Course Description
Climate Stewards
Our Climate Stewards course is a hybrid program, offered online with in person field trips, taking participants on a comprehensive educational journey through our changing climate, covering topics from water, energy, and agriculture to community science, effective communication, and climate policy. It's designed to prepare you for participation in local, regional, and statewide climate initiatives, and to actively engage in efforts to advance community resilience.
Our science-based curriculum has been co-designed with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, our certified Climate Stewards Instructors, and desert community members like you!
Dates: September 26 - November 21, 2026
Delivery: In Person
Cost: $350
Contact: Colin Barrows, colin@cactustocloud.org & Sendy Hernández Orellana Barrows, sendy@cactustocloud.org
California Naturalist
The Desert Sands & Sky Islands course focuses exclusively on the natural history of southern California’s deserts, covering a vast ecoregion that makes up one-third of the state. It explores diverse habitats, from the low-lying Colorado Desert's sand flats to the higher Mojave Desert's dramatic mountain ranges known as "sky islands." This course highlights the rich biodiversity across these contrasting desert landscapes.
Dates: TBD
Delivery: In Person
Cost:
Contact: Colin Barrows, colin@cactustocloud.org & Sendy Hernández Orellana Barrows, sendy@cactustocloud.org
Organization Description:
The desert is a place full of life! The Coachella Valley is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. We have plants and animals that are found only in the Coachella Valley, and no place else on Earth.
What accounts for this diversity? What makes this place so special? Let’s discover the unique wildlife, landscape, and communities of the desert, and work together to protect them!
