The result is collective action that brings us together and inspires hope! Read on to learn more about the specific COLLABORATIVE initiatives of the Kino Bay Center in March and April of 2026.

A​s we approach the end of our fiscal year on June 30, the Prescott College Kino Bay Center is reaching out with both gratitude and urgency.

Together, we are advancing community-based conservation and experiential education that create lasting impact.

Today, we are working to raise $100,000 by June 30 to sustain these efforts — supporting field-based learning opportunities, community collaborations, youth leadership, and long-term conservation programs.

If the Kino Bay Center has inspired your learning, strengthened your connection to this region, or given you hope for the future of conservation and community leadership, we hope you will consider making a gift today.

Together, we can ensure this work continues.

Click the sections below to read about highlights from Spring 2026!

Students in the course explored the rich diversity of marine life while engaging with current regional issues and hands-on activities that deepened their understanding of biological and ecological concepts. Through lectures, field excursions, and class presentations, they investigated the taxonomy, evolution, field identification, and ecology of halophytic plants, marine invertebrates, fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals of the Midriff Islands Region of the Gulf of California.

Students entered the course with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, creating an environment of active peer-to-peer learning and collaborative discovery. Field outings required shared effort—from gathering field guides and equipment to collectively identifying species such as a Swainson’s Hawk and an Ink-Stained Dorid.

During the first two weeks of the Biological Field Methods course, students practiced a range of methodologies used by scientists, NGOs, and government agencies to collect field data. Visits to wetlands, intertidal zones, the open ocean, and desert habitats introduced students to avian point counts, waterbird and marine mammal monitoring, botanical surveys, transects, diversity plots, and small-mammal trapping.

Leaping whales; flocks of sea birds; desert plants in flower; cardóns reaching toward the sky; herons striding across estero mudflats, meaningful interaction with members of the Comcaac community; a tight-knit group of learners sharing laughter; sunsets spangling the Gulf of California. These are among the classic ingredients of a Kino Field program.

We led field courses throughout our shared fifty-plus years of teaching at Prescott College, separately and together. More recently, we’ve been co-leading week-long programs under the auspices of the Natural History Institute and the Kino Bay Center. In April, we had another wonderful experience—the fifth such collaboration between the two organizations, leading a group of adult learners from across the US.

The group, composed of biologists, teachers, government policy-makers, small businessmen, conservationists, and more, echoed the sounds of joy at discovery that we became accustomed to throughout our years teaching PC field courses here.

I​n March 2026 the Stanford University course “The Quest for Sustainable Community-Based Livelihoods” visited Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center and fishing communities across the Gulf of California. Led by Professor Xavier Basurto and Lecturer Nicole Franz, ten graduate students participated in an immersive field experience to better understand the social and environmental elements of coastal resource governance in Mexico.

The class traveled to local towns, including Bahía de Kino, Puerto Libertad, Desemboque, and Isla Tiburón, to learn from Indigenous Comcáac, fishers, and locals about the relationship between their livelihoods and their coastal home.

After ten weeks of in-class learning in California, students took this unique opportunity to connect the academic literature around livelihoods and conservation practice to lived realities on-the-ground. From reflecting with classmates and community members under the stars, to singing beside a campfire, fishing for clams, snorkeling with sea lions, and boating alongside dolphins, students emerged with a deep appreciation for the biocultural richness of the Gulf of California region.

T​his 20th of March, the culmination of a semester’s worth of weekly environmental education took place as students from the local elementary school presented their final projects. 4th and 5th grade kiñenos were instructed to research a specific environmental topic of their choosing and then were given the task of presenting their findings to their peers in whichever format they wanted to. Presentation formats included models, videos, slideshows, trifolds, and informational posters.

Students who successfully completed the entire course and submitted their final project will be able to participate in a field outing to Isla Alcatraz, known by the Environmental Education Program (EEP) as Reto Alcatraz. The outing aims to show students the hands-on applications of the environmental lessons they were given throughout the semester.

By teaching local students about the vast abundance the environment that surrounds them has to offer, EEP teachers Johana Nieblas and Edgar Magdaleno are helping form future environmentally conscious generations that are well equipped with the proper knowledge to protect and fight for the land they live on.

F​rom March 6–10, 2026, three students and two instructors from Arizona State University’s School of Ocean Futures participated in the Center’s Biocultural Exploration Program as part of a pilot project and class on the Sea of Cortez.

Beyond learning about the extraordinary biodiversity and marine ecosystems of this globally significant region, the experience offered something far deeper: the opportunity to connect with local and Indigenous people and their profound sense of place relationships.

Through conversations, field experiences, and cultural exchanges, students learned not only about traditional ecological knowledge, medicinal plants, and sea turtle conservation, but also about community-based conservation and Comcaac ways of understanding the land and sea as living relatives rather than resources alone.