March Monthly Monitoring was a great success! Here you can see BEMP Biologist Sean O’Neill discussing how the river has changed in the last 20 years with Cottonwood Valley Charter School students. This month we also added up all our leaf litter data and found out that BEMP has so far, in the last ~20 years, collected 434 lbs or 197 … Read More
BEMP contributes to Nature’s Notebook
Last week students from Bandelier Elementary visited BEMP for a Study Trip and enjoyed picnic-ing and jumping rope by the river. During BEMP Study trips, students from all over the area come to Bosque School and help collect data about the seasonal changes occurring in the bosque and share their data with the National Phenology Network through the Nature’s Notebook … Read More
Crawford Symposium 2016 was a great success!
On Tuesday, March 1st, 2016 BEMP held its annual Crawford Symposium. It was an incredible night of sharing, learning, and inspiration. Students of all ages presented posters on topics ranging from “Why the Love BEMP!” (presented by the Belen Family School with presenters as young as 8 years old!) to graduate students showcasing their work regarding episodic drying events of … Read More
Horizon Students Meet Bob the Goose
During Horizon’s Super Saturdays students from this enrichment program learn about how the bosque and it’s inhabitants change throughout the year with BEMP. In February several students met one of the bosque pond’s winter residents, Bob the Canada Goose. Bob has been at Bosque School since late January and thanks to the band around her leg we know that Bob is actually a female … Read More
49th Joint Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society
Eight Bosque seniors and one alumna participated in the 49th Joint Annual Meeting of the New Mexico and Arizona chapters of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society meeting in Flagstaff, AZ, on February 4-6. The students presented five scientific posters: Claire ’16 – “High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Snakes with Education About the Taxa” (plural of taxonomy); Jackie … Read More
Full Moon Rabbit Survey
This weekend BEMP took 6 students to Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge to survey for rabbits under the full moon. Scientists have been counting rabbits at Sevilleta since 1992 as an indicator of ecosystem health because they respond to changes in vegetation and predator populations. During this survey we counted 37 rabbits and saw evidence of other animals including prognhorn antelope … Read More
BEMP on the Radio!
Check out BEMP on KNAU’s Earthnotes program. It aired on Albuquerque’s KUNM radio station on January 13, 2016.
Birdwatcher’s Paradise
Winter turns the Bosque into a birdwatcher’s paradise. By the thousands, geese, cranes, ducks, and other waterfowl gather in and along the Rio Grande’s bosque. Although much of BEMP’s work is centered on having students monitor the river and its forest in partnership with government agencies, students also have the opportunity to just enjoy the sites and sounds of an … Read More
New BEMP site!
Last week BEMP installed our 31st site in the bosque! BEMPers measured out the site, dug wells and hammered in rebar. This site in the South Valley will monitor a willow swale and high flow channel, so students monitoring the new site can expect some wet days in the spring and summer.
Rio Rancho 6th graders interviewed BEMP educators
After collecting data at the Badger site near Alameda Bridge in November, Rio Rancho 6th graders interviewed BEMP educator Kelly and UNM intern Kelley R.. They asked questions about what changes BEMP has seen in the bosque since we began monitoring, how their daily actions impact the bosque and what the of the bosque looks like.