Ah, summer. Whether it’s boating on a lake or lounging on the beach, hiking a National Park or diving into pools, summer is all about being in nature. But while summer is the time when we’re outdoors the most, it’s also the time when our energy use and outdoor activities...
Every year, SCA provides training, tools and projects that place motivated teens and young adults in the field to effect changes great and small. How do we measure the effects? Sometimes its through decreased CO2 levels or by the tons of trash collected or in the number of trees planted. Our success is also measured by the lessons learned, the perspective gained and the lives we transform—today and into the future. Often when the SCA project is over, the success story is just beginning. Take a look at some of our most recent accomplishments.
Posted by Staff | Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Sustainability
Don’t “Bee” Afraid: A Guide to Distinguishing Among Bees, Yellow Jackets, and Other Stinging Insects
Part II: Identifying Wasps
Posted by Staff | Friday, July 13, 2018
In Part I of our guide, we taught you how to identify bumble bees and honey bees—two of our most critical pollinators (and pretty nonaggressive, to boot!). In Part II we will explore the other common stinging critters in the U.S., teaching you how to identify them and...
Adventures, Animals & Wildlife, Backcountry & Wilderness, Education, Science, Trails and Hiking
SCA alum Ian Vogel is now a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!
Posted by Staff | Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Ian Vogel participated in the Directorate Fellowship Program with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the summer of 2016 through SCA and is now a wildlife biologist with the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. He assists with collecting Yosemite toad eggs for two different captive rearing projects.
...
Animals & Wildlife, Career Success, People, Science
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Monday, July 9, 2018
Things sure have changed since their dads made this trek a quarter century ago.
Cal Najimy and Steve Bagley are part of an SCA team on the Alaska Panhandle, replacing an elaborate fish pass in Tongass National Forest. They are literally following in the footsteps (and airstreams) of their fathers,...
Don’t “Bee” Afraid: A Guide to Distinguishing Among Bees, Yellow Jackets, and Other Stinging Insects
Part I: Identifying Bees
Posted by Staff | Friday, July 6, 2018
Is that stinging critter a bee, yellow jacket, wasp, or hornet? It’s natural to feel worried when you see stinging insects buzzing around your backyard or barbecue in the park, but many of them are relatively harmless—and are important pollinators. In Part I, we’ll help you learn to identify bees,...
Animals & Wildlife, Backcountry & Wilderness, Education, Endangered Species, Trails and Hiking
Posted by Staff | Thursday, July 5, 2018
Writeen by Sarantia Mitsinikos, an Invasive Species Project Steward with the SCA Hudson Valley Corps. She is currently serving a 10 month position at New York’s Minnewaska State Park.
The Invasive Species Field Office at Minnewaska State Park gained a new member early this spring. An eastern phoebe...
Animals & Wildlife, Education, Invasives
Posted by Staff | Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Nature in America’s national parks, refuges, and protected spaces is a profusion of color: from the purple-pink rhododendrons in the Great Smoky Mountains to the palette of reds, tans, and oranges on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, from the steel blues and grays of Glacier...
Backcountry & Wilderness, Parks, People, Trails and Hiking
Boots on the Ground at Taku Lake Park
Posted by Ally Ratliff | Wednesday, June 27, 2018
June 21st, the longest day of the year, is quite a unique experience in Alaska. The Great Land celebrates this day with live music, gatherings with friends and families, and in the great outdoors. The sun never seems to set here. On this year’s summer solstice, CIRI and SCA teamed...
Forests, Invasives, Kids, Parks, Volunteer Opportunities
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, June 27, 2018
As a history major at Loyola University New Orleans, Peter Winfrey didn’t expect his career would lead him to the National Park Service (NPS). He definitely didn’t think it would take him to the largest and one of the wildest states in the country: Alaska.
Yet, after years of volunteering, an...
Career Success, Education, Parks, People
Domtar Employees, Family and Friends Help Clean Up Lions Park!
Posted by Alycia Chuney | Tuesday, June 26, 2018
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On Saturday, June 16th, Domtar Employees teamed...
Parks, People, Volunteer Opportunities
Posted by Staff | Monday, June 25, 2018
Located on the southern tip of Florida, the Everglades National Park – a World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, Wetland of International Importance, and a specially protected area under the Cartagena Treaty – is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles live side by side....
Career Success, Diversity, Parks, People, Trails and Hiking
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, June 20, 2018
At the moment, the land owned by Elder Pyatt in Beattie, Oregon is covered by juniper trees and rocks. But it won’t be for long. Pyatt, a Student Conversation Association alum and Iraq War veteran, has big dreams for his 40 acres: to turn them into a flourishing lavender farm.
Good...
Animals & Wildlife, Sustainability, Wildfires
Posted by Julia Kaback | Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Recently, at my synagogue Congregation Rodeph Shalom in New York City, a rabbi shared his desire to learn about bread baking. Hearing this sermon reminded me of baking bread on Student Conservation Association (SCA) high school crews during my summer recess. I returned home a few hours later and checked...
Posted by Staff | Monday, June 18, 2018
You’ll find the latest updates from Alexis on the road with the Vans Warped Tour 2018, here.
Hey hi hello!
My name is Alexis Acar and I am one of the Corporate and Community Engagement Coordinators at the Student Conservation Association (SCA). In a few days, I’ll be hitting...
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Tuesday, June 12, 2018
What are the chances of history repeating itself…twice? Simultaneously?
This story begins in the summer of 1992 on Kupreanof Island, part of Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska. Officials there wanted to install a fish pass to make it easier for coho salmon to navigate Mitchell Creek. To
...Posted by Staff | Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Adventures, Parks, Trails and Hiking
West Monroe teamed up in Seattle to restore University District P-Patch
Posted by Ally Ratliff | Monday, June 4, 2018
On Friday, June 1st, West Monroe employee volunteers teamed up with SCA at Seattle’s University District P-Patch to help revitalize this much-loved, public space. Over 50 participants gathered together for #WMPDayofChange to clear pathways and garden beds and restore the garden’s composting structure.
...
Invasives, Parks, People, Volunteer Opportunities
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, May 30, 2018
In 1998, President Clinton launched “Great Outdoors Week,” seven days to celebrate our relationship with nature in all of its facets: recreation, art, therapy, conservation, and so much more. So popular was the initiative that, over time, it blossomed into Great Outdoors Month. And, fitting for the time that heralds...
Adventures, Parks, Trails and Hiking, Volunteer Opportunities
Seed Balls with American Express
Posted by Kelly McSween Runzel | Friday, May 25, 2018
April 17th , 2018 - American Express hosts Seed Ball events in Phoenix, Miami, Salt Lake City and New York City and helps create thousands of Seed Balls.
I made my way through the TSA security check point hoping that the quarter pound satchel of Native Western Wildflower Seeds...
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Thursday, May 24, 2018
SCA has earned many honors over the years: from the Interior Department, the US Conference of Mayors, the Garden Club of America and others (not to mention Founding President Liz Putnam’s Presidential Citizens Medal).
This week, however, we entered an entirely new realm when the SCA documentary “National Park...