Southwest Environments Field Institutes
The inaugural Southwestern Environments Field Institute, an 8-day traveling seminar focused on border grasslands. A year in the planning, the field institute included extensive reading, discussions, and field training at 7 different locations—such as the Armendaris Ranch in SW New Mexico, Naturalia’s Los Fresnos Ranch in northern Sonora, American Museum of Natural History’s Southwestern Research Station in SE Arizona—for students and faculty from the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University.
The Colorado River has also been the focus for a Southwestern Environments Field Institute. Environmental history students and faculty from the University of Arizona, led by Prof. Katherine Morrissey, joined a cohort from Oklahoma State University, led by Prof. Michael Logan (UA Ph.D. 1994) to explore the historical and contemporary ecology of this major Southwestern river system. Following the water of the Colorado through the Central Arizona Project canals back its source, considering the controversies and power of Glen Canyon and other dams, reading first person accounts, and rafting the powerful rapids of Cataract Canyon, we gained a deeper understanding of the mighty Colorado.
The next Southwestern Environmental Field Institute in the works will consider the relationship between the Sonoran Desert and the Santa Cruz River watershed. Meanwhile, check out the NPS Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network website.