Estación Científica la Malinche

The Estación Científica La Malinche was created in 2007, it is a collaborative institution between the Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the government of the state of Tlaxcala and the Government and Ejido of the municipality of Ixtenco. The ECLM is coordinated by the Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta which is a peripheral unit of the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas de la UNAM, at the Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala.

It is in the large canyon of La Malinche National Park, on the east face of the volcano. The location of the station is characterized by the typical vegetation of the temperate forests that form part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. These characteristics make the station unique in the temperate climates of the country, which provides the necessary conditions for research on this type of ecosystem and in the high mountains.

The purpose of the creation of the Station is to provide the adequate conditions to carry out scientific research on the natural resources of the National Park ‘La Malinche’, which will help to establish programs for the conservation and sustainable use of the park, as well as for the dissemination and divulgation of the knowledge obtained by the research. Researchers from the Tlaxcala Centre of Behavioral Biology of the UATx and the UNAM work permanently at the station. It also receives researchers from different institutions in the region and the interior of the country, as well as from foreign countries. The conditions offered by the station have allowed students from different institutions to carry out academic stays, field practices or to participate in specialized training courses and workshops in different areas of academic preparation. Students from the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala, both graduate and undergraduate, are the most frequent students at the station. However, it is common to find students from other institutions carrying out activities at the station, from high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels from other universities in the region, mainly from the states of Puebla, Hidalgo, Veracruz and Mexico City.