Our Wild Watershed- An Intro to Spiders: Biology, Culture and CA with Amin

Join the Laguna Foundation this October for a crash course in all things eight-legged and amazing! Just in time for spooky season, Amin invites you to explore the fascinating world of spiders—some of our most spectacular yet misunderstood neighbors. Whether you're curious, cautious, or downright creeped out, this presentation is designed to reveal the beauty, diversity, and surprising charm of these tiny hunters.

Amin will guide you through the most common and delightful spiders in California, while offering a basic introduction to arachnid biology. He’ll also take a look at how spiders are viewed across different cultures and examine why these mostly harmless creatures have gained such an unfairly spooky reputation. Come with your questions, your fears, or simply your curiosity! You might leave with a whole new appreciation for the web weavers among us.

Presenter Bio: Amin al-Jamal is an entomologist, artist and biology educator from Marin County, CA. He has worked as an aquatic ecologist specializing in freshwater insects of California, an arachnologist specializing in spiders from Madagascar and Australia, and as an independent artist selling sculptures of fantastical creatures often inspired by his love of bugs. As of May 2025, he has completed an M.S. in spider systematics at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. He also sings and plays keyboard in his band, Nekron 99, and runs tabletop RPG clubs for teens and young adults at Revolution 9 in Fairfax, CA.