We often picture park rangers in forested national parks, rescuing hikers or handing out trail maps. And while those are important roles, there are so many others that we rarely hear about. We had a chance to sit down with Jason Cangelosi, the Volunteer Program Manager for the National Mall...
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 | Friday, May 4, 2018
Career Success, Parks, People
Posted by Dani Tinker | Thursday, May 3, 2018
The National Park Service’s aviation branch helps find stranded hikers, manage fires, and conduct wildlife and vegetation surveys. To learn more, we met with Aviation Branch Chief (and SCA ALUM!) Meg Gallagher.
We’re thrilled when we can teach students about leadership or stewardship of the land. But often times,...
Backcountry & Wilderness, Career Success, Forests, People, Wildfires
Posted by Staff | Thursday, April 26, 2018
Sarah Spragg, park ranger for the Bureau of Land Management in Marina, California, sums up her job in five words: “Being available for the public.” In addition to her outreach duties, she also helps maintain the bureau’s facilities and provides special recreation permits for use on public lands. She is...
Career Success, People
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Friday, April 20, 2018
For outdoor advocates, April is an active month, encompassing everything from Earth Day to National Volunteer Week and National Garden Month. And from 4/21-4/29, we celebrate National Park Week.
Although today’s SCA volunteers serve a wide array of federal, state, and municipal lands, we got our start in national...
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Thursday, April 19, 2018
Like grandchildren rummaging through an attic trove of photographs, Student Conservation Association interns at Yosemite National Park recently began to sort, scan, and share decades-old photos from the park’s past. The Yosemite Conservancy spotlights their efforts in this video, and the excerpted Q&A below.
CHELSEA...
Posted by Staff | Thursday, April 19, 2018
Earth Day 2018 is right around the corner: a day dedicated to giving back to the planet that sustains all of us. In last week’s post we offered five digital ways to help save the Earth, right from your own computer or cell phone. This week...
Sustainability, Volunteer Opportunities
Posted by Kevin Hamilton | Thursday, April 12, 2018
As the saying goes: “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Apparently, that applies to parks and volunteers, too.
Earlier this week, SCA and Southwest Airlines organized a service project at Barnacle Historic State Park in Miami as part of SCA’s Earth Month. Among other jobs,...
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
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...
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...
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.