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Explore the diversity and understated beauty of spring desert flora. This class is an entry-level course designed to familiarize students with the common spring-flowering shrubs and annual plants of the Mojave Desert within the Joshua Tree and Pinyon-juniper woodland plant communities. Use field guides and botanical keys to review the common and scientific names of species found along the way. This field class takes place in Joshua Tree National Park. Anyone may attend! No experience or expertise is required. Entry to Joshua Tree National Park is not included in the cost of enrollment. Visit recreation.gov or a visitor center to purchase your pass ahead of time. No meals or equipment are provided. Participants caravan in their personal vehicles. Carpooling with other participants is recommended. This class is moderate. It requires less than 5 miles of walking with limited elevation gain on somewhat variable terrain and/or more than one hour outdoors in the elements. Meet Your Instructor! Melanie Davis lives in Joshua Tree and is a lead field botanist at UC Riverside's Center for Conservation Biology in Palm Desert. She has been working in the California deserts since 2017. Her field research brings her to remote corners of the Colorado, Mojave, and Sonoran deserts to study the effects of climate change and human disturbance on desert ecosystems, as well as the distribution of rare native plants. She is also an artist and has published illustrated field guides to 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. Equipment list: A minimum of 2 to 3 liters of water, food and snacks, closed-toe athletic shoes or hiking boots — no sandals are permitted, including hiking sandals, sun protection, including hat, sunglasses, sunscreen — light-colored long-sleeved shirts are recommended, daypack to carry equipment and personal items, notebook and writing utensil, full tank of gas prior to arriving at the meeting location. Photo credit: NPS Michael Faist
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6554 Park Blvd, Joshua Tree CA, 6554 Park Blvd, Joshua Tree, CA 92252-2500, United States
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