Anza-Borrego: In Focus, Mammals of Anza-Borrego Desert

This program has two components – a lecture on Friday night and an interactive field experience on Saturday morning. You can choose to sign up for just the lecture or both the lecture and field trip. More information about each follows below.  

LECTURE 

Date: March 17, 2023 

Time:  7:00 PM – 8:30 PM 

Location:  Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center (401 Tilting T Dr, Borrego Springs, CA 92004) 

Cost: $10 (For lecture only. If you opt for the field interactive, the lecture is included in that cost.) Students are free. 

Description:  Join us for an evening lecture and Q&A with San Diego Natural History Museum’s mammal expert, Scott Tremor. Tremor literally wrote the book on mammals of San Diego County – he is the editor of the San Diego County Mammal Atlas. He will share with us the diversity, secret lives, and importance of the mammals within the region. Anza-Borrego is home to at least 63 species of mammals, many that are rarely seen. Tremor will help uncover many of these mysterious creatures during his talk. We are thrilled to have nabbed some of his time out of the field. 

Please register in advance.  Register Here 

FIELD INTERACTIVE 

Date: March 18, 2023 

Time: 6:45 AM – 12:00 PM (end time is approximate) 

Location: UC Irvine Biodiversity Reserve  

(meet at the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center, 401 Tilting T Dr, Borrego Springs, CA 92004) 

Cost: (If you sign up for the field interactive, the lecture is included in this cost).  

Student – $25.00 

ABF Member – $50.00 

Non-member – $60.00 

Description:  This field trip will be an extension of the previous night’s lecture, held as an interactive and hands on field experience. Part One will consist of a visit to mammal habitat and the taxa in situ (in the wild). Tremor will prepare in advance (and has all the necessary permissions!) so that we may meet some iconic desert species up close and personal. There will be minimal hiking in the UCI Reserve, followed by species identification and discussion of habitat and life history. Participants may choose to leave at this point or stay for Part Two!  

 Part Two consists of museum specimen preparation, which is not for the faint of heart! Perfect for the ever-curious citizen scientist who likes to get their hands dirty. We’ll go behind-the-scenes of what it’s like to work as a mammologist for a museum and learn how a mammal skin is prepared for museum collection. *Note: The specimen preparation will consist of specimens provided for this purpose and will not be from mammals collected during this experience. * 

Limited to 25 people.  

Please register in advance.  Register Here 

About The Presenter: Scott Tremor is a Mammologist at the San Diego Natural History Museum. He specializes in surveying for and identifying southern California mammals to the subspecies level. He holds permits to capture California Species of Special Concern as well as federally endangered species (Pacific pocket mouse, Stephens’ kangaroo rat, San Bernardino kangaroo rat). Scott is the principal author and editor of the San Diego County Mammal Atlas. His expertise with mammals, especially rare rodents, spans both Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula. This local experience and relationships with the experts in the region have helped bring this book to completion. 

Cancellation Policy
Notification must be received at least 7 days before the first day of the event if you need to cancel and wish to receive a refund. A $10 cancellation fee will be retained for each registration. For cancellations made after the 7-day deadline, we cannot issue refunds for any reason. We understand that unforeseen or emergency circumstances may arise, but our nonprofit organization operates on a limited budget and, while inconvenient, this policy enables us to sustain our programs even with last-minute cancellations. If ABF cancels a program, we will issue a full refund or credit.