Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
Plus, preliminary counts from our Fall 2024 Shorebird Surveys, a Riverscape Intern photo blog, Save the Date for our Thank you Event, and more!
Happy Latino Conservation Week & Hispanic Heritage Month! We are grateful to celebrate the culture and contributions of the Latinx and Hispanic communities with our incredible volunteers, donors, and partners.
Diversidad en la Biologia Para Personas y Polinizadores, a Sageland Collaborative film by Alhondra López & Sarah Woodbury, featuring Dr. Emmanuel Santa-Martínez.
We are thrilled to share our interview (en Espanõl) with Dr. Emmanuel Santa-Martínez, pollinator expert and Assistant Professor of Biology at Salt Lake Community College. As a passionate advocate for equitable rights to higher education, Dr. Santa-Martínez continually inspires BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities into the sciences.
We invite you to learn more about Emmanuel's vision in this uplifting interview, where we talk pollinators, diversity, and the importance of representation in science.
López leads events like our Pollinator Office Hours (above) and Familias y Ranas (below) with an infectious passion for the natural world. Photos: Sierra Hastings.
Sageland Collaborative's Communications Assistant Alhondra López speaks on her experience as a Latina in breaking down barriers to entry in the outdoors in her blog, Aleteos de Libertad | Flutters of Freedom:
"Barriers to entry such as expensive gear, transportation, feeling unwelcome or not belonging are some of the struggles that Latinx and other communities face. While on first glance it may seem that the outdoors is for everyone, it does not always feel that way."
We are grateful to López, Dr. Santa-Martínez, and other inspiring leaders in the Latinx community who encourage the next generation to pursue their wildest dreams.
To enjoy our interview with Dr. Emmanuel Santa-Martínez in English, click here!
Join in on the Celebration!
Join us at our Arroyos y Raíces Para Polinizadores Latino Conservation Week event on Saturday, September 21 from 10am-3pm at the Galena Soónkahni Nature Preserve near Draper, Utah. We'll hear presentations from Latinx leaders in our community, enjoy poetry from artists at Plumas Colectiva and Artes de México, and improve pollinator habitat at one of our Riverscape Restoration sites!
You can also connect with us at these Latino Conservation Week events:
September 17: Night at the Aviary
September 20: Latino Conservation Week Festival & Gear Swap
Preliminary Shorebird Counts
National Audubon's Max Malmquist on his survey route along Great Salt Lake's south shore. Photo by Mike Malmquist.
This August, surveys across the Intermountain West completed another census of migratory shorebirds, and we are excited to share what we saw with you!
During the Fall 2024 Intermountain West Shorebird Survey, volunteers and partners across Utah counted 543,475 Shorebirds and White-faced Ibis!
American Avocet (top) and Wilson's Phalarope (bottom) foraging at Great Salt Lake. Photos by Janice Gardner.
These data show us just how important Great Salt Lake is for shorebirds - providing food and habitat for over half the region's shorebirds during Fall migration!
At Great Salt Lake survey areas alone, our surveyors counted:
81,244 American Avocet
36,462 Black-necked Stilt
15,461 White-faced Ibis
383,150 Phalarope spp.
23,241 Other Shorebird Species
539,558 Total Shorebirds and White-faced Ibis
These surveys are possible through the dedication of our volunteers and partners - thank you for everything you do for shorebirds!
You can make a positive impact on shorebird habitat by joining our partners at Audubon Rockies for one of their Gillmor Sanctuary Workdays!
Learn more and sign up here.
We Need Your Help to Heal Utah's Streams!
A volunteer hard at work building a beaver dam analog. Photo by Sierra Hastings.
We have built an impressive 315 low-tech restoration structures across Utah's streams this fall, but we're not done yet! We've still got a few more weeks of riverscape restoration planned, and we need your help to accomplish our ambitious goals to improve this important wildlife habitat. Click on the links below to learn more and sign up:
Meet our August Volunteers of the Month!
We are grateful to students from University of Utah's Science Research Initiative Program who went above and beyond this summer in their work on Wildlife Watch!
For Gaby Karakcheyeva, Kaylee Meyers, and Sarah Miller, however, the desire to get involve didn’t stop there. In addition to spending countless hours analyzing data and setting up trail cameras, these students went on to join us for several of our other community science projects!
A Summer Spent in Streams
What does summer look like for a Sageland Collaborative Intern? Get a glimpse into a summer spent in streams with our Summer 2024 Riverscape Restoration Intern, Danielle Terry, in her photo blog and interview.
Save the Date!
Volunteers and partners at a Boreal Toad Survey. Photo by Sierra Hastings.
Thank you to everyone who has joined us so far this season to make a difference for wildlife and lands!
You're invited to celebrate everything you've made possible at our End of Season Thank You Event on Wednesday, October 30th from 6pm-8pm!
More details to come!
Sageland Collaborative works with hundreds of volunteer community scientists to log observations of pollinators, like this Hunt's Bumble bee, to paint a picture of Utah's pollinator populations. Photo by Sierra Hastings.
Thank you for loving wildlife and lands in the West!
Make your gift today to support the future of conservation.
Visit the project page on our website, check out our Impact Report, or connect with us on social media (see links below) to learn more about our conservation work. Please feel free to contact us any time to share your volunteer stories, questions, or suggestions.