Charlotte Reemts has worked as an ecologist for The Nature Conservancy in Texas for 13 years. She uses science to help preserve managers, agency staff, and private landowners manage their properties. Her other research interests include the effects of fires, drought, and hurricanes on plant communities; invasive plant management; rare plant species; and habitat restoration. She has an M.S. in Plant Ecology from Michigan State University.

The Davis Mountains were formed from volcanoes and sculpted by wind and water more than 35 million years ago, the mountains form a unique “sky island” surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert. The area Texans call the Trans-Pecos—beyond the Pecos River—is true desert. But the Davis Mountains, climbing skyward to more than 8,300 feet above sea level, are cool and forested, an anomaly in an arid land. For more than 25 years, The Nature Conservancy has worked to preserve this spectacular landscape and habitat for rare plants and animals through Davis Mountains Preserve. Considered one of the most scenic areas in Texas, the Davis Mountains support a number of rare species, including some found nowhere else in the world.