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.
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...
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…
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...
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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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
This February, SCA and MUFG headed back into the field to bring community conservation to three new cities: Chicago, Atlanta, and Tampa.
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...
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...
If you are going to fall in love, may I suggest first chasing your passion and then turning to look for the person next to you who is running in the same direction. For a couple of adventure hungry seventeen-year olds, the charming gem that is Acadia National Park of...
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...
The Student Conservation Association is proud to count Southwest Airlines as a long-time partner in building the next generation of conservation leaders. Since 1957, SCA has mobilized more than 90,000 youth and community volunteers in service to the environment.
In addition to volunteering with SCA throughout the year, Southwest Airlines employees...
Five months ago, when Hurricane Harvey swept through Houston, flood waters rose from Sims Bayou to overflow Milby Park — eroding banks, washing out trails and bike paths, and drowning the young forest growing along the waterfront.
“When I first saw the park after Harvey,” said one SCA alum, “the seedlings...
You followed your heart and majored in the humanities, and now that same heart is pushing you to save the environment. But green careers are for science majors, right? Marine biologists and geologists and environmental engineers? Well, not quite. In reality, the environmental movement is a burgeoning, interdisciplinary network, and...
