Springs of Southwest Project:
Raising awareness about the Southwest’s disappearing biodiversity hotspots.
Through immersive visual stories of the Southwest’s spring ecosystems and the often rare animals and plants that depend upon them, this ongoing documentary photography project spotlights the essential nature of these unique and threatened places.
Water emerges from the earth, bubbling, seeping, and gushing from springs to meander across arid lands. Lush vegetation springs up from the wet. An ecosystem is born.
In the arid Southwest, this ancient water means life — unique life found nowhere else on earth. For wildlife, migratory birds, and people, springs surrounded by otherwise arid lands mean refuge, relief, and sustenance.
Places like nowhere else on Earth.
Dotting the landscape throughout the Southwest, springs are oases of life in otherwise arid lands. Surrounded by desert, short grass prairie, or dry mountains, plants and animals have evolved in isolation in these oases for millennia. A single spring can harbor rare species found nowhere else in the world. Compared to lakes or oceans, the total land mass springs occupy within the landscape may be small, but by some estimates, these ecosystems support more than 20 percent of the endangered species in the United States. In a landscape where water is in short supply, spring ecosystems create corridors - highways from spring to spring - that provide water, refuge, and relief for thousands of species.
A yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler uses a small spring in the La Sal Mountains of Utah for a bath.
Springs are the Southwest’s most endangered ecosystems. Until recently, springs have been little studied and little known. Scientists are still discovering and naming species that live in their ancient waters. Meanwhile, development, drying, and climate change threaten their existence. Many springs are continuously and unnecessarily destroyed by poor management practices and neglect. Lack of information and attention to springs ecosystems has resulted in the loss of up to 90% of our springs.
And yet, springs are also one of the most resilient of the Southwest’s ecosystems. Where aquifers that feed the springs exist intact, restoration can quickly bring these spring ecosystems back to life. It is more important than ever to raise awareness and call on people to act on behalf of these places and the species they harbor that deserve our protection.
THE DESERT SPRINGS PROJECT is a visual storytelling project that illuminates the often unknown and unique life found in arid-land spring ecosystems of the Southwest.
In collaboration with scientists, agencies, and NGOs, the project shares stories of the diverse ecosystems arid-land springs create and the species that depend on them, many of which are rare species of conservation concern.
Through an image library, articles, short videos, an interactive website, public presentations, and a book, the project tells the story of these ecosystems in a way that brings their value into sharp focus and moves people to protect and restore them.
The project will engage decision makers, inspire policy action to protect spring ecosystems, and empower landowners, land managers, and Southwesterners to be environmental stewards of these treasures in their backyard.
Deliverables.
Species Portfolios
Each springs species will have a thorough image portfolio illustrating the natural history, the issues affecting it and any research or conservation work focused on it. The publication-ready portfolios will assist in getting the story out to a broader audience.
Presentation Packages
Scientists, teachers, nonprofits, NGOs, community leaders and many others will have access to pre-designed packages that cover topics for educational talks or programs.
Collaborator Packages
During the course of the project, I’ll connect with and work alongside a wide range of people and organizations. As I document their work in relation to the species profiled, I will build portfolios of single projects or ongoing work that can be used for outreach or publication.
Handbook
The images and stories gathered over the course of the project will culminate in a printed and digital handbook that highlights the variety of arid-land spring ecosystems and springs-dependent species inspires readers to learn about their local springs.
Traveling Exhibit
The images and stories gathered over the course of the project will be displayed in an exhibit that highlights the variety of arid-land spring ecosystems and springs-dependent species, the threats they face, and calls to action to inspire viewers to learn about and steward their local springs. I will partner with Wildlife Refuges and other public lands visitor centers and museums from New Mexico to California to present this exhibit to the public.
Past Deliverables.
Feature Documentary Film
The 62-minute documentary film highlights one type of desert spring ecosystem, ciénegas and the rare and endangered species that inhabit them. Saving Beauty Film: Learning to Live with the Rare Ones Among Us features New Mexico State botanist, Daniela Roth, working to engage city government, landowners, schools, and the community of Santa Rosa in conserving these unique wetlands and rare plants as part of the natural heritage and future tourism of the community. Since its release in November 2020, the film has been shown at several conferences, K-12 and college classrooms, and screened at 5 film festivals around the U.S.
Story Map
Scientists, teachers, nonprofits, NGOs, community leaders and many others will have access to pre-designed packages that cover topics for educational talks or programs.
Website
The website for this project is home base for everything related to Santa Rosa’s unique desert springs as well as rare and endangered wildflowers. The website features information about the film, blog stories that dig into specific conservation topics related to the ecosystem, “take action” resources, the classroom curriculum and more.
Magazine Articles
Read “Bloom Town,” the award-winning article published in New Mexico Magazine’s August 2020 print issue and also online featuring Santa Rosa’s unique desert springs and the rare and endangered plants the state botanist and community are working to protect.
Who Benefits from this Project?
Community: From members of the public to policy-makers, people who shape our communities are empowered to make informed, solutions-driven decisions.
Scientists: The researchers gathering data in the field and lab are provided with ways to communicate their work to funders, publications, collaborators, and the public.
Non-Profits: Our many action-oriented NGOs and NPOs gain powerfully effective visual media assets for outreach, engagement and funding efforts.
Let’s Collaborate
Most people still don't know the value of arid-land springs and how important they are to our global biodiversity. Let’s work together to document stories of life in springs throughout the Southwest, before they disappear.
If you are a scientist, agency, NGO, land owner or other individual or group interested in working with me to document the unique life found in springs of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, and to capture your process to protect and restore arid-land spring ecosystems, please get in touch.
I would love to work with you to build a stunning visual story that reflects your hard work, evokes emotion, and causes people to spring into action to help you to achieve your goals. We will strategically put this story together with all the other springs stories I am documenting to create a powerful regional conservation effort that puts arid-land springs on the map.
Contact me to discuss the possibilities…