Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research

For more than a quarter of a century, the San Diego Zoo’s department of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) has celebrated significant breakthroughs in conservation and science for giant pandas, California condors, cheetahs, rhinos, iguanas, and other species. Such efforts in using conservation and science together have had worldwide implications in preventing the extinction of wildlife, thus establishing CRES as a leader in research and wildlife conservation.

In 2004, CRES celebrated the next step in maintaining its leadership role in endangered species research with the completion of the new Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research, a $22-million state-of-the-art facility, located adjacent to the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. The project earned the LEED Silver Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Read about the Beckman Center's green features.

The Beckman Center, named in honor of the late Dr. Arnold Beckman and his late wife, Mabel, serves as a center for international scientists to learn and collaborate on conservation research projects. In addition, the facility utilizes the latest scientific technologies to overcome challenges relating to the conservation, health, genetic management, reproduction, and general well being of endangered animals.

Founded in 1975 by Kurt Benirschke, M.D., Zoological Society of San Diego trustee emeritus, as the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, the department's name has undergone a change to reflect the primacy of its role in conservation. The Beckman Center at the Wild Animal Park is a 2-story, 50,000-square-foot (4,645-square-meter) facility, which includes 20,000 square feet (1,858 square meters) of laboratory space with an additional 6,000 square feet (557 square meters) for future renovations and 24,000 square feet (2,230 square meters) for offices, a library, a conference room, and the Frozen Zoo®.

The Beckman Center accommodates the equipment and personnel of CRES’ research divisions, including Applied Animal Ecology; Behavioral Biology; Reproductive Physiology; Genetics; and Pathology. In addition, the Center supports work done by the Giant Panda Conservation Division at the San Diego Zoo; the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program, located in Hawaii; and the Conservation Research Fellowship programs, which are located throughout the world. These divisions all work together to find solutions to problems faced by animals in our own backyard and around the globe, which are then shared with other zoos and wildlife organizations through a cooperative international network.

“CRES’ impact on health and biology and its stellar research, as well as its outstanding leadership, were all contributing factors in the Foundation’s decision to provide funding for the new CRES Center,” said Jacqueline Dorrance, executive director of the Beckman Foundation. “We enthusiastically support the enhanced research capabilities that the new center will allow and proudly lend our name to the Center.”

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Tour the Beckman Center and meet a researcher during A Taste of CRES program.