Upcoming: 8th Oak Symposium

The 8th in a series of California Oak symposia will be held on October 31-November 3, 2022, in San Luis Obispo, California. The theme of the symposium is “Sustaining California Oak Woodlands Under Current and Future Conditions”. Beginning in 1979, there have been a series of seven symposia held every 5 to 7 years. Each symposium addressed the state of our knowledge about the science, policy, and management of California’s oak woodlands. Given the risks associated with climate change, conservation of this diverse ecosystem is an especially critical management and policy priority today. The 8th symposium will have plenary sessions that feature presentations on the science of climate change, management of oak woodland under changing environmental conditions, and the maintenance of working landscapes and the essential services they provide to society. In addition, a session with invited speakers will describe California oak programs for schools, citizen scientists, and underrepresented groups. Another will feature recent technologies used to increase our understanding of the oak woodland ecosystem and the application of this information. These two sessions and the three plenary sessions are interspersed with contributed paper presentations on wildlife ecology, oak restoration, oak pests and diseases, fire ecology, and woodland conservation management planning, among others. As with previous symposia, the 8th will bring together oak scientists, managers, policy makers, and interest groups from throughout the state, and will provide opportunities for field trips to local spots that are expressive of central coast oak management and conservation. You can submit an abstract at the following website: 8th California Oak Symposium (ucanr.edu).