[The following is from an email from Rick LoBello, the Education Curator at the El Paso Zoo, with a copyright by the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition.]

The El Paso Zoo Animal Curator, John Kiseda, will be the keynote speaker at the Chihuahuan Desert Conference November 6-8, 2019. Kiseda has been working at the Zoo since 1990 and is responsible for the daily oversight of the Zoo’s diverse animal collection including the new Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit. He is deeply involved in the intermediate and long-range planning and development of zoo renovation and expansion projects, serving on the Zoo’s conservation committee, master planning and strategic planning. John also serves as Vice-Coordinator of the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan and is involved in numerous conservation initiatives in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.

The Chihuahuan Desert Conference at the El Paso Zoo on November 6-8, 2019 will celebrate the opening of the new Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit while bringing together local, state and federal protected area staff, educators and various stakeholders from across the Chihuahuan Desert region. The goal of the conference will be to facilitate collaboration in the Chihuahuan Desert and to share what we are learning from ongoing research projects, conservation initiatives and educational programs.

Abstract submissions are now open for the Chihuahuan Desert Conference at the El Paso Zoo. The deadline for abstracts is September 1, 2019. The maximum word limit for the abstract is 250 words. Your submission must be submitted in English.

We encourage you to send an informative abstract (complete abstract) which is a compendious summary of a paper’s substance including its background, purpose, methodology, results, and conclusion. Please send in a brief biography together with the Abstract. Send all of the above to the Conference Chair, Rick LoBello at lobellorl@elpasotexas.gov