The Press Democrat has a story on how our own Alex Young, GIS manager at Sonoma Ecology Center, is working with historical ecologist Arthur Dawson and others in an effort to map Sonoma Valley’s waterways before they were altered by settlers: Sleuthing for Sonoma Valley’s oldest streams. (GIS stands for “geographic information system,” which is used to analyze geographical data. Here at SEC, Alex uses it to develop highly detailed watershed maps, among other things.)

Mapping old streams requires both high-tech wizardry and old-fashioned detective work, such as examining old maps and simply driving up and down the Valley in search of clues. The article, by fellow researcher Rebecca Lawton, offers a glimpse at this interesting process.