Students Integrating Academics and Conservation
Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Dept. Entomology, School of Natural Resources
University of Arizona

           

SIAC brings together over 60 graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs from several departments at the University of Arizona.  We have several goals; mostly, we are interested in volunteering our collective skills in biology and science to aid local conservation projects while providing educational opportunities for students. 

Our current project, coordinated through the Nature Conservancy, includes surveys of the flora and fauna of a recently acquired 10,000 acre ranch in Sonora, Rancho Los Fresnos.  Los Fresnos is currently co-owned by the Nature Conservancy, Naturalia A.C. and Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Armónica (BIDA), and conserves riparian areas in the headwaters of the San Pedro, and mid-elevation grasslands in excellent condition.  While our top priorities are to survey the flora and fauna of the ranch over the next two years, we are also interested in answering basic research questions with application to conservation.  Our surveys include intensive survey-weekends every 2-3 months, such that students can balance this volunteer work with their teaching and research schedules. 

We have now completed an initial (2-year) survey of the preserve, and are working to publish our results in relevant journals and deposit specimens in appropriate collections. We are interested in continuing our work at Los Fresnos, and involving more undergraduates in the project, through class field trips, and collaborations with Sonoran universities.

           
Los Fresnos Project

grassland at los fresnos
 

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Group Funding
thank you!

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