Every time I’m out in the darkness of a wilderness area, I look up at the starry sky and think to myself, wow, we don’t see stars like this in the city. There’s an awe in rediscovering the night sky, and it’s one of the many reasons I go backpacking...
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.
The brilliance of the Milky Way isn’t the only reason to protect dark skies. So what else is at stake?
Posted by Dani Tinker | Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Backcountry & Wilderness, Parks, Trails and Hiking
Interview with Andy Webster about his transformative SCA experience and how it inspired his latest project.
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Andy Webster is an SCA alum who completed the 10-month AmeriCorps program in Hawley, Massachusetts in 2001. We caught up with Andy this month to discuss how his SCA experience helped him find his way to The Walden Project — a school he is starting in upstate New York that...
Career Success, Education, Forests, People
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Monday, April 9, 2018
Metro Atlanta Urban Farm is a five acre parcel in the city’s College Park section. Its certified naturally-grown crops are raised and harvested by a small staff and volunteers, and on Saturday the farm hosted one of SCA’s first Earth Month service projects, drawing close to 40 people despite threatening...
Posted by Staff | Friday, April 6, 2018
Spring is in the air, and on April 22, countries around the world will be celebrating Earth Day. This is a day to reflect upon the importance of preserving the only planet we call home – and to take action to save it. But in our hectic, workday...
Climate, Sustainability
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Thursday, April 5, 2018
After all SCA has done for the environment, this is how she treats us? On Liz Putnam’s birthday?!
Last Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s NYC Service campaign and the New York Mets hosted National Service Recognition Night at Citi Field. SCA, AmeriCorps, and other organizations were...
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Michelle Clark, SCA Alumna and Park Ranger, on her first day in uniform
A career in the National Park Service or Forest Service is an exciting proposition: what could be better than putting your skills...
Career Success, Education, Parks, People
Join SCA's Biggest Earth Month in 60 Years!
Posted by Ann Pedtke | Sunday, April 1, 2018
With national support from American Express and Southwest Airlines, SCA is aiming to connect our members, alumni, and friends across the country to create a nationwide network of Earth Day celebrations…
Parks, People, Volunteer Opportunities
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Wednesday, March 28, 2018
For students who are able to get away, Spring Break usually means sand, not snow. Chilling, not chilly. And maybe getting a little wild, not seeing a little wildlife.
For those enrolled in SCA’s annual NPS Academy, however, the week was one continuous and stirring class in career opportunities...
Posted by Staff | Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Park rangers. Unmissable in their iconic hats, the public often knows them as the people in uniforms who monitor trails and hand out maps in parks. But that’s only a tiny part of their roles. In fact, being a park ranger is an extremely diverse job that involves...
Career Success, Education, Parks, People, Trails and Hiking
Posted by Staff | Friday, March 16, 2018
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Here in the U.S., water is something we take for granted: we turn on the tap or the shower and it’s always there. We cook with it, clean with it, cool an overheated radiator with it. Yet there is no safe water supply close to home for more...
Coasts & Water, Sustainability, Wetlands
by Zintkala Eiring
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Friday, March 9, 2018
Through my SCA/AmeriCorps service as a Junior Native American Liaison with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I have traveled to Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and West Virginia in less than 10 months.
I have met presidents, chairmen, and chairwomen of Federally Recognized...
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Liz Putnam is widely recognized as “the Mother of the American Youth Conservation Movement.” She’s received dozens of major awards, including the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor. And she’s touched the lives of thousands upon thousands of young people, who in turn have left their mark on...
Career Success, History, Parks, People
Posted by Staff | Tuesday, March 6, 2018
From Asia to Africa, from Europe to the Americas, countries around the globe are finding creative ways to help save the environment. In today's post, let's take a virtual world tour to discover the best ideas being enacted outside of our borders - no passport or visa needed.
Animals & Wildlife, Climate, Coasts & Water, Endangered Species, Forests, Sustainability, Wetlands
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Monday, March 5, 2018
Attention SCA AmeriCorps alumni and anyone else with an AmeriCorps Education Award: you can apply your award toward registration fees, lodging, and even travel to attend the 25th annual Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) in Portland, OR October 3-5, 2018. You can even earn a college credit.
Here’s how...
Posted by Staff | Friday, March 2, 2018
Are you torn between your love of nature and your desire to live in a big city? Does your job, school, or family situation require you to live near a larger population center? Well, we’ve got good news for you: cities across the country are “going green,” reducing...
Parks, People
Posted by Staff | Friday, February 23, 2018
Within the wonderful, multifaceted world of green professions, confusion often exists between careers in conservation and those that focus on the environment. While you won’t go wrong with either, it is important to know the difference between the two in order to steer your ecological interests and studies in the...
Career Success, Education, People
SCA and MUFG Team Up to Conserve Midwestern Bird Species, Clean the Florida Coast, and Restore a Southern River
Posted by Ann Pedtke | Thursday, February 22, 2018
This February, SCA and MUFG headed back into the field to bring community conservation to three new cities: Chicago, Atlanta, and Tampa.
3 Presidents Who Did the Most for the Environment
Posted by Jennifer Gaillard | Friday, February 16, 2018
Presidents are frequently remembered for issues of war and peace, or how they handled times of crisis. But it is often their quiet initiatives that – over the long-term – have the greatest effect on people’s lives and the wellbeing of a nation. So it is with the presidents who...
History, Parks
by Brianna Rain Credle, three-time SCA alumna
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, February 14, 2018
As a young girl from New Jersey, I knew my life was lacking something wild. Which is why when I started looking at colleges, I felt there was only one choice: Paul Smith’s College of the Adirondacks. I knew that getting a degree in wildlife management would allow me to...
Adventures, Diversity, People
An SCA Alum reflects on taking a risk, building a strong network and finally landing his dream job.
Posted by Staff | Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Intro/Bio: Rob has served three consecutive terms with SCA at Gateway National Recreation Area in NYC. After graduating with a business degree, he’d landed a comfortable job in waste management which led to a promotion, however he still felt something was missing. Here he reflects on taking the leap of...