Explore. Collect. Protect. MISSION

We mobilize the outdoor community to gather and share scientific data, driving conservation around the world.

GOALS Mission 1. Be the most efficient provider of hard-to-attain environmental data that would otherwise be unavailable for conservation. & 2. Grow a network of informed advocates who have a deep commitment Goals to conservation after participating in the scientific process. 3. Serve as an invaluable connection between the conservation and outdoor communities.

This page: Photo courtesy of the Okavango Wilderness Project

Cover photos clockwise from top left: Burton Coleman, Enric Sala/National Geographic, Dylan Jones, ASC photo, Emily Stifler Wolfe, Rachel Cochran

2 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation Letter from the Executive Director Dear Friends and Family,

This has been a year of focus for ASC. By practicing the skills of field science—curiosity, observation and documentation—our volunteers We developed a four-year strategy to serve as our become advocates for the species and habitats with roadmap. We have chosen to limit the number of which they work. ASC harnesses their passion and projects we take on in order to address specific storytelling abilities in the rich tradition of outdoor challenges to wildlife and habitat. We relied on our adventure, advancing our partners’ conservation efforts network of dedicated mentors to hone our mission and around the world. create strong metrics by which we will measure our success. We couldn’t do any of this without our volunteers and supporters. Thank you for being part of the ASC family. In 2014, ASC completed the first year of the Landmark wildlife program, a collaboration with the American Prairie Reserve. We also planted the seeds to Cheers, expand our microplastics research from the marine environment to freshwater, and we will be collecting data from rivers, lakes and streams worldwide to accelerate global plastics reduction. Gregg Treinish

adventurescience.org 3 Conservation 17,595 12 Wildlife observations made partners served % by ASC Landmark crew

Year in Of39 ASC income from project Numbers management agreements

Publications in regional, national and YouTube views of “A Higher Calling: international news Adventure with a Purpose,” a Clif Bar outlets film about the ASC Snow & Ice Project

4 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation ASC volunteers visited 7 CONTINENTS and 5 OCEANS

GIB MYERS ASC supporter

I support ASC because I believe in its vision, and in the team’s ability to greatly influence the conservation landscape.

ASC Data-Collection Expeditions 2011-2014 adventurescience.org 5 In 2014, we honed our project criteria and our value proposition. New projects will meet the following criteria and benefit our partners in these ways.

New Project Criteria

1. Provides pathway to measurable Project conservation outcome. We seek projects in which the data we collect informs Management management actions. In addition, projects must have rich storytelling potential.

2. Demonstrates clear need for ASC services. We take on projects that require volunteers with specialized outdoor skills.

Pictured right: Landmark volunteer Lindsay King and crew boss Ryan Rock check a camera trap during on a 6 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation frigid winter day. ASC Photo Through carefulAccuracy. volunteer training and oversight, we ensure the integrity of our data. We emphasize quality over quantity.

We manage volunteersTime. as they collect hard-to-obtain data, saving our partners time and effort. DR. NATALIE KEHRWALD Glaciologist University of Venice

ASC’s project management On average, we saveCost. clients half the traditional service has allowed me to monitoring costs. receive valuable samples from the Himalaya and the Andes, and also inspired people who are interested in the environment but might not otherwise have the Think Big. We recruit,Scope. train and manage volunteers to gather data from some of the world’s most remote opportunity to participate in a places, and on a vast geographic scale. scientific study.

Learn more at www.adventurescience.org/project-management adventurescience.org 7 ADVENTURELandmark SCIENCE ON AMERICAN PRAIRIE RESERVE

In 2014, ASC and American Prairie Reserve mosquitoes rivaling an Alaskan swarm, and launched the Landmark project. This multi- breathtaking electrical storms dancing in front of year collaboration is allowing APR managers the green hues of the aurora borealis. to understand how wildlife interacts with the Reserve’s 305,000-plus acres of habitat. By “Many of our crewmembers have passed through bringing crew members from around the world to the Great Plains on their way to somewhere else. live and work on the northern plains, Landmark Landmark gives them an opportunity to stop and is also building a global constituency for this explore,” says ASC Program Director Mike Quist remarkable ecosystem. Kautz. “They simply fall in love with the place.”

ASC recruits, trains and manages volunteer Our volunteers return to their hometowns crews of six who live on the Reserve and collect around the world as ambassadors of ASC and data year-round. Walking 10-mile transects, the the prairie. Our partners at APR tell us that this 44 crewmembers in 2014 experienced weather combination of constituency, visibility and data is from -30° to over 100°, a hundred-year flood, of tremendous value to their conservation efforts.

Thanks to the Landmark project sponsors:

8 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation WILDLIFE AND HABITAT DATA ADVENTURELandmark SCIENCE ON AMERICAN PRAIRIE RESERVE The data collected during the Landmark project is used to manage and protect this wild landscape. In the first year, our crewmembers made 17,595 wildlife observations, recorded hundreds of hours of wildlife footage on motion-activated cameras, and participated in community events on neighboring ranches. Landmark crews have become an invaluable resource for APR and its management teams.

MORGAN CARDIFF Landmark crewmember Hometown: Newcastle, NSW, Australia

I lived on the Reserve for just under eight weeks. On the first day it was about 100 degrees, and I thought spending that long in a tent would be tough. By the end, the tough part was actually leaving. adventurescience.org 9 SURVEYINGMarine THEMicroplastics WORLD’S OCEANS FOR TINY PLASTIC PARTICLES

In 2014, ASC found microplastics particles in 95% of the water samples our volunteers collected from oceans around the world.

Toxins including DDT and BPA adhere to these tiny particles, and because they resemble plankton, they’re often ingested by aquatic life. The toxins biomagnify as they move up the food chain, accumulating in birds, sea life and potentially humans.

Microplastics pollution enters the water when laundered from synthetic clothing, when cosmetics and toothpastes containing microbeads are washed down the drain, and when discarded debris like bottles and shopping bags break down.

Our volunteers are building one of the most robust microplastics datasets ever collected. Working alongside our coalition of education, corporate and legislative partners, we aim to utilize this data to leverage change and “turn off the ASC sailor Autumn Foushee at work in the sea of Cortez. Photo by Dwyer Haney faucet” of microplastics pollution at its source.

10 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation Thanks to the ASC Microplastics Project sponsor: Rowers in the inaugural Great Pacific Race gathered data for ASC’s microplastics project from the middle of the Pacific. Innovative Photo by Rod Mayer Partnerships

In 2014, innovative partnerships helped ASC rapidly grow our marine microplastics research.

GREAT PACIFIC RACE ATLANTIC RALLY FOR ADVENTURERS-AT-LARGE In June, ocean rowing SAILORS We partnered with dozens of teams in the inaugural In November, more than independent adventurers and Great Pacific Race launched from 100 cruising boats sailing from expeditions this year, gathering Monterey, California, aiming for Grand Canary Island to Saint Lucia microplastics samples from far-flung Hawaii. Some spent as many as collected a total of 546 samples from locations worldwide, among them 80 days at sea. Encouraged by a a 602,000-square-nautical mile area Scandinavia, Antarctica, the Falkland partnership between ASC and race in the Atlantic. This unprecedented Islands, South Georgia Island and organizers, most teams collected dataset is incredibly valuable West Africa—places our partner samples. Through extensive media to understanding the issue of scientist Abby Barrows describes as coverage, the race raised awareness microplastics pollution. “undersampled and understudied.” about microplastics pollution and our work. adventurescience.org 11 COASTAL PACIFIC MARTEN SURVEY, WASHINGTON Between January and April, 21 ASC volunteers monitored 20 remote camera stations on the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Our goal in this two-year partnership with the Olympic National Forest was to determine the presence or absence of coastal Pacific marten. Our efforts contributed to NatureServe listing the marten as “critically imperiled” on the peninsula; this improves Seasonal opportunities for species reestablishment in the area. We documented 17 species in 2014, Projects among them Roosevelt elk, bobcat, coyote and fisher.

CARNIVORE TRACKING, MONTANA Over two winter weekends, ASC deployed groups of veterans into Montana’s Elkhorn Mountains to track rare carnivores. We found signs of mountain lions and bobcats,

Photo by Angell Williams (CC) providing valuable information that will assist managers with the conservation of these

12 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation species in the Helena National Forest. Ongoing Projects

SNOW & ICE ROADKILL PIKA Mountains store the fresh water ASC cyclists and runners are Pikas live in cold, high elevation that feeds many of the world’s recording roadkill observations environments and cannot survive major rivers, and mountain glaciers worldwide. This data helps our temperatures warmer than 80° F. are melting, with the highest partner scientist at the UC-Davis ASC hikers and mountain climbers elevation thinning documented at Road Ecology Center study wildlife are gathering habitat data on this around 20,000 feet. ASC alpinists patterns, with a goal of reducing keystone species—information sample snow and ice from glaciers animal-vehicle collisions. In 2014, that helps researchers better to help our partner scientist study ASC volunteers made 1,783 understand and address changes the extent and rate of this melt observations for this project. in the alpine ecosystem. using cutting-edge nuclear isotope dating. Photos from left: Carina Ahlqvist, Alberto Contreras, Phil Pete (CC) adventurescience.org 13 FRESHWATER MICROPLASTICS Having demonstrated the ubiquitous presence of microplastics pollution in the ocean, we are expanding this project to freshwater worldwide. We are The Year also launching a five-year targeted study in our home watershed in Montana, the Gallatin. The goal is to utilize data to reduce the amount of microplastics Ahead pollution entering our backyard rivers. Learn more at adventurescience.org/microplastics

14 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation OKAVANGO DELTA HABITAT ASSESSMENT ASC will return to the Okavango to establish sensor platforms monitoring wildlife, water and air quality from the front lines of the newest UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Photo by Lukasz Lukomski (CC) UINTA CARNIVORE GRETL DUPRE GALGON SURVEY ASC Supporter We will be determining the presence ASC is a practical, fun and of carnivore populations in the Uinta viable way to involve all of Mountains, Utah, magnifying previous us in paying attention to our research efforts more than six-fold. This planet’s plights. I want my project is funded by a grant from the young daughters to know National Forest Foundation. that we are all scientists and we are all [adventurers], and that it is up to us, not the INTERACTIVE WEB PORTAL next generation to be the We are building interactive web portals that change. will allow educators to interact with the data we collect. Using National Core Curriculum What ideas do you have? standards as our guide, we will reach Email [email protected] thousands of students around the world. adventurescience.org 15 ASC Staff

Gregg Treinish Emily Stifler Wolfe Executive Director Media & Outreach Manager Gregg founded Adventurers and Joining ASC in June, Emily has long Scientists for Conservation in been interested in the organization—in 2011. Today he leads ASC with an her previous job, she wrote the first indomitable vision and passion that story about ASC. She brings editorial knowledge and pushes the organization forward every day. creativity, as well as a strong drive to her work.

Mike Quist Kautz Merrill Warren Program Director Assistant to the Executive Director Mike has a background in program Merrill came to ASC in early 2014, management and education. This year first as an intern, then as a Landmark his determination and strategic vision crewmember, and finally as a full-time were instrumental in the development of Landmark and staffer. Her smile, enthusiasm and willingness to learn several other ASC projects. make her invaluable to us.

Special thanks to our 2014 interns Julia Johannesen, Colleen Ferris, Briana Seapy and Alex Hamilton, as well as to Grace Matelich (2015), who helped complete this report.

16 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation Jordan Holsinger Scientific Program Manager A scientist by training, Jordan has filled many roles at ASC—whether working in media and outreach, or as our scientific ASC staffer Merrill Warren samples from the Gallatin River manager. His ability to adapt to ever near Logan, Montana in late 2014. In 2015, ASC is expanding changing organizational needs made him our microplastics research from the marine environment to a force driving our mission forward. freshwater. Photo by Emily Stifler Wolfe

Erin Johnson Program Coordinator Erin has been a pillar at ASC for the last two and a half years. She had a steady presence connecting adventurers with science projects, and also in our small, dynamic office environment. ASC staffer Merrill Warren samples from the Gallatin River near Logan, Montana in late 2014. In 2015, ASC is expanding our microplastics research from the marine environment to freshwater. Photo by Emily Stifler Wolfe

adventurescience.org 17 $10,000- $19,999 $500- $999 <$100 GeoFamily Foundation Robert and Connie Loarie Image Outfitters Clif Bar Family Foundation Michael and Judith Gaulke Marilyn Jo Rochelle Ginny Jordan Montana Gift Corral Varoon Bashyakarla Flat Creek Fund Garry and Donna Weber Bruce Bugbee Dawn and Peter Welles Thomas Bunter $100- $499 Dan, Evan and Mira Center $5,000- $9,999 Ryan Mayo Ricardo Fernandez Garcia Osprey Packs, Inc. Whitney Metzger Matthew Holt Tomchin Family Foundation Errol and Ellen Brick Roy McCarthy Giving Jay and Kären Abbe Cambrea Ezell Graham Moore George and Susan Matelich Linda Shafran Harvey Myman Partners Ann Luskey on behalf of Paul and Elyn Andersson Christopher Seymour Charlotte’s Web Foundation Lindsay McPherson Rhiannon Spaw Brooke Jordan Patricia Folsom Thomas Ward The Houston Family Foundation Alan Ramadan Gregg Treinish Tiger Baron Foundation Sharon Baker Mario Brigando April Ann Fong Anonymous $1,000- $4,999 Brain J. Hawkins Whitney Burns Patricia Jennings State of Montana Mary-Margaret Jenkins $20,000 + Regan Nelson Alan and Ronna Treinish Andrew J. Luk The Campbell Foundation L. Clark Tate Marcie Rothman William Proper Roger and Rosemary Enrico Mike Wolfe Grant and Jeanette Heindrich Daniel and Mel Steindler Galgon Edelweiss Fund/ Kassandra Ashford The North Face Mary and David Stifler Laughing Legacy of David Steve Weileman Chris and Nora Hohenlohe Sune Tamm-Buckle Gaillard Michelle Anderson Horny Toad Mason B. White Gib and Susan Myers David Durner Orr-Lederer Charitable Gift Fund Urs Hölzle and Geeske Joel Steven and Florence Goldby Grendel Burrell Loren Bahls

18 2014 Highlights • Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation Financials SOURCES OF SUPPORT AND REVENUE INCOME Individual Contributions $187,273 Fee-for-Service $157,211 Corporate Donations $23,301 Individual Contributions Foundation Grants $17,530 Government Government Grants $9,133 Grants % Total $394,448 % 48 EXPENSES 2 2014 EXPENSES Program Services $298,454 Foundation Fee-for-Service Fundraising $25,234 Grants Management & Administration $45,983 % Total $369,671 % 39 5 Corporate Liabilities for 2015 Projects $4,000 Donations Program Services Beginning Assets $23,924 Change in Assets $24,777 % % 6 81 Net Assets $44,701 12% Administration 7% Fundraising

adventurescience.org 19 Photo by Meghan Riehl

Advisory Council Jon Bowermaster Roz Savage Celine Cousteau Trip Jennings Lance Craighead Captain Joel Fogel Dr. Beth Holland Geoff Pampush

PO Box 1834, Bozeman, MT 59771 | www.adventurescience.org