Marin’s own River Otter Ecology Project (ROEP) has published its first findings, and river otters are clearly doing well all over the county and the Bay Area. “River otters are often perceived as animals that require pristine wilderness to survive, but our research shows that they are adapting well to urban and semi-urban living,” says Megan Isadore, executive director. It’s been two years since we’ve written about ROEP and its mission to use the charismatic predator’s charm to help foster the wetland and watershed restorations in the Bay Area, and it seems efforts have been successful. ROEP has been honored with several conservation awards within the past year, including the John Muir Association Nonprofit Conservation Award, a Congressional Certificate of Excellence, and a Gold Medal Environmental Leader of Marin Award. Remember, if you see river otters in the Bay Area, report them at riverotterecology.org and join the citizen scientists who make this exciting work happen. @otterecology
Kasia Pawlowska loves words. A native of Poland, Kasia moved to the States when she was seven. The San Francisco State University creative writing graduate went on to write for publications like the San Francisco Bay Guardian and KQED Arts among others prior to joining the Marin Magazine staff. Topics Kasia has covered include travel, trends, mushroom hunting, an award-winning series on social media addiction and loads of other random things. When she’s not busy blogging or researching and writing articles, she’s either at home writing postcards and reading or going to shows. Recently, Kasia has been trying to branch out and diversify, ie: use different emojis. Her quest for the perfect chip is never-ending.