Amazon Student Field Reporter Project: We’ve enlisted the help of several students to share their 2015 Amazon experiences with us. Over the coming months we will regularly feature their posts, photos, and reflections – letting them tell their amazing stories of the Amazon and its impact on their lives! 

Standing on the banks of the Sucasari River as dusk began to settle around me, I strained to hear the sound of approaching boats over the cacophony of rainforest insects and frogs.  

What do one tropical canopy researcher, a Minnesota teacher, and a bunch of teenagers have in common? On the surface, not much. But dig a bit deeper, or rather, climb a bit higher, and you will find a shared passion for exploring and understanding the intricacies of the Amazon rainforest canopy!

How can the Amazon, which holds 1/5 of all of the world’s fresh water, have a lack of clean, drinkable water? This is just one of the questions an intrepid bear named Bella set out to answer during her Amazon Adventure!

Bags are packed, equipment checked, guidebooks read and re-read. We are ready! We already know more than the average Joe about the Amazon.  If we were preparing for a test, we’d expect an A+.

What do you do if you are a 3rd grader who desperately wants to visit a rainforest?

As students return to their classrooms following Spring break, many will share their stories of beaches with friends and family.  But for thirteen students from the Derryfield School in New Hampshire, the conversation will be very different:

“So what did you do on Spring Break?”

Are you familiar with one of the BEST environmental education programs in the US? If not, then you need to get to know PROJECT LEARNING TREE (aka PLT)!  This award-winning environmental education program is designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12.

After poking around in the leaf litter and climbing into the canopy of the Amazon, it seems we might have discovered a new species of STEM. We affectionately call it by its common name, STEMazon.  Although not officially described by STEMologists, we have petitioned to give it a proper scientific name - Stemus amazonicus. 

Have you ever been awe-struck by nature’s engineering prowess and thought to yourself, “how in the world is that possible?” or “wouldn’t it be great if humans could do that?” Did it ever occur to you to think of nature as a big research and development firm with over 3 million consultants and over 3.8 billion years of experience?