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At 10 am on select mornings, Academy experts (and friends) bring you discoveries, insights, and stories from around the world, spanning a wide range of subjects through live, informal presentations followed by Q&As with the viewing audience. Streamed simultaneously to our YouTube and Facebook pages, these mini-classes are for everyone (because each one of us is a brain). Sincerely yours, the Academy.

Upcoming Episodes

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Thursday, January 27, 10 am

Headshots of Dr. Bennett and Dr. Bojorquez

The Children’s Vaccine: Your Qs, Answered
Dr. Shannon Bennett, Chief of Science, California Academy of Sciences
Dr. Diana Bojorquez, Assistant Physician in Chief of Pediatrics for Kaiser Permanente San Francisco

Have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for children 5–11, or related questions about kids and coronavirus? Tune in live to have them answered by two very special Breakfast Clubs guests: the Academy’s Chief of Science, microbiologist Dr. Shannon Bennett, and Dr. Diana Bojorquez, Assistant Physician in Chief of Pediatrics for Kaiser Permanente San Francisco.

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Recent Breakfast Clubs

Find our 10 most recent Breakfast Club episodes below, or click here to see our full YouTube playlist.

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Photo of an ivory billed woodpecker specimen mounted on a branch

A Very Special Collections Tour: Mammalogy's Extinct, Endangered, & Type-Specimen Cases
Mammalogy Collections Manager Moe Flannery

Join Ornithology and Mammalogy collections manager Moe Flannery for the most incredible live tour we've streamed yet: A behind-the-scenes look at the rare specimens in our extinct, endangered, and type specimen cases (an area so special that it can't be toured in any other way). Highlights will include extinct animals such as passenger pigeons, ivory-billed woodpeckers, and California grizzly bears; the only two bird specimens that survived the 1906 fire; the endangered California Condor, and so much more. Not to be missed!

 

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On the left, a photo of Dave smiling and holding up a specimen, on the right a close-up of a frilled shark

Collections Tour: Sharks Only (Make It Elasmobranchs)
Dave Catania, Academy Ichthyology Sr. Collections Manager

He's got the science, the shirt, *and* the sharks: We're headed back into the Ichthyology collections with Sr. Collections Manager Dave Catania! Go behind the scenes and into the aisles, vats, jars, and other holdings of this incredible—& critical to science—1.2 million-specimen collection, for a special look at sharks and their relatives.

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mosaic of panelists

Shark Science: The Panel! 
Jasmin Graham (Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium & CEO of M.I.S.S); Melissa Cristina Márquez (PhD candidate at Curtin University & science-communicator); & Dr. Andrew Nosal (Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Ocean Sciences, University of San Diego)

From hammerheads to leopard sharks to how sharks are perceived, meet three incredible researchers on the frontlines of shark science: Jasmin Graham, Melissa Cristina Márquez, & Andrew Nosal! We'll start with mini-talks (you're welcome for not calling them bite-sized), then take your Qs. See full panelist bios at the YouTube link below.

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Dressed in a bright yellow windbreaker, David McGuire sits on a boat in stormy weather smiling

"Shark Watch: Shark Diversity & Community Science"
David McGuire, Shark Stewards Founder

Learn all about California sharks—their diversity, behavior, & habitat—with Shark Steward's David McGuire! A marine biologist, Academy Research Associate, and National Geographic Explorer, McGuire's here to fill your human brain with facts about these fascinating fish, and how you can help protect them by participating in one very special community-science project.

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Luiz Rocha wearing rebreather dive gear and smiling

"Swimming with Sharks: In Conversation With Dr. Luiz Rocha"
Academy Ichthyology Curator Dr. Luiz Rocha

Happy Shark Awareness Day! Sharks are some of the most vilified and feared animals in the world, but behind the scary media headlines lies a very different story: Sharks pose no real risk to humans—in fact, it's the other way around. Join us live as curator Dr. Luiz Rocha recounts some of his most memorable shark encounters, talks about shark diversity and biology, and makes the case that we desperately need to protect sharks if we want a thriving, healthy ocean.

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8 circles containing the faces of the founders of Entomologists of Color

Panel: Entomologists of Color
Dr. Jessica Ware, AMNH; Dr. Lauren Esposito, California Academy of Sciences; Sallqa-Tuwa BondocGawa Mafla, Rutgers University-Newark; Aaron Goodman, AMNH; Megan Wilson, AMNH. 

Breakfast Club is back, this time with a full slate of panelists from Entomologists of Color! Founded in June 2020 to increase the participation of people of color in scientific societies—and the diversity of entomology overall—EntoPOC is already making a huge impact on the field through mentorship programs, intentional network building, paid memberships to entomological societies, and more. Meet five members of the founding team to hear more about the mission of (and necessity for) EntoPOC, as well as some of the incredible research and science being driven by its members. 

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Collections manager Moe Flannery stands surrounded by antler specimens in the Mammalogy Antler Room

Collections Tour: The Mammalogy Antler Room
Maureen Flannery, Senior Ornithology and Mammalogy Collection Manager at the California Academy of Sciences

Collections manager Moe Flannery takes viewers behind the scenes of our mammalogy collections to explore some of the most impressive specimens of the Academy's entire, 46-million-specimen scientific holdings. See a complete dugong skeleton, a pair of deer locked in mortal combat, orca skulls, narwal tusks, lots (and lots) of horns and antlers, and so much more. Those who caught Moe's first behind-the-scenes tour know exactly how fascinating this will be—don't miss it! 

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Wednesday, March 17: Snake Patrick's Day!

The words Snake Patricks Day on a background of green snakeskin

We're celebrating March 17 properly by welcoming—not banishing—Earth's incredible snakes with a full day's worth of livestreams! Encounter live "ambassador" snakes with Academy biologists, tour our herpetology collections manager's top-10 snakes, and be dazzled by a trio of panels featuring flash-science presentations from some of the most amazing scientists working in snake-science today! (Live questions welcome.) Find the full lineup and schedule on our Snake Patrick's Day webpage

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A team of researchers conducts a necropsy on a whale carcass that has washed up on a beach

Dead Whales Do Tell Tales
Maureen Flannery, Senior Ornithology and Mammalogy Collection Manager at the California Academy of Sciences

As a member of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the California Academy of Sciences, along with the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, responds to any dead whale that washes up along the coast between the Rockport in Mendocino County and the San Mateo/Santa Cruz county line. Each carcass offers scientists the opportunity to learn about the health of whale populations, and the threats that they face. By performing necropsies in the field, scientists collect valuable data about whale migration patterns, habitat threats, human impacts, and geographic distribution that help to inform critical conservation decisions and scientific research. Moe Flannery, Ornithology and Mammalogy Senior Collection Manager, will share some of the stories uncovered during recent whale post-mortem exams along our local coastlines. Note: This presentation contains imagery of whale necropsies that may be upsetting for some people, including children. 

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logo for Black in Ento

Black In Entomology
Dr. Maydianne Andrade (Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough), Dr. Michelle Samuel-Foo (Director of Specialty Crop Research, Alabama State University), and Dr. Jessica Ware (Associate Curator, American Museum of Natural History)

Join us for this incredible panel featuring three of the organizers of #BlackInEnto week, an effort aimed at highlighting the diversity of work being done by the Black Entomology community across the globe. Panelists will discuss the challenges facing Black entomologists, the successes and critical work being accomplished despite those challenges, and ways everyone can get involved in supporting efforts to diversify entomology and support Black entomologists! For more information, connect with @BlackInEnto on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and visit www.BlackInEnto.com.

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Toshio Asaeda stands in grasslands surrounded by mountains smoking a pipe

The Work and Life of Toshio Asaeda
Rebekah Kim, Head Librarian at the California Academy of Sciences

Academy librarian and holder-of-history Rebekah Kim returns to Breakfast Club on February 19—America's day of observance for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II—to tell the story of scientific illustrator Toshio Asaeda, an artist of incredible talent who worked with the Academy in a wide range of roles—on expeditions, exhibits, in collections, and more—for more than 40 years. Best known for creating watercolors whose vibrance and realism still staggers today, Asaeda was also one of the ~120,000 Americans who were forced to leave their homes, jobs, and lives behind and incarcerated in desolate camps—an act the U.S. government apologized for 46 years later. An important story and body of work, as told by the woman who cares for both today. Please note: In addition to airing on a Friday, this program begins at 11 am PT (instead of our regular 10 am start). 

 

 

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Academy @ Home

Enjoy an eclectic array of science content for all ages, from distance learning resources to in-depth livestreams.

About IBSS

The mission of the Academy's Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability (IBSS) is to gather new knowledge about life's diversity and the process of evolution—and to rapidly apply that understanding to our efforts to sustain life on Earth.