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.
ABOVE: Mt. Rainier from the Alta Vista Trail by Caroline Meleedy, SCA NPS Centennial Interpretive Media Intern at Mt. Rainier National Park. Credit Caroline Meleedy/NPS
Whether or not you’re rightly placed in time and space to witness it, vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds sweep across America’s deciduous regions every...
“I want to help new generations of students feel the same excitement I felt about protecting our parks when I first joined SCA over nine years ago.”
Photo: A concentration mill in an abandoned (and definitely haunted) mining town in the Kennecott Historic District of Wrangell St. Elias National Park, via Richard Droker.
Consider this: many of the primary reasons that people enjoy hiking— expedited blood flow, quiet seclusion, elevated heart rate, adrenalizing natural thrills—are...
Last year, when REI chose to close its 149 stores on Black Friday, giving its 12,287 employees a paid day off and urging its customers to spend the day enjoying the great outdoors rather than inside shopping, 170 organizations and over 1.4 million people joined the company in...
Former SCA intern and current wildlife technician, Diana Gu, checks in from Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
At the core of SCA’s mission is our effort to grow and empower the next generation of conservation leaders. Key to any sort of leadership, conservation or otherwise, is civic engagement. One can’t claim to be a leader within a democratic society if one declines to...
3 SCA interns recently got to takeover Department of Interior’s Snapchat account for a day as part of AmeriCorps’ social media celebration of their 1 millionth member milestone.
As you might guess, the 3 interns (Anna Gibson, Emilia Schrier, and Alaggio Laurino) in quesion were pretty excited for the opportunity to...
Love voting? Angry that after such a long, hard election season, you only get to vote once?
Well, here’s a chance to vote again in a different kind of presidential contest, one that requires a tough choice between 3 equally appealing candidates.
Instead of politicians, you’ll be voting for music videos...
The Student Conservation Association believes in changing young lives through service to nature. SCA trained young adults to use their natural talents to mentor the youth they encountered during their SCA experience exponentially affecting and increasing the ability to impact youth through conservation service.
In 2016, SCA convened a summit of...
This is the story of the impact that SCA has on a young person’s passion and future ambitions as a conservationist through the eyes of one intern. Allison Joyce is an SCA Centennial Volunteer Ambassador at John Muir, Rosie the Riverter, Eugene O’Neill and Port Chicago National Historic Parks. Her...
The wolf is perhaps the most misunderstood and polarizing animal species ever encountered by human-kind. Fear, hatred, and demonization of the wolf have deep roots in Western culture. Looking back at American history with the wolf shows why human concepts of morality and ethics should...
Amalik Bay is a world of contrast. Vibrant green islands and bursting waterfalls reminiscent of a tropical paradise clash with bitter rain and gusts of wind at a moments notice. Spiring cliffs rise 3,000 feet from the ocean and into the clouds. At the base...
“I serve because it gives me a purpose greater than myself, and I think that is really important.”
This September, SCA leaders went international to protect endangered species in the Canadian interior — teaming up with national supporter Domtar to restore the BC Wildlife Park in Kamloops, British Columbia.
There are so, so, so many reasons to love autumn (milder weather, jackets, less crowded parks and trails, fewer mosquitos, less poison ivy, cozier camping, pumpkins, squash, gourds… we could go on forever), but the best—and certainly brightest—may be what happens to the leaves.
But what exactly does happen to them?...
When most think of Brooks Camp, bears and salmon are the first images to pop into our minds. For others, trophy trout fishing is the main attraction. But no matter who you are or what you come here to see, it seems that everyone can agree on one thing: Biting insects are extremely annoying. At Brooks Camp, mosquitoes, white socks, and no-see-ums are the source of much anguish and itchiness.
Through the support of American Express, SCA brought together over 700 volunteers this weekend to mark the 9/11 National Day of Service & Remembrance with Find Your Park Day of Service Events in New York City and Washington, DC.
Pollinators are important. We all know this, right? And we likely all have a decent understanding of why they’re important—the crucial role they play in the plant reproductive cycles that underlie the smooth functioning of Earth’s ecosystems.
But what if you had to explain this role to a 5-year-old? Like right...
ABOVE: A California Condor, one of the small, critically endangered population at Zion National Park. Photo: Madison Roberts
If you’re lucky enough to spot a rare California Condor, you might just feel as if you’ve been transported back to a time when dinosaurs ruled the...
