Ken Goehring

I retired from full-time teaching in 2002 after 28 years at the College of the Siskiyous. During these years I taught chemistry, biology, anthropology and computer programming and was Vice President of Technology Services for 2 years. I am currently teaching Principles Biology (Fall 2008) and Biological Anthropology (Spring 2009). These courses are favorites of mine because they cover many aspects of the evolution and genetics of Homo sapiens. In the last few years I've been studying the local pikas (see below) and documenting a 20 million year old fossil forest from Siskiyou County.  I like to swim, snorkel, snowboard, hike and play kihoalu (Hawaiian-style guitar). I live with my wife and step-daughter, our dog Pretzel, and many forest creatures a few miles west of Weed, California.

B.A. Botany, Oregon State University (1972)

 B.S. Computer Science, Southern Oregon State University (1984)

The Shasta Pika

At right is a picture of a pika (aka. cony, rock-rabbit, calling hare) Ochotona, that lives on Mt. Shasta. Pikas are related to rabbits and are rarely seen by hikers because they live at timberline and are very inconspicuous. On Mount Shasta, unlike most localities, they make very little noise.  In order to find the pikas, I usually must find a likely location and spend the night. If I'm lucky, I might hear their call in the late afternoon, during the night or at dawn. Usually, after hearing them, I am able to get a fix on where they are and spot them.  I am currently mapping their distribution on Mt. Shasta to compare with some hundred-year-old records. In the Rockies, pika populations are dwindling, probably because of global warming. I am interested to see if the same pattern is present on Mt. Shasta.