2023 In-Person Meetings
Sonoma – Friday 6pm 11/10/23 – UCCE Extension Office, 133 Aviation Blvd #109, Santa Rosa, CA
Woodside – Monday 6pm 11/13/23 – Woodside Town Hall, 2955 Woodside Rd, Woodside, CA
2023 Online Webinar Meeting
Zoom Webinar Meeting – Friday 6pm PDT 11/17/23 – Please Register Here for the webinar
Update from Matteo Garbelotto on the 2023 SOD Blitz
Citizen Scientists, Colleagues and Concerned Californians,
The introduced forest disease known as Sudden Oak Death or SOD is endangering California coastal woodlands, where keystone trees such as oaks and tanoaks are being killed by the thousands. There are two major concerns about SOD in 2023. First, the disease spreads when it rains, so the wet weather this year may have substantially increased the number of infections. Second, we are facing the presence in California of the new EU1 pathogen variant that has the potential to be more deadly.
Luckily, if you have knowledge on the presence of active disease outbreaks in your neighborhood, there are options to curb the disease and protect your oaks. Likewise, if the new EU1 variant is detected near you, the State and Federal Government will try to eradicate it at no or minimal cost to you, but only if the detection occurs at an early stage.
The SOD Blitz Survey citizen science program trains and coordinates one of the largest volunteer-based surveys in the world, aimed at identifying active SOD infestations across California. When you participate, by collecting samples in your neighborhood, you empower yourself and your neighbors to act, thanks to the identification of local SOD outbreaks. To learn more about SOD and the SOD Blitz Survey please follow the links below.
If you have not participated in the SOD Blitz Survey last year, please join us in 2024. Meanwhile, you can access the 2023 SOD survey data by attending one of three meetings this fall. The results of the 2023 SOD Blitz survey will be released at two in-person meetings and at an online webinar in November, links above. The two in-person meetings will include details about our OakStep program for arborists, available treatments for SOD, and a preview of a short documentary about Sudden Oak Death produced by the Department of Energy.
The online meeting will focus mostly on SOD outbreaks distribution in 2023 and will only address the major disease management options, unlike the more thorough in-person meetings.
Links to the 2023 SOD Blitz results meetings and webinar
Link to the 2023 SOD Blitz Survey results page
SOD Blitz Survey Project landing page
Please save the date for this meeting with Matteo, the SOD Blitz organizers, and our lab. Please forward this to email to anyone who would be interested in these meetings.
