Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, screenwriter, columnist and short story writer Michael Chabon's books include 'Mysteries of Pittsburgh,' 'Wonder Boys,' 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,' and most recently, 'The Yiddish Policeman's Union.' (59 minutes)

Bestselling author Michelle Richmond reads from her novels and discusses her writing process to a group at UC Berkeley. She is author of 'No One You Know,' the New York Times bestseller, 'The Year of Fog,' award-winning story collection, 'The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress,' and the novel 'Dream of the Blue Room,' a finalist for the Northern California Book Award. (56 minutes)

Rabih Alameddine was born in Jordan to Lebanese parents and has lived in Kuwait, Lebanon, England, and the United States. He began his career as an engineer, then moved to writing and painting. He is the author of two novels as well as a collection of short stories, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in San Francisco and Beirut. He reads from his new novel 'The Hakawati,' set in the Middle East. (52 minutes)

Sara Houghteling reads from her novel 'Pictures at an Exhibition' that tells the story of a family of Parisian Jewish art dealers whose art collection is looted during World War II. (29 minutes)

Story Hour in the Library celebrates the writers in the Berkeley campus community with an annual student reading featuring short excerpts of work by winners of the year's biggest prose prizes, Story Hour in the Library interns, and faculty nominees. (45 minutes)

Sylvia Brownrigg's newest novel, Morality Tale, is an analysis of a modern marriage. She has written four other works of fiction, including the New York Times Notable Book 'The Metaphysical Touch' and the Lambda Award-winning 'Pages for You.' She divides her time between Berkeley and England. (49 minutes)

Vikram Chandra has won many awards and critical acclaim for his novels and short stories. The best selling Sacred Games was published in 2007. Born in New Dehli, he now teaches creative writing at Berkeley. He reads from his most recent novel to an audience at UC Berkeley. (57 minutes)

Li is author of 'A Thousand Years of Good Prayers' and 'The Vagrants.' A Beijing native and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she has received numerous awards. She reads and speaks at UC Berkeley. (54 minutes)

Named one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists, ZZ Packer has received a Commonwealth Club Fiction Award, Wallace Stegner and Guggenheim Fellowships, and a Whiting Award. Her acclaimed 2003 collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere features eight stories whose subjects range from Girl Scouts to expatriates in Japan. Originally from Chicago, Packer is currently writing a novel set in the post-Civil War period. (55 minutes)

One of the biggest challenges scientists face when studying the ocean is observing the interplay between physical processes and biology in fine detail. Join Jules Jaffe, a research oceanographer in Scripps' Marine Physical Laboratory, as he describes his latest scheme to uncover these processes with swarms of inexpensive, miniaturized robotic floats that travel with currents, sense the environment and report their findings back to us. (58 minutes)

Go behind the scenes at the Hastings Reserve to examine the social structure of acorn woodpeckers and western bluebirds and take a look at the restoration of California's native grasslands. The Hastings Reserve, the University of California Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Biological Field Station in the Santa Lucia mountain range in Monterey, was set aside in 1937 to be managed with minimal disturbance providing researchers an important ecosystem for study. (29 minuntes)

The University of California's White Mountain Research Station provides science unprecedented access to unique environments, environments where life exists at the edge of extremes. This award- winning documentary weaves a story of how this unique access is yielding an understanding of change, from physiology to climate, from the oldest known living organism, to a short-lived beetle, and what this understanding means for all. (59 minutes)

Located in Southern California's San Jacinto Mountains, the Natural Reserve System's (NRS) James Reserve is at the forefront of an effort to use high technology to gain insight into the natural world. Embedded cameras monitor the nesting cycles of birds, sensor networks track weather data on habitat microclimates, and computers map out the potential damage from wildfires. (29 minutes)

The UC Natural Reserve System's Angelo Coast Range Reserve in Mendocino County has become the focus of a number of national climate change research efforts. Learn how multi-disciplinary teams of scientists, equipped with advanced technologies, are deepening our understanding of the environment and how it is responding to the rapid warming of our planet. (57 minutes)

At the University of California Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Sedgwick Reserve near Santa Barbara, UC researchers are delving deep into the earth to understand the microorganisms that support California's ecosystems and are working to preserve the state's disappearing oak woodlands and restore native grasslands. Local schoolchildren also visit the reserve as part of an innovative "Kids in Nature" science program. (29 minutes)

Situated on California's scenic Big Sur Coast, the Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve provides researchers and students with a spectacular location to study nature. Scientists use the reserve to track water quality, monitor fish populations, and survey California's disappearing native wildflowers. Students from UC Santa Cruz use the off-shore marine reserve to test their underwater research skills, and grade school students visit Big Creek to learn how animals adapt to their environment. (29 minutes)