Alumni Community
Your NatureBridge experience doesn’t end after your program—it’s just the start of a lifelong connection! Through our Alumni community, you can stay linked to the inspiring community of NatureBridge graduates, educators, staff, and families who share your passion for the environment. Reconnect with nature and each other through alumni events, outdoor adventures, and ongoing learning opportunities. Plus, explore ways to network with fellow alumni in your area and beyond. Together, we can continue to build a community dedicated to stewardship and a love for the natural world.
Alumni Quotes
For me, NatureBridge was a life changing experience. I will always look back at the wonderful memories that NatureBridge has given me.
Reflecting on my time at NatureBridge, I realize it has become a repository of core memories. These are the moments that define my journey, serving as beacons of joy and inspiration. I cherish each memory created during my stays and eagerly anticipate the prospect of returning in the years to come. NatureBridge has woven itself into the fabric of my life, and I eagerly await the next chapter of adventure and discovery it holds.
Because of NatureBridge, I was able to see people like myself outdoors… Being in Yosemite solidified my decision for my future career path… I wish to inspire, teach, and instill the love and care I have for the great outdoors on to future generations.
Although it was only one week out of the hundreds of weeks I have lived, the ripple it created grew into a wave that I will never forget. Thank you so much, Nature Bridge, for this memory. I will remember it forever.
For once, I got to experience what being a scientist is like, and it was something I could see myself doing in the future. This was definitely one of the major highlights of my trip, and something I will remember for a long time.
NatureBridge has given me [the opporuntity] to make a positive impact on others lives and the environment and how I can help make a difference in preserving our natural world.
Thank you Nature Bridge for the wonderful experience and lessons you provided me in such a short span of time!
Through NatureBridge, students like me are guided through our overwhelming, interconnected environment, facing the harsh realities of our changing world while being motivated towards positive climate action.
Alumni Stories
Blog Posts
The 1997 Yosemite Flood
At the end of 1996, weeks of cold rain in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains gave way to warm, tropical rainfall. Unusual for that time of year, the warm, heavy rains melted the snowpacks, which began to run down the mountain into the valleys below, including Yosemite Valley. In early January 1997, with NatureBridge educators living at the park and students scheduled to arrive soon, National Park Service (NPS) officials did not close the park out of an abundance of caution; they closed Yosemite because one million gallons of water was pouring into the valley. Every five seconds.
Vanessa Morel's job of "many hats" and the opening of NatureBridge's East Coast campus
On the eve of April 16, 2012, Vanessa Morel busied herself with last-minute preparations in Prince William Forest Park; in less than 24 hours, the first group of school children would be visiting for NatureBridge’s inaugural program in Prince William.
“I was like a mother hen that just couldn't settle,” says Vanessa, the Founder and Principal of NextGen Conservation who was NatureBridge’s first Washington D.C. Director at the time. “It was time for me to go home and leave it in the hands of the overnight staff, but I almost couldn't leave because I just felt this awesome responsibility. Would it all work out?”
Ty Cobb and the Meaning of Resilience
Before Ty Cobb shepherded Yosemite National Institutes (now NatureBridge) through a series of potentially devastating events as its President and CEO, he served under President Ronald Reagan as National Security Affairs Special Advisor. The position required adaptability, flexibility and high-level ingenuity each day. “The crisis of the day dominates your time, and in the White House, we were in constant crisis mode.” Little did he know, after he was hired, it didn’t take long for Ty and the organization to be tested.