BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Meetup//Meetup Calendar 1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH NAME:Sierra Club Huron Valley Group X-WR-CALNAME:Sierra Club Huron Valley Group BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo-outlook/America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316157572@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261020T173814Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261025T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261025T183000 SUMMARY:Visit to Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Crane Sanctuary DESCRIPTION:Sierra Club Huron Valley Group\nJoin us for a visit to Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Crane Sanctuary in Jackson County. In the fall\, thousan ds of Sandhill Cranes migrate from northern Michigan and Canada and gather in the Haehnle Sanctuary. By day\, the cranes can be found feeding in fie lds surrounding the sanctuary. Towards sunset\, the ritual of roosting beg ins\, and large numbers of cranes will enter the sanctuary and settle in f or the night. The Sandhill Crane stands 4 feet tall\, has a wingspan of 6 feet\, and a loud\, distinctive call —the sight and sound of large group s flying into the sanctuary is an unforgettable experience! We will begin with a one-hour tour and bird walk\, followed by time for observation befo re sunset.\n\n**Register at:** [https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details? formcampaignid=701Po0000251oeqIAA](https://act.sierraclub.org/events/detai ls?formcampaignid=701Po0000251oeqIAA)\n\n**Signup Instructions**: Particip ation in Sierra Club activities requires registration and acceptance of a waiver\, which you can complete online at the link above. Electronic copie s of the required waiver are available online or by request and will be ac cepted automatically by signing-in to the event. Registration for this eve nt will be limited to 15 participants.This event is free and open to every one. Donations to help maintain the crane sanctuary are much appreciated a nd can be made at the Haehnle Sanctuary website. Please watch your email f or outing-related updates or changes. We normally send a reminder the day before each outing. Occasionally\, we may need to send last-minute updates because of unusually heavy traffic\, trailhead parking closures or other unexpected circumstances.\n\n**Recommended Items**: Bring binoculars if yo u have them\, and if you dont\, we will have several pairs to borrow. For all hikes\, please remember to bring comfortable hiking shoes\, a water bo ttle\, snacks if needed\, and seasonally appropriate clothing. We will hav e bug spray and sunscreen available (or you can bring your own). To help p revent tick bites\, wear light-colored clothing so ticks are easier to spo t\, and consider long sleeves and long pants when hiking in grassy or wood ed areas. After returning home\, check your body and clothing for ticks\, shower soon after coming indoors\, and wash and dry your clothes on high h eat\, which can help kill any ticks that may be present.\n\n**Additional D irections**: Meet at 4:15 pm at the Harold Wing Overlook. We will begin ou r tour at 4:30pm and we will wrap up by 6:30pm. Haehnle Sanctuary is 5 mil es northeast of downtown Jackson. The entrance is near the intersection of Seymour Rd & Fairlane Dr\, Grass Lake\, MI. The easiest route is from I-9 4 Race Rd. exit\, north to Seymour\, then west.There is parking\, an ADA-c ompliant toilet on site\, and drive-up access to the overlook for guests w ith limited mobility.\n\n**Cancellation Policy**: Activity is held rain or shine\, but may be altered due to inclement weather URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/sierra-club-huron-valley/events/31615 7572/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20260817T174734Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T174734Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316998752@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261020T173814Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261028T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261028T193000 SUMMARY:What makes this El Niño super - and what does it mean for us? DESCRIPTION:Sierra Club Huron Valley Group\nWhat is El Niño\, and why is this one so super? In this talk\, I'll introduce you to El Niño as part o f a larger climate phenomenon that drives year to year changes in climate extremes\, putting human and ecological communities at risk. This system c hanges where strong rainfall occurs\, where droughts evolve\, and how trop ical storms develop. Particularly in poorer communities\, it leads to grea ter food insecurity and disease burden\, and it can unleash destructive co nsequences on buildings and infrastructure that take many years and large sums to rebuild. Ecological consequences of El Niño hit especially hard i n tropical forests\, coral reefs\, and fisheries. Here in Michigan\, we al so feel the impacts of El Niño: it shifts the global atmospheric circulat ion in ways that bring us warmer winters and paradoxically sets the stage for more frequent "polar vortex" outbreaks that impose the most frigid win ter cold spells.\n\nFor a long time\, scientists treated El Niño as "natu ral" and had little basis to connect it to human-caused climate change. Th at perspective is changing. We now see an emerging consensus that the El N iño system will intensify in a warmer world. Is that intensification alre ady happening? New data from my lab\, along with other data from the tropi cal Pacific\, say it definitely is. I'll describe how we use corals as rec orders of past climate to show an unequivocal increase in El Niño strengt h over the past several decades\, and why we think the impacts of El Niño are likewise intensifying. Because scientists have been studying El Niño for a long time\, we have an idea of what the current super-strong El Ni ño will bring. That doesn't mean we know how to avoid the impacts complet ely\, but it does offer a blueprint for preparation.\n\nAbout the speaker: \nJulia Cole is a professor and Chair of the Earth and Environmental Scien ces Department at the University of Michigan. Her research explores past e nvironmental and climate change\, with a focus on the tropical oceans\, co ral reefs\, and drought. She has led or coauthored over 100 scientific pub lications and teaches regularly in climate science\, environmental change\ , oceanography\, and science communication. She also contributes to rejuve nating the ocean biome at the Biosphere-2 as an experimental coral reef\, where researchers can develop and test radical interventions for the coral reef crisis. Her other activities include fieldwork in remote locations\; community outreach through public presentations\, K-12 education\, and me dia\; and renewing her inspiration by getting outside with friends and fam ily. Julie received her undergraduate degree from Brown University\, and M aster’s and Doctoral degrees from Columbia University. She held postdoct oral and faculty positions at the University of Colorado\, and served on t he University of Arizona faculty for 18 years. For her science communicati on work\, she was selected as a Leopold Leadership Fellow and a Google Sci ence Communication Fellow. She has family roots in Michigan\, and has serv ed on the board of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fu nd since 2019. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/sierra-club-huron-valley/events/31699 8752/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20261015T184503Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261015T184503Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_316998940@meetup.com SEQUENCE:1 DTSTAMP:20261020T173814Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261111T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261111T193000 SUMMARY:A Prairie for a Queen DESCRIPTION:Sierra Club Huron Valley Group\nJoin County Naturalist Shawn S everance on a quest to understand the prairie through the eyes of a bumble bee queen. Southeast Michigan is home to about 10 native species of bumble bees. Over the last 30 years\, some of our most iconic bees\, the Golden N orthern and the American Bumblebee\, have faced an astonishingly rapid dec line. Bumblebees are North America's only truly social native bee with a q ueen directing a colony. A young queen’s ability to survive winter and q uickly build her brood in spring determines the continuity of the entire s pecies. This talk explores the fascinating\, solitary struggle of the foun dress queen bumblebee in spring. We will discuss the resources she needs a nd tackle the thorny topic of how human-altered landscapes impact pollinat or success. Finally\, we will talk about how we can set a table for the bu mblebee queen through intentional home gardening and community science.\n\ nAbout the Speaker:\nShawn Severance is a Parks Naturalist native to Jacks on\, Michigan. She specializes in geology and insects and has a particular passion for large\, rare bumblebees. Shawn loves the untamable native fie ld thistle above all other flowers. She grew up picking wild blueberries i n the swamp behind her home\, walking forest trails with her dog\, swimmin g in a pond\, and searching for salamanders beneath rocks. URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.meetup.com/sierra-club-huron-valley/events/31699 8940/ STATUS:CONFIRMED CREATED:20261015T190247Z LAST-MODIFIED:20261015T190247Z CLASS:PUBLIC END:VEVENT X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.meetup.com/Sierra-Club-Huron-Valley/events/ical / X-WR-CALNAME:Sierra Club Huron Valley Group END:VCALENDAR