🐦🌎 Words To Live By Speaker Series: Birds, Wildfires & a Changing Planet — An Evening with UCLA Professor Morgan Tingley & His Research Team

Friday, November 13, 2026
5:30 PM 7:00 PM

Clemetine Carter Wines 388 Bell Street Los Alamos, California, 93440 United States (map)

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🌎 What can birds tell us about the future of our planet?

Quite a lot, as it turns out!

Why are some birds disappearing from places they've inhabited for generations? What happens to wildlife when wildfires reshape entire landscapes? And how are plants and animals responding to a world that's changing faster than ever?

These are the kinds of questions that scientists at UCLA's Tingley Lab are working to answer.

And on Friday, November 13, they're bringing their research out of the university and into our tasting room!

Join us for a fascinating evening with UCLA Professor Morgan Tingley and members of his research group as they share what they're discovering about birds, biodiversity, climate change, wildfires, and the extraordinary natural world around us.

No science degree required. Just curiosity—and perhaps a glass of wine! 🍷🐦

🔬 Meet Professor Morgan Tingley & the UCLA Tingley Lab

Morgan Tingley is a Professor in UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where he and his research group study how climate change and other human-driven environmental changes affect biodiversity, with a particular emphasis on birds.

Their work explores some of the most important ecological questions of our time.

How do species respond when temperatures rise?

What happens when habitats change?

How does wildfire affect the wildlife that depends on those landscapes?

And what can studying birds reveal about the health and future of entire ecosystems?

The Tingley Lab brings together researchers investigating the relationships between wildlife, environmental change, and the places species call home.

The group will be visiting the Central Coast for a research retreat at UC's Sedgwick Reserve near Los Olivos, and we're delighted that they're making time to join us in Los Alamos.

🐦🔥 What will we explore?

Rather than one long scientific lecture, we'll enjoy several short, informal presentations from members of the research group, featuring images, discoveries, and stories from their work.

Topics may include:

🐦 Birds as Messengers — What changes in bird populations and distributions can tell us about our environment.
🌡️ Climate Change & Wildlife — How rising temperatures and shifting conditions affect where animals can live.
🔥 Wildfire & Biodiversity — What happens to birds and other wildlife when fire transforms a landscape.
🌿 The Changing Natural World — How human activities influence habitats, ecosystems, and the species that depend on them.
🗺️ Where Have All the Birds Gone? — Why some species shift their ranges, while others struggle to adapt.
🔭 Life as a Field Scientist — What it's really like to study wildlife, collect ecological data, and investigate questions in the field.
🌎 Why Biodiversity Matters — What the variety of life around us means for healthy ecosystems and our own communities.
💬 Ask the Scientists! — Bring your questions about birds, wildfires, climate, conservation, and the natural world.

Individual presentations and topics will be selected by the visiting researchers.

🍷 Science is better when it's a conversation.

One of the best things about our Words To Live By Speaker Series is discovering how much we can learn from the people sitting right beside us.

And this evening offers something particularly special: the opportunity to meet working scientists, hear about research as it unfolds, and ask the questions you've always wondered about.

Maybe you're an avid birdwatcher.

Maybe you've experienced the effects of California's wildfires firsthand.

Maybe you're concerned about the future of our environment.

Or maybe you've simply noticed that the natural world around you doesn't look quite the same as it did years ago.

This conversation is for you.

We'll keep things informal, welcoming, and full of opportunities to ask questions—exactly the way we like our Friday evenings.

Come enjoy a glass of Clementine Carter wine and discover what the birds, the forests, and the scientists studying them might be telling us.

Good wine. Fascinating science. A whole new way of looking at the world. 🍷🌎🐦