Environmental Science

We are so excited to welcome students back to NatureBridge campuses for the 2022-23 school year! Over the past few weeks, educators at every campus have been hard at work with training, orientations, preparation work and so much more.

Students are back on our Yosemite, Olympic and Golden Gate campuses! Hiking boots are hitting the trails, canoes are gliding into the water and our staff and students are having a blast out in our national park classrooms. Read on for a few highlights from our campuses.

As a science teacher, Paula Bush has long been an advocate for hands-on, out-of-the-classroom opportunities. For high school students, testing can be a huge obstacle. At NatureBridge, Paula was always thrilled that students were granted the opportunity to be curious without being tested. “We’ve killed curiosity in kids!” she said. “NatureBridge is important because it’s not about book knowledge: It’s experiential. You walk on a trail and all of a sudden learning is much more alive.” Most important was the continuity Paula found at NatureBridge: Tangible lessons that she could reinforce back in the students’ community about nature, being outdoors, caring for the earth and empowering leadership.

NatureBridge created a fire ecology curriculum to educate, inform and transform student perception of fire so that future generations of scientists and stewards would contribute to this vital field. Part of the fire ecology curriculum is to balance people’s lived experience with the complex nature of fire. Though the increase in fires due to climate change-related factors is alarming, fires in and of themselves are part of a healthy forest ecosystem. For the students who learn fire ecology through NatureBridge, reframing their mindset to think about living with fire can be one of the most profound impacts of the program.

At a scenic dock in Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s Crissy Field, a tall, metallic pole stands out against the beautiful coastal view—it represents best estimates of sea level rise. The high end marker towers more than five feet above the heads of curious visitors, a startling, tangible reminder of the potential devastation climate change. The Golden Gate wayside installation was the first of its kind created by the National Park Service, so it comes as little surprise that the park is the future home to another inspiring focal point of climate change education: NatureBridge’s Climate Science Lab.

This Fall, NatureBridge will launch a variety of Distance Learning programs to support students, teachers and families. Meet our team of skilled and passionate educators who have been developing interactive curriculum and will bring these programs to life.

Noah is a former TEEM participant and a senior at Redwood High School in Larkspur, CA. Having learned about climate change at school, he wanted to take action. He was introduced to the Citizens Climate Lobby, and spoke with Peter Joseph, the head of the Marin Chapter. On November 10, 2019, Noah flew solo for the first time to attend an advocacy day in Washington, D.C.

Last fall, NatureBridge's Amy Osborne ventured to McMurdo Station in Antarctica to conduct field research with PolarTREC on Dr. Amy Moran's project. In this reflective essay, Amy writes of the journey that trip took her on and the importance of the celebration of women in science and the outdoors.

In this week's Lessons From the Field, we learn about local Bay Area marine life from NatureBridge's Rachel Loud as she shares about her more than a decade of volunteer experience with The Marine Mammal Center.