Desert Experts

GEOSCIENCES GRADUATE STUDENT AND DINOSAUR DISCOVERER:

Thompson has earned a master's degree in geosciences from the University of Arizona and is working on his Ph.D. He's famous not for geology, but for dinosaur hunting, something he does for fun in his spare time. In 1994, he discovered the bones of a huge plant-eating dinosaur called a Sonorasaurus in the Whetsone Mountains about 40 miles southeast of Tucson. Sonorasaurus is the largest and most complete skeleton of a dinosaur every found in Arizona, and you can see it at an exhibit at the museum.

Did discovering Sonorasaurus make you rich? "I made no money. The discovery was on state land so it belongs to the people of Arizona, and I turned it over to the museum. I don't do dinosaur hunting for money. I do it because I love it and it allows me to contribute to science."

DOCENT, ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM:

Docents are volunteers who lead tours around the museum, answer questions and show animals to museum visitors and children in schools. Wynne has been a docent since 1981, and she loves showing people tarantulas, the largest spider in the Sonoran Desert.

Why do you like tarantulas? "First of all, I think they're kind of attractive, and they're very interesting. They have a spot on their head that has eight tiny little eyes, and they dig holes and can live in them for a very long time. Female tarantulas can live for 25 years."

Do the animals at the museum have names like pets? "No. We discourage naming the animals at the museum, and the reason is they're not really pets and we don't make pets out of them. They're wild animals and they all have a special job to do in the Sonoran Desert."

DIRECTOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM:

Mark started working at the museum 22 years ago, and has spent the past three years as director of natural history, which is the study of zoology, botany, geology and just about any other study that has to do with the natural world.

Is Arizona upland really desert? "In the dry season, it looks like a desert, but in the rainy season, it looks like a tropical forest. To me, this area doesn't fit well with my definition of a desert, which is a place where you can walk in a straight line without having to dodge plants. You can't walk very far in a straight line in Arizona upland, but if you go out to Yuma, you could walk for half a mile and maybe only dodge 10 plants. This is a very thick desert at best, and I wouldn't be surprised if somebody decides to rename it a tropical thornscrub."

CURATOR OF HERPETOLOGY, ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM:

Herpetology is the study of reptiles such as snakes and lizards, and amphibians such as frogs and salamanders. Craig came to the museum in 1984 as a volunteer. He soon was hired for a part-time job taking care of the "herps," as he calls them, and worked his way to a full-time job and eventually to being in charge of all the herps at the museum.

What do you like most about your job? "Working with live animals as well as live people, every day is different. One day, I'll be working on a new exhibit. Another day, I'll be taking care of an animal that's sick. And then in the spring and summer, we're out on the grounds, capturing rattlesnakes, so it just never ever gets boring and I really like that."

EDUCATION SPECIALIST, ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM:

Robin brings animals and artifacts to thousands of children at different schools. She also runs the Coati Kids Club, which offers activities at the museum and on outings.

What do you like most about the Sonoran Desert? "I've always loved how the Sonoran Desert can be so hot, 110 degrees in the shade on a dry day, and there are all these amazing plants out there that can survive it, and they can wait months and months until it rains again. Another thing that's special for me about the desert is that there are so many different varieties of green. Have you ever noticed that? Everybody always says the desert is brown, but it's not true. The plants out here have every kind of green imaginable."

Only on StarNet
Watch a video of Robin Kropp. While she teaches local children about different animals, Kropp talks about what she does at the museum.

Jesus Manuel Garcia

EDUCATION SPECIALIST, ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM:

Jesus grew up in the Sonora, Mexico, city of Magdalena. He earned a teaching degree at a college in Mexico and then came to Arizona to study ecology. Jesus teaches children in Mexico and Arizona about the desert and helped write a dictionary of desert animals and plants with English and Spanish definitions.

What's special about the Sonoran Desert? "For me, it's got to be the plants. I'm interested in ethnobotany, which is the knowledge of plants and how people use them. There are three main ways people use plants: As food to eat, as medicine to help them when they are hurt or sick, and as tools. This can be like using plants as rakes, or as utensils, or for things like roofs. Where I come from, many people use ocotillo to make a 'living fence.' Every time it rains, the leaves grow out and you have a beautiful green fence."

CURATOR OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY AND ICHTHYOLOGY AT THE ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

Ichthyology, pronounced ick-thee-ah-low-jee, is the study of fish. Invertebrate zoology, pronounced in-vert-ah-bret zo-ah-low-jee, is the study of coldblooded animals that do not have a backbone. Invertebrates include insects like carpenter bees and grasshoppers, arachnids like spiders and scorpions, crustaceans like crabs and shrimp, and all sorts of other animals like snails, millipedes and worms. No wonder more than 95 percent of all the animals in the Sonoran Desert region are invertebrates.

Why do you like your work?

"The first and most essential reason is it's fun. I get to work with neat animals that are sometimes bizarre. I read a lot of science fiction as a kid because there were wild ideas in there, space travel and weird aliens, and if you're interested in organisms, invertebrates in particular and fish as a close second have plenty of examples of just weird animals."

HER VIEW OF THE DESERT IS FROM THE AIR

Tucson pilot Sandy Lanham helps protect the Sonoran Desert by taking researchers up in her plane and flying them over whales, antelope and turtle nests. The scientists are able to count the animals and check on how they're doing.

When did you get interested in flying?

"I wanted to fly since I was little, maybe third or fourth grade," she said.

What advice would you give to others?

"Don't be like me -believe you can do it," she said. "There's no reason why kids have to grow up first. They can study the desert now and probably find out something nobody else knows."

What's the most fun/challenging part of your job?

"The most fun is seeing things like whales do things that maybe no one else has ever seen before. The most challenging are getting money to do something so fun, plus weather and mechanical problems."

JUNIOR DOCENT AT THE MUSEUM:

Victoria, 15, is a student at University High School who has been a junior docent for a year and a half. Two Saturdays a month, she teaches museum visitors about the Sonoran Desert. She conducts live presentations with creatures such as snakes, tarantulas and scorpions. She also teaches people how to recognize the skulls of animals such as mountain lions, javelina, coyotes, beavers and jack rabbits.

What do you like best about being a junior docent? "I just like having people come up to you and after you give them information, they give you this look of amazement and say things like, 'Wow, I've been living here for all my life and I never knew that.' It's just really fun to teach people about the desert and show them the beauty of it."

DIRECTOR OF COLLECTIONS, ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM:

Peter is the person who makes sure all the animals at the museum are taken care of.

Can you enjoy the desert in your back yard even if you live in the city?"There is always a piece of nature anywhere you go, and if you live in Tucson, nature and wildness are as close as just about anyplace else in the country. There are bobcats, coyotes and great horned owls living in the city limits, and peregrine falcons flying off the city towers. There are birds all over your neighborhood, and in the back alley or the vacant lot next to your house, there might be a pocket mouse, or beetles feeding on the cacti, or a pack rat nest, but there is always something to see."

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