December 11th, 2018 by Lily, Information Center & Bookstore ManagercloseAuthor: Lily, Information Center & Bookstore ManagerName: Lily Pastel Title: Information Center & Bookstore Manager About: Lily was drawn to the Mono Basin by the beauty of the area as well as the Mono Lake Committee’s worthy cause, and now she can’t leave! She began as a Mono Lake Intern in 2014, fresh out of college. Since then she has held a handful of positions and has settled into her role as Information Center & Bookstore Manager. Lily loves reading, hiking, unicorns, and lipstick. Her summers are full of exploring the Eastern Sierra, ordering new and exciting books, and making sure that visitors leave the Information Center & Bookstore with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Mono Lake.See All Posts by Lily (71) Contact Lily
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Today only when you shop our online store for unique holiday gifts, get a free 2019 Mono Lake calendar with any purchase over $50—no promo code is necessary.
Your free calendar won’t appear on your online receipt, but don’t worry, it will be added to your order here at the office. As always, 100% of the proceeds from your order will benefit the Mono Lake Committee, and go towards protection, restoration, and education programs at Mono Lake.
Not finding what you’re looking for in our store? Your Amazon purchases can still benefit the Mono Lake Committee. Make sure to follow this link to direct 5% of your purchase towards protecting and restoring the Mono Basin (that’s right—5%!).
December 9th, 2018 by Nora, Lead Naturalist GuidecloseAuthor: Nora, Lead Naturalist GuideName: Nora Livingston Title: Lead Naturalist Guide About: Nora is a passionate naturalist who got her interpretive start as a Mono Lake Intern in 2008 and went on to seven years of seasonal ornithologist work in the most beautiful corners of California and beyond. She has since led many popular birding field trips for the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. It is her utmost joy to share her love of birds and nature with anyone and everyone to help foster a deeper respect for this unique planet.See All Posts by Nora (31) Contact Nora
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Each winter, tens of thousands of people get together all over the Western Hemisphere and count birds in what is possibly the largest community-science project in the world. The Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, has been going on for 118 years—the 2018–2019 season is the 119th CBC!
Rough-legged Hawks are typically only in Mono County during the winter months, and they blend right in with the patchy snow. Photo by Nora Livingston.
Last year, people tallied over 56 million individual birds during the count window. These counts help show trends in bird populations … more »
December 7th, 2018 by Lily, Information Center & Bookstore ManagercloseAuthor: Lily, Information Center & Bookstore ManagerName: Lily Pastel Title: Information Center & Bookstore Manager About: Lily was drawn to the Mono Basin by the beauty of the area as well as the Mono Lake Committee’s worthy cause, and now she can’t leave! She began as a Mono Lake Intern in 2014, fresh out of college. Since then she has held a handful of positions and has settled into her role as Information Center & Bookstore Manager. Lily loves reading, hiking, unicorns, and lipstick. Her summers are full of exploring the Eastern Sierra, ordering new and exciting books, and making sure that visitors leave the Information Center & Bookstore with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Mono Lake.See All Posts by Lily (71) Contact Lily
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Still looking for the last few holiday gifts on your list? Our helpful staff have put together this handy guide to our favorite things available in our online store. As always, 100% of any purchase made through our website supports our work to protect and restore Mono Lake!
Maureen’s daughters Sadie and Norah love the kids’ vintage Mono Lake hoodie!
December 5th, 2018 by Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorName: Andrew Youssef Title: Digital Engagement Coordinator About: A graduate of Vanderbilt University and a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Andrew came to the Sierra to volunteer in Tuolumne Meadows in 2014. He fell in love with the area and began working at the Committee as a Mono
Lake Intern. Today he combines his passions for education and the environment by working in all of the Committee's program areas on everything from organizing the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua and Field Seminar programs to creating social media and video content to editing the
Mono Lake Newsletter. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing at Lee Vining Creek, paddling on Mono Lake, hiking in the High Sierra, and skiing wherever there is snow.See All Posts by Andrew (58) Contact Andrew
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This year, to commemorate the Mono Lake Committee’s 40 years of protection, restoration, and education work in the Mono Basin, we created a guestbook for visitors to sign in the Information Center & Bookstore. Visitors from around the world signed their names and shared their favorite Mono Lake moments. In fact, visitors from 21 countries, 24 US states, and 139 different cities signed the guestbook this summer.
Be sure to sign the guestbook and share your favorite Mono Lake moment the next time you’re in Lee Vining.
Reading through each entry, it’s clear how much Mono Lake has made an impact on all who have visited. One visitor wrote about … more »
December 3rd, 2018 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin grew up in on California’s Central Coast dreaming of the two weeks each summer that her family would spend in the Eastern Sierra, and as soon as she graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 she moved to Mono Lake full-time. She prefers to travel at high speed on either telemark skis or a mountain bike, or be completely still, immersed in a good book.See All Posts by Elin (322) Contact Elin
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The Bodie Hills form the northern boundary of the Mono Lake watershed—they’re full of wildlife like pronghorn and Greater Sage-Grouse, old mining sites including the ghost town of Bodie, and wide open spaces. The Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership is working to get this incredible place protected—take five minutes to enjoy aerial views and learn more in this video:
December 1st, 2018 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin grew up in on California’s Central Coast dreaming of the two weeks each summer that her family would spend in the Eastern Sierra, and as soon as she graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 she moved to Mono Lake full-time. She prefers to travel at high speed on either telemark skis or a mountain bike, or be completely still, immersed in a good book.See All Posts by Elin (322) Contact Elin
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Registration is now open to non-members for the three winter field seminars taking place in January and February. With a beautiful new layer of snow in the Mono Basin, this is shaping up to be a good winter so far.
A winter sunrise at South Tufa, captured last January during the winter photography seminar. Photo courtesy of Cindy Lee Hoover.
Space is still available in all three seminars, but reserve your spot soon if you’d like to join us. A field seminar also makes a wonderful gift—if the holidays sneak up on you and you need a last-minute gift, consider a seminar—no shipping required!
November 30th, 2018 by Ellen, Membership CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Ellen, Membership CoordinatorName: Ellen King Title: Membership Coordinator About: Ellen is responsible for updating and maintaining the Committee's 16,000-person membership database—a task this former librarian relishes! Before coming to work for the Committee, Ellen was a member herself, so she's well-suited to answering members' questions about their accounts. She lives with her husband Duncan in Mono City on the bluff overlooking Mill Creek and Mono Lake.See All Posts by Ellen (9) Contact Ellen
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Augie Hess, 1914–2018. Photo courtesy of the Mono Basin Historical Society.
Augie Hess passed away on October 20, just five days shy of what would have been his 104th birthday. Even as a centenarian Augie lived an active lifestyle that was the envy of people many years younger. He traveled with his family, played golf as often as he could, and went to see his beloved San Francisco Giants play at AT&T Park at the age of 102.
Augie & the Mono Lake Committee
Augie’s life intersected with the Mono Lake Committee on more than one occasion. Committee staff interviewed longtime local residents as part of a project to document conditions in the Mono Basin prior to the start of DWP water diversions in 1941. Augie sat down for an interview in 1991. He described meadows with grass fed by springs, ponds with thousands of ducks and geese, fish in all the streams. He recalled that Rush Creek always had water … more »
November 27th, 2018 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin grew up in on California’s Central Coast dreaming of the two weeks each summer that her family would spend in the Eastern Sierra, and as soon as she graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 she moved to Mono Lake full-time. She prefers to travel at high speed on either telemark skis or a mountain bike, or be completely still, immersed in a good book.See All Posts by Elin (322) Contact Elin
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We are astounded.
Just as every drop of water helps Mono Lake rise, donations of any size help keep the Mono Lake Committee’s work going strong.
In an incredible outpouring of support, you helped us reach our Giving Tuesday fundraising goal. Together with our challenge-match we’ve already raised $13,000 for Mono Lake.
If you haven’t had a chance to give today, it’s not too late to add your drop!
Sunrise at Mono Lake this morning. Photo by Andrew Youssef.
Thank you—for stepping up, pitching in, joining us for sunrise, sharing your love of Mono Lake, and for supporting protection, restoration, education, and science at Mono Lake with your donation too.
November 26th, 2018 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Harp Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter and the Mono Lake Calendar. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. Her favorite things to do in the Mono Basin include ice skating on nearby lakes, skiing the Mono Craters, and getting to smell the sagebrush when it rains.See All Posts by Arya (184) Contact Arya
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It’s the Mono Lake Committee’s 40th anniversary, so for Giving Tuesday we thought raising $4,000 for Mono Lake would be pretty clever.
But then an even-more-clever, anonymous donor challenged us to raise even more … $6,392 to be exact.
6392 feet above sea level is the management lake level—one of the Committee’s top goals. So now we’re extra motivated to raise the additional funds—for protection, restoration, education, and science at Mono Lake.
November 24th, 2018 by Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Andrew, Digital Engagement CoordinatorName: Andrew Youssef Title: Digital Engagement Coordinator About: A graduate of Vanderbilt University and a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Andrew came to the Sierra to volunteer in Tuolumne Meadows in 2014. He fell in love with the area and began working at the Committee as a Mono
Lake Intern. Today he combines his passions for education and the environment by working in all of the Committee's program areas on everything from organizing the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua and Field Seminar programs to creating social media and video content to editing the
Mono Lake Newsletter. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing at Lee Vining Creek, paddling on Mono Lake, hiking in the High Sierra, and skiing wherever there is snow.See All Posts by Andrew (58) Contact Andrew
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Are you interested in learning more about Mono Lake on your next visit? This year we are offering free guided South Tufa tours every Saturday and Sunday at 1:00pm through the winter in partnership with the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve. It’s easy to reserve your spot online for tours through the end of March using our new, mobile-friendly registration website.
Free guided South Tufa tours will continue through the winter on weekends at 1:00pm. Reserve your spot online today! Photo by Andrew Youssef.
Come explore the enchanting South Tufa area with an expert naturalist to learn more about the … more »
