Wildflowers of the Mojave

6554 Park Blvd,Joshua Tree CA 92252

18 March, 2023

Description

Explore the diversity and spring splendor of the Mojave Desert in bloom. Field botanist Melanie Davis and plant ecologist Dr. Lynn Sweet will lead this one-day field class on a tour through the colorful flowers of a desert spring. Melanie and Lynn will describe interesting and entertaining aspects of the flora, their botanical characteristics, and show how to identify the unique blossoms of the park. They will share about challenges and discoveries from their ecological research in this ordinarily dry and dusty environment. They will identify plants in the Mojave by scientific and common names, allowing the participants to get to know these amazing plants up close, as well as tips on where to find some of the most unique plants in the desert. The locations of each course will be determined and customized based on local flowering events in the high desert. Activity Level: Moderate Hike details: Wildflowers of the Mojave, March Spring 2023 Wildflowers of the Mojave, April Spring 2023 Participant Waiver: Please fill out and return the participant waiver within seven days of your event to [email protected] (digital signature or photo of signed doc is ok) To receive your $10 off Membership Discount, please enter your membership code at the checkout! learn about your instructors, lynn and melanieMelanie Davis lives in Joshua Tree CA and is a field biologist and botanist at UC Riverside’s Center for Conservation Biology in Palm Desert. She has been working and living in the Mojave Desert since 2017. Her field research brings her to remote corners of the Colorado, Mojave and Sonoran deserts, from Joshua Tree National Park to the Mojave National Preserve, 29 Palms Marine Base, and across the Coachella Valley. She primarily studies the effects of human disturbance on native plants and ecosystems, as well as the distribution of rare native plant species. She is also an artist and has self-published illustrated field guides for several groups of native desert plants. Melanie holds a Bachelor’s from The Evergreen State College and the Desert Ecologist and Naturalist certifications from College of the Desert. Lynn Sweet is a Research Ecologist at the University of California, Riverside’s Center for Conservation Biology. She has a B.S. in Biology from Dickinson College, and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from UCR. In the past, she has worked as a natural history tour guide in the dry forest of Hawaii, as well as on research projects focusing on endangered birds in Arizona, weedy plant species in Wyoming, and native oak and pine establishment in central California. Her current projects focus conservation of desert plant communities in southern California, including research within the Coachella Valley and Joshua Tree National Park.