Dr. Chris Tracy
Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center
University of California Natural Reserve System
UC Riverside Department of Biology
54-900 Desert Research Trail
Indian Wells, CA 92210
Phone: (951) 827-3655
christopher.tracy@ucr.edu

The Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Research Center is a biological field station of the University of California, Riverside and the Natural Reserve System.

Established:
In 1958 as a University of California, Riverside campus reserve and in 1965 as a Natural Reserve System site.

Location:
Riverside County, five miles south of the City of Palm Desert; a two-hour drive from the Riverside campus; in the Colorado Subdivision of the Sonoran Desert.
PDF of Boundary, Google KML, ARCINFO Shape Files

Facilities:
Two laboratories with basic equipment, herbarium, small library, housing facilities for 14 researchers, and reserve office at Boyd Center (all with wireless access); small four-bunk facility with workspace at Agave Hill; cabin on Santa Rosa Mountain (2,347 m / 7,700 ft); teaching area and campground for classes.

Databases:
Complete herbarium and synoptic collections; data from six weather stations and ongoing plant/animal monitoring; maps of various scales; reference library with extensive bibliography of on-site research.

Personnel:
Director in residence, staff biologist, facilities manager.
Size:
2,469 ha (6,100 acres) with access to the surrounding public land.

Elevation:
290 m (950 ft) at Boyd Center with access to habitats between 9 and 2,657 m (30 and 8,717 ft).

Weather:
At Boyd Center, average annual rainfall is 15 cm (6 in); average monthly temperatures range from a minimum of 10 ° C in January to a maximum of 39 ° C in July.
Grants:
Graduate Students Mayhew Graduate Research Award for Boyd Deep Canyon

Lecture Series:
UCR Boyd Deep Canyon Lecture Series 2011-12
in partnership with UCR Palm Desert and The Living Desert
Held on Thursdays at 6 p.m. at UCR Palm Desert
This series is free and open to the public. Reservations are required.
Register online at http://palmdesert.ucr.edu/programs/events.html