CEDO Intercultural Field Station Improvements: Integration of Science and Community Participation in Northern Gulf of California Marine Protected Areas

该奖项为沙漠与海洋研究跨文化中心（CEDO）基础设施的一系列改进提供支持。CEDO是加利福尼亚北湾佩纳斯科港的一个生物实地站和游客中心。该站的活动包括海洋和沙漠实地研究；K-16教育项目；个别研究人员和班级的驻留；透过讲座、实地考察及展览进行公众教育；以及支持区域保护规划和资源管理的公众会议。该站的上级组织CEDO跨文化交流中心已经制定了一个国际合作的示范程序，以实现其促进和分享有关加利福尼亚北湾和索诺兰沙漠周围的知识的使命，并推进促进保护和可持续利用该地区自然和文化资源的相关目标。游客数据显示，从1998年到2002年，该设施的使用量不断增加，大多数用户是来自美国和墨西哥24所院校的本科生。通过在线用户调查，该站确定了改善宿舍和实验室空间的优先需求，以及改善现场和实验室研究设备、交通、图书馆和办公设备，以及配备计算机和互联网接入的工作空间。这些改进将加强在研究、教育和生态系统保护方面的国际合作，以及索诺兰沙漠边境地区不同的美国和墨西哥研究人员和教育工作者共享的资源。

This award provides support for a series of improvements in the infrastructure of the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO), a biological field station and visitor center at Puerto Penasco, Northern Gulf of California. Activities at the station include marine and desert field research; K-16 educational programs; residency for individual researchers and classes; public education through talks, field trips, and exhibits; and public meetings and conferences to support regional conservation planning and resource management. The station's parent organization, CEDO Intercultural, has developed a model process for international collaboration in the fulfillment of its mission to advance and share knowledge about the Northern Gulf of California and surrounding Sonoran Desert, and for advancing related goals of promoting conservation and sustainable use of the region's natural and cultural resources. Visitor data show growing use of the facility from 1998 to 2002, the majority of users being undergraduate students from 24 institutions in the US and Mexico. Through an online user survey, the station has identified priority needs for improvements in dormitory and lab space, and improvements in field and lab research equipment, transportation, library and office equipment, and workspaces with computers and internet access. These improvements will strengthen international collaboration in research, education and conservation of ecosystems and resources shared by diverse U.S. and Mexican researchers and educators along the Sonoran Desert borderlands.