From Cedar Swamps to the Mojave is a bit of a change. On the drive from south Jersey to Las Vegas I could not stop thinking,  wow this is going to be an amazing experience, and please truck don’t give up on me now. So far I was right, the truck made it and everything has been wonderful. The Springs Preserve is an amazing place with a lot of great people which make it work. So far we have been working on an upcoming plant sale at the preserve, organizing the different species, potting, and collecting plants from the area. We recently took a group of volunteers from UNLV to a site to do a cactus salvage, where we removed several species of cacti from a future development site and replanted them for the sale. It was a great experience  working with the students and actually watching them get excited when they would find the cacti. This past week we also began to scout the surrounding areas for the SOS program. It was awesome to get out there in the middle of nowhere and get to see some of the different areas we would be collecting, as well as a great chance to learn the different species throughout the desert.  I can’t wait for the desert to awake and really get going.

I still have a lot to learn about the desert and the different aspects of the  job, but luckily I am surrounded by wonderful mentors and coworkers. This is going to be fun. I am looking forward to the next five months.