As we kick off 2023, we’d like to take some time to reflect on key highlights from the past year. The Desert Museum is working to sustain the incredible biodiversity of The Sonoran Desert by slowing the spread of invasive buffelgrass, discovering the hidden worlds of our native bee pollinators, exploring arid-adapted foods, saving rare…
Tag: animals
The Pollinator Party
National Pollinator Week, June 20-26, is a time to celebrate and BEE excited about the amazing work of pollinators! Join the festivities at our annual Party with Pollinators (Cool Summer Nights) evening this Saturday, June 25. We will have special pollinator themed activities and learning opportunities. Pollinator Week was developed to support pollinator health and…
It’s World Bee Day. Time for Bee Bingo!
Celebrate World Bee Day (May 20) with a fun game of Bee Bingo! Get outside and learn about the native bees and native plants of the Sonoran Desert and win prizes!
Desert Biota in a Changing Climate
Katie Predick, Conservation Research and Education Department Earth Day is a time to celebrate the fascinating, biodiverse, resilient nature all around us. And while it’s essential to appreciate and celebrate the unique nature of the Sonoran Desert and beyond, every Earth Day that passes without significant climate or environmental action brings us closer to the…
Desert Museum Science: Knowledge from Nature for People
A Day in the Life of Desert Museum Science Buzz Hoffman, a retired entomologist and founding member of the Museum’s Bee Team volunteers, spends several hours each week staring down a microscope, looking at minute details of native bees to sort them by genus. Isabella, a senior at Sunnyside High School, picks up where Buzz…
Save a Saguaro! Tucson Community Fights Buffelgrass
After University of Arizona Journalism student Hannah Cree attended the Save Our Saguaros Month Kickoff event to investigate the Tucson community’s efforts against the invasive species buffelgrass, we invited her to share the resulting story here on the Desert Diaries blog. Thank you to Hannah! By Hannah Cree with photos by Desert Museum staff It’s…
Sharing is Caring in the Sonoran Desert
By Catherine Bartlett, Education Program Manager What do limp lizards, a bundle of bats, and fresh fecal samples have in common? Love. Well, maybe not love exactly but each can certainly be seen as an act of generosity in the animal world. Of the five love languages (words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, receiving gifts) animals exhibit each, in some…
Weaving the Web of Life
Do you recall the grade school diagrams illustrating a simple food chain? This predator eats that prey and that prey eats plants, and plants obtain their energy from the sun and nutrients from soil. Arrows represent one organism eating another. Food chain diagrams help us visualize the flow of energy through an ecosystem. While the…
What Is Conservation Really About?
By Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction Join Michelle at the Desert Museum on Saturday, November 13, from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. for a brief reading from Beloved Beasts, a lively discussion with renowned field ecologist and conservationist Harry Greene, and a book signing. Books will be available…
Respect the Rattlesnake
Scared of rattlesnakes? You’re not alone. Many people fear or simply misunderstand these incredible animals. Legend and lore may talk up the fearsome qualities of these venomous pit vipers, but ultimately humans are much more of a threat to these animals than they are to us. At the Desert Museum, we believe the best way…
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