One of the most incredible aspects of the Mexican Baja Peninsula is the immense wealth of plant and animal diversity it holds. The human communities living alongside this richness have boundless intimate knowledge of its natural history, potentially with novel insights into the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping the diversity of plants and animals. These same human communities have likely also witnessed changes to these natural environments over their lifetimes, particularly as the effects of global change are being felt by similar rural communities around the world. However, because the area is so remote, they often have little access to scientific data or current information about the causes or effects of the changes they observe. Using a thematic analysis of recorded conversations, this project seeks to connect remote rural ranches in Mexico with scientists, to gather data on the issues that matter most to the community members, and work to find collaborative solutions. Through thematic analysis of recorded conversations, our research reveals that unpredictable climate variability, including droughts, hurricanes, and shifting seasonal patterns, poses significant challenges to ranching livelihoods. Ranchers’ deep ecological knowledge provides critical insights into the stresses of changing and increasingly unpredictable environmental trends. By integrating local perspectives with scientific approaches, this study highlights the potential for collaborative biodiversity research.