2020 HIGHLIGHTS 2019 HIGHLIG H TS
Noa Bruhis uses a field probe to collect water quality data that will help land managers assess the health of Arizona’s Verde River.
1
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT WE DO Adventure Scientists gets mission-critical data at any scale from nearly anywhere on the planet. We design and build scientific research projects in collaboration with our partners, then recruit, train, and manage volunteer adventurers across the globe to collect the data. Our work enables our partners to ask bigger research questions and make larger strides more quickly that address major environmental challenges.
CO V E R :
Erin Yungblut measures the diameter at breast height of an Alaska yellow-cedar. Tricouni Peak, British Columbia. PHO T O: AL E C J AC OBS ON
PH O T O : A LEC JA C O B S EN
3
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
TO OUR FRIENDS & FAMILY 2020 reiterated that science can save us. In the pandemic darkness of this past year, science was the light. Open-source research and science-driven public health policy lifted us from chaos to hope. Scientists’ voices rose louder than politics and fear. And before the year’s end, a global scientific effort yielded the impossible: multiple COVID-19 vaccines that should have taken a decade to develop. The connected realities of climate change, a growing population, and the associated inequities are increasingly ubiquitous in each of our lives. To overcome these challenges, we must apply this same level of focus, cooperation, and ingenuity as we did with COVID-19. We must promote solutions that minimize our impact on the environment.
Our organization is working on the front lines of these issues to amplify and accelerate our partners’ solutions. As dark as things often seem, we remain inspired by the light of our partners and the innovations they are pursuing. In the pages that follow, we aim to share the stories of our partners, who are our heroes, and the amazing volunteers who support them. They remind us every day to keep fighting and to remain optimistic.
GREGG TREINISH Executive Director
4
CONTENTS
5
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
4
OUR SERVICES
8
ACTIVE PROJECTS
9
TIMBER TRACKING
11
WILD & SCENIC RIVERS
23
WILDLIFE CONNECTIVITY
31
POLLINATOR DECLINE
39
PAST PROJECT UPDATES
47
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
53
EQUITY & JUSTICE IN SCIENCE AND THE OUTDOORS
55
BOARD & ADVISORS
57
MEET THE TEAM
58
FINANCIALS
61
DONORS
63
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
PH O T O : LO U IS E JO HNS
6
Adventure Scientists volunteers were chosen for their backcountry skills to survey especially rugged terrain as part of a National Park Service saguaro cactus census. P H O T O : KE VE N S I E G E RT
7
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
SUPPORTING DOERS
WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW THEY NEED IT MOST
Researchers, managers, and conservationists often lack the time or capacity to manage large-scale data collection. From thought partnership during the initial design phases through data delivery from our volunteers in the field, Adventure Scientists offers end-to-end research support that enables our partners to tackle bigger research questions. If you are, or know of, someone who needs field data for data-limited science critical to environmental and human health, we invite you to reach out. It’s our mission to help.
OUR SERVICES Project Design and Feasibility work determines the appropriate scale of data collection, details logistics required for execution, including permitting, and engages data endusers that can amplify the impact of the research. Project Build includes creating customized online volunteer training, configuring data collection apps,
sourcing technology and equipment, and securing relationships with relevant labs and acquiring permits. Full Project Management allows our scientific partners to access our volunteer network at any scale, anywhere. We recruit, screen, train, and manage volunteers and deliver high-quality data in accordance with strict protocols.
8
ACTIVE PROJECTS
9
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
10
SHINING A LIGHT ON:
ECONOMIC DRIVERS Lumber costs in the US have soared 300% in 2020, increasing the average cost of a new home build by $24,000. The pandemic spurred lumber demand for home construction and upgrades, while climate-driven wildfire and beetle infestations have devastated supply– creating further incentive for timber poachers. *Source: The Atlantic.
Lumber from coast redwood trees is prized for decking and fencing because it resists rot. Tree poachers also steal knobby growths called burls, which are popular in furniture making, often killing the whole tree in the process.
11
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
TIMBER TRACKING MISSION: Collect tree samples to build DNA and chemical databases that enables investigators to identify the origins of wood products.
PARTNER: USDA Forest Service
IMPACT: Provides evidence to prosecute timber thieves, deter illegal loggers, and protect forests. This science-informed strategy can be scaled up globally, protecting forests and undermining criminal syndicates tied to wildlife crime and human trafficking.
IN 2020: Building on the project that had already provided data on bigleaf maple and coast redwood, volunteers tackled Alaska yellow-cedar and western redcedar. All four species are targeted by poachers.
12
COMPLETE DATABASES ON FOUR TARGETED SPECIES The completion of Alaska yellow-cedar and western redcedar databases in 2020 means that four vulnerable tree species in western North America have working genetic and chemical databases that law enforcement officials can use to prosecute timber crime.
SAMPLES COLLECTED BY SPECIES YELLOW CEDAR
COAST REDWOOD
908
1,219
WESTERN REDCEDAR
BIGLEAF MAPLE
1,115
927
13
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
TIMBER TRACKING 2020 Despite lockdowns and travel restrictions, volunteers got out in force locally to collect the required number of tree samples to create full databases.
81
VOLUNTEER TEAMS IN 2020
74
DATA REQUESTS IN 2020
14
BACKCOUNTRY SKIING TO
SAVE ANCIENT FORESTS FROM TIMBER THIEVES BY ALEC J AC O B SO N
A warm breeze rising off British Columbia’s Howe Sound traveled over melting snow fields to reach Tricouni Peak where it ruffled the top of a tree. Under its branches, Erin Yungblut picked up a fallen bough. She noted the exposed wood’s yellow hue, smelled the faint scent of potatoes, and confirmed that the
nearby trunk bore shaggy-bark. She had found an Alaska yellow-cedar. Yungblut drilled into the cedar with a metal borer, removing a skinny, golden core that she bagged along with a snippet of needles and stashed carefully in her pack. The collection was part of Adventure Scientists’
PH O T O : A L E C JA C O B S O N
Volunteer Erin Yungblut is a former profressional biathlete. PHOTO: ALE C J A CO B SO N
PH O T O : A L E C JA C O B S O N
timber tracking project. The bits of tree could solve a crime. Alaska yellow-cedars grow slowly, packing rings together densely. Natural oils make them resistant to rot. Even dead trees can stand for hundreds of years. First Nations have long used the hard wood for detailed carvings and the bark for weaving. Builders prize the yellow-cedar for its durability. But the trees are disappearing fast across their range in the coastal mountains of North America’s west coast, sensitive to the effects of a changing climate. That’s not the only threat these trees face. They are also targeted by tree poachers. When a tree is felled in the forest and the authorities aren’t there to see it happen, it’s almost
impossible for them to find the person responsible. Interpol estimates that as much as 30% of the world’s timber trade is illicitly harvested, bringing criminals $100 billion per year. The illegal timber market is roughly equal in size to the global cocaine market. These crimes are both economically and environmentally devastating, contributing to fraud, money laundering and corruption as well as habitat loss and speeding the decline of rare tree species. Scientists at the US Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have recently developed new forensic DNA and chemical analysis tools to combat arboreal crime, bringing hope to the global fight against timber trafficking. “This basically came out of work that is focused on understanding local
adaptation and climate adaptation in trees,” said Dr. Richard Cronn of the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. As a research geneticist, Cronn has spent decades understanding the subtle ways in which trees have adjusted to geographic and climate shifts. Slight differences of soil, sun angle, temperature, moisture and other factors give plants distinct chemical fingerprints, detectable as aromatic compounds. “Those fragrances all have their basis in chemical compounds and the variation in those compounds we can sometimes even pick up with our nose,” Cronn explained. “The interaction of the tree growing in a particular environment and a particular climate is giving rise to these little, subtle variations.” Those chemical fingerprints can be captured and quantified with a scientific instrument called a Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometer (DART-MS). The tool calculates the molecular composition of a sample, allowing Cronn to differentiate trees grown just a few miles apart. Cronn’s lab can build a reference database, or library, of chemical variation across the species range and then can use the DARTMS to study a suspect sample. By comparing the sample’s chemical signature to data from the library, they can determine the sample’s origin.
PH O T O : A L E C J A C O BS E N
To test out this approach, Cronn dispatched four forest service employees to spend a month in the Olympic National Forest collecting specimens of big leaf maple. Data from that mission would prove critical in prosecuting two timber poachers who stole from the park in 2018. To expand the geographic area and branch out into other species, Cronn had to solve a problem of scale. He would need hundreds of specimens from across the entire range, including those gathered from trees deep in the mountains. “It would be extremely difficult to put together using agency foresters and botanists,” Cronn said.
Rich Cronn is a US Forest Service research geneticist.
This is where Erin Yungblut and the Adventure Scientists volunteers come in. Adventure Scientists has been working with Cronn since 2018 to collect samples across the entire habitat of western redcedar, yellowcedar and bigleaf maple, building powerful datasets to support law enforcement. Right now, Cronn’s lab is able to distinguish the origin of tree samples within a few dozen miles. His team hopes to improve the technique to the point where a DART-MS test could help pinpoint the latitude and longitude of a log. Yungblut is a former professional biathlete who is training to become an adventure guide. Volunteering with the project gave her an additional mission while seeking backcountry ski turns. “The thing about Adventure Scientists is that you’re using your fitness in a much different way,” Yungblut said, sitting under a yellow cedar. She had spent weeks of free time hiking the coastal forests of British Columbia looking for trees to sample, but this was the first day she found them. “Over the course of a couple weeks, I tried to get out every day for a short or long hike,” she said. “I’ve always loved trees but I’m even more in tune and tree aware than I’ve ever been.”
P H O T O : ST ÉPHA NIE HAY ES
Temperatures that weekend broke regional records, a trend that is becoming more clear every year. For skiers like Yungblut, it means a shorter recreation season. For yellow-cedars, the long-term trend could be a lethal addition to timber poaching, with early thaws clearing away insulating snow and exposing their roots to dangerous freezes. Cronn has been impressed with the quality of the samples volunteers gather. “It’s an unbelievable resource
PH OTO: ALEC J ACOB SEN
and it’s great to be on the receiving end of this,” he said. “As each person sends in their samples, they can add comments about the collections that they made and the comments have been fantastic. I’ve been able to live vicariously through these collectors.” On the mountain that early spring morning, as the day warmed and the wind picked up, Yungblut packed up her samples and sped away, enjoying spring turns in the name of science.
PH O TO : A L E C JA CO BS E N
PH OTO: ALEC J ACOB SEN
P H O T O : A L E C JA C O B S EN
SHINING A LIGHT ON:
DRINKING WATER One in 10 Americans gets drinking water from a Wild and Scenic River*, yet the vast majority of these rivers either fail water quality standards or have never been sufficiently assessed. *Source: www.rivers.gov/wsr50/ files/water-quality-infographic.pdf
The Wild & Scenic Kings River provides drinking water and irrigation to California’s San Joaquin Valley, yet water quality on the Wild and Scenic portion of the river has not been assessed.
23
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
WILD & SCENIC RIVERS MISSION: Collect water temperature, pH, salinity, and other water quality information on Wild and Scenic rivers across the US.
PARTNERS: National Park Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management.
IMPACT: The National Wild and Scenic River System protects America’s most treasured rivers. Yet 82% of these rivers either have little to no water quality information or are known to fail water quality standards for one or more pollutants. Our work provides river managers with the most comprehensive view ever of the health of the Wild and Scenic river system, helping them better protect these rivers into the future.
IN 2020: Data collection kicked off in Oregon in June. By the end of 2020, 42 volunteer teams had collected water quality data on 41 rivers. Data collection continues through 2023.
24
PADDLING TO
PROTECT WILD & SCENIC RIVER HEALTH The National Wild and Scenic River System protects America’s most treasured rivers. Yet the vast majority of these rivers either fail water quality standards or have little to no water quality information. Our newest project provides river managers with the most comprehensive view ever of the health of the Wild and Scenic river system, helping them better protect these rivers into the future.
and physical measurements that reveal how healthy the waters are for fish, macroinvertabrates, plants, and other ecosystem inhabitants. The data can also show how pollutants from farm runoff and other human development might be impacting the river. Volunteers also ship water samples, stowed in cold storage to protect against delicate chemical reactions, to scientists for more detailed analysis.
In June, Adventure Scientists volunteers hit the trails and launched their boats across the United States to begin a sweeping assessment of understudied or impaired rivers in the network. After completing detailed online training in how to collect accurate data, volunteers select river sections and set out into the field with specialized water sampling equipment.
The volunteers commit to returning to the rivers several times within a year, offering river managers snapshots of each river across the seasons. These data give river managers a detailed view like never before of the health of the rivers they manage and enables them to make more informed decisions to ensure healthy ecosystems for wildlife and people.
Dipping data sensors into the water, volunteers take a variety of chemical
25
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
THE VAST UNKNOWN Volunteers target rivers that either fail water quality standards or have little to no water quality information–82% of the entire Wild & Scenic river system.
42
VOLUNTEER TEAMS
41
RIVERS
238 SAMPLES
26
P H O T O : E . A R M S T R O N G , A . H A L E VI
P H O T O : TRECIA EHRLI CH
PH O T O : A N N KU H N
PH O TO : NO A B RU HIS
27
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
PH O T O : IAN BAILEY
P H O T O : KE L S E Y S C H E R E R
Want to take the plunge for science? Apply to volunteer with our Wild & Scenic Rivers project: ADVENTURESCIENTISTS.ORG/RIVERS
PH O T O : J ACK HEN DERSON
28
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:
LINDSAY HUNT & SEAN TROPSA For volunteers Lindsay Hunt and Sean Tropsa, snow flurries didn’t dampen the fun on a winter camping adventure along Utah’s Wild & Scenic Green River. The kayakers collected water quality data at a boat launch that was reopening after a long closure, giving managers baseline data to gauge how increased use by boaters will impact the river. “I’ve always wanted to be a field biologist,” Hunt says. “This is something that gets me closer to that dream.” Tropsa, a chemist, explains, “We love to come outside anyway, it’s just a little extra work to take samples to protect these areas that we love to frequent.” Watch Sean and Lindsays’ adventure in the 2 ½ minute film “Wild for the Green.” Scan the code using the camera on your phone or visit our YouTube page.
29
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
VI D E O S T ILL: A NDY B O RK
30
SHINING A LIGHT ON:
WILDLIFE VEHICLE COLLISIONS Up to two million large animals die on US roads each day*, yet wildlife and highway agencies have only consistently collected data on incidents involving motor vehicle damage. This leaves the full impact on wildlife unknown. *Source: Monitoring Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions in the Information Age: How Smartphones Can Improve Data Collection.
Collisions with large animals like moose cause roughly 200 human fatalities and 30,000 injuries each year.
31
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
WILDLIFE CONNECTIVITY MISSION:
Cycle roads across Montana, documenting roadkill, wildlife sightings, and infrastructure to identify hotspots for collisions.
PARTNERS:
Montana Department of Transportation; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
IMPACT:
Our state agency partners can use the data to identify ways to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, such as increased signage, fences, flashing lights, or even wildlife underpasses or overpasses.
IN 2020:
Despite a pause during the COVID-19 lockdown, cyclists traveled more than 5,500 miles and collected well over 4,000 observations.
32
ROAD CYCLING TO
SAVE WILDLIFE AND HUMAN LIVES Wildlife-vehicle collisions kill hundreds of millions of animals and injure roughly 30,000 motorists each year in the United States. Montana, with its abundant wildlife and high speeds, is particularly dangerous, yet highway officials have little data on the full scale of the problem in the state. Our work enables agencies and interest groups to understand where wildlife crossing hotspots occur and how to best save lives. Beginning with a pilot season in the fall of 2019, road cyclists across Montana saddled up to ride 50-mile stretches of roadway, scanning roadsides for roadkill and documenting wildlife sightings. They used a smartphone app
40+
VOLUNTEER TEAMS
33
to photograph wildlife and roadkill, and documened the location, time of day, weather, and other information. Critically, they also recorded the presence of fences and other human structures, providing previously unavailable insight into why animals may have been channelled toward or moving through a particular area when they were struck by vehicles. Our partners at the Montana Department of Transportation and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks can use this previously-unavailable data to plan ways to reduce accidents, including adding additional warning signs or even building overpasses or underpasses to direct wildlife through critical hotspots.
4,404 5,677 SIGHTINGS
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
MILES CYCLED
DANGEROUS CROSSINGS States typically only collect data on motor vehicle accidents with large animals such as deer. The data our volunteers collected provide a much fuller picture of the variety of species struck by vehicles, as well as potential hotspots.
AMPHIBIAN
21
BIRD
810
CARNIVORE
49
DOMESTIC ANIMAL
49
UNGULATE
1128
REPTILE
282
OTHER MAMMAL
773
BLOOD MARKS
374
UNKNOWN
401
34
P HO T O : CONOR O’BRIAN
P HO T O : KYLE M OON
35
P HO T O : CONOR O’BRIAN
P HO T O : M AGGI CROTT Y
36
37
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
V I D EO STI L L : B EAUX L OFT I S
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:
BETH DAYTON The message, shared in a Facebook group for road cycling enthusiasts, was irresistible: “Who wants to cycle for wildlife in Montana?” Beth Dayton, a pandemic-weary surgeon from Oregon, recruited her sister and husband to join her on a cycling trip. They rode 100 miles in the far northwest corner of Montana, documenting wildlife and roadkill for our Wildlife Connectivity project. “I never really thought about wildlifevehicle accidents and what they mean to both the wildlife and to humans,” Beth explains. “This really made me think about that a lot more.” Ride along with Beth and others in a two minute film, Cycling for Wildlife in Montana. Scan the code or visit our YouTube page.
38
SHINING A LIGHT ON
POLLINATOR DECLINE Adventure Scientists’ dataset on butterflies contributed to an article published in Science, which showed an alarming trend of butterfly decline throughout the western US, with a 1.6% average decrease annually.
Butterflies, including this large marble, Euchloe ausonides, are experiencing rapid declines since the 1970’s. PHOTO: LOUISE JOHNS
39
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
CONSERVING BIODIVERISTY MISSION:
Hike, cycle, trail run, or otherwise explore backcountry areas across the western US and globally, capturing and documenting butterflies as well as the plants they feed on.
PARTNER:
University of Arizona
IMPACT:
The majority of butterfly records are observed close to urban centers. Our volunteers provided extensive data from remote areas, enabling biologists to understand and assess how biodiversity is impacted by climate change.
IN 2020:
Volunteers wrapped up the four-year effort in summer 2020 with 2,024 butterfly observations and 3,751 wildflower observations. A total of 323 volunteers in 4 years.
40
HIKING TO PROTECT
BUTTERFLIES AND ECOSYSTEMS Pollinators, including butterflies, are sensitive to fluctuations of temperature and therefore are important indicators of climate change. The Conserving BiodiversityPollinators Project concluded in 2020, and predicted some alarming trends of butterfly decline. Using data collected from Adventure Scientists volunteers, scientific partner Dr. Katy Prudic and her colleagues at the University of Arizona submitted a paper to the journal Science, revealing a 1.6% annual decline of more than 450 species of butterflies. Prudic acknowledges our volunteers, whose observations from remote areas added key data to the study, for making the revelation possible. “Without all those people who are interested in taking pictures and watching butterflies and spending time in nature,” Prudic says, “this study wouldn’t have been able to happen.”
butterflies enter a hibernation-like diapause in the fall as plants dry up. Without cool temperatures to trigger their slumber, butterflies are likely staying awake and starving. The issue of biodiversity decline extends beyond urban areas, as Adventure Scientists’ volunteers filled in data gaps in high elevation wildflower meadows, which are highly diverse and vulnerable to climate change. Prudic and colleagues found that butterflies were vanishing even in pristine areas. “The fact that declines are observed across the undeveloped spaces of the western U.S. means that we cannot assume that insects are OK out there far from direct human influence,”says Matthew Forister, a biology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno and lead author of the article.“And that’s because the influence of climate change is, of course, not geographically restricted.”
The culprit of decline can be linked to warmer autumn temperatures. Many
41
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
DRAMATIC DECLINES Adventure Scientists’ volunteers contributed butterfly and wildflower data in remote areas across 11 US states and 9 countries.
11
US STATES
9
COUNTRIES
3,751
2,024
BUTTERFLY OBSERVATIONS
151
BUTTERFLY SPECIES
WILDFLOWER OBSERVATIONS
612
WILDFLOWER SPECIES
2017
YEAR PROJECT STARTED
42
PH O T O : LOUISE J OHN S
P H O T O : J O R D A N BE R G
P H O T O : D O M I N I C O A KE S
43
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
PH O T O : S ARAH HORAK
P H O T O : KO R E N A H O WL E Y
PHOTO: LOUISE JOHNS
PH O T O : MAGGI CROTT Y
44
FEASIBILITY AND DESIGN In 2020, we conducted project feasibility and design studies for potential projects that will improve the health of corals, address food insecurity, and gain the most detailed view available of land use and land cover across the planet.
Rainforest is felled to make way for palm oil and rubber plantations.
45
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
VISUALIZING HUMAN TRANSFORMATIONS
OF THE PLANET PARTNER: IMPACT OBSERVATORY
More than half of the Earth’s land surface has been plowed under, paved over, or chopped down by humans. The numbers, trickling in piecemeal, are staggering: In North America, 99% of the prairie is gone; in Myanmar, 60% of storm-protecting mangrove forests have been destroyed; in Brazil, an expanse of the Amazon rainforest larger than Puerto Rico was destroyed between 2018 and 2019. The Adventure Mapping: A Global Ground Validation Campaign project will create land use/land cover maps for the entire world at an impressive resolution of 10 meters. The maps empower stakeholders at any level, individual to government, to account
for how lands are being used and how those lands are changing. We are currently conducting a feasibility and design study for Impact Observatory for this effort. Volunteers will collect on-the-ground data about types of vegetation, along with evidence of human disturbance, to validate classifications made by computers which analyze satellite photos. The result will be a set of opensource maps, hosted on interactive platforms such as the United Nations BioDiversity Lab, ESRI’s Living Atlas, and Google Earth Engine.
46
PAST PROJECT UPDATES
47
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
Artist rendering of microplastics suspended in water
48
MICROPLASTICS The largest known dataset of microplastics in the world’s oceans and rivers, our global microplastics dataset continues to help scientists understand how microplastics may have severe impacts on human and environmental health.
DATA USER SPOTLIGHT:
CORRELATING CANCER WITH MICROPLASTICS POLLUTION RUTGERS UNIVERSITY | DRS. SUBHAJYOTI DE, XIAOJU HU, & ANTARA BISWAS
The average American eats, drinks, or breathes in roughly 74,000 microplastic particles per day. Those microplastics not only contain potentially harmful chemicals from their manufacture; they also absorb and transport chemicals from the environment. Rutgers University associate professor Dr. Subhajyoti De, along with two postdoctoral scientists, used our global microplastics dataset to help understand whether certain types of cancer mutations in different countries might be linked to higher rates of microplastic pollution in the waters surrounding those nations. The team observed that, even within the same cancer type, the pattern of mutations that are typically associated
with harmful chemicals found in microplastics differed between cancer patients from different countries. For instance, Dr. De notes, “specific mutational signatures found in colon cancer were different between cohorts from the USA and East Asia, which correlated with corresponding changes in microplastic concentration in ocean water in those regions.” More research is necessary to determine whether microplastics may be causing, as opposed to merely being correlated with, these differences. The team’s findings call for a systematic assessment of the public health consequences of microplastic exposure world-wide, for cancer and other diseases. D R. XIAOJU HU & DR ANTARA BISWAS
49
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
DATA USER SPOTLIGHT:
IRRIGATING WITH PLASTIC COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY | JAN SITTERSON
Some microplastics are small enough to get picked up in the air and carried long distances, depositing their chemical load via rain, snow, and dust onto wilderness areas and farm crops. Colorado State University’s Jan Sitterson and her team are analyzing snow and stream samples near Fort Collins and Greeley, Colorado to determine whether microplastics are flowing into farms through snowmelt-fed irrigation waters.
scientific knowledge, and collaboration,” Sitterson explains. “The Adventure Scientists microplastic dataset helped me determine what was already being done on this topic and the ranges of microplastic amounts found by other scientists to compare to water samples for my own research.”
“Open source datasets are vital for increasing research outreach, building
DATA USER SPOTLIGHT:
PLASTIC SEAS ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY | MELINA SORENSEN
As a marine naturalist for four years, Melina Sorensen witnessed both the beauty and the decline of killer whales around Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Now a graduate student at Royal Roads University, Sorensen is working to understand how toxins from microplastics may be involved in that decline. Sorensen used microplastics data from Adventure Scientists to create a risk map showing where microplastics accumulate
in the Salish Sea, the waters south and east of Vancouver Island. “The value of open-sourced datasets has been immeasurable, especially given COVID-19 constraints,” she says. Initial results indicate microplastics congregate around the southern Gulf Islands and off Victoria. The next phase of her research will identify species most at risk in those areas due to toxins from microplastic pollution.
50
SCIENTIST SPOTLIGHT:
DR. ASHLEE EARL BROAD INSTITUTE OF MIT AND HARVARD
Bacteria that resist our antibiotics are poised to create a public health crisis that may dwarf the suffering of this past year. By 2050, antibiotic-resistant bacteria may kill 10 million people annually. Four years ago, Dr. Ashlee Earl, along with colleague Dr. Michael Gilmore, partnered with Adventure Scientists to deploy volunteer adventurers
By 2050, antibioticresistant bacteria may kill 10 millon people each year. around the world to collect wild animal scat. The goal? Isolate the genes responsible for antibiotic resistance and stop the arms race between the microbes and our medicines. “This issue is a big deal, but it’s not inevitable,” Earl, a microbiologist, says. “In order to make this not come to pass, it requires all of us. We are going to have to
51
bring science to the table and figure out how each of us can work together to turn the tide. Organizations like Adventure Scientists are a puzzle piece in the answer to this problem.” So far, Earl and fellow scientists have dramatically narrowed the search for the genes responsible for antibiotic resistance. By understanding what these genes can tell us about how the microbes resist antibiotics, scientists and medical professionals can more quickly identify antibiotic-resistant infections in hospital settings, uncover new ways to target the bacteria, and design better antibiotics. “Adventure Scientists has enabled scientists to bring those samples into the lab so we can start shining light on questions about antibiotic resistance and look in places we’ve never been able to look before,” explains Earl. “It’s been quite extraordinary. And we desperately need it. We really do.”
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
Volunteers collected animal scat such as this sample from a Himalayan blue sheep in Nepal, that enabled the Harvard team to narrow their search for the genes responsible for antibiotic resistance. P H OT O: L ON N I E D U P RE
52
RECENT SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS Montoto-Martínez, Tania, et al. “Pump-Underway Ship Intake: An Unexploited Opportunity for Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Microplastic Monitoring Needs on Coastal and Oceanic Waters.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 8 May 2020. Zrimec, Jan, et al. “Plastic-degrading potential across the global microbiome correlates with recent pollution trends.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 8 May 2020, journals.plos.org/plosone/ article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0232744. Moriarty, Katie M., et al. “Status of Pacific Martens (Martes caurina) on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington.” Vol. 93, No. 2, Northwest Science, 25 Sept. 2019. Smith, Adam B., et al. “Alternatives to Genetic Affinity as a Context for within-Species Response to Climate.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 23 Sept. 2019. Rasmussen, Lisa M. “When Citizens Do Science: Stories from Labs, Garages, and Beyond.” Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, Vol. 9 No. 1, 2019, p. 1-4. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/nib.2019.0001. Prudic, Kathleen L., et al. “Creating the Urban Farmer’s Almanac with Citizen Science Data.” MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 11 Sept. 2019.
53
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
Dylan Jon e s col le ct s a wate r s ample for microplas t ics re s e a rc h. An daman S e a, T h ai l a nd . P H O T O : M AT T C L I N E
54
EQUITY AND JUSTICE IN SCIENCE AND THE OUTDOORS We work at the intersection of science and the outdoors–two arenas where women, gender-nonconforming individuals, disabled people, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have not just been made unwelcome–they’ve been made unsafe. In 2019, we began overdue work to restructure our systems so everyone will feel included, valued, and safe engaging with Adventure Scientists regardless of their identity. In our commitment to an Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (EIJ) framework, we recognize that the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation disproportionately harm the most vulnerable including women, BIPOC communities, hardworking communities with low- to moderate-income individuals, and those who are not able to advocate for themselves. Adventure Scientists’ purpose derives from our investment in protecting global ecosystems for the good of all people. We are committed to leveling the playing field so that everyone starts at the same place and has a favorable chance of succeeding. In 2020, we began developing intentional collaborative relationships with tribal nations on whose land our volunteers do work. Within our team, we also regularly discussed systemic racism and bias, integrating equity, inclusion, and justice into our work staff-wide. We sought out and developed relationships with outdoor groups that promote diversity and inclusion in the outdoors. And as of late 2020, we engaged The Avarna Group to conduct an assessment of our organization and guide us on concrete actions to implement so that we model and encourage the dignity that everyone has a right to experience. We welcome a world where science and the outdoors are no longer realms that protect the privileged. Everyone benefits when all are safe.
55
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
A h e ad lampe d adve n tu re r s tan d s be twe e n me adow an d Mil ky Way. S h e n an doah Na t i ona l Park, V irgin ia.
56
BOARD AND ADVISORS
2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Scott Amero, Heana Chung, Ann Curry, Page Dabney, Mike Herring, Leigh Lytle, Peter Molnar, Gregg Treinish, Kate Wing, Jim Young
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Jon Bowermaster, Christy Chin, Alan Eustace, Sy Kaufman, Anthony Lee, Steve McCormick, Frazier Miller, Gib Myers, Bill Unger
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Enric Sala, Dr. Lauren Oakes, Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, Dr. Tim McDermott
57
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
MEET THE TEAM
After a year at home, what’s on your bucket list for 2021?
JORDAN GARRETT
ANNE RUSSELL GREGORY
Project Manager
Development Manager
“Reconnecting with friends in the outdoors is going to be hugely fulfilling for me! I’m especially looking forward to a long backpacking trip in the Wallowa mountains of Eastern Oregon with a dear friend I’ve known since middle school.”
JENÉLLE DOWLING Scientific Director
MERRILL HALLETT
MARIS FESSENDEN
Associate Director of Development
Communications Manager
58
RICKY JONES Technology Manager
KATYA KOEPSEL Project Assistant
MAX LITTLEFIELD Project Coordinator
MARCUS PEARSON
JENNIFER SHOEMAKER
JESSICA SMOROWSKI
Director of Operations
Associate Director of Communications
Administrative Manager
PARTNER HIGHLIGHT: YASMIN SANIE-HAYY “Adventure Scientists’ unique approach demonstrates the important scale of research that can be achieved when citizens engage in environmental data collection. Their commitment to applying this model to a variety of pressing global problems is inspiring, and I am proud to support them.”
59
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
MEET THE TEAM
After a year at home, what’s on your bucket list for 2021?
“I’m excited to go back to the Arctic and visit the Brooks Range for the first time. I look forward to collecting data for our Wild and Scenic Rivers project.”
GREGG TREINISH Executive Director
JOSHUA THEURER
MICHELLE TOSHACK
Sr.Manager of Project Design
Sr.Manager of Volunteer Experience
“I’m stoked to do some gravel grinding on Montana’s expansive network of USFS roads! I’m looking forward to learning the ins and outs of bikepacking while exploring Big Sky Country in a new way. Fingers crossed my dog Zeke is as excited as I am!”
GREGG TREINISH Executive Director
LINDSAY WANCOUR Project Creation Manager
60
FINANCIALS Other Revenue 1%
Grants
17% In-Kind Contributions Sponsorships
60%
4% 4% 14%
Fee for Service
INCOME Contributions and pledges Fee for Service
$287,902
Sponsorships
$88,676
In-Kind Contributions
$74,128
Grants
$331,312
Other Revenue Total
61
$1,197,820
$14,651 $1,994,489
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
Contributions and Pledges
General and Administrative
Fundraising
10%
20%
70%
Program
EXPENSES Program
$993,218
Fundraising
$285,953
General and Administrative
$138,526
Total
$1,417,697
END OF YEAR SUMMARY Beginning 2020 Net Assets Change in Net Assets End 2020 Net Assets
$1,645,930 $542,420 $2,188,350
62
DONORS $100,000+
$5,000 – $9,999
Elizabeth R. and William J. Patterson Foundation
Ann & Jim Curry
High Meadows Foundation
CLIF Bar Family Foundation
State of Montana
Drs. Hearee Chung and Clifford Keith Beck
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
George L. Ohrstrom Jr. Foundation
William H. Donner Foundation
Google Heana Chung
$25,000 - $99,999
Houston Family Foundation
Gib and Susan Myers
John Dayton
HerRay Foundation
Kaufman Family Fund
John Clifford and Katrina Lake
Leigh and Patrick Lytle
Outdoor Research
MiiR
Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz
PIKA
Peter C. Welles Fund Scott and Karen Amero Family Fund
$1,000 – $4,999
Sunski
Amatics CPA Group
Tecovas Foundation
Apple
Tree Line Capital Partners
Chris and Nora Hohenlohe CLIF Bar and Company
63
$10,000 – $24,999
Climate Ride
Anthony and Jennifer Lee Family Fund
Denny and Lauri Thorley
Ashoka
Esri
Eaglemere Foundation
Frazier and Tia Miller
Epicurus Fund
Gregg Treinish and Whitney Metzger
Eustace Charitable Fund
Grendel Burrell
Lindmor Fund
Jessee Gift Fund
Mike and Lisa Herring
Joe Cartwright
Peak Design
Kate Wing and Doug Obegi
Susan and George Matelich
Lend Lease Capital LLC
The Dorothy Jordan Chadwick Fund
Maria Vecchiotti
Tomchin Family Foundation
Matt Crommett
William D. Unger Giving Fund
Page Dabney and Sheri Blackwood
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
$1,000 – $4,999 cont’d
Jenny Chatman
Peter Molnar and Jess Parker
Jill Garrett
Terry and Sue Stiffler
Jim and Carole Young
Thule Group
Jim Walseth
Tim and Jill Sherry
Terry and Tina Haight
Yasmin Sanie-Hay
Julian Dann Kaki and Kent Grubbs
$100 – $999
Karen Walmsley
Alpacka Raft
Kim Larson and Gary Knell
Amazon Smile
Larry Risch
Anne Russell Gregory and Ben Scrimshaw
Leah and Nathaniel Shoaff
Anonymous
Leslie Taylor
Ari, Darren, and Lazer Leva
Linda Wordeman
Barbara Mulvee
Mary Emily Bussey
Benevity Community Impact Fund
Mason and Pamela White
Betsey Pearson
Matthew Dowling
Brad Smith
Merrill and John Hallett
Briana Seapy
Montana State University Foundation
Charlie Reinertsen
MountainFilm
Chérie Newman
Noa Bruhis
Christopher Michel
Pam and Rich Scott
Croakies
Paul Van Dieren
Daniel and Mel Steindler
Porter Storey
Danny Giovale
Rachel Rudwall
David Rikert
Rebecca Knack
Diane Talbert
Richard Sigman
Dieuwe van Amerongen
Richard Warren
Edison Velez
Ronald Stuff
Eric Stanfield
Sally and Josh Dickinson
Erin Barr
Sara Sutton
Errol and Ellen Brick
Scherezade Doctor
Evo
Scott Placide
Gail Ott and Rich Gregory
Steven and Wendy Shray
Greg and Rebecca Arnold
Taylor and Kimberly Schollmaier
Gregory Symmes
Teri Jones
Hoby and Lynn Douglass
Terri Luchsinger
Humbleweed Creative
Tony D’Amico
Indre and Justin Rockefeller Fund
Topher White
Ioanna Tarasidis - Attentive
Trish and Tim Preheim
Jaime Jacob
Tyler Bowman
Jane and Gene Kay
Urs Hölzle and Dr. Geeske Joel
Janet Kempff
Van Wetter/Brew Family
64
PO BOX 1834 | B O Z E M AN , M T 5 9 7 7 1 | 4 0 6 . 6 2 4 . 3 3 2 0 | W W W. A DV E N T U R E S C I E N T I ST S .ORG