Stories from the Field

Ingrid Apter was a beloved NatureBridge educator who dedicated over 20 years of her life to sharing her love of the outdoors with the kids in our programs. She was an integral part of NatureBridge and her passing in 2021 was a deep loss for our team. Before her passing, Ingrid began to design a mural for our Skins and Skulls lab at Golden Gate. Her vision was to transform the lab so that it reflected the scenery just outside its walls. Ingrid began sketching the mural on canvas in her home during shelter in place and engaged a professional muralist to complete the project when she was unable to. The mural was dedicated in her memory and honors her indelible belief in the power of outdoor education.

Hans Cole is Patagonia’s Head of Environmental Activism, Grants, and Campaigns, leading its strategic environmental partnerships and helping to achieve the for-profit corporation’s most important goal: to save our home planet. It was the three years he spent working as an educator with NatureBridge, honing his teaching skills and expanding his horizons, that opened his eyes to the possibility of having a life devoted to working on environmental issues.

On Earth Day in 1972 — just two years after the invention of the environmental holiday — Kimberly McMorrow visited Yosemite for the first time. She and her eighth grade classmates were taking part in a fledgling nonprofit’s five-day outdoor education program, and like so many others in the decades to come, it would change her life. Kimberly shares what’s changed since 1972, the perils of saddle shoes and how she’s giving her own kids (and complete strangers) what she never had a chance to experience as a child.

This year, NatureBridge is proud to welcome Armstrong educators Amanda Adams and Kaitee Levinson. Their love of the program, strong backcountry experience, social emotional learning skills and commitment to equity and inclusion will serve them and the Scholars well as they explore the High Sierra and so much more together this summer.

In July 2021, a group of young women set out on a trek through the High Sierra as part of NatureBridge’s Armstrong Scholars program. In this blog, Lesley and Sarah share their reflections and the lasting impact the adventure made on them and their fellow Scholars.

Luckily for NatureBridge, our mission — to connect young people to the wonder and science of the natural world, igniting self-discovery and inspiring stewardship of our planet — was already close to board chair Ian Yolles' heart. Before overseeing marketing and brand building for companies like Patagonia and Nike, Ian began his career as a wilderness instructor for Outward Bound in Canada, eventually becoming Executive Director of the outdoor education nonprofit. He had intimate knowledge of the transformative power of nature, and he could see that NatureBridge was expertly tapping into that power to further environmental science and inspire awe.