#student expedition

[juliennesauer]

Airplanes and Sad Goodbyes

This morning we had to wake really early so we could pack up and head to the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. Once we packed our suitcases, we were ready to go.

At the airport, we were either picked up by our families or headed off on a flight home. Our leaders gave us a choice of gifts to remember our time together. I chose the handmade horse hair bracelet to add to my collection of memorabilia from this trip.

Saying our goodbyes at the airport.

PHOTO COURTESY JEREMY BIRCHER

Saying goodbye is not an easy thing to do, especially to a group of people that have been like family to me for the last 10 days. We came together from different corners of the globe (China, Korea, Canada, Saudi Arabia, etc) and quickly bonded together with the purpose to explore, learn about, and improve our new destination. We are still in close contact and hopefully one day our paths will cross again.

Our inspiring Team Leaders, Gretchen and Jeremy, showed us how to become a close knit community and to respect our differences and appreciate our surroundings. These skills I will implement in my daily life.

Gregg, our National Geographic Expert, showed us that there is no boundaries to what can be accomplished when you set your mind to it. He will continually inspire me through his travels and adventures to  break through any obstacles I encounter and achieve my own life goals.

2014 NGSE Yellowstone/Montana amazing group selfie courtesy of Jeremy of course!

[juliennesauer]

Our Last Full Day Together

It was very sad waking up today knowing this would our last full day together and that we would have to say goodbye to our National Geographic Expert, Greg Treinish. So we were determined to make this day unforgettable!

We drove through Yellowstone stopping along the way to view popular attractions, such as Artisan Point from which you can see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Yellowstone River. We hiked all the way down to get a closer view of the waterfall.  It was a steep walk, but it was worth it once we reached this magnificent feature. After taking in the breathtaking sights, we headed to a small picnic area for a quick lunch and to eat the last bits of our food supply. No more granola bars for me for a while!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Yellowstone River

Raging Yellowstone river water up close

A majestic waterfall

In the afternoon, we headed to a small beach so we can put the finishing touches on our On Assignment projects. There we spent the hours relaxing and having some one-on-one time with Greg. Greg inspired us with great advice for the future.

Working our On Assignment projects at the beach by Yellowstone Lake

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

Currently Gregg is participating in the Okavango Wilderness Project to secure the Okavango Delta. He will cross the Okavango River system and encounter the world’s largest-remaining populations of elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and some of the last remaining prides of lions. See http://www.adventurescience.org/okavango.html for more information.

Gregg poles a mokoro in South Africa.

PHOTO COURTESY GREGG TREINISH AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Our last group assignment was to write what we learned on this trip and how it will affect us and change our community once we return home. For dinner we splurged and ate at the Lake Side Restaurant our last meal together. The buffet was delicious and dinner was a lot of fun. We then headed back to our camp to get a good rest before returning home.

Our inspiring leaders Gretchen (left), Greg (middle) and Jeremy (right)

Our fun loving group of NGSE adventurers

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

My last Popsicle was being able to spend one last day with all these amazing, intelligent, funny, unique people. This was the trip of a life time and I will never forget it. My only Poopsicle was knowing that most likely this will be our last adventure together as travelers.

[juliennesauer]

Geothermal Science and Sulfur

After breakfast, we met up with Gregg and had a long drive down to the south part of Yellowstone to study its geothermal activity. Yellowstone contains more than 10,000 geothermal features in the form of hot springs, terraces, geysers, mud pots, and fumaroles.

Gregg explaining the science behind the geothermal activity in Yellowstone.

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

On our first stop, we walked through a variety of geothermal areas. The hot springs were full of deep unique colors, and the geysers erupted high into the sky. It was impossible not to notice the rotten egg odor when visiting various geothermal features. It is the result of microorganisms eating away at sulfur, which creates sulfuric acid. As it evaporates, the acid becomes hydrogen sulfide gas, which gives off the noxious smell.

A deep blue Yellowstone hot spring

Nearby trees often die due to the heat and toxins from the hot springs.

The beautiful hot spring colors come from thermophiles, which are  microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. Apparently there are so many of them grouped together that they appear as masses of color. Each type of thermophile survives at a particular temperature within the hot spring and cannot tolerate any variation. When the temperature limit of one group of microbes is reached, it is then replaced by a other microbes creating the color differences we can see in the photo below:

While we were exploring the geothermal features, I could not help myself from looking up the results of the Germany vs. Brazil  FIFA World Cup  Semifinals. As a huge Germany fan, I was speechless after seeing the score of 7-1. Germany won with a six goal difference and was moving on to the finale. They had a chance to earn their 4th Star! This day was just getting better and better.

It was now time to put the World Cup aside and eat lunch. While eating some homemade sandwiches at a nearby lake, a huge RV backed up and rammed into Great White Shark’s tail light. This set our schedule back a few hours since we had to wait for the park sheriff to arrive and document the accident. So we passed time by swimming in the nearby lake and playing improv games. On our way back to the Roosevelt cabins, we decided to head to a location where wolves were recently spotted. Unfortunately there were no wolves, but we saw a large grizzly bear from afar. 

On the drive back Greg and Jeremy sang some jams, Greg pulled out his harmonica and Jeremy added some beats. This was the most fun I had driving in Quicksilver. At the cabins we quickly said our Popsicles and Poopsicles. Today I had many Popsicles, like the beautiful geysers, the large grizzly, and the musical talents of Jeremy and Greg.

I can’t believe there is only a couple more days left on our trip!

[juliennesauer]

Birthday Mustaches and Inspiring Stories

I woke up to unusual shuffling outside of my cabin, thinking it was just an animal making noise, I ignored it. Then someone knocked on my door, so I opened it to a huge surprise. My cabin was covered with colorful streamers and I was presented with a birthday tiara and glasses ready for me to wear. Today was not only my 15th birthday, but also the day we would be joined by Gregg Treinish, our National Geographic Expert. He is the founder of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, an organization that connects outdoor adventurers with scientists in need of data from the field. Gregg was awarded the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award in 2008 after becoming the first to trek the length of the Andes Mountain Range.

We met Gregg for breakfast and then headed out for an eight mile hike up to the highest point in Yellowstone, Mt. Washburn. It is located in the northeastern region of Yellowstone National Park. On clear days it is possible to view the Teton Range to the south of the Park. The peak was named after Henry Washburn, leader of the 1870 Washburn expedition through the region. The area surrounding the peak provides excellent habitat for grizzly bears, elk, bighorn sheep, and wolves. On our way up we learned which plants and flowers were edible and not. At one point, we spotted a red fox walking right next to us. Closer to the top we even touched some snow. It was breathtaking in terms of view and of energy required to hike up here.  

  The adorable red fox that hiked up Mt. Washburn with us.

A breathtaking view from Mt. Washburn and some leftover snow!

Listening to Gregg's inspiring story on top of Mt. Washburn.

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

We eventually returned to our cabins to work on our project. Greg joined us again for dinner. We spent most of the time listening to his inspirational story.

  During dinner we celebrated my birthday wearing mustaches. I don't know why!

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

We then set out and hiked around Yellowstone at night. It was exciting to learn about animal tracking using footprints or scat, but when it got really dark Greg showed us all the constellations he could find in the sky and told us some the fascinating stories about astronomy. After the long exciting day, we quickly said our Popsicles and Poopsicles. This was one of my best birthdays so far! My group sung Happy Birthday to me fifteen times in a variety of languages, such as English, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese, French/French Canadian, and Hebrew. Thank you everyone for making this day so special for me! I miss you guys.

Posing at the top of Mt. Washburn with the NGSE flag. We hope to get chosen for the front page of the NGSE catalog.

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

[juliennesauer]

Lamar Valley and the Wolf Restoration Project

On our first full day in Yellowstone we set off to explore Lamar Valley together with our tour guide, Caroline. This valley is in the northeast corner of Yellowstone and is a must see for all wildlife viewers, because it is home to bison, wolves, bears, coyotes, pronghorn, elk, and so many more. We saw loads of wildlife on our trip from elk to osprey birds, and don’t forget the majestic bison.

Our NGSE group with our amazing tour guide Caroline

PHOTO TAKEN BY JEREMY BIRCHER

A bison herd in Lamar Valley

During lunch at Buffalo Ranch we spotted a coyote den with young coyote cubs up a hill! We were so excited to watch them play.

The coyote den was located on the left side of the rock

Afterwards we set off on a hike to the wolf reintroduction site in Yellowstone. Along the hike, Caroline shared parts of the dramatic story of the Yellowstone wolves. In the 1920s, the grey wolf had completely disappeared from Yellowstone and the entire park ecosystem was affected. The gray wolf was eventually listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The idea of wolf reintroduction was first brought to Congress by biologists who were concerned with the critically high elk population in Yellowstone was having an adverse effect on the park's vegetation. In 1995, reintroduction efforts were initiated to place wolves in Yellowstone National Park and part of Idaho in an effort to bring back the species to this area. As many as 1,500 wolves now live in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming due to this effort. The reintroduction of the grey wolf gave biologists the opportunity to document for the first time what happens when a species is reintroduced into an ailing ecosystem. Here is a short film that documents the positive effects of the wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q#t=263 . Did you know that the reintroduction of the wolves improved the  local rivers? It is simply an amazing story!

Acclimation pens at the wolf reintroduction site in Yellowstone

Today was one of most inspirational days, especially finding out that there is hope for ailing ecosystems and that we can take action to restore them by educating the public on what needs to be done.

An interesting longhorn skull we saw during our hike

My Popsicle today was seeing all the wildlife along with the cute coyote cubs. My Poopsicle was not running into any wolves today, but I remained hopeful since there were plenty of more opportunities to see them.

[juliennesauer]

In Awe of Nature

The long day dealing with rain and gumbo was over and we woke up early ready to travel to our Yurt camp on the American Prairie Reserve. A yurt is a portable dwelling structure traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia as their home. They are much more durable than a tent and leave a light environmental footprint.

After returning to our car (which we named Quicksilver or in this case Quickslippy) that we left on the side of the road unable to travel in the gumbo, we set forth to our new destination. When we arrived, I was amazed by the endless beautiful view and scenery that surrounded us.

                    LARGE YURT AND OUR CAR QUICKSILVER

Our camp had two large yurts for a kitchen and a social area, four small sleeping yurts, and regular tents to sleep in. Though the only toilet we had was the wild and some Port-A-Potties, the whole camp was immersed in wildlife. It was exciting to know that all kinds of animals grazed through the camp, especially large beautiful bison.

                                          SLEEPING YURTS

                                                   TENTS

After a well-deserved warm shower, as explorers we set off on another surprising adventure. We embarked on a plant walk lead by a plant specialist, Ellen, and her dog Husker. We hiked through the APR observing the plants around us, one of which is a cactus, called prickly pear. This plant is low to the ground, forcing you to be cautious where you step. Beside the needles, the cactus has also a fruit that can be served to eat and has been a staple of the Mexican and Central American diet for thousands of years. It was incredible finding out the thousands species of plants that existed in the APR and how diverse this beautiful land was.

                  NATURE WALK WITH ELLEN AND HUSKER

With that complete, we traveled back to our yurts and settled down for some homemade meatloaf and potatoes made by Meg who was in charge of our Yurt camp. With the day coming to an end, we finished it off with some delicious s’mores around the campfire and our daily Popsicles and Poopsicles, which allowed us to share with everyone our ups and downs of the day. 

   OUR CAMPFIRE SPOT AND BISON ROAMING AROUND THE CAMP

On this particular day my Popsicle was amazing Betty, for letting us stay at her beautiful ranch the previous night and providing us with gracious hospitality and a delicious warm meal after such a long obstacle filled day. Also fearless John, for coming to our rescue with his tractor and pulling Quicksilver out of the sticky gumbo. My Poopsicle was stepping in some prickly pears, but that’s another long story.

[reelrhetoricblog]

Flip through natgeofound Summer 2014 student expedition. Meet the students (pg12) and go on assignment (pg6). There is also a scholarship programme (pg11)

[bringingsasstobethlehem]

so I get to go to mother fucking Australia for 20 days with National Geographic on June 28-July 18th. I would appreciate it if I didn't loose all of my followers...