The San Bernardino County Museum

RESEARCH BIOLOGIST TO GIVE GALLERY TALK

Karen Carter, a biologist at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, will give an informal gallery talk about bark beetles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 15. The presentation is free with museum general admission.

The gallery talk is part of a continuing series of presentations by museum staff to provide visitors with more insight about exhibits and current research at the museum.

Carter will speak on the natural history of the beetles themselves, the current unhealthy state of the forests and how this led to the bark beetle outbreak, and implications for wildfire. She developed an on-line exhibit about bark beetles on the museum’s web site, www.sbcountymuseum.org, which addresses these issues and dispels rumors and misinformation about bark beetles and the long-term effect on Southern California forests.

Karen Carter of Running Springs is a professional biologist at the San Bernardino County Museum. She earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Zoology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and worked as Biologist for the U. S. Forest Service before joining the museum staff. Ms. Carter's research interests are in the natural history and ecology of mammals.

“Bark Beetles are naturally occurring species throughout Western forests,” said Carter. “As a result of present forest conditions, bark beetles populations exploded, leading to the loss of millions of pines both within our local forests and throughout the western United States. We do not yet know how the resulting changes in the forest will impact the flora or the resident and migratory fauna.”

Museum visitors will be able to see the special exhibit, “A Walk in the Woods,” in the museum’s Schuiling Gallery before or after Carter’s talk. This traveling exhibit organized by the Forest Foundation offers visitors a chance to discover California’s forests through hands-on displays.

The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays and holiday Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 (adult), $5 (senior or student) and $4 (child aged 5-12). Children under 5 and Museum Association members are admitted free. Parking is free, and the facility is handicapped-accessible. Lunch, snacks, and beverages are available at the museum’s Garden Café from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org or call (909) 307-2669 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.