Water Resource Collections and Archives

San Francisco Bay 2K Biodiversity Study

Organization: California Academy of Sciences
2001 Grant Recipient – Multiple Counties

Purpose

The Academy's major biological survey aimed to document occurrences of all benthic animals in San Francisco Bay, including non-native species. The resulting baseline information was combined with the Academy's unique historical data, providing a resource from which environmental mitigation parameters could be developed. SFBay:2K blends research and outreach to educate the public on Bay conservation.

San Francisco Bay is among the world’s most-invaded environments, and has also been heavily impacted by human activity. Urbanization, habitat loss, and the introduction of non-indigenous species have radically altered the Bay's ecology. Remarkably, no single resource exists that lists and summarizes information on the fauna of San Francisco Bay. SFBay:2K was piloted in 1999 and fully launched by the Academy in 2000 to document all native and invasive benthic animals in the Bay, and to develop educational outreach materials to inform the scientific community; policy makers; local, state and federal government agencies; conservation and environmental organizations; and the general public.

2012 Update

The educational component of SFBay:2K introduced 70 high school teachers and more than 35 high school interns since 2001 to the process of scientific discovery, involving them directly in specimen collection each spring and fall, as well as in identification and data analysis. The teachers and interns went into the field and lab with Academy research and education staff. The teachers returned to their classrooms with toolboxes of teaching programs that draw upon Bay science developed at the Academy. In turn, SFBay:2K trained the next generation of scientists in field work, collections, and lab work.

The SFBay:2K outreach project provided a biological baseline and database from which planning decisions on major applied projects in the Bay can be informed, assisted in the identification of which priority habitats should be conserved, and enabled assessment of impact of animal distributions. The final result will be a complete list of all benthic animals occurring in the Bay. Read More ...

NRPI Database Entry

http://www.ice.ucdavis.edu/nrpi/NRPIDescription.asp?ProjectPK=408

Documents

• SAN FRANCISCO BAY: 2K. Rich Moori, Ph.D. California Academy of Sciences. (1 page.)

Volunteer Opportunities

If you would like to inquire about opportunities to volunteer for this project's activities, please e-mail the organization's Education Coordinator, Ms. Roberta Ayres at RAyres@CalAcademy.org.

Primary Contact for the Project

Dr. Rich Mooi
SFBay:2K Scientific Coordinator
California Academy of Sciences
Phone: (415) 750-7086
Email: RMooi@CalAcademy.org

Data Contact for the Project

Roberta Ayres
Education Coordinator
California Academy of Sciences
Phone: (415) 321-8107
Email: RAyres@CalAcademy.org