EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A longtime leading wildlife conservationist and educator in El Paso is proposing a bold new vision to turn the City into a global hub for conservation education.
Rick LoBello, founder of the El Paso Wildlife Conservation Society, is pitching the El Paso Wildlife Conservation Exploratorium — a state-of-the-art facility designed to merge environmental science with community action.
With over five decades in conservation — ranging from the National Park Service to leading education efforts at the El Paso Zoo and fighting to protect Castner Range — LoBello believes the timing is right to prioritize the environment alongside the City’s rapid growth.
As El Paso continues to develop, LoBello said it’s vital to make room for nature before it’s too late.
“So all this development behind us is good. I mean, we need roads. We need bridges because the one car per family is no longer around. Everybody has more cars. We need more roads,” LoBello said. “But what we’re forgetting is that we also need to protect the natural environment. And there is no plan for El Paso.”
He noted that while a few individuals advocate for the environment, it often takes a backseat in broader municipal planning.
“When you talk about what’s on the agenda of our government officials, protecting the environment is not big. It’s more about building things,” he added. “Well, if we don’t have a protected natural environment, our quality of life is going to go way down. It provides ecosystem services like helping to clean our air. It helps to protect the water sources that we have. It helps to create opportunities for people to get outside and get away from all the hustle and bustle and stress of living in a city.”
Inside the Exploratorium
The proposed Exploratorium aims to go far beyond entertainment, allowing visitors to actively explore and interact with exhibits while learning the importance of conservation.
LoBello said he drew inspiration for the idea from the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, a world-class research and education facility near Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park that honors Dian Fossey’s legacy. Opened in 2022, it serves as a global hub for mountain gorilla conservation, offering the public immersive exhibits, research insights, and educational resources.
LoBello proposed that the star attraction would be a cutting-edge, 360-degree immersive wildlife theater designed to transport visitors directly into endangered ecosystems.
Courtesy of Rick LoBello
“It would use the high-tech media that we have today, like an IMAX theater, to really make people feel like they’re there. So I want people to experience these gorillas in Africa,” LoBello said. “And also I want them to learn about what this conservation fund is doing. It’s kind of hard to do that in other settings.”
Beyond the theater, LoBello said the facility would house interactive climate exhibits, dedicated research labs, and classrooms designed to bridge the gap between global conservation and our own Chihuahuan Desert.
LoBello said a core mission of the project would be investing in the next generation of conservation leaders.
“This El Paso Wildlife Conservation Exploratorium, or center, would be a place where we would focus on teaching people about conservation leadership,” LoBello said. “We can make El Paso the conservation center of the Chihuahuan Desert, and just get people involved in helping them to understand that if you want to protect the environment, you have to help people first.”
LoBello envisions the facility as a major weekend destination for families and a premier field trip location for local schools.
“So this would be a facility that would focus on getting the kids in there on field trips, getting them involved and what they can do in their community, helping them to see that if we’re going to protect the natural world that’s so important to our own survival, the first thing we got to do is take care of each other,” LoBello said.
While LoBello’s idea is still in its ambitious early stages, LoBello is confident the Borderland has the spirit to turn this idea into a reality.
“I think that there’s support for this. I know ever since I’ve been living in El Paso, I’ve seen that El Pasoans care,” LoBello said. “And how they fought for the Lost Dog Trail. They fought for the Castner Range. At the Sierra Club, we got over 20,000 signatures on letters to help wolves in Texas. So the thing is, people know they want to help. There’s not enough leaders out there telling them how they can help.”
LoBello is now calling on the community to turn their interest into action.
“This place would be a place where we could train up conservation leaders that are really important to the future of our community. It would be a big positive thing for El Paso,” he said.
LoBello is urging the public to help build support for the Exploratorium. Right now, he would like to see this facility located in Downtown El Paso.
You can reach LoBello and read more on the proposal by clicking here.
To read more on the proposal and contact LoBello you can find his blog on the project by clicking here.
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