without being registered, please contact  Tina Hittenberger by email or at 707-738-5607

  Show details