The California Desert Nature Festival is organized by the Natural Science Collaborative and was formed in 1995 as a nonprofit (501(3)(c) broad based cooperative partnership of natural resource agencies, interpretive museums, institutions, organizations and businesses. Members of the Natural Science Collaborative are concerned with environmental education, recognize the benefits of working collaboratively to serve the total community, and functions as a resource clearinghouse to improve community access to nature related information.

The Natural Science Collaborative produces a Resource Guide that is distributed free to educators, holds an annual Educator’s Fall Festival to disseminate information about educational opportunities offered by NSCDR members and conducts a free Nature Lecture Series presented by Natural Science Collaborative members. The series is sponsored by the City of Palm Desert, Palm Desert Library and the Natural Science Collaborative. NSC members serve as community partners to train teachers and offer students new opportunities in environmental education.