Stories from the Field

"There's a transformational piece that happens with almost every single person who receives the Baxter Award. You know, it’s not just people testing their physical limits and climbing incredible peaks or something. It’s also spiritual, emotional and psychological,” says Kristina Rylands. The award has become much like Matt Baxter himself: larger than life. The power of the individual transcendent experiences that happen each year as part of the Baxter Award have coalesced over 25 years to create an unbreakable spirit of community and adventure. It has become integral to NatureBridge and also represents the best, unique qualities of the organization.

Jerry Edelbrock is a builder: a builder of partnerships, a builder of people and a builder of visions. In 1983, long before the notion of a Yosemite Institute (YI) in Olympic National Park at the Rosemary Inn had come to fruition, Jerry was building the foundation for what was to come. Throughout his time building connections, infrastructure, and programming in Olympic, Jerry always went back to one question: “Is it in the best interest of the park?”

Welcome to the second park featured in our Sense of Place series: Prince William Forest Park. In 2012, NatureBridge opened its first east coast campus at Prince William Forest Park, the largest green space in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Located just 35 miles from the city, this 16,000 acres of woodlands are where nature and history unite. Here, students explore a Piedmont forest ecosystem while challenging themselves physically, building meaningful relationships and discovering a caring relationship with the natural world.