A conference celebrating one of the NRS’s newest reserves will be held this fall in one of California’s most spectacular deserts. The Sonoran Desert Conservation, Ecology and Natural History Symposium commemorates the 80th anniversary of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the establishment of the University of California’s new Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center.
The symposium will be held November 2-4, 2012 in Borrego Springs, California. The historic clubhouse that serves as the headquarters of the NRS’s Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center will host the welcome reception. Field tours of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California’s largest state park, will be included.
The symposium honors the memory of Paul Jorgensen, who served as environmental scientist for the Colorado Desert District of California State Parks for 12 years. An ornithologist, author, and 19-year resident of Borrego Springs, Jorgensen passed away in 2012.
The symposium is presented by the Anza-Borrego Foundation; the University of California, Irvine; and California State Parks. Additional sponsors include The Nature Conservancy and Borrego Springs Resort.
Posters featuring original research about California’s Sonoran Desert and the Anza-Borrego region are invited. Topics may include botany, ecology, geology, wildlife, climate change, paleontology, the economic value of deserts, and other environmental issues. Posters can be horizontal or vertical and should not exceed 36” x 48”. To submit a poster, please fill out the poster abstract submission form and email it to info@theabf.org with “Poster Submission” in the subject line.
To attend or obtain more information about the symposium, contact:
Briana Puzzo
Symposium Coordinator
Anza-Borrego Foundation
briana@theabf.org
Jim Dice
Reserve Manager
University of California, Irvine
Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center
dicej@uci.edu