Summary Spiders elicit fear and disgust in many humans, but closer acquaintance with this ecologically vital order of arachnids can transform these reactions into more positive attitudes.  I’ll divide my talk into an introduction to spider biology and a bestiary of species that you might run into on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Prior to his recent retirement, Jack Owicki was an independent consultant, V.P. for research at LJL Biosystems, Associate Technical Director at Molecular Devices Corporation, and Associate Professor of Biophysics at UC Berkeley.   What’s more relevant to this talk is his lifelong interest in field natural history, particularly in invertebrates like spiders.  He’s a docent at the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and is a serious nature photographer

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