In the early evening of July 30, over 20 UBRPers gathered for a night at the Arizona–Sonora Desert Museum. Admission was free as well as a pizza dinner (thanks to Emily Marcus, UBRPer in Dr. David Besselsen’s lab, University Animal Care for arranging the free admission and pizza dinner).

For those who haven’t been to the Museum, it is a great place to explore the diverse plant and animal life in our Sonora Desert. The diversity of animals includes hummingbirds, bears, cave and canyon fish, desert tortoises, bighorn sheep, and others. There are many well-designed exhibits explaining the behavior of plants and animals in our desert. In addition, docents staff many of the exhibits and give thematic demonstrations. Overall, it is an exciting place to be!

The UBRP nighttime trip to the Desert Museum was spent enjoying the Sonora Desert while viewing interesting exhibits and demonstrations. A docent gave one of my favorite demonstrations on tarantulas. The docent held the furry crustacean while sharing his knowledge of the tarantula. Another interesting demonstration involved fluorescing minerals – the simple-looking minerals burst into colors once UV light illuminated them.

Ultimately, the trip to the Desert Museum was fun-filled. It was enjoyable to walk around viewing the desert wildlife -- there was much to see and do; we were there for about four hours and I was still not able to see everything.

The Desert Museum has a website that gives practical information (i.e. hours, admission fees) as well as information on exhibits. This includes 360-degree virtual views of selected exhibits. The site can be accessed at http://www.desertmuseum.org/

Jason Tyler, UBRPer in Dr. Oliver Monti’s lab, Chemistry