The Bay Area Science Festival is back! Going into its 11th year, the festival is offering a great mix of both in-person and virtual events for the curious of all ages. It previously was held in the fall, but due to regional wildfires, the festival has been moved to the spring this year and will begin on Thursday, April 21 — in time to celebrate Earth Day on Friday, April 22 — and run through April 30. Here are a few recommendations related to environmental science.

Changing Shorelines

April 25, 2022, 6 p.m. — 7 p.m.

This in-person tour and walk through the history of south San Francisco’s shoreline will be an exploration of how both climate change and sea-level rise have affected the shifts in our shorelines—and you'll learn about ways to protect them.

Wildfire from Space

April 26, 2022, 7 p.m. — 8 p.m.

Our very own KQED event, hosted by Robert Simmons from Planet Labs, offers virtual and in-person opportunities to learn about wildfires through satellite imagery. See wildfires from space and learn how the latest satellite technology helps agencies and communities manage emergency response during burns.

Virtual Tour of Recology

April 27, 2022, 1 p.m. — 2 p.m.

What happens to the items you place in your roadside bins? This virtual event will help you learn about the history of Recology, what it takes to recycle all that stuff, and what you can do to create change that has impact.

Greywater and Wetlands

April 30, 2022, 2 p.m. — 4 p.m.

This in-person tour of the EcoCenter will explore environmental justice themes through the history of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. You’ll learn how a shipping terminal became a restored wetland habitat. Plus, you'll have a chance to transplant the native salt grass that helps restore wetlands and provides habitat for migrating birds.

Campaigns to protect the natural world are getting increasingly ambitious. But although there is convincing evidence that protected areas prevent habitat loss, proof that they actually benefit wildlife is surprisingly scanty. Now, the first large study of its kind shows nature reserves can increase waterbird populations, but typically only if humans take an active role in their management.

To understand the impact of nature reserves, conservation scientist Hannah Wauchope decided to analyze populations of waterbird species. First, the team identified 1506 protected areas that had population data from both before and after they were created. Then, they paired each reserve with one or more control sites — a similar patch of nearby habitat — that was unprotected. This setup helped the researchers understand how the protected area influenced bird populations.

The researchers had hoped the analysis would clearly show protected areas benefit birds. However, only 27% of waterbird populations in protected areas increased after the creation of the reserve while 21% of populations were negatively impacted, compared with the control sites, after a reserve was established. A silver lining is that nearly half the studied groups neither grew nor shrank: At least those populations were stable.

To figure out what was responsible for the population gains and losses, the team analyzed multiple factors, of which the most important was whether the site was specifically managed for waterbirds. That could mean keeping rivers and lakes at the right levels for the protected species, removing invasive weeds, or installing fencing to keep out invasive predators.

“The modest success of these protected areas makes sense.” says Paul Ferraro, an environmental economist. In many policy contexts, he notes, most interventions work no better than the status quo. However, the new study’s mixed results are what good science actually looks like and we need more studies like this one.

Welcome to the anti-climax, the often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s milestones. In psychology, the belief that achieving our goal will bring us a lasting feeling of happiness is called “arrival fallacy”, which plays a big part in the feelings of emptiness that follow it.

It’s a feeling that’s all too familiar for Katie Ford, a veterinary surgeon. To gain an extra qualification, she put in countless hours of study and made lots of sacrifices along the way, but now instead of celebration and pride, she feels emptiness and confusion, which have the potential to develop symptoms of depression and low mood.

If you find yourself in a similar situation or you suspect working towards your milestones may be a letdown when you reach the finish line, there are steps to help get rid of anti-climax. First, instead of rushing for it to be done, slow down to enjoy the doing, and remember that lots of things in our lives are never truly done, but constantly evolve just like we do. Another vital step is acknowledging the small wins. We have lots of stepping stones to a big goal to pause on, so celebrate how far you’ve come from the first one, and look forward to the many stones in front. Third, anticipating anti-climaxes in the lead up to big milestones can also lessen their impact. Anti-climaxes are just as common as post-holiday blues, so we’d better normalize them.

Rather than downplaying your milestones or moving straight to the next, mindfully cherish the moment, recognize your progress and reward yourself positively. That way, you won’t fall into the fallacy of having “made it”. Instead, you’ll see that you are happily “making it” along the journey that is an entire lifetime.