Sevilleta Nature Connection & Confections

A Free Lecture Series, August 2026

• Sevilleta NWR Visitor Center  12:30 - 2:30PM

• 40 Refuge Road, San Acacia, NM 87831 (Exit 169 on I-25)

• Desserts provided

• No registration required.

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August 7 – Fast, Feisty & Flamboyant: Hummingbird Basics by Sandra Noll, Naturalist and Lecturer

        This delightful program brings you into the secret world of these unique little birds whose high-speed lives are largely invisible to us. Details of hummingbird biology and behavior are revealed through slow motion video.

 

August 14 - Archaeology on the Sevilleta by Natalie Sanford USFWS Archaeologist for NM/AZ

        This lecture reviews the archaeology and history of the refuge over 13,000 years.

 

August 21 - Mexican Grey Wolf Today by Agapito Lopez , Mexican Grey Wolf Biological Technician

        This presentation will cover conservation efforts that USFWS has taken for the recovery and survival of the species.

 

August 28 - Bolson Tortoise Basics: ‘La Tortuga Grande’ of the Chihuahuan Desert by Christiane Wiese PhD Senior Biologist with Turner Endangered Species Fund and Bolson Tortoise Project Lead at Ladder and Armendaris Ranches, Vance Wolf USFWS Biologist for Bolson Tortoise, and Samuel Vassallo Sevilleta NWR Biologist

        Captive-raised Bolson Tortoises have recently been transferred to a private ranch (Armendaris) and public lands (Sevilleta NWR). The goal is to establish free-ranging populations of this iconic species on the grasslands of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, within its former range. This lecture focuses on what we have learned during two decades of studying Bolson Tortoises in the US about the biology and the ecology of this valuable member of a healthy desert ecosystem and on the future plans for the species.