The Mojave Desert earned an honorable mention in the Earth Sciences category for the 2009 PROSE Awards, the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence.

The book, edited by the organizing committee for the Mojave Desert Science Symposium, includes two DRI scientists, Lynn F. Fenstermaker, Ph.D. and Eric V. McDonald, Ph.D.

“The book gives readers one of the most comprehensive looks at the Mojave Desert ecosystem,” said Fenstermaker, Associate Research Professor and Director, Nevada Desert Research Center.

Cover of The Mojave Desert

In The Mojave Desert, thirty-eight scientists who are all specialists in desert ecology address the threats to the Mojave, as well as natural recovery potential versus active restoration. The contributing authors discuss the desert from several perspectives: regional threats such as expanding human populations, climate change, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, and invasive plants; the impact of roads in a desert ecosystem; soils and plant communities; shrinking aquifers; and the monitoring and sustainability of this fragile ecosystem. Finally, they discuss the importance of long-term data and how scientists and resource managers can interact to enhance understanding of the processes of change in the Mojave Desert and to advance the preservation and restoration of its precious resources.

The Mojave Desert is the compilation of years of extensive research in a number of disciplines with a sound assessment of the current state and possible future of one of the world's major and North America’s driest desert. As threats to the Mojave's ecosystem increase, studies like those addressed in the book are essential in helping scientists, land managers, and the general public to understand what is at risk and what can be done to preserve this austere and hauntingly beautiful region.

The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in more than 40 categories. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976, the PROSE Awards are extraordinary for their breadth and depth.