Lisa Fargason Gordon is the Executive Director at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute (CDRI), also known as the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center & Botanical Gardens, located 4 miles SE of Fort Davis, Texas. Sharing her background as an educator, Lisa has helped to create CDRI’s acclaimed educational programs, free for youth in the TEA Region 18 service area.

For the Autumn 2024 issue, Lisa recommended The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, Timothy Egan, Houghton Mifflin, 2005, 352 pages.

For the Spring 2024 issue, Lisa recommended The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert, Craig Childs, Back Bay Books (paperback), 2001, 304 pages.

For the Winter 2023-2024 issue, Lisa recommended The Nature of Desert Nature (Southwest Center Series), Gary Paul Nabhan (ed.), University of Arizona Press, 2020, 192 pages.

For the Autumn 2023 issue, Lisa recommended Jack Adventures in Texas’ Big Bend, Volumes 1, 2, and 3; Chris Ruggia, Vast Graphics, 2012-2014.

For the Summer 2023 issue, Lisa recommended Desert Terroir: Exploring the Unique Flavors and Sundry Places of the Borderlands, Gary Paul Nabhan, University of Texas Press, 2012, 144 pages.

For the Spring 2023 issue, Lisa recommended The Other Way to Listen, Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall, Simon & Schuster ©1978, Aladdin Paperbacks 1997. Ages 6-9; Everybody Needs a Rock, Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall, Simon & Schuster, © 1974, Aladdin Paperbacks 1985. Ages 4-8; The Desert is Theirs, Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall, a Caldecott Honor book, Simon & Schuster, ©1975, Aladdin Paperbacks, Ages 5-8.