Desert Studies Center

The purpose of the center is to provide opportunities to conduct research, receive instruction and experience the Mojave Desert environment.

It is officially operated by the California Desert Studies Consortium, a consortium of seven CSU campuses: Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Northridge, San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona.

Before the center, the site was the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa, run by Curtis Howe Springer from 1944 to 1974, without federal permission.

The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 established Mojave National Preserve, and established the Desert Studies Center as a partnership between the National Park Service and the CSU system in perpetuity.

The location is especially interesting to biologists because of its perennial wetlands that attract many species of animals and plants in the area, including the threatened and endangered Saratoga Springs pupfish, the Mohave tui chub, and over 200 species of birds.