This region
is host to many university classes, school curriculum, and special study field
trips. Find out about programs that will extend your knowledge of desert subjects.
Student Contest
Mojave Max is a desert tortoise who lives about 20 miles west of Las Vegas, Nevada in the Red Rock
Canyon National Conservation Area. Any student
in grades 1-12 may enter the contest. Students may go on-line and
register a guess when Mojave Max will emerge from his burrow for
the first time in 2008. Eligibility for prizes is restricted to students enrolled in public private and registered home schools in the following counties in California: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego. The contest will remain open until Max emerges from his burrow.
Death Valley
National Park The Death Valley National Park produces a series of Junior Ranger booklets filled with educational activities for children (three levels). After completing
a booklet, the child returns it to the Junior Ranger program to receive a
badge for that level.
Living Desert
Wildlife & Botanical Park The Living Desert Wildlife & Botanical Park in Palm Desert offers year-round
Wildlife and Fun classes for young students. For information, call The Living
Desert's Education Department, (760) 346-5694. Reservations required.
Los Angeles
County Museum of Natural History The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History leads educational field trips to Red Rock Canyon State Park in California. Search for fossils, take nature hikes, explore the region's geology and roast marshmallows around the campfire with museum scientists and staff.
California
State University Desert Studies Center, Zyzxx (Soda Springs) in the Mojave Desert. Visitors are either enrolled in college or university courses which involve some aspect of the desert, or are engaged in research related to desert. Selected school groups and organized community groups whose activities are desert-oriented may accommodated. For information: California Desert Studies Consortium c/o Department of Biological Science, California State University, Fullerton P.O. Box 34080, Fullerton, CA 92834-9480.
Phone: (714) 278-2428, Fax: (714) 278-4289.
Philip L.
Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, located eight km (5 miles) south
of the City of Palm Desert. This reserve is part of the University of California
Natural Reserve System with facilities for long-term and short-term researchers.
For information: Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, P.O. Box
1738, Palm Desert, CA 92261-1738 (760) 341-3655.
The University of California's Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center (GMDRC), is located in the East Mojave Desert, 128 km (80 miles) east of Barstow. First established in 1978, and later congressionally designated in the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, the mission of the GMDRC is to contribute to the understanding and wise management of the Earth and its arid environments by supporting university-level research, teaching, and public service in California deserts. The 9,000 acre GMDRC currently supports more than 130 active research projects and hosts 35 university-level classes annually. Research use of the GMDRC has been climbing rapidly, particularly from the international scientific community, with an average of 15 new research projects being added per year. Many studies at the GMDRC examine impacts caused by past and current human activities in the desert. Scientists are especially attracted to the region's unparalleled biological and geological diversity in combination with the protected lands at the GMDRC. The protected lands provide a control site for the establishment of long-term studies and the collection of highly sensitive measurements/data that would otherwise not be possible on public lands. For visiting students, the GMDRC provides a significant outdoor experience that inspires discovery and appreciation for the complexity of our natural world. For more information contact: James M. Andre, Director. Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center, HC1 Box 101, Kelso, CA 92351. (760) 733-4222, Fax (760) 733-9931, granites@telis.org, granites.ucnrs.org.
University
of California - Riverside Extension The University of California - Riverside Extension program offers several
dozen desert-related courses each year. Courses can be taken for academic
credit or as non-credit classes. The UCR Field Nature Studies Program also offers
certificates in Field Botany, Field Geology, Field Ornithology, and Field
Ecology. Field classes take place at numerous locations throughout the California
desert.
Desert Institute
at Joshua Tree National Park Affiliated with the UCR Extension program, the Desert Institute at Joshua
Tree National Park offers credit and non-credit field courses centered around
the natural and cultural history of Joshua Tree National Park. Classes are
held at numerous sites within the national park.
University
of Nevada - Las Vegas Division of Educational Outreach The University of Nevada - Las Vegas Division of Educational Outreach offers
a variety of field trips on the natural and cultural history of the California
and Nevada deserts. Students explore remote desert sites in jeeps with university
faculty and other subject matter experts.
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