Wilderness Club receives grant to expand wilderness education program

Money doesn’t grow on trees. But sometimes it does walk through the door in the form of a 25,000 dollar check. The Wilderness Club and GEO program recently received a grant from an anonymous donor to support wilderness education and fund field biology opportunities for students. In addition to the biannual Santa Cruz Island trips, the wilderness club plans to add two more research opportunities to the Joshua Tree National Park as well as Yosemite.

“It’s to expand on the work being done already with the Santa Cruz Island trip and the GEO class trip to Zion, hikes, field study, and research in the field for Paso High students,” said government teacher Geoffrey Land.

The Wilderness Club’s next outing will be in March to study the effects of climate change and drought on the Joshua tree population. A survey was completed in 1977 on the status of the trees, and the club hopes to provide a follow-up survey to understand the effect of four decades of climate change.

“We want to inspire students to learn about the world, the value of the wilderness, the value of natural places, and how to study and protect them,” said Land, “they’re these amazingly awesome places where you can do science and have fun at the same time.”