News Items

The Californian CESU Berkeley is excited to announce a new publication within the Aquatic Conservation Journal. “On‐Land Pinniped Classification of Multiple Species and Demographic Classes on Multiple Substrates Using Deep Learning and Aerial Imagery” co-authored by Silas Santini, Sarah Codde, Elizabeth M. Jaime, Alan Jain, Esteban Valenzuela, and Benjamin H. Becker, explores how deep learning can enhance pinniped demographic monitoring.

As stated in the article, monitoring pinnipeds in California is a large endeavor, and can prove significantly challenging. Current methods include aerial surveys and ground counts, both of which are time consuming and susceptible to human error. Deep learning in combination with high quality aerial imagery can reduce these drawbacks. Reflecting on the study’s potential impact, lead author Silas Santini explains, “Our promising results show that fine tuning machine learning models can produce fast and inexpensive identification of pinniped species by age and/or sex while on multiple substrates. If our workflow were to be adopted, seal counts could be more accurate, quicker, and safer. Accurate counts are important for the protection and management of these species, and others. After all, our methods came from a study on seabirds and could be adapted for other animals”. 

To learn more, read the article here.

Recently, the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) joined the CA-CESU network as a new nonfederal partner. The CA-CESU is excited to welcome CNPS into our network!

CNPS is a local non-profit organization dedicated to protecting California’s native plants and their natural habitats, today and into the future, through science, education, stewardship, gardening, and advocacy. First established in 1965, CNPS has worked closely with decision-makers, scientists, and local planners to advocate for well-informed and environmentally friendly policies, regulations, and land management practices. 

CNPS has programs in conservation, plant science, education, and stewardship that are each relevant to the CA-CESU mission. Please visit the CNPS website for more information about their ongoing work. 

UC Berkeley Assistant Professor William White has received a CESU grant for an ethnographic overview and assessment of three National Park Service units on Saint Croix, one of the three U.S. Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.). Members of the UC Berkeley Anthropology Department will partner with the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) to conduct an ethnographic overview and assessment of the Christiansted National Historic Site, Buck Island Reef National Monument, and Salt River Bay National Historical Park on St. Croix, U.S.V.I. Through interviews with community members from “Traditionally Associated People,” site visits, and documents in repositories, the project aims to help the National Park Service gain an understanding of how Traditionally Associated People use these units, collect ethnographic information about the role of these units in local lifeways, and identify ethnographic resources eligible for inclusion in the Cultural Resources Inventory System (CRIS) and the National Register of Historic Places (NHPA). Drawing upon the extensive archival research and community connections that have already been collected, the results of this project will be used by the NPS to help resource stewardship, interpret resources, and provide useful information about these park units to the Traditionally Associated People. 

Lead scholars for this project are anthropological archaeologists of African descent who have been working with community partners on St. Croix for several years. The SBA was created in 2011 to increase diversity in archaeology, conduct community-oriented projects that help collect, communicate, and to help correct the histories of African diasporic people. For over a decade, the SBA has facilitated an oral history project documenting the careers of African American archaeologists, and has long used ethnographic materials in its research. This is particularly salient on St. Croix, which has a large black population that has been largely excluded from this sort of research. The project’s lead scholars are all African American and led by anthropological archaeologists, experienced with integrating ethnographic survey methods with archival and archaeological data. Along with Dr. William White, associate professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley and a founding member of the SBA, Dr. Ayana Flenwellen, a co-founder of the SBA and assistant professor of anthropology at Stanford University, will serve as a co-principal investigator for this project.