I wake up at 6:00 a.m., comfortable in my sleeping bag despite the stiff bed. I take a deep breath and smell the coffee. Although our expedition in the Patagonian backcountry is complete, Nadine maintains her role as early riser and team chef. I stumble out into the living room and rub my eyes. The incredible scene comes into focus through floor-to-ceiling windows: Frothy waves lap at a pebble beach several meters from the porch. Undulating turquoise waters influenced by dynamic winds extend for tens of miles, walled in by the imposing peaks of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field.

Imagine a trail so steep and rocky that every step is a slide or ankle sprain. Mosquitos relentlessly bite one’s feet. Then add weight: a backpack containing a camera, two liters of water, a headlamp, and enough sunscreen and bug spray to last another week in Zambia’s Batoka Gorge. Its white sandy beaches are tucked between basalt boulders that heat up like an oven by 8 am. The temperature is 104 degrees. The one water sample I neglected to collect during a 4-day whitewater rafting trip is waiting for me at the end of a three hour hike to the mighty and notorious Zambezi River. And so, down I go.

​I had taken water samples for Adventure Scientists’ Global Microplastics Initiative before, but this was a much harder task  – from finding a one-liter water bottle in Livingstone without a leaky top, to trekking back down to the river to fill it, to ensuring it wouldn’t burst at altitude on my return flight. Adventure Scientists needed more freshwater samples to add to their Global Microplastics Initiative dataset, so I knew I had to find a way to get it home.

"I'm not trying to be anyone's savior. I'm just trying to think about the future and not be sad."

This quote by Elon Musk at April’s TED Conference in Vancouver, Canada has echoed beyond the stage throughout social media and the web. It’s a sentiment that also resonated with our Executive Director and founder, Gregg Treinish, who was sitting in the audience.

“[Elon Musk] is such a phenomenal visionary thinker,” says Gregg. “I think everyone who works towards making the world a better place does so partially because we feel like we have to do something in the midst of the great challenges we face.”

The conference theme ‘The Future You’ brought together leaders in the technology, education, and design communities to talk about the future. As a finalist for the 2017 TED prize, Gregg was able to attend the conference and listen to hundreds of inspirational activists, scientists, entrepreneurs and artists.

“It was a great opportunity to meet people who will be influential in driving our organization's mission forward,” said Gregg.