Affiliation: Universidad de Sonora

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Zulema Gómez Lunar

Research area: I am interested in approaches in paleontology, evolutionary biology, and paleobiogeography, as well as environmental microbiology using metagenomic tools.

Affiliation: ManglOs/Conservation leadership program

City of residence: La Paz, Baja California Sur

Assigned Mentor: Gloria Mariel Suárez Gutiérrez

Research area: Regenerative real estate development.

Affiliation: Independent

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Jorge Luis Navarro Serralde

Research area: Management and conservation, marine biology, ecology, mammal management.

Affiliation: Entrepeneur

City of residence: San Francisco de la Sierra, Baja California Sur

Assigned Mentor: Trudi Angell

Research area: I work as a tour guide with Saddling South, and I truly enjoy being in contact with nature—experiencing it, appreciating it, and helping to care for it.

Affiliation: Academic

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: César Iván Ojeda Linares

Research area: My research focuses on plant physiology in Agave species, integrating responses to environmental stress, genetic variation, and ecological context. I am interested in understanding how these processes influence their adaptation, domestication, and regional productive relevance, linking basic science with applications in sustainable management.

Affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California

City of residence: Tecate, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Gustavo Pablo Lorenzana Piña

Research area: Mammalogy, ornithology and herpetology.

Affiliation: Independent

City of residence: La Paz, Baja California Sur

Assigned Mentor: Luis Felipe Estrada Gaviria

Research area: My research interests focus on the relationship between ecosystems, soil analysis, and environmental conservation. I am interested in understanding how natural soil processes, microorganisms, and other ecological indicators reflect ecosystem health and can inform their protection and sustainable management. I am also interested in exploring the connection between science, art, and conservation as tools to communicate the value of nature and raise social awareness.

Affiliation: Independent

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Benjamin Wilder

Research area: I am interested in botany, particularly in taxonomy and systematics, and I have a strong interest in the flora of northwestern Baja California.

Affiliation: Posgrado CICESE

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Erick Manuel Zepeda García

Research area: My current research focuses on the ecology of shorebirds and their response to climate variability. I am developing my thesis by analyzing how changes in climate patterns affect critical habitats and the life cycles of these species.

Affiliation: California Botanic Garden / Independent

City of residence: Claremont, California

Assigned Mentor: Gabriel Molinares Barceló

Research area: I am interested in dryland ecology and the conservation of biodiversty. More specifically I have interests in the fields of botany, entomology, and herpetology.

Affiliation: Program coordinator at Prescott College Kino Bay center

City of residence: Bahía de Kino, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Ana Gisel Pérez Delgadillo

Research area: I work specifically with community groups through a coastal wetlands conservation program, primarily driven by my interest and previous work with sea turtles.

Affiliation: El Colegio de Michoacán

City of residence: La Paz, Baja California Sur

Assigned Mentor: Ivett Peña Azcona

Research area: I am a researcher in socio-environmental studies with an interdisciplinary approach that brings together political ecology, ethnoecology, and anthropology. My work examines the relationships between local communities and nature in arid contexts, particularly in the oases of Baja California Sur, understood as socio-ecological systems and contested biocultural landscapes.

Affiliation: Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes

City of residence: Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes

Assigned Mentor: Jules Wyman

Research area: Herpetology.

Affiliation: Posgrado CICESE

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Nemer E. Narchi

Research area: My research interests are focused on the ecotoxicology of marine mammals, specifically pinnipeds from the Gulf of California and the western coast of Baja California.

Affiliation: Universidad de Sonora

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Celene Lizeth Navarro Hurtado

Research area: Ecology, with an interest in learning more about ecological interactions in the Sonoran Desert—how to study and interpret them, and how to build a career around this. Some of my areas of interest include entomology, herpetology, and ornithology.

Affiliation: independiente

City of residence: Ciudad Obregón, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Trudi Angell

Research area: Interest in the Sonoran Desert and anthropological dynamics.

Affiliation: Tohono Chul Park/ Independent

City of residence: Tucson, Arizona

Assigned Mentor: Enriquena Bustamante

Research area: I am interested in plant collections, floristic surveys, and plant identification. I aim to further develop my skills in documenting plant species and studying their distribution.

Affiliation: University of Michigan

City of residence: Royal Oak, Michigan

Assigned Mentor: Guadalupe del Carmen Cornejo Gutiérrez

Research area: Literature; environmental humanities; Sonoran Desert plants and animals; water policy.

Affiliation: Posgrado CICESE

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Medardo Cruz López

Research area: In general, my main research interests focus on the use of spatial analysis tools, such as satellite imagery and cartography, combined with fieldwork for the study and monitoring of ecosystems.

Affiliation: Independent

City of residence: La Paz, Baja California Sur

Assigned Mentor: Santiago Landois Álvarez-Icaza

Research area: My interests focus on coastal socio-ecological systems, particularly coastal dunes and their often overlooked role in conservation and territorial resilience. I aim to explore how community monitoring, citizen science, and landscape interpretation can strengthen connections in these transitional spaces between human communities and the ecosystems they inhabit.

Affiliation: Universidad de Sonora

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Nemer E. Narchi

Research area: My main focus is on paleobiology and the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Quaternary, which I am currently developing in my thesis at the Paleoecology Laboratory at UNISON. I am also building knowledge in arid zone ecology, seed dispersal, and cactus ecophysiology through my work at ERNO-UNAM. I enjoy science communication and strongly believe it is a powerful tool for social change.

Affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Miguel Ángel Ojeda Ruiz de la Peña

Research area: I am interested in studying the impacts of fisheries and large-scale projects in the Gulf of California, as well as identifying solutions that promote awareness and science communication. I am also interested in supporting initiatives that help build a community more committed to environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Affiliation: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

City of residence: Ciudad de México

Assigned Mentor: Silvia Gabriela Maytorena Salcido

Research area: Access to justice and the rights of nature.

Affiliation: Boise State University/Navopatia Field Station

City of residence: Boise, Idaho / Navopatia, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Horacio Jesús de la Cueva Salcedo

Research area: I have a strong background in ornithology, but I am currently pursuing a PhD in Human-Environment Systems. For my dissertation, I am studying how people living along the western migratory flyway incorporate migratory birds into their sense of place.

Affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Benjamin Wilder

Research area: Mutualistic relationships between plants and insects.

Affiliation: Independent

City of residence: Ensenada, Baja California

Assigned Mentor: Elizabeth Brassea Pérez

Research area: I am interested in mammalogy and birds, as well as their conservation and environmental legislation.

Affiliation: Independiente

City of residence: Long Beach, California

Assigned Mentor: Héctor Valtierra

Research area: Conservation, restoration, horticulture, botany and photography.

Affiliation: La Duna Centro Ecológico

City of residence: La Paz, Baja California Sur

Assigned Mentor: Medardo Cruz López

Research area: Focus on ecosystem health and climate adaptation through botany and soil ecology, integrating eco-arts and science to promote stewardship and the conservation of desert and dune ecosystems, with experience in biodiversity monitoring and interpretive trail design, and interests in phenology, reforestation, ethical seed collection, and restoration.

Affiliation: Ciencia y Comunidad por la Conservación

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Rafael Lara-Resendiz

Research area: Community monitoring; biological monitoring; herpetology.

Affiliation: Universidad de Sonora

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Minerva Ángela Uribe Rivera

Research area: Conservation of native plants, developing solutions to environmental challenges through them, green cities, urban planning, and urban agronomy.

Affiliation: University of Arizona

City of residence: Tucson, Arizona

Assigned Mentor: Caitlyn Hall

Research area: Interested in riparian restoration in Arizona.

Affiliation: Instituto de Ecología AC y Laboratorio de Ecología de Zonas Áridas y Semiáridas UNAM

City of residence: Zacapoaxtla, Puebla

Assigned Mentor: Elizabeth Brassea Pérez

Research area: My research evaluates geographic variation in the ecology of seed dispersal and predation of Stenocereus thurberi in northwestern Mexico. I analyze frugivore diversity, patterns of directed dispersal, and the role of nurse plants in seedling establishment in arid environments.

Affiliation: Independent

City of residence: Desert Center, California

Assigned Mentor: Alfredo Leal-Sandoval/Ricardo Rodríguez Medina

Research area: I am currently working as a biologist in both the California portion of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, doing wildlife and habitat monitoring for mitigation Preserves. Outside this current position, interested in climate adaptation, food systems, and how we can reframe our interactions with the world to be mutually beneficial rather than extractive.

Affiliation: Environmental Ingeneer student

City of residence: Hermosillo, Sonora

Assigned Mentor: Ricardo Rodríguez Medina

Research area: Herpetology, tortoises and their environment.