The new Executive Director of the UC Natural Reserve System, Dr. Steven Monfort, is planning a visit to the Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center on February 26th - March 1st. Dr. Monfort started his new position in early November and comes to us from his former position as Director of the National Zoo, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The visit is part of his effort to visit all 41 University of California Natural Reserves in his first six months as Director. He hopes to familiarize himself with the day-to-day operations and staffing of the reserves and, in our case, the partnership with Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Anza-Borrego Foundation — as well as community involvement. I am told that a particular interest of his is educational outreach which I know is also of interest to the Park and Foundation. We are proposing to host a meet and greet round table discussion with Park, Foundation and community leaders on Monday afternoon (February 28th 3-5 p.m.) OR Tuesday morning (March 1st from 10 a.m. to noon) at the Research Center. Please let me know if you could make such a meeting and whether either of the proposed dates/times would work for you. A link to the press release announcing Dr. Monfort’s appointment is below. https://ucnrs.org/steve-monfort-is-the-new-executive-director-of-the-uc-natural-reserve-system/ Attendees: Dick Troy, Briana Puzzo, Kathy Dice, Jim Wermers, Martha Deichler, Mark Jorgensen, Dave Van Cleve, Ray Lennox, Mike Wells, Steve Monfort, new ABF Education director Oliver Goodman

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