Stories from the Field

Descent of the Refuge

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The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska

In 2018, NatureBridge Olympic Science and Education Manager Chris Morgan won the Baxter Award—an internal grant that aims to promote personal growth, adventure and the professional development of NatureBridge staff. Chris’s proposal was two-fold: experience the deep wilderness of the Brooks Range and the great migration of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. This herd of roughly 200,000 individuals completes the longest migration of any land mammal in North America. But today, there is considerable pressure to drill for oil in the midst of this herd's calving ground.

In 2019, Chris set off with Eric Messerschmidt and Morgan Shields on the 23-day-long journey through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The resulting film, Descent of the Refuge, tells their story. 

Descent of the Refuge

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