A Spectacular Evening 50 Years in the Making
Our 50th anniversary celebration - An Evening Outside with NatureBridge - was a momentous success and we are happy to be able to share some of the awesome highlights of this truly unforgettable evening with you! Our guests loved being on our Golden Gate campus, getting a firsthand glimpse of what it's like to be a NatureBridge student. They sat around our campfire, explored our dorms (and learned about the famous Golden Pinecone!), sampled cuisine from celebrated Bay Area chefs, and participated in educator-led activities and tours. During dinner, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant and student alumni Selma Ruiz both inspired and invigorated our 400+ guests.
We highly recommend you check out Selma's moving speech on the impact NatureBridge has on her life:
In total, sponsors and donors contributed over $915,000 to ensure that there will be more Selma's - more students from around the country who are inspired by NatureBridge to put their passion for the environment into action to protect it.
On behalf of all of us at NatureBridge, thank you for being part of this 50 year journey. We're just getting started!
Stories
In Memory of Ty Cobb: A Visionary Leader of Resilience and Impact
Ty Cobb, former CEO of Yosemite National Institutes (now NatureBridge), passed away on Saturday, December 7, 2024 in Reno at the age of 84. Known for his visionary leadership, resilience, and ability to inspire collaboration, Ty guided YNI through some of its most difficult moments while building a foundation for its future growth and success.
WildLink November 2024: Woodlake High School
This November, Woodlake High School students and chaperones arrived in Yosemite for their first year as a WildLink school, and we are so excited to have them on the team! That means that the brave students who signed up for this expedition had virtually no idea what to expect before signing up for the trip, because none of their peers had experienced it before them! The week, although quite frigid, was full of lovely views, learning about Wilderness, spending lots of time by the river, and enjoying the beauty of Yosemite Valley and Wilderness. Their educators Sarah and Amelia were excited to help this group feel a sense of belonging in this place. They were also lucky enough to be joined by Ranger Lissie on their first day in the Wilderness!
Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.