We’re committed to aligning our actions with our words.
“We must maximize access to novel ideas for the broadest and most diverse group of individuals. This benefits society at large by providing intellectual tools to tackle the wicked problems of our generation”
National Nature Assessment
The Global Drylands Center was delighted to help the United States Global Change Research Program host the first-ever National Nature Assessment (NNA1) to evaluate U.S. lands, waters, wildlife, biodiversity, and their contributions to our economy, health, culture, climate, and equity. The Assessment will also project future changes and their impacts.
Marking the Zero-Order Draft release in the Federal Register, the NNA1 was hosted in person at the Great Hall on November 15. Several authors who have contributed to the NNA1 met with faculty, staff, student and community members who engaged in rapid-fire question sessions and were given the opportunity to provide feedback to the contributors.
Open Door 2024
In the Spring of 2024, we invited all ages to join the Global Drylands Center to learn more about the life that surrounds us in the desert!
To keep the curiosity alive, 2 of the 42 plants featured at Open Door have been planted here to keep growing in your hearts & minds.
- The Pima, Apache, Cocopa, and Pueblo ate the tubers or bulbs of this plant raw, boiled or roasted.
Hoffmannseggia glauca (Waxy Rushpea)
- This plant was formerly used as a folk remedy for snakebites, hence the common name. However, this species is not proven to be medically effective in treating rattlesnake venom.
Chamaesyce albomarginata (Rattleweed Spurge)
SciAM: What Dune Should teach Us about the Beauty of ‘Wastelands’
We all feel the allure of deserts, our ideas often impacted by the Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s; they come to us filled to the brim with anti-heroes to dispense justice as they see fit, splashed across a barren landscape. Indeed, we rarely see past the ‘wastelands’ portrayed for what they truthfully are.
The phenomenon of identity theft of a landscape that makes up forty percent of the terrestrial area of the Earth has continued into the modern era. We now sit anxiously in our theatre chairs, waiting to witness the fate of Arrakis, a desert planet featured in the novel & film adaptations of Frank Herbert’s Dune.
We hope that as moviegoers continue to see their favorite films, they also see the desert for what it is – an intrepid landscape filled to the brim with life & more stories to tell than Hollywood can fit into any piece of cinema.
BioScience Talks
In their own words: Osvaldo Sala
Each episode of BioScience Talks, hosted by James Verdier, opens up a dialogue with celebrated scientists, wherein we can learn more about the scientists and their life stories. Dr. Osvaldo Sala was invited to speak with James; listen to the entire episode here!
Asombro Institute
Next to the city of Las Cruces, NM, is a research site at the heart of the Global Drylands Center. Within that beating heart is a collaboration between the GDC and the Asombro Institute. Our graduate and Ph.D. students all connect with Asombro and help with a myriad of workshops.
McDowell Sonoran Conservancy
The Global Drylands Center is proud to link arms with the McDowell Mountain Conservancy in their mission as stewards to the Sonoran Desert. Within their broad missions to help with biodiversity protections, invasive plant mitigation, and ecological restoration, we pledge to harness our network and knowledge to bolster their efforts.
SACNAS | Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science
The GDC is proud to support undergraduate Arely Castillo, a previous Sala Lab REU, in their efforts to engage with SACNAS – a community we are happy to share the connection with. SACNAS has been a positive environment for diverse students in STEM, a major driver that the GDC shares.
