By: Mark Faller
Posted: April 2, 2026
Part of the mission for Arizona State University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is to provide experiences both in and beyond the classroom setting. Among the places OLLI students have visited recently are the Surprise Water Reclamation Facility, the Arizona Science Center, and the Musical Instrument Museum.
In addition to allowing students the opportunity to explore interesting and varied locations, these programs also help OLLI forge relationships across the Valley. One of the most successful examples is its ongoing relationship with the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (MSC).
The past two fall semesters, ASU OLLI students have been able to visit parts of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale and learn about two facets of Arizona desert history. In 2024, a class titled “The Great Brown’s Ranch Land War” took students to the Brown’s Ranch Trailhead in the preserve, where an interpretive walk told the story of ranching in the 20th century. This past fall, at the Fraesfield Trailhead, participants walked part of the Stoneman Military Road, a route that from 1870-90 connected Fort McDowell on the Verde River to Fort Whipple in Prescott. Research by MSC stewards uncovered the existence of the road.
Photo: Sonoran Conservancy legacy steward Len Marcisz tells ASU OLLI students about life in the desert as experienced by 19th century U.S. Army soldiers and their families.
This spring, two more ASU OLLI classes presented by the conservancy were in the catalog: “Arthropods of the Sonoran Desert,” a two-part course capped by an outing at the preserve’s Gateway Trailhead, and “Geology: The Deep History of the Valley of the Sun.”
The ASU OLLI-MSC partnership dates to 2012, but in the past several years things picked up “with a series of classes about the ecosystem, flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert,” said MSC steward Mary Simons, assistant chair of MSC’s Community Engagement team. “They have been very successful, and OLLI has asked for at least one and sometimes two classes per semester.
“The students especially like the lectures when we can combine a field study in the Preserve. Many of the lectures given at OLLI are developed specifically for them; they are more in-depth and advanced to follow OLLI’s focus for lifelong learners.”
Photo: Sonoran Conservancy legacy steward Chris Crum teaches ASU OLLI students about the creation of the Stoneman Military Road.
Added MSC Legacy Steward Len Marcisz, who co-presented the Brown’s Ranch and Stoneman Road classes, “We greatly enjoy working with OLLI staff. They are accommodating and provide us with assessments that help us to improve our product.”
Photo: Sonoran Conservancy legacy stewards Chris Crum (left) and Len Marcisz take a class of ASU OLLI students to a portion of the Stoneman Military Road at Fraesfield Trailhead in Scottsdale.
That meshes with what OLLI program director Jared Swerzenski is striving to accomplish as his team looks to build on past success.
“Over the last two years I’ve really honed in and talked to people about (how) we’re all in this together,” he said about ASU OLLI’s partnerships. “We want to learn, we want to find fun things to do, we want to be intellectually curious. Let’s just share opportunities. And people are going to do what they’re drawn to.
“And we’re happy to just share as many opportunities as we can and let people choose their own journey. If that means being a steward at the McDowell Conservancy, if that means being a docent at the Musical Instrument Museum, amazing. And most of the time what we see is they get even more involved with OLLI. They take six classes instead of four, and then they’re telling all their docent and steward friends about OLLI. For us, it’s not this competition, it’s how can we collaborate? How can we think about different opportunities? And then how can we really highlight our partners?”
The OLLI-Conservancy partnership was what led me to becoming a Steward. I took the Brown’s Ranch class, and as we gathered at the trailhead for the interpretive walk I struck up a conversation with several Stewards. I’d always enjoyed my time in the preserve, and once I indicated that I might be interested in volunteering, one Steward told me about the next orientation class and helped me register.
Along with the outings in the Preserve, recent classes have taken students to places as varied as Glendale’s Asiana Market, the Scottsdale Museum of the West, Taliesin West, the Heard Museum and the Cactus League stadium in Peoria. In the spring, a behind-the-scenes look at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, was offered (and filled up quickly).
“We want to be that focal spot of, hey, you’re interested in lifelong learning and healthy (topics) here’s a million different opportunities that you can go,” Swerzenski said, adding, “I just feel we can be a gateway to lifelong learning and a gateway to opportunities in the greater Phoenix area, to have partnerships with institutions, back and forths, and really be a collaborator.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mark Faller is a retired journalist who from 2003-24 was sports editor at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com. He became a steward for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy in 2025.
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