Organizations
Ocean Conservancy is working hard to see that the ocean’s most extraordinary places are preserved for future generations to use and enjoy.
Located in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, OdySea Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the Southwest, spanning 200,000 square feet. The two-level, state-of-the-art facility holds more than 2 million gallons of water and accommodates up to 10,000 visitors daily. With over 50 exhibits and 500 different species, there are more than 30,000 animals that call OdySea home.
OdySea Aquarium offers an entertaining, interactive, and educational experience for guests of all ages by combining theme-park-style amusement with highly engaging presentations of aquatic life like no other in the industry. The facility includes a theater, SeaTREK™ underwater ocean walking, and a one-of-a-kind voyage through the “Living Sea.”
The Phoenix Herpetological Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is a statewide facility that includes a surrender facility, education program, summer camps and rescue and rehabilitation.
PHS focuses on two specific goals:
Rescue and Rehabilitation
The need for a sanctuary was not only for non-native but native species as well. Currently PHS is home to animals of which 90% are pet trade type animals. We assist the general public, humane societies, animal welfare leagues, animal control departments, law enforcement and other organizations across the United States. For example, PHS assisted the SPCA on a rescue in Texas a few years ago where we picked up 572 animals. Many of these animals were rehabilitated, some were adopted, and many still call PHS home.
Conservation Education
Conservation begins with education. Our desert (and our planet) is in serious jeopardy. It is imperative to teach our youth the importance each animal plays in our eco-system. Last year the PHS outreach program touched 250,000 people. These were primarily school-aged children and teenagers.
The Intercultural Center for the Studies of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO) is an active conservation, research, and education center that has been informing, inspiring, and empowering stewards for healthy Gulf of California ecosystems for nearly 40 years. “CEDO” comes from our Spanish name: Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos. CEDO first opened their doors in 1980 at their field station in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, just 4 hours’ drive from Phoenix and Tucson, and world-class, state universities, and five hours from Hermosillo and Mexicali.
Field research was among the first activities of their young institution, and through partnerships with visiting researchers from across the U.S. and Mexico, in addition to community-based monitoring projects, and their own studies, CEDO built an integrated research program from the ground-up. This collaboration quickly advanced the understanding of the northern Gulf of California and its biophysical, ecological and socioeconomic features, such that it is now one of the most thoroughly researched habitats in the Gulf.