On the third weekend of October of this year, the Outdoor Nation San Francisco Summit brought together young outdoorsmen from all over the US to encourage them to lead their peers off of the couch and into the foliage. SCA's Alumni Council gathered at the event to play a special role: Highlighting the fact that an active outdoor lifestyle is the perfect precursor to a career in conservation. As leading exemplars of SCA's commitment to fostering lifelong dedication to environmental stewardship, the Alumni Council was well suited for the part.
Among the highlights of the two day event was AC member Jeff Chen's spirited account of how discovering litter in a national park during his stint on an SCA crew inspired him to cofound Pick Up America, and lead a coast to coast march to clean up trash along America's scenic byways. Another highlight came on Sunday, when AC member Jaci Saunders participated in the Outdoor Nation jobs panel. She used the opportunity to share how her SCA experience helped her find the path to a career in oceanography.
Head here for a Storified account of the weekend's events [1], including a bayside service project in Oakland, and an aerially photographed "human painting" of the Tree of Life.
Here are some highlights:
.@the_sca [2] alum & @pickupamerica [3] founder Jeff Chen prepares today's Art for the Sky piece. #servetheplanet [4] @ebrpd [5] twitter.com/mrjoethurston/… [6]
— joe thurston (@mrjoethurston) October 19, 2012 [7]
Feast your eyes! Here's the Art for the Sky "human painting" from Fri's SCA & @pickupamerica [3] service event in Oakland. twitter.com/the_sca/status… [8]
— SCA (@the_sca) October 21, 2012 [9]
.@the_sca [2] alum Jeff Chen speaks about his nonprofit @pickupamerica [3] at the SF @outdoornation [10] Summit. twitter.com/mrjoethurston/… [11]
— joe thurston (@mrjoethurston) October 20, 2012 [12]
@pickupamerica [3]'s Jeff Chen: It's not a ? of whether we'll change the world. Everything we do changes the world. @the_sca [2] @outdoornation [10]
— joe thurston (@mrjoethurston) October 20, 2012 [13]
Hiking in the #Headlands [14] w/ the SCA Alumni Council. #SanFrancisco [15] #Highlights [16] instagr.am/p/RQabI2OPoT/ [17]
— SCA (@the_sca) October 26, 2012 [18]
SCA Alumni Council member jamey_anderson monkeys around in the #Headlands [14]. #SanFrancisco [15] #Highlights [16] instagr.am/p/RQWcoCuPkv/ [19]
— SCA (@the_sca) October 26, 2012 [20]
.@the_sca [2] Alumni Council member Jaci Saunders gets some laughs at the @outdoornation [10] SF jobs panel. cc: @netopacnw [21] twitter.com/mrjoethurston/… [22]
— joe thurston (@mrjoethurston) October 21, 2012 [23]
Jaci Saunders at the @outdoornation [10] panel: My @the_sca [2] work got me an internship w/ @smithsonian [24], which led me to a career in oceanography.
— joe thurston (@mrjoethurston) October 21, 2012 [25]