Adventure Scientists

By sourcing more high-impact projects, matching them to our motivated volunteers, and expanding our QA/QC process to generate more high-quality data, we would serve more scientists and better fulfill our mission.

We are creating a map-based marketplace, “the platform”, where adventurers post their upcoming expeditions, and scientists post their data-collection needs. Careful screening of projects, templates, best practices, and a star rating system for both adventurers and scientists ensures high-quality data, project design, communication, and collaboration standards. Adventure Scientists will retain responsibility for recruiting and screening volunteers while training and management will be the responsibility of the scientific partner (who can choose to hire our team as an add-on service). 

The platform will allow hundreds of scientists, doing both marine and terrestrial research, to access the high-quality data they need to combat environmental and human health challenges. And, thousands of adventurers will have a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.

Scientists working on today’s most pressing issues––from deforestation to biodiversity loss––are often hindered by a lack of high-quality, large-scale data from remote environments. They are also constrained by growing misinformation about science and a dearth of impact-driven funding opportunities, which have conspired to force scientific leaders to think smaller, move more slowly, and jump through bureaucratic and political hoops to achieve even minimal impact. Without access to critical data, we miss countless opportunities for scientific advancement and conservation.

Around the world, there are thousands of applied scientists, who could benefit from our services. Likewise, thousands of would-be volunteers visit our website each month. Because limited spots are available on our projects, we often have to turn volunteers away. If we could bridge this gap, we could achieve even greater impact, advancing scientific solutions for environmental and human health challenges.

Adventure Scientists equips scientists and engineers at the forefront of their fields with planning and execution of large-scale data collection projects around the world. We mobilize outdoor-skilled volunteers—hikers, bikers, skiers, climbers, kayakers, and more—who operate on any scale from almost anywhere on Earth to collect high-quality scientific data. This enables scientists to ask broader questions, creates compelling storytelling opportunities, and generates connections to advance their work.

Adventure Scientists’ goal is to accelerate environmental and human health solutions. We empower researchers to think bigger and access the data, public support, and funding they need to achieve impact.

The map-based platform would enable us to increase the number of scientists we can serve. In 2020, we worked with a Google Engineer to map the plan for the platform. We conducted ten experiments to determine if there was a market for our recruiting and screening services by themselves. This resulted in three contracts (National Park Service, Monarch Joint Ventures, and Living Lakes Canada) and seven conversations focused on full projects.

We serve scientists, who serve us all. Researchers and engineers at the forefront of their fields could be focused on finding solutions to the many environmental and human health challenges that we face everyday. And yet, they report that they spend more than 50% of their time researching and applying for grants with little chance of approval. Last year, the NIH—the highest funded scientific government agency in the US—approved less than 9,800 of the 54,000 requests it considered. 

By supporting scientists across all sectors of research, we improve their ability to achieve impact. Our volunteer recruiting platform will enable scientists to access unlimited boots on the ground to collect the data they need at a fraction of the cost. The platform will also foster greater connections and storytelling about their work.

Adventure Scientists’ “why” comes from the urgent need to make our planet, ecosystems, and species healthier and more sustainable. Scientists are limited by a lack of access to data from remote environments to better understand and protect valuable ecosystems. Our volunteers are motivated to advance science, and they are equipped to collect high-quality data from mountaintops to coral reefs. We need the platform to scale our high-quality data collection to serve more scientists around the world.

Adventure Scientists is an established nonprofit with a proven track record of carrying out data collection projects in the US and around the world. In our first decade, Adventure Scientists designed and executed over 130 projects. We collected samples of the highest known plant life on Earth from Mount Everest that are being used to double crop yields around the world through natural symbiosis. We have collected scat samples from more than 100 countries that are being used to narrow the search for the genes responsible for antibiotic resistance. We built the largest dataset on Earth for microplastic pollution that is being used by more than 250 governments and NGOs to combat this pervasive issue. We are looking to scale to take on more international projects and serve significantly more researchers, engineers, and scientists.

We are a citizen science service provider and are committed to projects that lead to tangible conservation outcomes. From project design to build to management, there is no other entity that does what we do. 

Adventure Scientists volunteers access landscapes where few others venture. Our volunteers are comfortable traveling in remote, sometimes extreme environments, which allows them to focus on following scientific protocols. These are individuals who (1) pay close attention to detail, (2) are creative problem solvers, and (3) are able to share their experiences via the rich tradition of storytelling that is at the heart of the outdoor community.

We are uniquely positioned to collect data on any scale from almost anywhere on Earth. Thousands of potential volunteers visit our website each month, which shows the massive potential for collective action. By making connections between these skilled volunteers and scientists in need of support, we remove significant barriers to advancing science and conservation.

We currently serve 8 scientific partners with active projects and project feasibility/design services. 

By this time next year, we will serve 12.  

Five years from now, we will serve 300.

We have a proven track record of identifying projects that yield results and have honed our ability to find and vet the projects that will have lasting impact. In our first decade, we have achieved several victories for scientific discovery, conservation, and humanity; we are confident that we will have many more in the years to come. 

We ultimately measure our progress by the number of tangible conservation outcomes that are made possible by our services. Because timelines on these impacts coming to fruition make it challenging to measure, we measure our success in the short term by the number of scientists we serve, volunteer time dedicated to our projects, and volunteer survey results. 

The Adventure Scientists volunteer experience is a way for those who care deeply about the places and ecosystems in which they recreate to participate in their protection. In surveys of our 10,000+ volunteers, more than 80% of volunteers report that they are more likely to pursue careers in conservation after their service with us. Likewise, volunteers report that they make conservation-oriented behavioral changes after participating in our projects and become informed, vocal advocates for the issues and species with which they have worked.

Ten full-time staff

One part-time employee

Two contractors

The Adventure Scientists team is made up of outdoor adventure loving, entrepreneurial individuals with backgrounds in scientific research, science writing, citizen science volunteer management, project management, nonprofit administration, and fundraising. Our team’s science and research background includes stem cell biology, soil science, invasive plant ecology, pollinator ecology, watershed health, and large carnivore studies. Staff members also have diverse and impressive outdoor adventure resumes, including horse packing in the eastern Sierra, an ultramarathon following the monarch migration to central Mexico, a 7,800-mile trek along the spine of the Andes Mountains, and more. Because of these experiences, the Adventure Scientists staff is uniquely positioned to serve the scientific and outdoor communities. 

The Adventure Scientists team embodies our core values of creativity, optimism, persistence, achievement, reflection, and stewardship. We continually seek and learn from feedback, including from our scientific partners and volunteer surveys. Led by our values, our entire staff and board are committed to EIJ. Through our efforts, the communities we serve can feel included, valued, and safe engaging with Adventure Scientists.

By incorporating EIJ into every aspect of our organization, we can better serve scientists, members of the outdoor community, and the communities most impacted by environmental and human health issues. To advance these goals, we are working with an EIJ consultant to assess our culture and make strategic improvements as well as conduct training for staff, board, senior leadership, and the EIJ committee.

We are working to create structural changes to staff, board, and volunteer recruiting and onboarding, from how we approach those new to Adventure Scientists to how we measure success across our organization. These changes include hiring processes to reduce bias and expanded outreach to ensure our job and volunteer opportunities reach a more inclusive audience. We are building relationships with affinity groups in both the outdoor adventure and scientific communities (e.g. BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ led groups) and seeking their feedback to ensure we are supporting their members and efforts. We are incorporating EIJ into our job postings, position descriptions, and the questions we ask in interviews by using more inclusive language and qualification criteria, so our commitment to EIJ work is front and center.

Adventure Scientists joined the Outdoor Industry CEO Diversity Pledge to advance representation of BIPOC and other target groups for a more inclusive outdoor community. Our goal is to affect bold change and elevate groups targeted with discrimination. We have begun publishing an annual report on EIJ progress. We will include the annual reports on our website with our EIJ statement.

The credibility and outreach that MIT Solve and your network would provide are essential components of our success. 

We need connections to thought leaders and decision makers around the world. Having this credential would undoubtedly help us achieve our goals of getting in front of the right governments, researchers, businesses, and NGOs to ensure that we can deploy our volunteer network wherever they can have the most impact.

We have a growing team, and from a recruiting standpoint, this would be a major boon to our ability to attract the right people to our organization.  

We are also growing our board and are seeking introductions and connections to the right strategic thinkers, who can help take us to the next level.

Our greatest need right now is attracting diverse, talented, entrepreneurial team members. We are engaging a recruiter for several positions and welcome any connections to director-level fundraisers, marketers, and those experienced in scientific project creation, data science, and volunteer management.

We are seeking partnerships with individuals, corporations, NGOs, and government agencies that are leading efforts to combat pressing human health and environmental issues. We provide our partners with an unlimited number of highly trained volunteers, media and outreach support, fundraising partnership, and a team to manage their data collection needs. Each new partnership allows us to demonstrate the efficacy of our model, and advances our project by building credibility and awareness in the scientific community.

Adventure Scientists equips scientists and engineers at the forefront of their fields with planning and execution of large-scale data collection projects around the world. We mobilize outdoor-skilled volunteers—hikers, bikers, skiers, climbers, kayakers, and more—who operate on any scale from almost anywhere on Earth to collect scientific data. This enables scientists to ask broader questions, creates compelling storytelling opportunities, and generates connections to advance their work.

Adventure Scientists’ goal is to accelerate environmental and human health solutions by empowering researchers to think bigger and access the data, public support, and funding they need to achieve impact.

By sourcing more high-impact projects, matching them to our motivated volunteers, and expanding our QA/QC process to generate more high-quality data, we would better fulfill our mission and serve more scientists.

We are creating a map-based marketplace, “the platform”, where adventurers post their upcoming expeditions, and scientists post their data-collection needs. Careful screening of projects, templates, best practices, and a star rating system for both adventurers and scientists ensures high-quality data, project design, communication, and collaboration standards. Adventure Scientists will retain responsibility for recruiting and screening volunteers while training and management will be the responsibility of the scientific partner (who can choose to hire our team as an add-on service). 

The platform’s innovative technology will allow hundreds of scientists, doing both marine and terrestrial research, to access the mission-critical data they need to combat environmental and human health challenges. And, thousands of adventurers will have a wide variety of volunteer opportunities. 

The Adventure Scientists volunteer experience is a way for those who care deeply about the places and ecosystems in which they recreate to participate in their protection. In surveys of our 10,000+ volunteers, more than 80% of volunteers report that they are more likely to pursue careers in conservation after their service with us. Likewise, volunteers report that they make conservation-oriented behavioral changes after participating in our projects and become informed, vocal advocates for the issues and species with which they have worked.

Adventure Scientists equips scientists and engineers at the forefront of their fields with planning and execution of large-scale data collection projects around the world. We mobilize outdoor-skilled volunteers—hikers, bikers, skiers, climbers, kayakers, and more—who operate on any scale from almost anywhere on Earth to collect scientific data that can improve or provide necessary ground truthing capacity for AI solutions. This enables scientists to ask broader questions, creates compelling storytelling opportunities, and generates connections to advance their work.

Adventure Scientists’ goal is to accelerate environmental and human health solutions by empowering researchers to think bigger and access the data, public support, and funding they need to achieve impact.

Adventure Scientists equips scientists and engineers at the forefront of their fields with planning and execution of large-scale data collection projects around the world. We mobilize outdoor-skilled volunteers—hikers, bikers, skiers, climbers, kayakers, and more—who operate on any scale from almost anywhere on Earth to collect scientific data. This enables scientists to ask broader questions, creates compelling storytelling opportunities, and generates connections to advance their work.

We are creating a map-based marketplace, “the platform”, where adventurers post their upcoming expeditions and scientists post their data-collection needs. Careful screening of projects, templates, best practices, and a star rating system for both adventurers and scientists ensures high-quality data, project design, communication, and collaboration standards. We will retain responsibility for recruiting and screening volunteers while training and management will be the responsibility of the scientific partner. 

The platform’s innovative technology will allow hundreds of scientists to access the mission-critical data they need to combat environmental and human health challenges. And, thousands of adventurers will have a wide variety of volunteer opportunities. 

The Adventure Scientists volunteer experience is a way for those who care deeply about the places and ecosystems in which they recreate to participate in their protection. In surveys of our 10,000+ volunteers, more than 80% of volunteers report that they are more likely to pursue careers in conservation after their service with us. Likewise, volunteers report that they make conservation-oriented behavioral changes after participating in our projects and become informed, vocal advocates for the issues and species with which they have worked.