Have you ever explored the bosque? Right in Albuquerque’s backyard is a nearly continuous network of trails that run north-south along the river and wind their way through the forest. These trails even connect Albuquerque to neighboring cities! There are larger trails with lots of foot traffic and smaller trails that few may know. Regardless, these trails allow us as … Read More

Pictured above: Ms. Greenleaf, on the far left, with her Corrales Elementary School 5th graders on a BEMP Study Trip On October 2nd, 2017 Ms. Greenleaf’s 5th grade class from Corrales Elementary School came to Bosque School to do a Study Trip with BEMP. Ms. Linda Greenleaf (formerly Linda Pierce) is a BEMP alumna herself! She started “BEMPin” back when she … Read More

What an exciting summer it has been smacking salt cedar trees with an insect net! Why is BEMP smacking trees? BEMP interns Ivan Robles and Keara Bixby spent their 2017 summer in search of the tamarisk leaf beetle (TLB), an introduced biological control for the non-native saltcedar tree also known as a tamarisk or Tamarix spp.. This is the fourth … Read More

It’s not often that you get to see mallards swimming amongst the trees in the bosque, or find fish swimming in the litterfall tubs, or wade through waist deep water to get to a precipitation gauge, or raft over pitfall traps, but these were exactly the sort of experiences we had this spring when the high river flows led to flooding in the bosque. It was a … Read More

The week of September 18, 2017 marks the start of BEMP’s monthly monitoring data collection for the  2017-2018 school year. Although BEMP monitors its 31 sites all year long, our citizen scientists (students) join us primarily during the school year. This year we’ve got 24 schools working up and down the Rio Grande from Santo Domingo to Socorro. We are … Read More

For most folks a snapping turtle is an unseen Bosque School campus resident. But they lurk in the muddy bottom of Budagher Pond and our adjacent ditch. This past week, students from Bosque’s wildlife and conservation biology class captured a 26 pound Snapping Turtle as part of their ongoing turtle research efforts. The animal was measured, micro-chipped, and returned to … Read More

SAVE THE DATE: Oct 26th, 10am-1pm Restoration Impacts in the Belen Bosque We invite you to join BEMP in the field to learn more about the work BEMP has been doing and our research findings. BEMP staff and partner groups will present on the status of bank-lowered flooded projects and forest restoration treatments. The 2017 Fall Field Tour will be … Read More

BEMP is featured on a new collaborative website tool about urban forests and healthy cities called Vibrant Cities Lab. We are a great example of how education can propel great ideas forward!  Vibrant Cities Lab is a joint effort of the US Forest Service, American Forests, and the National Association of Regional Councils.

“Action and Hope for the Rio Grande and its Bosque” Catching bugs, spotting porcupines, and digging down to groundwater are fun in and of themselves, but in the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP) about eight to ten thousand New Mexican K-12 school students turn those adventures into science that has meaning beyond their classroom. Join BEMP co-director Dan Shaw and … Read More

Check out this Albuquerque Journal Article about Bosque School’s new Rod and Mary Kay Pera Science Center grand opening on Aug 19th, 2017. It features Dan Shaw, BEMP Co-Director and Katie Elder, BEMP Educator, both of whom work with BEMP and Bosque School wildlife students. BEMP is thrilled to share this new Bosque School space. Come find us in the … Read More