July 16, 2025
12-1pm
Free for members; $5.00 for non-members
Join Bay Nature and behavioral ecologist Dr. Jenn Smith for a virtual talk about the Bay Area vole boom and subsequent vole hunting by California ground squirrels on Wednesday, July 16 from 12 - 1pm. During a decadal peak in vole abundance, researchers discovered ground squirrels hunting for, eating, and competing over vole prey. Join this talk to learn more about this unusual phenomenon! Free for Bay Nature members, $5 for nonmembers.
This event is inspired by "Even Ground Squirrels Got In On the Vole Feast Last Summer," a piece published in March 2025.
About the speaker:
Dr. Jenn Smith is a behavioral ecologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. She integrates perspectives from evolutionary biology, animal behavior, genetics, physiology, and urban ecology to understand how natural selection and ecological conditions shape decision-making in social mammals. In 2013, Smith initiated the Long-term Behavioral Ecology of California Ground Squirrel Project at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County.