4 years ago, I spent my New Years secluded in an East Texas lakeside cabin. It was the perfect opportunity to think about the future. It was there that the first buds of Learn Adventurously developed.
In the prior emails, I gave an overview for how Learn Adventurously started, showcased what we offer, and provided context for all that we do. In this last email of the Learn Adventurously series, I am revealing the future. The plan that I’ve been ruminating, developing, and working towards over these last 4 years:
The Learn Adventurously Field School and Research Station
In this email, I will break down the dream, why I chose North Carolina as my home base, and how you can help make this a reality.Why a field station?I don’t think you need convincing of the benefits of field school and research station. It is no secret that biodiversity is at risk and these stations directly facilitate conservation research. In tropical regions, field stations yield high conservation returns on investment. Further, field schools are effective at advancing science education while raising awareness for local conservation concerns.
Additionally, many biologists going through traditional academic programs are simply not receiving the training they need to study, conserve, and affect change for the organisms we hold dear. My vision for the field station focuses on both in-person and remote education that serves a global audience, not just those who research with us.
However, funding is a constant struggle for research stations. I’ve seen this struggle first hand and its why I’ve been developing a business model not overly-reliant on donations and external funding. That’s why Learn Adventurously started making online courses.Why North Carolina?In the last stages of grad school, I looked out at where I wanted to move next and start this dream. California was simply not sustainable for me. Nor did it have the biodiversity that made me fall in love with nature all those years ago.
So I did what any reasonable person would do when making a huge life decision such as where to move: I looked to nature and scientific publications.
Specifically, I looked at this map of Salamander biodiversity.
Then I compared it to this map of priority areas for biodiversity conservation.
Add in cost of living, cost of land, and a dash of personal preferences, and we end up in North Carolina, the Salamander biodiversity capital of the world.
Further, North Carolina is home to suite a top-tier universities as well as an incredible network of protected land. Yet, it still remains an area of critically understudied biodiversity that needs protection. In my recent YouTube video on Hellbender conservation, I talked on how Hurricane Helene may have wiped out entire populations of this incredible salamander species. To put it simply, North Carolina is an incredible place to study biology.What’s next?I know that its a big jump to go from posting on social media about looking for turtles in the Jungle to operating a field station. However, I believe I have the right mix of business, education, and wildlife research experience to make this happen.
What I need right now, are the funds to make this a reality. My immediate next step is to purchase land so we can establish a base of operations. This land will be used to run in-person ecology training as well as develop a new suite of on-demand biodiversity courses.
I have a timeline and business plan developed, but that is far too much information for this newsletter. I want to keep this short and focus on how you can help make this a reality.How can you help?First, you already are helping. By reading these emails, enrolling in courses, and following my social media you are directly supporting the long term vision of Learn Adventurously.
But if you are able to help even further, there are few ways you can increase your impact:
Join the LAB – The Learn Adventurously BioClub is a monthly subscription to all our courses, exclusive workshops, and directly supports the creation of the Field School.
Get in touch – I respond to replies from this email newsletter as soon as I can. If you have ideas for new courses, new videos, or have ways to directly support the mission of Learn Adventurously, please get in touch! I greatly appreciate it 🙂
Get the word out – Sharing my social media content, letting colleagues know about our courses, and encouraging folks to join the newsletter all support the mission.
Thank you for being part of this awesome community of over 2000 nature nerds! And sticking through 6 weeks of pure Learn Adventurously promotion while I get started on this project.
Next week, we’ll go back to our regular programming with a new email series all about the fundamental forces of evolution.
Talk soon,
-D