In October, I was honored to be selected to lead the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). The Institute brings a solid, twenty-year track record of delivering quality science to inform and improve decisions by our leaders on complex environmental issues. SFEI’s scientists and technologists are impressive both individually and collectively. Their programs and products address today’s issues like climate change, sea-level rise, and our precious aquatic resources with great scientific precision and independence. I joined this team with great enthusiasm. In my experience, I’ve encountered few organizations with such talent, and integrity and the ability to help visionary leaders change the course of history. SFEI is such an organization.
We are now poised to expand our partnerships. We’re working with the best talents in business, science and government from Google to the University of California to the EPA to address some of the most complex environmental issues of our time. The challenges facing our region are many. But effective, user-friendly science, delivered quickly to policy makers, can accelerate how our leaders navigate many tough choices. Building on our strong partnerships and forging new ones will ensure that the right people are making the best possible decisions for our environment’s sustainable future.
Please review the range of news items below and note the bold impact our team is making. Our commitment to the San Francisco Bay region is unabated. Yet our work ranges from San Diego’s wetlands to the Sacramento Delta to the Klamath River on the North Coast. Our leadership in water quality work enters its 23rd year. And demand is growing for our innovations in historical ecology and technology. I look forward to creating and sharing our landmark efforts in the San Francisco Bay, Delta, and neighboring regions. This short video explains why I jumped at the chance to join this dynamic team.
The future might be unknown and challenging but science can light the way. I’ll see you there.
REGIONAL MONITORING PROGRAM (RMP) UPDATE, 2014 – NOW AN EBOOK
The RMP Update provides a concise overview of recent RMP activities and findings, and a look ahead to significant products anticipated in the next two years. In a new “ebook” format, accessible on any browser, the RMP Update now offers new ways to interact with report content… more >
CLEAN WATER, ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATICS
2014 RMP ANNUAL MEETING
On October 14, about 150 Bay Area dischargers, water quality managers, stakeholders, and scientists gathered at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. They discussed findings from recent research by top scientists on the health and water quality trends in San Francisco Bay. The annual gathering was part of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP)… more >
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATICS
CD3: NEW INTERFACE AND IMPROVED FUNCTIONALITY
CD3 or Contaminant Data Display and Download is a web-based visualization tool for accessing water quality data for the San Francisco Bay-Delta region, including the RMP’s long-term dataset. The tool has been redesigned to leverage SFEI’s other interactive mapping efforts and debuts impressive new functionality, including enhanced spatial querying and generating dynamic statistical summaries and charts… more >
WETLANDS CHANGE ANALYSIS
AND T-SHEET WEBSITE
In collaboration with our partners at SCCWRP and the CSUN Center for Geographic Studies, SFEI completed the southern California Wetlands Change project. This project built upon previous mapping efforts, and provides comprehensive wetland and stream mapping of the entire southern California Coast, extending from Point Conception to the U.S. – Mexico border. The research also compares historical and contemporary wetland extent and composition… more >
RESILIENT LANDSCAPES
A “DELTA TRANSFORMED” REPORT COMPARES THE HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY DELTA
Revealed at the Bay-Delta Science Conference, the report called A Delta Transformed: Ecological Functions, Spatial Metrics, and Landscape Change in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta provides the first analysis of landscape ecology metrics in the pre-disturbance and contemporary Delta to help define, design, and evaluate functional, resilient landscapes for the future…. more >
RETRACING THE HISTORY OF CHINESE SHRIMP FISHING IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY
SFEI participated in Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles, a project combining science, art, and community. The project, led by Chinese Whispers creative director Rene Yung, retraces the history of Chinese shrimp fishing in San Francisco Bay, through sailings on the Grace Quan, a 43-foot replica of a 19th century Chinese fishing shrimp junk, to former shrimp fishing sites around the Bay…. more >
FUTURES PAST:
EXPLORING CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPES WITH SFEI
An article exploring the work of SFEI’s Resilient Landscapes Program was published in the Fall 2014 issue of Boom: A Journal of California… more >
HEAD OF TIDE REPORT AVAILABLE ONLINE
SFEI recently completed a pilot study focused on creating a framework for a rapid protocol that can be used to delineate the current and future Head of Tide zone for San Francisco Bay tributaries using both “desktop” and field investigations… more >
The RMP Update provides a concise overview of recent RMP activities and findings, and a look ahead to significant products anticipated in the next two years. In a new “ebook” format, accessible on any browser, the RMP Update now offers new ways to interact with report content… 
On October 14, about 150 Bay Area dischargers, water quality managers, stakeholders, and scientists gathered at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. They discussed findings from recent research by top scientists on the health and water quality trends in San Francisco Bay. The annual gathering was part of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP)… 
CD3 or Contaminant Data Display and Download is a web-based visualization tool for accessing water quality data for the San Francisco Bay-Delta region, including the RMP’s long-term dataset. The tool has been redesigned to leverage SFEI’s other interactive mapping efforts and debuts impressive new functionality, including enhanced spatial querying and generating dynamic statistical summaries and charts… 
WETLANDS CHANGE ANALYSIS
RETRACING THE HISTORY OF CHINESE SHRIMP FISHING IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY
FUTURES PAST:
HEAD OF TIDE REPORT AVAILABLE ONLINE