SANTA MONICA—On January 25, the Santa Monica Recreational Mountains Area announced that a “Planting the Seeds for Citizen Scientists” event will take place on January 30 at the National Park Service Visitor Center at 401 West Hilllcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks.

The meeting will be held by Brian Haggerty and Dr. Susan Mazer, from UC Santa Barbara. The “Planting the Seeds for Citizen Scientists” program will explain how interested individuals can join other citizen scientists nationwide in observing the effects of climate change on plants and animals and providing that information to scientists. The plan is simple, easy to do alone, and one that families, classrooms, or scout groups can do to track the effects of climate change on local flora.

The program is free, and visitors are encouraged to arrive early in order to look at the latest books on climate change and sustainability for sale in the Western National Parks Bookstore.

Anyone with questions about the new program may call 805-370-2301, or download a free “Outdoors” schedule from the Web site at nps.gov/samo.

The Santa Monica Recreational Area Web site lists further activities that are available in the area, such as scuba diving, camping, visiting tide pools, and surfing. For more information, visit http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/beyondhiking.htm.