Where do the worlds of conservation and education meet? At Living Desert University (LDU), the Coachella Valley's premier environmental learning center. Students learn how to preserve and protect the fragile beauty of our desert through a fun and fascinating series of adult classes and programs.

Living Desert University (LDU) offers desert residents the opportunity to become skilled and inspired desert gardeners, naturalists, habitat creators, artists and valley hikers. Our goal is to offer a broad range of classes that increase environmental sensitivity and ecological action in everyday life.

Classes include landscape design, gardening, natural history, ecology, geology, arts and crafts, and now our NEW Coachella Valley Hiking program which includes the Valley Trek Series - Easy to Strenuous hikes featuring some of the most beautiful sites in and around the Coachella Valley. Professional specialists, educators, certified natural history interpreters, and The Living Desert staff teach LDU classes. While class offerings are designed primarily for general education, credits for classes are recorded for those interested in our certificate programs, which include Master Desert Gardener, Master Desert Naturalist, Desert Backyard Habitat and the NEW Coachella Valley Hiking certificate. Such programs have not been available previously in our desert area, so we are very pleased to have the opportunity to offer them at The Living Desert!

For more information, please contact the Education Department at 760-346-5694, ext. 2501 or send an email to mmoe@livingdesert.org.