The tidal marshes at China Camp State Park play a key role in helping scientists understand how marshes respond to sea level rise and how we can continue to protect them. In this talk, we will hear about what scientists have learned so far and how they are learning more through research right here in Marin.

Sarah Ferner develops, leads, and teaches education programs for NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System in San Francisco Bay. As the Reserve’s first Education Coordinator, her job tasks are diverse - ranging from writing for publications and interpretive signs, to teaching teachers about new Next Generation Science Standards, to counting plants deep within Suisun Marsh, and more. Through it all, she likes to traverse the muddy transitions between water and land, and between science and education, following her passion for connecting people to nature through science. She is a certified California Master Naturalist. Previously, Sarah worked closely with the Chesapeake Bay-Virginia NERR as a Graduate Research Fellow where she studied the vegetation community change in a tidal freshwater marsh. Sarah received a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College and an M.Sc. in Marine Science from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary, and has over 15 years of experience teaching science to students, community members, and educators.