Stories from the Field

The "Hard Core" challenge didn’t originate at NatureBridge. Plenty of outdoor education programs have passed around the same challenge. But something about it rooted itself deeply in Yosemite Valley—especially in the years after the pandemic, when rebuilding connection and culture mattered more than ever. And sometimes that’s how stewardship begins—not with a grand gesture, but with an apple eaten to the core.

For Justin Umholtz, environmental education is about more than teaching science. It builds belonging, invites students into stewardship, and helps them see how they fit into something larger. From the Marin Headlands as a student to Hawai‘i as an educator, his journey reflects the lasting power of experiencing the wonder of wild places.

"Stewardship is an integral part of our mission,” says Kaitee Levinson, NatureBridge Yosemite’s Stewardship Education Manager. “It is what connects students physically to the landscape. It deepens their awareness of resource management while giving them the space to practice care.” The partnership between NatureBridge and 5 Gyres is ensuring that stewardship feels relevant, empowering, and actionable. Together, we are helping young people learn to see themselves not just as visitors to national parks and natural spaces, but as lifelong stewards of them.

Fresno’s Building Healthy Communities non-profit brings together high school aged youth from all over Fresno to empower them to become change agents within their schools and communities. In 2025 these agents of change were invited to come to Yosemite for a six day expedition where they got to know their local national park.

When NatureBridge students arrive in Yosemite National Park with their peers, the excitement is instant—shared discoveries, group hikes, laughter echoing between granite walls. But one of the most powerful ways to connect with a place is by stepping away from the group and taking a moment alone. Yosemite belongs to everyone, and in solitude, it can feel like it belongs just to you.

For Andree Blanchier, the memories of Yosemite aren't just mental snapshots of granite peaks and waterfalls; they are the foundational layers of a life dedicated to education and making an impact in her community. Now the Executive Director of the Shasta College Foundation, Andree looks back at her time as a McConnell Scholar in the late 1980’s at NatureBridge (then Yosemite Institute) as the moment the world grew larger than her high school hallways.