The Desert Studies Center (DSC) is a field station of the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

located in

Zzyzx, California Zzyzx ( ), formerly Soda Springs, is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, within the boundaries of the Mojave National Preserve, managed by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Inte ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

. The purpose of the Center is to provide opportunities to conduct research, receive instruction and experience the Mojave Desert environment. It is officially operated by the California Desert Studies Consortium, a

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources ...

of 7 CSU campuses:

Dominguez Hills The Dominguez Hills are a low mountain range in the Transverse Ranges, in southern Los Angeles County, California. They are named for the locally prominent Californio family of Manuel Dominguez, which owned Rancho San Pedro. They are between t ...

, Fullerton,

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, Northridge,

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

and

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''name'' section of this article for more infor ...

. Before the Center, the site was the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa, run by

Curtis Howe Springer Curtis Howe Springer (December 2, 1896 – August 19, 1985) was an American radio evangelism, radio evangelist, self-proclaimed Physician, medical doctor and Methodism, Methodist minister best known for founding the Zzyzx, California, Zzyzx Miner ...

from 1944 to 1974 without federal permission. After Springer was ejected, the CSU negotiated usage of the abandoned buildings of the health spa with the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's ...

, and in 1976, they signed a five-year cooperative management study for the Desert Studies Consortium to manage at Soda Springs. The

California Desert Protection Act of 1994 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 is a federal law () sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, passed by the United States Congress on October 8, 1994, and signed into effect by President Bill Clinton on October 31 of the same year, tha ...

established

Mojave National Preserve Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of ...

, and established the Desert Studies Center as a partnership between the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

and the

in perpetuity. The location is especially interesting to biologists because of its perennial wetlands that attract many species of animals and plants in the area, including the threatened and endangered

Saratoga Springs pupfish The Saratoga Springs pupfish (''Cyprinodon nevadensis nevadensis'') is a subspecies of the Amargosa pupfish ('' Cyprinodon nevadensis'') of the family Cyprinodontidae. The native population is endemic to Saratoga Springs, a small wetland in Dea ...

, the

Mohave tui chub The Mohave tui chub (''Siphateles bicolor mohavensis'') is a species of fish. It is an endangered chub originally found only in the Mojave River. Even though named after the Mojave River, the fish's name is normally spelled "Mohave". It was na ...

, and over 200 species of birds. A few of California State University Fullerton's biology courses require students visit the center for a mandatory field trip to pass those courses.http://biology.fullerton.edu/swalker/pdf_syllabi/Biol171SyllabusF05v5.pdf

References

External links

*
"The Metamorphosis of Zzyzx"
from the

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

''Titan Magazine'' site, with history and other information about the Center Vermilion Flycatcher - male

California State University Mojave Desert Research at Cal Poly Pomona Buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California 1975 establishments in California {{SanBernardinoCountyCA-geo-stub

See also

References

External links