Sandy DeSimone, Ph.D., Director, Research, Education and Land
Management, Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary, will present Protecting and Promoting Southern California Wildlands.

This will be a virtual event in Google Meet. Please RSVP here to receive the link to the meeting.

Sandy and her husband, Pete DeSimone, Manager at Starr Ranch, are beloved by our Chapter. We have often gone on bird walks and attended owl prowls in non-COVID times.

Starr Ranch Sanctuary is a 4,000 acres preserve owned and operated by the National Audubon Society. It is located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in the

mild and semiarid Mediterranean climate of southeastern Orange County, approximately 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles. It lies in unincorporated Orange County and is

bordered by the Cleveland National Forest on the north and east, the Ronald W. Caspers Regional Park on the south and the developments of Dove Canyon and Coto de Caza on the west. The larger

community of Rancho Santa Margarita is three miles northwest of the Sanctuary, and the city of San Juan Capistrano is 10 miles to the southwest.

Sandy has a M.A. from Cal State Fullerton and a Ph.D. from U.C. Davis. She developed the "Starr Ranch Field Ecology Programs" an innovative approach that integrates ecological research into education. People of all ages participate in the program, taught by biologists and have a hands-on experience in simulated or actual field research. She also began five years of research on biology and non-chemical control of a priority non-native plant species, artichoke thistle.

Since 1997 and over a series of three experiments, they found a method that has reduced artichoke thistle cover by 95% on a work site after one season of treatment. Land managers from Ventura to san Diego Counties have visited Starr Ranch to hear about their land management practices and visit the restoration sites.

Sandy's work has won a Certificate of Appreciation from USFWS for "Outstanding Contributions to the Nations Fish and Wildlife," the CA Invasive Plant Council's Land Manager of the Year Award, and the Sea and Sage Conservation Award.

Please join us for this interesting and informative presentation.