What next for endangered species in this fractured wilderness?
The Wilderness Act of 1964 was designed to preserve places "where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man." It protects landscapes from new roads, development, extraction, and mechanized travel—areas where plants and animals take priority over profits and human ambitions. What happens when these priorities change? Chief Storyteller Josh Jackson explores the unsettling ecological consequences of the federal government’s decision to build a border wall through the Jacumba Wilderness.
The land that prepared me to defend our country is now what I work to protect
As a veteran, I learned the importance of protecting our country. Fifty years later, that idea still drives me. These days I advocate for veterans and work to protect the very land that once helped prepare me to serve.
Notes from the field: Superbloom or not?
Each year that California experiences a wet winter, the buzz of a spring superbloom arises. As ecologists, we know that wildflower germination is dependent on more than just rain. Seed Bank Technician Ashley Soto details what our team has been seeing in the field during the Spring 2026 season.
Notes from the field: Propagules and precipitation
Water is the most precious resource for life on Earth, and nowhere is the importance of water greater exemplified than in dry ecosystems like here in the Mojave Desert. Seed Bank Technician Anthony Rondon shares the team’s findings after a period of heavy rainfall.
Afton Canyon: One of the Mojave's hidden gems
Researchers have come to this historic, geologically-rich, riparian place to study the flora and fauna.
Notes from the field: Calciphiles in the Mojave Desert
In their quest for new species, our seed bank team has been heading higher into desert mountain ranges in the Mojave where they’ve encountered limestone-dominated environments and the unusual plants that inhabit them. Seed Bank Technician Kyra Santa Cruz shares some highlights in her recent notes from the field.
Aspiring shark biologist sinks her teeth into the Mojave Desert
Morelia Ruby Gamino has been enthralled by sharks ever since watching the horror sci-fi “Deep Blue Sea”. When she learned that many species of sharks are endangered, she wanted to protect them. Her conservation journey took her to the Mojave Desert as part of the Women In Science Discovering Our Mojave internship.