5 Things a PNW Volunteer Wishes He’d Known Before Backcountry Trekking

by Chrissy Very | Sep 25, 2026 | adventure trekking, citizen science, hiking, pacific northwest

Christian Murillo spent his summer bushwhacking off-trail through Pacific Northwest forests to retrieve wildlife recorders. Here are the five tips he wants you to know before backcountry trekking for science. Christian Murillo is a nature photographer that has spent...

I Hiked Eight Miles Looking for Butternut Trees and Didn’t Find One. That’s Still Data.

by Adventure Scientists | Sep 4, 2026 | adventurer spotlight, citizen science, hiking

Guest writer and volunteer, Serena, shares her POV from the Cascade Brook and Mount Pemigewasset trails. Experience eight miles in the backwoods and a fast-moving storm on her search for threatened butternut trees. Watch Serena’s experience here → Serena is an...

Shrubmarining: A Volunteer’s Journey Into Forests Before The Fires

by Chrissy Very | Aug 25, 2026 | adventurer spotlight, Audio, biodiversity, hiking, pacific northwest

Matt Leitzinger spent a June Saturday placing acoustic recorders in trailless country in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. By late summer, fires were surrounding them. There’s a word for it, and Matt Leitzinger didn’t learn it until afterward. He had described the worst...

The Race to Beat Wildfire Season

by Chrissy Very | Aug 19, 2026 | Audio, biodiversity, conservation, hiking, pacific northwest

With wildfire season approaching, more than 100 wildlife recorders still need to be retrieved from remote forests across the Pacific Northwest. Every device recovered helps turn months of sound recordings into valuable conservation data. Somewhere in the backcountry...

Video: Sampling in the Shadow of Mount St. Helens

by Adventure Scientists | Sep 28, 2016 | adventure science, citizen science, conservation, freshwater microplastics, hiking, microplastic pollution, microplastics, Video

By Adventure Scientists Staff ​Award-winning filmmaker and wilderness guide Steve Weileman recently made this short film highlighting his experience taking water samples for Adventure Scientists’ Global Microplastics Initiative. Weileman hiked into...

ASC Contributes to Discovery of New Diatom Genus

by Adventure Scientists | Apr 9, 2015 | climbing, hiking

By Emily Stifler Wolfe Forming the base of nearly all aquatic food chains, diatoms are essential to the health of the planet. These single-celled photosynthetic plants account for around 40% of carbon fixation and oxygen production worldwide, according Dr. Loren...