From a network of 31 ecological monitoring sites located along the Rio Grande from the northern Pueblos to Las Cruces, the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP) delivers environmental education experiences to roughly 8,000 K12 participants a year. Our citizen science program trains volunteers, mostly students and their teachers to gather field data about the Rio Grande and its riverside forest, the bosque. Through our field work, BEMP looks at the impact of the ecological drivers of flood, fire, climate and human alteration on the Rio Grande and bosque. Collected data are submitted to BEMP staff at the University of New Mexico Department of Biology where they are entered and undergo analysis. BEMP data and findings are provided to tribal, federal, regional, state, and local natural resource agencies and are then used to inform multi-million dollar management decisions of the Rio Grande and bosque. BEMP itself is a non-advocacy organization and does not advocate for or against any particular land management practice, though we do track and present the ecosystem outcomes for different land and natural resource management activities. Our priority education programs involve citizen science and multiple contacts with students including field sessions along the Rio Grande.
The Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, BEMP’s mission is: Science, education, and stewardship of the Rio Grande and its watershed through long-term, hands-on student research of the ecosystem response to inform public policy.
BEMP is a joint initiative of Albuquerque's Bosque School (www.bosqueschool.org) and the University of New Mexico's Department of Biology https://biology.unm.edu/
4000 Bosque School Road NW