Yosemite

In the fall of 2022, I brought a group of 54 eighth graders to NatureBridge for the first time since the Covid pandemic shut down the school district in March of 2020.

At NatureBridge, our goal is to inspire every student to become an environmental steward—and there are as many different expressions of that commitment as there are NatureBridge alumni. For some students, their NatureBridge experience even inspires their career trajectory and crystallizes their sense of identity as champions of our wildlife and wild spaces. One such student alum is Julie Byerly.

Originally hailing from North Carolina and New Orleans, Sarah Sugarman has lived in Yosemite for the past five years, working as an educator for NatureBridge and the National Park Service (NPS). Sarah currently works at the NatureBridge Yosemite campus as an Educator, Crane Flat Site Manager and the WildLink Program Coordinator. “I love teaching, playing outside, and creating art in many forms,” Sarah says. Working with both NatureBridge and NPS affords Sarah many opportunities to engage in all three of those passions!

NatureBridge recognizes and is grateful for the land upon which we are privileged to run our programs and the Indigenous peoples who continue to care for and have stewarded these places for thousands of years.

Mary visited us as a student back in 1977 when NatureBridge was known as the Yosemite Institute. Nearly 20 years later, Mary completed the cycle when she returned as a teacher, bringing her first group of eighth graders to our Yosemite campus.

For Environmental Science Educator Linnea Joy Pierson, the moments she cherishes most are the times when she can see the joy, curiosity and community developing in her students while exploring the Yosemite wilderness.