Biography

Christine Conte, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Sonoran Desert Studies
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Christine Conte joined the staff at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as director of its Center for Sonoran Desert Studies in 2005. The Center for Sonoran Desert Studies conducts the educational and scientific functions of the Museum and is a hub for research, education and conservation of the Sonoran Desert Region.

Christine has more than twenty years of senior level management experience in museums and conservation organizations with an emphasis on organizational development, education and building community alliances for successful conservation campaigns. She has a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology with specialties in cultural ecology and cross-cultural communications. She also holds an MA in Museum Studies, has completed Post-baccalaureate studies in Education, and was a Scholar in Residence in the Marketing Department of the University of Arizona.

In addition to her current position at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, her experience in museum administration, research and education includes the Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Museum of the American Indian, Old Pueblo Museum, and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. For the past fifteen years she has served on the production team for the Emmy award-winning national public television program on Arizona art, culture and environment, The Desert Speaks. She has also authored numerous ethnographic and conservation publications.

Before joining the staff of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Christine was the founding director of the Marketing and Communications program for The Nature Conservancy in Arizona and was a member of the Arizona chapter's Executive Leadership Team since 1990. She represented the Conservancy on the steering committee of the Friends of the Sonoran Desert conservation coalition to help pass the Pima County open space bond in the May 2004 bond election. She was also instrumental in coordinating the Southern Arizona campaign for the statewide Heritage Fund Initiative, the Common Ground Roundtable, and the 1997 Pima County Open Space bond campaign. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Arizona Open Land Trust.

In 2005, Tucson's Mayor Robert E. Walkup honored her with the Copper Letter Award for Extraordinary Citizenship. The award recognized her long-term commitment to inspiring appreciation and understanding of our natural world and for her leadership in advocating for conservation of the Sonoran Desert.