Start the new year out with a sea of wondrous sounds! LISTENING WITH POINT REYES, January 10, 2026, 2-4pm. Register now: www.eventbrite.com/e/listening-... Join Ernst Karel and Cheryl E. Leonard for a listening session in which we explore Point Reyes National Seashore through audio recordings.

In a series of recent moves, the Trump administration and Congress have waged an all-out assault on the Arctic, aiming to maximize drilling across the entire region.​ Here’s a roadmap of what Congress and the Trump administration are planning, and what you can do to stop it.

Excited that my new Arctic album, "near the bear" is featured in Bandcamp's Best Field Recordings this month. Thank you Matthew Blackwell. "...a deep interrogation of our place in the world, put into high relief against the brilliant whites and blues of the High Arctic."

A big thank you to Tobias Fischer for the opportunity to respond to such thoughtful questions on listening, sound, and music! 15questions.net/interview/ch...

"near the bear," is out today! From walrus encounters at 79° N to watching the ocean freeze at -35° C, the album celebrates the High Arctic. Sounds played on natural and human-made objects intertwine with field recordings and site-specific improvisations in five works about Svalbard & Greenland.

My new Arctic album is now available for preorder: f-o-m.bandcamp.com/album/near-t...! Five compositions inspired by the unique wildlife, environments, and human histories of Svalbard and Greenland. Available from forms of minutiae as a limited-edition CD+booklet or digital download+PDF booklet.

Things I played at the UB radio salon on Sunday

Come on over to the Sunnyvale Public Library this Saturday afternoon for sounds, stories, and instruments from my eco-musical adventures. It’s free! sunnyvale.libcal.com/event/147215...

Setup for my performances this Sunday at Headlands Center for the Arts as part of their Summer Open House. I’ll be in the Gym doing a sound installation and two live sets!

Instruments for my set earlier today at the San Francisco Main Library. Thanks to all who came out to listen!

My table at the end of last night’s Sonic Cartography improv gig in Berkeley. Good fun!

Pleased to announce that Euphotic’s latest album (which I played on and mixed) is out today on Confront Recordings: confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/clastic

Recording locations from last weekend’s Nature Sounds Society Workshop: Sierra Valley, Carmen Valley, and Yuba Pass. Early, chilly, good times!

I spoke with the brilliant @jonathan-watts.bsky.social about the experience of writing "with" rivers; about freshwater and life and power—and about hope as a discipline. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Recording at Rawhiti Cave (near Takata, New Zealand) two days ago: drippy!

BREAKING: Several Bay Area arts nonprofits received emails Friday afternoon that their grants from the National Endowment for the Arts have been canceled — including SCRAP, the San Francisco creative reuse center; the Oakland Theater Project; and The Lab.

Excited that music, natural-object instruments, and the graphic score from my composition "Littoral" are included in Marin MOCA's latest exhibition, "Future Flows." www.marinmoca.org/see-and-expe...

Last night’s musical instruments for a Thomas Carnacki set at the Peacock Lounge

in the latter days of a corrupt world cherry blossoms Issa

To the world: We are fighting back. Our movement has been silenced by the media here—but we are not backing down. This is what our streets looked like across multiple cities. Tomorrow, there will be more of us! Raise a glass to freedom. —With love, Your American allies.

“It seems that nature has devised quantum technology before us…” We’ve been puzzling at the mysteries of avian migration for millennia—the answers now emerging about how migrating birds navigate thousands of miles with pinpoint accuracy are…mind-blowing. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Rehearsing for my concert tomorrow night at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center. I’m performing a set of pieces about clinate change in the polar regions and California. events.stanford.edu/events/forms...

Tidal flow, Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore

Weaned elephant seal pups this morning out at Point Reyes National Seashore

The mood was defiant at many of the rallies, where chants of “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear” and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!” were heard. https://go.nature.com/3F8T6FX

Gnarly root beauty - Strawberry Gap Trail, North Carolina

🧪😡😱😡😱

Beautiful view of Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierras this morning. Protect our public lands!!

More asinine cuts.... BBC news >> The cuts have hit the US Forest Service, which maintains thousands of miles of popular hiking trails, even harder. Around 10% of the Forest Service's staff - about 3,400 people, including Ms White and her team - have been fired. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Northern elephant seal weaned pups at Point Reyes National Seashore

I have written a short statement responding to mass firings today of #NOAA / National Weather Service (#NWS) staff (which were concentrated among recent hires as well as highly experienced staff who had recently been promoted). Please see below screenshot & below for full text.

Northern elephant seal weanlings this morning 😁

Admiring oaks in Golden Gate Park

Rehearsing a set of deep time pieces inspired by glacier-carved marks and landforms in Norway. Hear them live tomorrow night (2/20) when I open up for Lia Kohl at the Lab in San Francisco! www.thelab.org/projects/202...

Today’s episode of Local Locations on KWMR has a valentine’s day focus on elephant seal pupping season, featuring wonderful recordings by @cheryleleonard.bsky.social made over the past four weeks or so in Point Reyes National Seashore. Listen to the archived show here: kwmr.org/shows/local-...

U.S. Forest Service will fire roughly 3,400 federal employees.

Heartbreaking news… Tonight, many of our friends were let go, and tomorrow, even more will follow. Word is that all probationary employees at NPS will be let go. 😭

Another gorgeous day of hanging out with the elephant seals!

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

Finally, some good news: out at Pt. Reyes National Seashore this year’s elephant seal pup numbers are above the 5-year average!

Spirit recharge at Point Reyes National Seashore

Ignoring politics today and pondering our more-than-human relations by listening to this lively 3-CD compilation: f-o-m.bandcamp.com/album/harken...

Tonight at the San Francisco Tape Music Festival I’m presenting a brand new multi-channel version of my piece “Eremozoic.” Comprised primarily of recordings of the Pacific Ocean made inside antique bottles, the piece is a reflection on the extinction crisis. sfsound.org/tape/

My instruments for tonight’s Thomas Carnacki rehearsal

Excellent recording weather yesterday out at Pt. Reyes National Seashore where I checked out the beginning of elephant seal pupping season

Work-in-progress creature/musical instrument (fossilized bones + driftwood)

Tonight’s frothy, high-surf-advisory sunset (Ocean Beach, San Francisco)