For the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we’re honoring our planet with a renewed commitment to research and conservation of—and advocacy for—our wildest places. Outdoor Research and Adventure Scientists are teaming up to galvanize everyday explorers to become citizen scientists, providing them with the tools to contribute to a global collection of data and research. By partnering, we will better connect outdoor enthusiasts with purpose-driven adventures that contribute to the study of environmental and human health challenges. We’re already connected to outdoor adventurers who love to explore remote, wild places that require skills like backcountry navigation, and qualities like patience and grit. Just as these adventurers are uniquely adapted to help in this greater capacity, Outdoor Research is unique in our ability to provide explorers with the means to do so: Gear and accessories that can help adventurers withstand extreme environments, temperatures, and weather. These qualities are key in gathering the type of data Adventure Scientists need to further their research and data libraries. Explained further in their Vision: By scaling data collection, we envision a world in which our ability to unlock solutions to environmental issues is only limited by our ability to ask the right questions. Data collection can be expensive, time consuming, and physically demanding, which limits the role that science currently plays in the conservation process. Adventure Scientists tackles this problem by providing our partners with reliable and otherwise unobtainable data. By recruiting, training and managing individuals with strong outdoor skills—such as mountaineering, diving or whitewater kayaking—we bring back hard-to-obtain data from the far corners of the globe. Through their involvement with these projects, volunteers become informed ambassadors for the species and places with which they work. By telling their stories in the rich tradition of outdoor adventure, we greatly magnify our partners’ marketing efforts. The Adventure Scientists' combination of constituency, visibility and data serves as an invaluable conservation and scientific accelerator around the world. Outdoor Research and Adventure Scientists are now working together to help fulfill that vision by matching a passion for the outdoors and exploration with a meaningful way to give back to the wild places we love. When you team up with Adventure Scientists on your next outdoor objective, you have the opportunity to make a tangible contribution to the preservation of nature for future generations. Who are Adventure Scientists? Adventure Scientists® is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that equips partners with data collected from the outdoors that are crucial to addressing environmental and human health challenges. Their mission hinges on three goals: 1. Be the most efficient provider of hard-to-obtain environmental data that would otherwise be unavailable for conservation. 2. Grow a network of informed volunteers who have a deep commitment to conservation after participating in the scientific process. 3. Serve as an invaluable connection between the conservation and outdoor communities. Here are just a few of some of Adventure Scientist’s most successful projects: Antibiotic Resistance: Isolate genes responsible for antibiotic resistance through animal scat samples. Illegal Deforestation: Improve traceability of timber species, origin, and legality by gathering genetic and chemical samples. Wildlife Connectivity: Identify hotspots on wildlife-vehicle collisions to inform strategic placement of transportation infrastructure. Threatened Species: Increase protections for imperiled wildlife, after rigorous tracking projects. Agriculture: Increase crop yield by studying the highest known plant life subsisting at extreme altitudes. Microplastics: Inform governmental policies based on the largest microplastics data collection on earth. Learn more about Adventure Scientists, and shop the Outdoor Research gear you need to get out there, and stay out there longer. *** Photos courtesy of Adventure Scientists and Chris Cawley.
