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Education Home | Education News | Workshops | Institute of Desert Ecology | Teacher Resources |
Tucson Audubon Society
Institute of Desert Ecology Optional Workshops
The “Cuatro Gatos Project”: Sky Island Alliance's efforts to study and protect wild cats in the Sonoran Sky Islands.
Sergio Avila, M.S.
While Sky Island Alliance has numerous conservation and restoration programs in the region, the “Cuatro Gatos” Project, our on-the-ground research and conservation project in northern Mexico, focuses on landscape-level conservation promoting the protection of habitat cores connected by corridors that allow wildlife movements across large regions. The project is focused on four species of wild felines: jaguars, mountain lions, ocelots and bobcats, whose presence is an indicator of ecosystem health, and whose conservation supports protect other species in the same areas. In 2007 we initiated fieldwork with the use of camera traps and track counts; in only 10 months we identified a population of wild ocelots 25 miles south of the international border, signed a conservation agreement to protect 10,000 acres of wildlife habitat, and documented suitable habitat and feline presence in several mountain ranges south of the border. The study and maintenance of wildlife movement corridors is becoming increasingly important in the face of border security activities and climate change, and in the 21st century we must implement research, habitat restoration and ecological connectivity across the landscape to ensure species survival. Our conservation strategies use imaginative approaches to habitat and resource protection and emerge from positive collaborations with landowners and coordinated efforts among researchers, conservation organizations, and government agencies; we are committed to integrating research, policy advocacy, landowner partnerships and grassroots education to accomplish our wildlife conservation goals in the Sky Islands.
Chemical Defenses of Plants and Animals
Michael Wilson
The chemistry of plants and animals and their environment drives entire ecosystems. It is difficult to understand organisms and how they behave and interact without understanding their interior environment. Michael Wilson will give you a glimpse of how the world really works—how chemistry affects you and the creatures around you. Medicinal plants, defensive chemistry, notorious poisons, indigenous uses, history, murder and mayhem—you will not be able to think about nature in the same way after this talk.
Michael Wilson has served as Research Director of the Drylands Institute since 1993. He has been involved in environmental and public health, agriculture and horticulture. Mr. Wilson's primary areas of interest are entomology and botany. He is a coauthor of Trees of Sonora, and is writing a series of articles on the insect life of Sonora. A current project is A Desert Pharmacopoeia: the Medicinal Plants of Arizona and Sonora, a book that will cover nearly 1,000 species of plants with medicinal uses.
Important Birding Areas
Scott Wilbor and Tice Suplee
The Arizona Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program is an effort to inventory Arizona's natural areas, and is part of a worldwide program overseen by National Audubon and Bird Life International. IBA Program goals are to: 1) identify, document, and recognize the most important areas for birds, 2) engage people in citizen-science and conservation projects, and 3) partner with others to bring resources to IBAs in need of conservation. See the IBA page for more info.
Hawkwatch
Scott Wilbor
Scott will lead a short walk up to a good vantage point for looking for migrating and soaring raptors.
Wildflowers
Joan Tedford
The wildflower show should be fantastic this spring due to good soaking rains throughout the winter. Joan's enthusiasm for the native plants of the Sonoran Desert will rub off on IDE participants who decide to join her.
Archeology
Bill Doelle - www.desert.com, Center for Desert Archaeology
Walking tour of the archeological site at Romero Ruins in Catalina State Park.
The Romero Ruin is located across Sutherland Wash, so this walking tour covers a little over a half-mile of distance and about 1,300 years of time. A permanent village was first established overlooking Sutherland Wash around A.D. 500 by the prehistoric Hohokam residents of the northern Tucson Basin. The village grew and eventually featured a plaza and two ballcourts. Around 1075, the village residents dispersed and lived in many smaller nearby settlements, and a final walled settlement was established overlying the original settlement around 1300. The prehistoric occupation ends around 1400. In the late 1870s or early 1880s Francisco Romero and his wife Victoriana constructed a small, stone-walled ranch complex and tried to raise cattle, only to be driven off by the Apaches. While there is an interpretive trail through the Romero Ruin, the goal of this tour is to help participants read the subtle clues that are visible on the surface of this archaeological site. The rich history of this remarkable place is enhanced by the beauty of the nearby Catalina Mountains.
Ethnobotany
Vince Pinto - nature-journeys@hotmail.com
Naturalist and wildlife biologist Vincent Pinto will lead you through a hands-on journey in the fascinating world of ethnobotany. Vince, drawing upon his own experiences and that of various regional cultures (past and present) , will demonstrate how local native plants can be used to create fire, tools, rope, baskets, shelter, medicine, food, and more. Participants can also try their hand at several of these time-honored hunter-gatherer skills during a short interpretive walk.
Wildlife Rehabilitation
Liberty Wildlife – www.libertywildlife.org/index.asp
a. Liberty Wildlife will present several non-releasable raptors they use as part of their education program. The organization rehabilitates native wildlife, which includes all species of animals originating in or migrating through Arizona . Some examples are large birds of prey (like owls, hawks, falcons, and eagles), the cactus wren, mockingbird, Gila woodpecker, Anna's hummingbird, and even the great blue heron. Mammals assisted might include coyotes, fox, rabbits, bobcats, mountain lions and javelinas.
A Potpourri of Environmental Education Activities
Doris Evans
A variety of environmental education projects and ideas are presented which include studies in mammals, birds, insects, plants, and more . All make use of free or inexpensive materials.
More info to come!
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This page was updated on 6/18/07