Congresswoman Heather Wilson, joined by UNM President Louis Caldera, today announced $3 million in federal funding for a major ecological research project in the New Mexico desert. The Sevilleta Research and Education Center, located approximately 50 miles south of Albuquerque, is located in and around the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.
“UNM biologists and others do amazing work at the Sevilleta Refuge,” said Wilson. “Trying to understand our climate and our ecology is something we do at the most basic level when we turn the nightly news on to watch the weather. This project focuses on learning more about what drives our long-term climate. I’m proud to support this research and the work that UNM biologists do in this great outdoor laboratory.
The refuge, which is managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and its surroundings, are positioned at the intersection of several major biotic zones including: Chihuahuan Desert grassland and shrubland to the south, Great Plains grassland to the north, Pinon-Juniper woodland in the upper elevations of the neighboring mountains, Colorado Plateau shrub-steppe to the west and riparian vegetation along the middle Rio Grande Valley.
Because of the confluence of these major biotic zones, the Sevilleta NWR presents an ideal setting to investigate how climate variability and climate change act together to affect ecosystem dynamics at biotic transition zones. Additionally, the rapid growth and expansion of the City of Albuquerque and its suburbs to the north increasingly will have an impact on ecosystem processes at the Sevilleta and these urban forces will interact with climactic variation to catalyze change in this aridland region.
“The Sevilleta Research and Education Center builds on New Mexico’s strengths by promoting research and sharing knowledge among the universities and national laboratories,” Wilson said. “I’m pleased that we’re making this investment. I believe it will yield benefits in preserving our environment and natural resources.”
The U.S. House approved the $3 million investment last summer in the Interior Appropriations bill. The final amount was included in the consolidated appropriations legislation signed by the President last December.
According to Terry Yates, vice president for Research and Economic Development, “Sevilleta is one of the nation’s premier long-term ecological teaching and research sites. We will now be able to conduct near real-time, on site analysis in a state-of-the-art facility in ways that weren’t before possible.”
The Sevilleta Research and Education Center will complement the current Sevilleta Field Research Station, which is in need of a facility for training and to house research equipment and high-speed computer connections.
Once available, the Center will streamline integrated research efforts of the New Mexico Consortium benefiting UNM, NMSU, New Mexico Tech, and Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs. Set in a national wildlife refuge, the facility will be used by scientists and educators from New Mexico and the southwest.
“The Sevilleta Research and Education Center builds on New Mexico’s strengths by promoting research and sharing knowledge among the universities and national laboratories,” said Wilson. “I’m pleased that we’re making this investment. I believe it will yield benefits in preserving our environment and natural resources.”
Contacts: Joel Hannahs, (202) 225-6317 (Heather Wilson's office); Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821 (UNM Public Affairs)
Posted by scarr at February 28, 2005 04:50 PM