Friday, 06 March 2026

6:00 pm, Las Cruces Museum of Science and Nature (411 N. Main Street)

Free and open to the public

Dr. David Lightfoot

Research Associate Professor, University of New Mexico  

Insect Diversity and Conservation Needs across New Mexico

New Mexico supports a high diversity of insects and other arthropods relative to the rest of the US. Research by Dr Lightfoot and his colleagues are documenting declines and possible extinctions of our native insects that corresponds to broader global insect declines due to human activities. Dr Lightfoot will present information on New Mexico insects and their high regional diversity, especially relative to southern New Mexico, along with information about New Mexico insect declines and efforts by them and others to develop management plans and strategies to help conserve our native insects and other arthropods. The New Mexico Department of Wildlife was reformed by NM Senate Bill 5 in 2025, and for the first time in state history now classifies our insects as wildlife, along with mechanisms to document and to conserve our state’s native insects and other arthropods.

Wednesday, 19 November 2025

5:30 pm, Branigan Library

Free and open to the public

Dr. Marisa Thompson 

Urban Horticulture Specialist  

Climate-Ready Trees: Smart Shade Solutions for Cooler Landscapes

As the Urban Horticulture Specialist for the NM Cooperative Extension Service, Marisa connects people with plants through the “Ready, Set, GROW!” webinar series, the “Southwest Yard & Garden" column, and field research with the help of enthusiastic volunteers. Her research and outreach efforts encompass mulches, shaded tomatoes, wildlife habitats, fruit trees, and landscaping with native plants. Before becoming a Master Gardener in 2008, Marisa worked at plant nurseries in Albuquerque. Her M.S. in Horticulture (NMSU 2011) focused on pecan orchard management and the impact of weeds. She earned a Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Sciences (NMSU 2017), studying pecan flowering mechanisms. Marisa is the board president for the nonprofit Think Trees, hosting an urban tree care conference in Albuquerque every February.

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

7 pm, Rio Grande Theater

Free and open to the public

Sarena Ulibarri 

Author of Another Life and Steel Tree

Publicist, UNM Press

Editor of Glass and Gardens, coeditor of Multispecies Cities

Solarpunk: Solutions-Based Storytelling for Climate Hope

Sarena Ulibarri lives, writes, and plants trees in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her book Another Life, about a fictional eco-village in Death Valley, was published by Stelliform Press in 2023 and translated into Spanish by Crononauta. More than fifty of her short stories have been published in magazines such as DreamForge, Solarpunk Magazine, and Tractor Beam as well as in anthologies such as Bright Green Futures and Solar Flare. She edited two anthologies of international optimistic climate fiction, Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers and Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters, and co-edited the anthologies Multispecies Cities and Solarpunk Creatures. For four years, she served as a story reviewer for Grist's Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest.