Asombro Institute for Science Education

04/24/2026

is here! Today, your donation can make a big difference.

Tell your friends and family members how their donation today can go to Asombro's innovative science programs, like our Desert Data Jam competition that just wrapped up this week. This amazing competition had 43 projects submitted by 7th graders from 5 Las Cruces schools including the projects pictured here. Donations like yours make events like this possible.

Visit the provided website and make a donation to us and/or to any of the great participating nonprofit organizations in Southern New Mexico. All giving will end at 11:59PM tonight, so make sure to get your gift in on time!

On behalf of the thousands of students we serve each year, thank you in advance for your generosity to our organization!

04/22/2026

If you value Asombro's work, your gift can go twice as far this Friday, April 24th!

is a regional day of giving designed to uplift local nonprofits and celebrate community giving. Thanks to the generosity of Marylin Day, the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, and the .community.foundation, donations to Asombro on April 24th will be matched up to $1500.

Donate at the provided website/QR code to support the local nonprofits making a difference in southern New Mexico.

04/21/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us at "Art in the Park" when we celebrated desert art, local artists, and our new amphitheater and mural.

Come enjoy the amphitheater and surrounding art yourself at our outdoor classroom, the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park, open to the public Tues - Sun, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Bring a painted rock to add to our growing rock snake, Caliche Carlos!

04/12/2026

“Because once you’ve seen the desert up close, it’s hard to see it as empty again.”

Read more about Asombro’s decades long commitment to open Las Cruces students’ eyes to the wonder of science & the Chihuahuan Desert in this lovely article by the Bulletin's Kurt Johnson:

At first glance, the desert doesn’t look like much. It stretches out in muted colors—dust, rock and scrub—quiet and still, easy to pass by without a second thought. But for thousands of southern New Mexico students each year, that changes the...

04/07/2026

We’re excited to share that we’ve received an Outdoor Equity Fund grant from the NM Outdoor Recreation Division!

This support allows us to continue hands-on, place-based science field trips with K-5 students at our outdoor classroom the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park, deliver lessons in schoolyards around Las Cruces, as well as provide participating teachers with tote bags of science supplies they can use to do repeatable schoolyard investigations after our time together.

We’re incredibly grateful for the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division’s commitment to outdoor learning, and we’re excited to continue making an impact in our community.

Thank you, New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division, for believing in our work!

03/30/2026

No bus? No problem! Asombro can bring the field trip to your schoolyard! We did just that recently for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at La Luz Elementary.

Schoolyards are more than just playgrounds - they are habitats for diverse wildlife. Our staff set up stations so that students could use tools and scientific practices to gather evidence from around the schoolyard. Their goal? To determine whether it was a suitable habitat for spadefoot toads (2nd & 3rd grade), or American kestrels (4th & 5th grade). We had a great time with the bright and inquisitive students at La Luz!

If you'd like us to bring an outdoor science investigation to YOUR school, visit our website.

03/19/2026

We had a blast, too! 🐸

03/11/2026

Recently Sierra Middle School students came out to Asombro's Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park to collect long-term plant data. While Sierra students have been collecting this data for the last 19 years the study itself is over 25 years old!

So, why are we collecting the data? In June of 2000, an area of the park was cleared to serve as a parking lot for machinery and vehicles that were facilitating clean up at a nearby diesel spill. Staff at Asombro saw this as an opportunity for science! 50 volunteers helped install 32 experimental plots to see what kind of restoration care could best bring back grass to an area disturbed by humans.

Four different treatments were administered: 1) Seed only 2) Seed with manure 3) Seed with a fence to keep out herbivores 4) Seed with both manure and a fence. Data collection started in September 2001 with students from all over NM and TX including Canutillo, Gadsden, and El Paso coming to the park to help. In 2006 Sierra Middle School students took over the data collection and have been coming out twice a year since to continue the research.

And, what have we learned? In the first 5 years of the study, we did see the plots with supplemental soil and fences being revegetated faster. However, in the last 20 years we saw the other plots eventually catching up to those initial plots. Things truly move slowly in the desert, and this study shows us how important long-term data collection is for better understanding how things work here.

So, thank you, decades of Sierra students, for your contribution to our science!

02/19/2026

Exciting news - we have a new amphitheater at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park! We can't wait to use it during our field trips with local schools, and it's an ideal spot for the public to enjoy a rest or picnic with a stellar view of the Organ Mountains.

Stay tuned for updates about a paint job and shade. In the mean time, plan to join us for our Art in the Park event to see it yourself! Event info: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bw4mmXVCN/

02/12/2026

Four lucky Las Cruces 5th grade classes are participating in the Ecosystem Pen Pal project with Asombro. In the fall, students wrote and illustrated postcards sharing what makes the Chihuahuan Desert unique for students in Alaska, Colorado, and Virginia.

This week, they got postcards back and made observations about differences between the desert and the ecosystems in these states. Students loved the experience! For example, one student commented that Ecosystem Pen Pals made her “feel happy because it felt like a long distance conversation.” Another said exchanging postcards made her feel “pretty cool that I’m communicating with someone I never would have thought I’d ever talk to.”

The Ecosystem Pen Pals project is only possible because of Asombro’s collaboration with educators all over the U.S. who are part of the US Long Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

02/03/2026

Last month, local artist Kay Gross () donated her time to teach 10 lucky participants how to paint a Great Horned Owl using watercolors. The funds raised will allow Asombro to deliver FIVE of our engaging, place-based lessons to local classrooms free of charge.

We are always looking for ways to reach deserving classrooms, and are truly grateful to Kay for donating her time and expertise to help us do so. If you would like to donate to sponsor a free classroom visit, please visit our website!