On Jan. 23 at 2 p.m., the Cachuma Lake Nature Center will be host to guest speaker Larry Ballard in the Food for Thought series. The event is free to the public and will begin with a social where light refreshments and beverages will be served. The speaking presentation runs from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Ballard’s presentation is titled “Patterns on the Land: The Flora of the Santa Ynez Valley” and will focus on the effects of topography, geology, and climate on the distribution of plants and why the Santa Ynez Valley has so many rare and endemic species.
Ballard is a research associate for the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and has given talks and led hikes on various aspects of natural history for the UCSB Sedgwick Reserve, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society, and Western Field Ornithologists.
This article appears in Jan 13-20, 2011.