Language of the Land: Secrets of the Oak Woodlands
January 25, 2023 | 7:00 pm
Sonoma County’s oak woodlands are teeming with life — plants and animals that exist in an astonishing variety of shapes, behaviors, and interrelationships. Many of these life forms depend on oaks, and others rely on plants that live in community with oaks.
In a presentation illustrated with videos as well as photographs, author and naturalist Kate Marianchild will take us on a riveting tour of oak woodland trees and shrubs and the animals that can’t live without them. Don’t miss Kate’s closing story, “A Night in the Life of Lively the Woodrat.”
Register HereAbout the Speaker
Kate Marianchild
When Kate Marianchild migrated to the oak woodlands of inland Mendocino County in 2001, she promptly fell in love with an ecosystem. After writing for Audubon and other nature-oriented nonprofits for several years, she began the research that led to the writing of this book. Marianchild studied Chinese language and literature at UC Berkeley and New Asia College in Hong Kong, graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Berkeley with a degree in comparative literature. Following years of grassroots political activism, she moved to Mendocino County in 1980 and supported herself as a carpenter while founding and running Rising Tide Sea Vegetables, a company that is still thriving today under new ownership. For the past thirteen years she has lived in a cozy twenty-five-foot-diameter yurt with no indoor plumbing except a sink and a two-gallon hot water heater. In addition to watching wildlife, leading nature walks, and giving slide presentations, Marianchild sings with two community choirs, kayaks, swims, and participates in the events of her beloved community. (Kate Marianchild was known as Kathy Roberts before she changed her name to honor her deceased mother.)
