Gregg Treinish is executive director of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (ASC), a nonprofit citizen-science organization dedicated to improving the accessibility of scientific knowledge through partnerships between adventure athletes and scientists. To learn more about ASC, visit adventureandscience.org.
Wend: Tell us about the humble beginnings of ASC.
Treinish: After returning from the Appalachian Trail and Andes Mountains, I felt I needed to give something back, to help promote conservation in the places I was exploring. When I was awarded the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award in 2008, I had the platform to do so. I got a few research-related expeditions under my belt, and after talking with people about them realized that most adventurers want to do more with their time outside. In November 2010, I came up with the idea for ASC. In December, I talked to Conrad Anker, who lives here in Bozeman and is one of the leaders of the climate change movement in the adventure world, and he latched onto the idea. I got him on our board of directors, and from there it sort of blossomed.
Wend: How do you get scientists involved?
Treinish: We’ve established a 13-person science advisory board with some incredible volunteers, ranging from renowned ecologist/adventurer Roman Dial to bio-geochemist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elisabeth Holland. Through connections of science advisory board members, we get requests for data and then find adventurers to collect it. On our website now is a data request page with requests we need adventurers to fulfill.
Wend: Is it typically the scientists who approach you first?
Treinish: It works both ways. Adventurers hear about the organization and tell us about what they’d like to study, and then we partner them with scientists who need that information. Willie Benegas from The North Face climbing team approached me at Outdoor Retailer last year to say he had found plant life on Everest at around 22,000 feet and asked if we knew of a researcher who could use a sample of that material. We found one, and his brother Damian actually just collected the sample yesterday.
Wend: What’s the response been like so far?
Treinish: It’s been outstanding. So many adventure athletes just want to give back, and we have these easy projects for them that add to their experience without being a burden. It’s been embraced by everybody from top-tier athletes to weekend warriors. Scientists are excited about the opportunity to collect data inexpensively, and we give them the opportunity to work with athletes to develop protocol beforehand to ensure the integrity of the data. It’s been remarkable how leaders of the science industry have come aboard both on our science advisory board and helping to get the word out.
Wend: Tell us about a few exciting expeditions set for this year.
Treinish: We currently have 22 teams of through-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail doing a study of pikas for the Craighead Institute. They’re taking GPS locations of sightings, sounds and any pellets that they find. We have an expedition going to Cho Oyu in the Himalayas. The adventurers there will be participating in a study on bar-headed geese as well as taking snow samples and glacier measurements that will reveal not only the mass and density of the glaciers but also, over time, show the rate at which they’re receding and how they’re being affected by climate change and pollution. We’ve also got a woman who’s going to be walking 1,200 miles of the Santiago de Compostela trail, recording data for when plants are blooming, which, over time, will help to determine how individual species are being affected by climate change.
Wend: Are most of the expeditions geared toward climate change research?
Treinish: We’re mostly geared toward climate change and wildlife research, but by no means are we exclusive. We’re looking at doing high-altitude physiology surveys on humans. We’re also hoping to have adventurers help with ice form surveys. Pretty much anybody in the North American region who’s going to be on or near glaciers can collect that data for us. We’ll also need folks to help gather data for a study on the mutation rates of microbes in high-altitude rocks. Lots of different stuff.
Wend: Ten years from now, in a perfect world, tell us what ASC would look like.
Treinish: ASC would be a primary resource for researchers and the first place expeditioners look before they go out to do something in the world. I hope it will revolutionize the way the outdoor industry approaches its time in the outdoors—from gear companies sponsoring projects that have significant conservation or scientific value to weekend warriors or professional outdoors athletes collecting data for researchers who are going to use it. Adventurers are the ambassadors of the outdoors. We’re the only ones who are going to stand up and fight for it, and we need to stand up and do that. Education and science is just a means to the ends of protecting natural areas.
Wend: How can readers become more involved?
Treinish: Visit our website. When you’re gonna go out and do your next expedition, even if it’s just a weekend trip, let us know about it. See if there’s a way you can do more with your time. Then tell your friends about it. 
