Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

“There is one class of members, all of whom have the same voting rights, which are to elect new trustees by ballot.”

“Members elect trustees by ballot.”

“A draft copy of form 990 with schedule b donor names and addresses redacted is given to the members of the finance council. The members of the finance council, along with the ceo and cfo, review all schedules and narratives for accuracy and completeness. After review of the draft by the finance council, a copy of form 990 with schedule b donor names and addresses redacted is forwarded to all board members prior to filing the return.”

“New members of the board of trustees and new employees are required to review a copy of the conflict of interest policy and acknowledge in writing that s/he has done so. Annually, each board member completes a disclosure form identifying any relationship, positions, or circumstances in which s/he is involved that could contribute to a conflict of interest arising. Prior to board of trustees or committee action on a contract or transaction involving a conflict of interest, a director or committee member having a conflict of interest and who is in attendance at the meeting shall disclose all facts material to the conflict of interest. Board members who have a conflict of interest are not permitted to participate or hear the board of trustees or committee's discussion of the matter except to disclose the material facts and to respond to questions. An employee who is not a member of the board of trustees discloses to his/her supervisor any conflict of interest that such employee has with respect to a contract or transaction.”

“The executive director's compensation is determined by the management evaluation council, which consists of the chair of the board, the vice-chair, and the chairperson of the finance council and such other trustees as may be appointed by the board. The executive director's compensation is determined on an annual basis using both local annual compensation survey data as well as the compensation survey data provided by various applicable salary surveys. The chief financial officer's compensation is calculated using salary grades that represent a similar position alike in responsibility and scope and are based on a number of factors including average market pay, the museum's ability to pay, and internal equity. Salary grades are established based on the competitive market using various applicable salary surveys.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“The organization utilized 593 volunteers, which include 19 board members, 8 board council advisors, 162 docents, and 404 other volunteers. Our docents and volunteers assist guests with wayfinding and education about our mission, collections, and sonoran desert setting.”

“Conservation and science programs saving aquatic species: springs, streams, and rivers in the sonoran desert have all been declining in recent years due to a decade-long drought and diversion of water for human needs. Many species that live in or around this water are threatened or endangered due to loss of habitat. The museum works with its partners, including federal and state agencies, to hold, breed and supplement the populations of these species in the wild. In 2024, asdm contributed to the conservation of ranid frogs, the mexican garter snake, the sonoyta mud turtle, and several regional native fish species. Promoting pollinators: bees are among the most abundant and diverse animal groups in the sonoran desert. As primary pollinators of many desert plants, bees are ecologically important members of these habitats. Arizona-sonora desert museum scientists are working to document, describe and understand the current distribution of bee diversity in our region and how climate change and habitat disturbance may alter this distribution in the future. The museum co-leads the tucson bee collaborative (tucsonbeecollaborative.org) which works with high school and college students and community volunteers to study native bees and promote their conservation. To date, we have identified over 25,000 bees to genus and are working through the identification of all specimens to species. Our museum volunteers have become identification experts and are expanding identification keys. Their identification has focused on the genus diadasia, or cactus bees, because they are vital to desert plant pollination. We are working with the university of arizona insect collection to build the most complete collection of sonoran desert bees in the world, with each species represented by a physical specimen, its dna barcode, published in the barcode of life database (bold), and a high-resolution image. Asdm has sent 709 bee specimens for dna barcoding, resulting in 106 unique genera and/or species, representing 142 unique taxa. Foods from the past for the future: asdm has a long history of teaching people about the "sonoran supermarket" - the bounty of the desert that has sustained people in this region for thousands of years. Current programs focus on the saguaro, prickly pear, cholla, mesquite and agave. Asdm is a major partner in tucson's mission gardens and agave heritage festival, as well as a collaborative climate-smart foods project with the university of arizona, tucson city of gastronomy, local first az and local farmers. Primary research objectives are conserving the wild relatives of important crops and expanding the role of desert-adapted foods in regional diets as a path toward food security in a hotter, drier climate. Currently we are working with farmers to identify crops and varieties better adapted to desert conditions and to test conservation practices like alley cropping and low-till. Saving our saguaros: today, the survival of the saguaro, the icon of the sonoran desert, is threatened by the invasive buffelgrass. The desert museum coordinates the efforts of municipal, county, state, and federal governments, private citizens, businesses, and non-governmental organizations to fight this threat. The museum is also monitoring the impacts of buffelgrass fires on saguaros, researching the effectiveness of various treatment methods, leading citizen conservation groups in buffelgrass pulls, and providing extensive public education and outreach. Our focus has expanded to include emerging invasive species fueling fire in the desert. Among these species, stinknet is currently the greatest threat. Winter rains resulted in an explosion of stinknet in southern arizona last spring, overwhelming the limited local invasive species response capacity. The desert museum science staff stepped up, reallocating resources from planned activities to support partner organizations in mapping and removing as much stinknet as possible before it started to set see”