The Desert Underground: Exposing a Valuable Hidden World under Our Feet with Robin Kobaly

Join us for a fascinating look at the world hidden underneath us! Through original artwork, graphics, and photography, botanist and plant ecologist Robin Kobaly will lead us on a virtual tour of the desert underground. This “tour” will reveal the amazing partnerships that connect every native plant underground across the landscape. We’ll journey through the interlocking biological and geological systems that work together to gather, move, and share resources, pass information between plants, create a surprising carbon sponge, and help to combat climate change wherever desert soils remain intact. It may be the first time you appreciate caliche! The importance of intact desert landscapes with intact desert soils will become clear when you discover the carbon capturing potential of our desert soils. You won’t believe what is happening under our feet.

Robin Kobaly is a botanist/plant ecologist with expertise in plant communities across the Mojave, Sonoran and Southwest deserts. She is executive director of The SummerTree Institute, an environmental education nonprofit, and president/cofounder of The Power of Plants, her informational endeavor devoted to inspiring people to join in the thrill of knowing, protecting, planting, and thoughtfully using native plants of the American West. Robin has a Bachelors Degree in Biology and a Masters Degree in Plant Ecology from University of California, Riverside. Robin has 30+ years of experience in plant ecology, wildlife biology, land management, aerial photo interpretation, and natural history interpretation, including work as a botanist for the federal government for 21 years. Robin’s newest book, “The Desert Underground,” is an illustrated, virtual tour of the amazing living systems in our desert soils. It has been very well received by the general public and scientists, as well as land use managers and agency officials.

Here’s a link to the flyer: CNPS-RSB January 2026 Program Flyer