NatureBridge

NatureBridge's mission is to foster environmental literacy to sustain our planet. Founded in 1971 in Yosemite National Park, NatureBridge is the largest residential environmental education partner of the National Park Service and has educated over one million young people. Annually, NatureBridge reaches more than 30,000 K-12 students and teachers with multi-day programs in five national parks: Olympic, Yosemite, Golden Gate, Prince William Forest and a summer program in Shenandoah.

Our goal is to provide residential environmental science and community-based education programs that improve overall environmental literacy to a diverse group of participants. To accomplish this, we generate a newfound interest in science, enhance academic skills, inspire a deep and personal connection with nature, and produce the motivation and knowledge needed for students to become conservationists. We provide tuition assistance to underserved schools based on their percentages of students eligible for the federal free and reduced-price meal program.

NatureBridge responds to the urgent need for environmental science literacy by offering multi-day intensive science programs in national parks and providing tuition assistance to under-resourced schools so that students who need it most can reap the educational benefits of our programs. In the environmental science education program, students live in national parks for two to five days, learning through direct observation and experimentation about what they may have previously only read in textbooks. NatureBridge catalyzes excitement about science for students from diverse financial and cultural backgrounds.

Our environmental science education programs are built on NatureBridge's evidence-based Core Educational Framework. This model was created by the organization's Education Advisory Council, which includes representatives from the National Science Foundation, Stanford University, National Geographic, and others.

The Core Educational Framework is built around three themes:

1. Sense of Place: In order to nurture a sense of place, making students comfortable and prepared to learn, students might look for environmental clues to find the cardinal directions, build interactive maps of the state of California using natural objects, or study state or park geography.
2. Interconnections: Using scientific processes, the parks' natural and cultural histories, and students' own experiences, educators work with students to demonstrate the complex connections between all living things, the environment, and human societies. Through the lens of interconnections, an oak tree becomes a food source for humans and wildlife; a home to acorn woodpeckers; a symbol of Yosemite Valley's disappearing meadows; and a small but important piece of the carbon cycle.
3. Stewardship: Educators engage students in educational park stewardship projects, such as removing invasive plant species and monitoring birds and water quality—an instrumental component in helping students realize their ability to positively impact their home environment and community.

Our staff of environmental science educators is at the core of our organization. Working with small groups of elementary, middle, and high school students, our educators bring science to life in national parks through engaging environmental science lessons: walks, hikes, scrambles, explorations, and overnight backcountry expeditions to the best spots in each park. Our educators bring diverse backgrounds to NatureBridge, including advanced degrees in science and education, experience with scientific research, classroom teaching, wilderness expeditionary leadership, outdoor education, and a wide range of other professions. Our educators' strong skills in environmental science and outdoor education, combined with the magnificent settings of our national park campuses, have strong impacts on the students we serve.

NatureBridge welcomes more than 700 schools and 30,000 students and teachers each year to our four campuses. After more than 40 years of teaching and inspiring students, NatureBridge has provided life-changing experiences for more than 1 million participants and is a national leader in the field of environmental education. NatureBridge is widely recognized for excellence, both regionally and nationally. Education staff members are regularly invited as presenters at conferences to share expertise in best practices in environmental education. NatureBridge received the 2009 North American Association for Environmental Education Award for Outstanding Service to Environmental Education by an Organization and the 2010 John Muir Conservation Award. In additional acknowledgement of our leadership role, NatureBridge was invited by federal officials to share our expertise at a White House summit on environmental education and a congressional hearing conducted by the US Senate Subcommittee on National Parks.

As part of a broader plan to increase our reach substantially across the country, NatureBridge has embarked on two campus expansions: Yosemite and Golden Gate. The expansions will allow NatureBridge to expand our impact through outcomes of: increased student numbers; more scholarship funding available; accommodations and programs for visiting scholars and thought leaders; and refreshed, relevant curriculum on climate change and fire ecology.

Yosemite Campus Expansion: Located on Henness Ridge, a few miles south of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, the new National Environmental Science Center (NESC) will be a 16-building campus from which NatureBridge students, visiting scholars, partner organizations, universities, and teachers can convene in a state-of-the-art facility in one of the world's most iconic national parks. When complete, the Center will offer accommodations for 224 participants, and will include a dining hall, classroom/laboratory building, amphitheater, and ancillary buildings, including a fire station that will support the study of fire ecology. The NESC opens up new possibilities for NatureBridge's student learning outcomes. This campus is universally accessible, ensuring that all students–regardless of physical ability–can access the buildings and trails in the woods surrounding the Center.

Golden Gate Campus: Partnering with the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), NatureBridge Golden Gate creates learning experiences in nature for over 10,000 Bay Area youth annually. However, we have reached capacity and have a substantial waiting list of schools. By 2019 NatureBridge Golden Gate will expand by 30% to serve 3,000 additional students each year, including 1,000 underserved youth primarily from Marin County. We will also build a climate science lab to provide hands-on learning on climate change that resonates with young people's experience and is specific to our local environment.