We need your help!

Are you a birder? Someone interested in our native plants or the butterflies that flit by on a warm day? A professor with a class that needs field experience? Would you like to help generate reliable, useful data for our ongoing research projects? If so, consider participating in research with the staff and research associates of the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute.

Become a Citizen Scientist

Our corp of citizen scientists are everyday people that enjoy being outdoors and learning about the Chihuahuan Desert region. Some have a great deal of expertise, others are just learning. All are welcome to participate in our citizen science programs.

Citizen scientists work closely with professional scientists as they generate useful data to help answer questions about the flora and fauna of the region. One of the exciting benefits about joining our group of citizen scientists is that we all help each other learn new things.

We’re currently looking for people to help with bird surveys, butterfly monitoring, and plant phenology (what’s growing and when it blooms).

For more information about how you can participate, contact Cathryn Hoyt (choyt [at] cdri [dot] org).

Bring a Field School

Does your high-school, college, or university class need some field experience? The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center is the perfect place to teach field techniques and data gathering. Primitive facilities are available for overnight camping. For more information, contact Dr. Cathryn Hoyt, Executive Director (choyt [at] cdri [dot] org or 432.364.2499).

Student Research Projects

We encourage student research at the Nature Center. If you would like to use the Nature Center as a field site, please submit a brief proposal (no longer than 5 pages) with the following information:

1. A cover page with the following information:

• Institution name
• Title of project
• Name of student with email address and telephone number
• Name of advisor (please include email address and telephone number)
• Physical mailing address
• Brief summary of research project (no more than 2 sentences)

2. Proposal narrative addressing the following components:

• Project background and statement of need
• Project objectives
• Scope of work
• Timeline
• Letter of support from academic advisor
• Academic or professional references

Submit your proposal by email to Dr. Cathryn Hoyt, Executive Director (choyt [at] cdri [dot] org).