On an unusually warm February day, six students trekked 18 miles northwest of campus to UNLV’s Center for Urban Water Conservation. The group, sporting bucket hats for sun protection, started out by scouting for dead blooms on desert globemallows to cut with pruning shears, letting the clippings fall on the ground to fertilize future growth.

The five undergraduates and one graduate student at the center were among the more than 100 volunteers who spread out across the Las Vegas Valley during UNLV's Service Day on Feb. 6. 

“I like being outside. It makes me feel more grounded and present,” said Mena Mejia, a third-year psychology major. Volunteering also connects to her long-term goal to work in schools helping children manage emotions and teach them mindfulness and breathwork. “Being in nature and doing hands-on work helps me slow down and reconnect, and I want to bring that same sense of awareness and energy to the kids I work with in the future.”

This native shrub produces tiny flowers and, as second-year environmental science major Aaron Smith noted, is a favorite snack of the desert tortoise. Smith was a return volunteer to the Center for Urban Water Conservation. “I love the site,” he said. “The work they do is so important for our home and community, and I really admire the research they undertake.”

After pruning the globemallows, the students got to work on a cluster of golden dyssodia blossoms. Then, they moved onto filling seed packets, some wearing kneepads as they worked in the square flower beds. At one point, the group paused to watch a hawk soaring overhead.

Collecting seeds from native plants helped students see how their work supports outreach and education efforts. Prince Wiafe, a graduate student studying applied economics and data intelligence, said the experience contributed to his understanding of desert ecology. “I learned more about the conditions native desert plants need to grow well,” he said. “I did not realize how sensitive they can be to things like soil type, sunlight, and how often they are watered.”

Nearby, the fragrant brittlebush flourished, and bee hives hummed quietly in the orchard. The honey is harvested and sold at the center, while seed packets are given away at community events to encourage residents to plant more native species.

Wiafe added that hands-on experience helps students connect what they learn in class to the real world. “It helps students learn through real experience. You can see what you are learning in action, and it makes the lesson stick,” he said. “It also helps you feel connected to your community and the environment around you.”

Service Day: Connecting Students and Community

Service Day gives UNLV students, faculty, and staff a chance to engage with the Las Vegas community through hands-on projects each semester. “It used to be organized by a single individual and held somewhat impromptu on the academic lawns, but it has since evolved into a broader institutional effort to connect our UNLV community with the larger Las Vegas community,” said Erick Ochoa, service program coordinator for Service Learning & Leadership.

Ochoa’s office, with support from the student organization UNLVolunteers, handles logistics for each semester, including confirming volunteer sites, organizing shifts, and this year, arranging a shuttle service to make it easier for students to reach sites farther from campus. 

Students had the choice of working at locations such as the Center for Urban Water Conservation, Cure 4 the Kids, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Opportunity Village, Project 150, Project Marilyn, and Three Square. The fall semester typically draws around 120 volunteers. This spring, 125 students signed up.

“We reach out to community partners and nonprofits that UNLVolunteers works with throughout the academic year,” Ochoa said. By participating, he said, students see how their work contributes to the community and learn more about local environmental and social challenges.

Getting Their Hands Dirty: Community Service as a Classroom

Aubrey Ryanne Mones, a fourth-year information systems major, chose to volunteer at the center specifically because it got her outdoors. “I really wanted to spend time outside doing physical, hands-on work. Being at the water conservation center gives me the nature and physical effort I want while also knowing I’m contributing to something meaningful.”

Surrounding the students was the Research Garden and Demonstration Orchard, where hundreds of fruit trees, grapevines, and desert-adapted plants are grown using water-efficient methods. The site is working research space, where irrigation output, soil moisture, and local weather conditions are monitored to better understand how plants respond to extreme heat and limited water.

Dale Devitt, life sciences professor and director of the center, said experiences like these help students see how practical work connects to long-term sustainability goals.

“It’s important for students to see how hands-on work translates into real water conservation,” Devitt said. “Even small efforts, like planting native species or learning how to manage bees and orchards, give them a better understanding of their role in the community’s sustainability.”

About the Center for Urban Water Conservation 

The center, a joint venture managed and funded by both UNLV and UNR Extension, has come a long way since its start in the mid-1990s. Devitt recalled when the facility's first few visitors included a pack of coyotes and a tangle of tumbleweeds. A memorable moment included a helicopter pilot making an impromptu landing just to ask Devitt what was going on, “out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Now, the center has grown into a fully functioning research and education facility, hosting students, volunteers, and community members year-round,” he said.

While Devitt is considering retirement (not for the first time, he jokes) after three decades at UNLV, both he and Lopez-Bermudez want people to understand the value of the center’s research and outreach programs — and what continued financial support could help accomplish in the years ahead. Through its research and outreach, the center shows residents how to conserve water, grow food, and plant desert-adapted species responsibly.

Lopez-Bermudez said, “The work at the center is important because it helps people build community and care for the world around them. Everything we do has an impact, but if we can mitigate that impact, we can create a future that survives sustainably for generations.”

Reflecting on a Day Filled with Purpose

As their three-hour morning shift concluded, the students returned their tools, gathered their belongings, and prepared for the shuttle back to campus. Because of their Service Day participation, they carried with them new knowledge about the environmental landscape of the Las Vegas Valley and the understanding that their work contributed to a larger purpose.

“With everything going on in the world, it’s been overwhelming,” Mejia said. “Being out here today actually felt really therapeutic.” 

Smith added, “I believe it’s critical that everyone be involved in efforts to preserve Las Vegas for future generations. Educating ourselves about environmental impact and choosing native plants is vital, and volunteering to enrich our community is equally important."

Visiting the Center

The Center for Urban Water Conservation is open to the public Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Tours can be scheduled by emailing the center. For news of upcoming events, follow their Instagram.