Learn more about the future of the Joshua tree during a special event marking the release of a definitive new book on the species. An expert panel will explore key issues around the protection of the Mojave Desert’s iconic tree. The panel will be followed by a Q&A and book signing. Please RSVP on Eventbrite.
Curator, artist and activist Sant Khalsa will present Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees, a comprehensive collection of essays and imagery that illuminates our deeply entangled relationships with the Joshua tree. The book shares multidisciplinary research to spotlight the Joshua tree in response to the growing threat of climate change and the explosion of development across Mojave Desert lands. Ms Khalsa will also provide visitors with an insight into the related exhibition at the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster.
Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Jane Rodgers will talk about the park’s commitment to the future of the species.
Mojave Desert Land Trust Executive Director Kelly Herbinson explores the future of the species through the lens of the Mojave Desert Seed Bank and a new state-funded program that will establish a Joshua Tree Conservation Coalition and carry out range-wide monitoring.
Mojave Desert Land Trust Board member and former wildlife biologist Geary Hund will take a closer look at conserving the Joshua tree in an era of climate change.
Desert Advocacy Media Network Executive Director Chris Clarke will serve as the event moderator.
About the presenters:
Sant Khalsa is an artist, educator, curator, and activist whose projects develop from a mindful inquiry into complex environmental and societal issues. Her artworks are widely exhibited, published, and collected by museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nevada Museum of Art, and many others. Khalsa is recipient of the prestigious 2023-2024 California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Legacy Award. She is a Professor of Art, Emerita at California State University, San Bernardino and lives in Joshua Tree.
Jane Rodgers is the Superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park. Her 30 years with the National Park Service have focused on landscape conservation, heritage preservation, visitor use management, and wilderness stewardship, mostly at Joshua Tree but also the Grand Canyon and Point Reyes National Seashore. She holds a BS in Forestry from UC Berkeley and served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Niger.
Kelly Herbinson is the Executive Director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust. She has 20 years of experience working in conservation, biological research, and community outreach and education, mostly focused on protecting the Mojave Desert region of California. As a field biologist, she specialized in Mojave Desert tortoise biology and ecology and the impacts of renewable energy development on desert ecosystems. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, a Master of Science degree in Ecology and Systematics, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Nonfiction Writing. She is leading a new, collaborative initiative to establish a Joshua Tree Conservation Coalition and launch a range-wide demographic monitoring program for western Joshua trees with a network of partners.
Geary Hund was a ranger and environmental scientist with the State of California for 29 years and a wildlife biologist with the federal government for 10 years. He has also worked for The Wilderness Society and Mojave Desert Land Trust. He currently serves on the boards of MDLT and Transition Habitat Conservancy.
Chris Clarke is a lifelong desert advocate and environmental writer. He has served as Environment Editor at KCET Public Television in Los Angeles, and Associate Director of the California Desert Program for the National Parks Conservation Association. He is executive director of the Desert Advocacy Media Network and the desert protection podcast 90 Miles from Needles. He lives in 29 Palms with his wife Lara and their dogs.
About the book:
Joshua trees, the mystical neither-tree-nor-cactus plant, which has one of the most spectacular pollination stories in all of nature, may disappear from across its range by the end of the century. Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees is a comprehensive collection of historical and personal stories and imagery that illuminates our deeply entangled relationships with the Joshua tree. Leading scientists, artists, indigenous culture bearers, historians, conservationists, policy makers, and creative writers, share their multidisciplinary research to spotlight the Joshua tree in response to the growing threat of climate change and the explosion of development across Mojave Desert lands. Following the trails of beneficial plant kinships as well as the damage done by ongoing extractions, they illuminate desert cosmologies through this unique icon—all while bringing us closer to the being that is Joshua tree. This book is for everyone concerned about the unfolding impacts of human actions in the natural world and how we can find better ways of living together through acts of care and repair.
Paperback copies of the book Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees will be available for purchase and Sant Khalsa will be signing copies following the presentations. The book is edited by Sant Khalsa and Dr. Juniper Harrower and published by Inlandia Institute with support from the Getty, Creative Research Fund, and Lancaster Museum and Public Art Foundation. The first edition paperback costs $29.50.
Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees exhibition, book and public programming is supported by the Getty initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide. The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, September 7 and runs through December 29, 2024 at the Museum of Art & History (MOAH) in Lancaster.