A publication for Friends
of Yellowstone
Visit us online at
www.ypf.org
Y E L L OW S T O N E
PA R K
FOUNDATION
Protecting the wonders and wildlife of Yellowstone National Park
Spring/Summer
Fall
2009
2005
Volume
Volume ten,
six, no. 2
1
Grand Prismatic Spring, Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone ©Tom Murphy
Windows into Yellowstone’s Wonders
T
YELLOWSTONE WITH THEIR
STUDENTS THIS FALL. While a handful will make the trip in person, most will visit through
www.windowsintowonderland.org. “Electronic field trips” on this website use streaming
audio and video plus animation to transport young visitors, virtually, to Yellowstone.
EACHERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL EXPLORE
Children have an innate curiosity about the natural world. The
real “who done it”—the mystery of the missing elk! They spy on
Windows Into Wonderland electronic field trips (e-trips) are not
a special sleuthing team as it snoops for clues in the form of tracks,
designed to replace outdoor learning, but rather to foster a deeper
abandoned bones, and bloodstains. They eavesdrop on discussions
understanding of natural processes and resources,
about predator/prey interactions and the latest
and inspire a hunger to experience them firsttracking techniques.
“Teaching
hand. In fact, some teachers are using Windows
Several additional e-trips bring students closer
Into Wonderland as the jumping-off point for
to Yellowstone’s famous wildlife, such as Where
children about the
other exciting learning activities—both indoors
the Bison Roam, about the unique connection
and out (see Yellowstone Survivor Week, page 3).
between bison and geothermal features in the
natural world
In the e-trip Hot Colors—Windows into Hidden
Park, and Wolves of Yellowstone: Legacy, Legend,
should
be
treated
Worlds, students experience the out-of-sight
and Recovery.
realm of microorganisms while exploring the
Windows Into Wonderland was first launched
as one of the most
Park’s hot springs in a submarine capable of
in 2001, and has since won numerous educaminiaturization. These are extreme worlds where
tional awards. In 2007, Yellowstone staff received
important
events
most life cannot exist, where organisms draw
the National Park Service’s prestigious Freeman
energy from chemicals as well as from sunlight,
Tilden Award for Interpretive Excellence for
in their lives.”
and where scientists may glean clues to the origin
their work on the website.
of life on our planet.
The e-trips are designed for a middle school
— THOMAS BERRY
(
CULTURAL
HISTORIAN
,
1914-2009)
To Eat or Be Eaten lets each student focus their
audience, but students of all ages will enjoy and
(continued on page 2)
“private eye” on Yellowstone and investigate a
W
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L E T T E R
The
Yellowstone
Park
Foundation
222 East Main Street, Ste. 301
Bozeman, Montana 59715
telephone: 406.586.6303
email: [email protected]
www.ypf.org
Bannus Hudson
Chairman
Paul A. Zambernardi
President
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John Bottomley
Jack Cooney
Sig Cornelius
Andrew Dana
Stella DiPasqua
Michael Fanning
Philip Frederickson
Annie Graham
Daniel J. Hennessy
Y
F R O M
ELLOWSTONE IS OFTEN
CALLED A
“LIVING
LABORA-
TORY,” AND FOR GOOD
REASON. Researchers from
all over the world come to study the Park’s
abundant and diverse wildlife, its volcanic
and geothermal activity, and the microscopic creatures that live in hot springs
and may hold secrets to the existence of
life on other planets.
Yellowstone is also a laboratory for
students, from elementary school to graduate school, and it offers award-winning
educational programs both on-site and
online. Our cover story highlights
Windows Into Wonderland, which the
Yellowstone Park Foundation helped
launch in 2001. This innovative website
(www.windowsintowonderland.org) is
allowing thousands of students, through
the adventure of electronic field trips, to
experience Yellowstone from afar. We’ll
tell you about one especially creative
school in suburban Atlanta, for which the
e-trips serve as a launching point for its
exploration of Yellowstone.
Speaking of Georgia, it just so happens
that the Park received help from some
T H E
P R E S I D E N T
brilliant Georgia Tech interns this summer,
who worked on the Yellowstone Environmental Stewardship (YES!) Initiative. In
this issue, you’ll meet two of these interns,
whose positions were funded by the
Yellowstone Park Foundation.
Thank you, as always, for your generous
support of Yellowstone—a place that offers
us all a lifetime of learning, wonder, and
enrichment.
Warm regards,
Paul A. Zambernardi
President
Scott Heppel
Mary Johnston
Fiona Laird
Daniel Manning
Doug McClelland
Mary Nickerson
Valerie Colas Ohrstrom
Larry Patrick
John Raben
James D. Shattuck
Wayne Siemens
Rob Wallace
Kay Yeager
The Yellowstone Park Foundation
works in cooperation with the
National Park Service to fund
C O V E R
S T O R Y
(WINDOWS: continued from page 1)
benefit from the trips. Teachers interested in
classroom participation in the e-trips can
access free lesson plans, guided by the
National Education Standards, to extend the
online experience. E-trips are available 24
hours per day, 365 days per year.
Seventeen topics are currently available
for classroom exploration, programs generally last 50-75 minutes, and participation is
free for all. Learn more about Yellowstone
e-trips at www.windowsintowonderland.org.
Major funding for Windows Into Wonderland
was provided by grants from Canon U.S.A., Inc.
and the National Science Foundation to the
Yellowstone Park Foundation.
Watch National Parks
Mini-Series this Fall
LATER THIS MONTH, world-famous documentary filmmaker Ken Burns turns his camera lens
on—and opens the vaults of—our national park
system. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
will premiere on September 27 on PBS.
Filmed and researched over the course of
more than six years at some of nature’s most
spectacular locales, including Yellowstone, the
series is not to be missed. Of course, as the
world’s first national park, Yellowstone plays
a starring role in several of the six two-hour
episodes. Tune in and be proud of your role as
a steward of this national treasure that inspired
the parks movement worldwide!
projects and programs that protect,
preserve, and enhance the natural
and cultural resources and the
visitor experience of Yellowstone
National Park.
Are You In the Know?
EVERY FEW WEEKS we send out Yellowstone
eNews, the Yellowstone Park Foundation’s free
e-newsletter. Each issue is packed with information on exciting new programs and initiatives
P A G E
T W O
in Yellowstone, photographs and updates on
projects in progress, invitations to events in the
Park, volunteer opportunities, and more. If you
aren’t already receiving it, you’re missing out.
Subscribe today at www.ypf.org.
F A L L
2 0 0 9
I
T IS A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR MANY
U.S. COLLEGE STUDENTS to spend at
least part of their summer break visiting different parts of the country, taking road trips, or exploring national parks.
For Georgia Tech students Angela Rice and
Michael Harris, the opportunity to spend the
entire summer in Yellowstone was a dream
come true. But Angela and Michael were
not your typical young visitors: they were
working hard to help Yellowstone become
cleaner, greener, and more energy efficient.
Angela and Michael were interns for
the Yellowstone Environmental Stewardship
(YES!) Initiative. In 2008, YES! was launched
as a multi-year action plan to help the Park
further reduce its ecological footprint,
increase operational efficiency, and better
preserve resources for future generations.
The Foundation committed to raising
$5 million in cash and in-kind donations to
fund multiple YES! projects. Many of these
projects are being implemented with the
help of Angela and Michael, under the guidance of Park staff and a senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
While Michael
and Angela agree that
Yellowstone’s past
and present sustainability initiatives are
both groundbreaking
and admirable, they
expressed excitement
that they were able to
make a contribution
early in the YES!
process that will help
the programs expand
in the future.
“Yellowstone has Interns Angela Rice and Michael Harris at Mystic Falls in Yellowstone.
effectively tackled some
she worked on an employee behaviorof the low-hanging fruit when it comes to
change project for Yellowstone to improve
saving energy and reducing waste,” said
internal green practices, and returned this
Angela. “Michael and I have been able to
past summer to work on a greenhouse gas
be part of this historic process and help take
inventory. During both years, she helped
the Park’s sustainability endeavors to the
to implement energy conservation projects,
next level.”
expand a database to accurately track enerAngela, a recent Georgia Tech grad in
gy use, and develop Park-wide communiChemical Engineering, will begin her
cation systems to enhance sustainability.
graduate work this fall in Environmental
(continued on page 4)
Engineering at Stanford University. In 2008,
Photo courtesy of Michael Harris and Angela Rice
Interns Enhance Yellowstone’s
Environmental Stewardship Program
D
EMONSTRATING THE VALUE
AND IMPACT OF WEB - BASED
EDUCATION ,
Karen Hartung
of Benefield Elementary
School has used Windows Into Wonderland
electronic field trips (see cover story) to create an annual six-day educational program
for 5th graders at her school.
Hartung, a technology coordinator at the
school near Atlanta, Georgia explains that
the e-trips are at the heart of “Survivor
Week,” during which students learn about
Yellowstone for an entire week, but that the
event actually has three venues: the lab, the
classroom, and outdoors.
“This doesn’t just begin and end with
science. Teachers provide math problems on
Yellowstone statistics like elevation and
temperature. English classes practice writing
skills by keeping journals on what they are
learning about Yellowstone,” said Hartung.
“During the outdoor segments, students are
faced with active, team challenges that help
them learn about nature.”
Fun learning activities include creating
colorful maps of Yellowstone and building
sedimentary rock models with salt and flour
dough. Students play a very “tangled” string
game to help them understand the Park’s
food web, and do an orienteering course on
the playground.
Hartung originally created the curriculum
for her own classroom, but since then eight
more 5th grade classes in her school have
adopted it, and she has been asked to present
it at the Georgia State Technology Conference.
P A G E
T H R E E
Photo courtesy of Karen Hartung
Yellowstone “Survivor Week”
Students created dioramas to show the biodiversity and geothermal features of Yellowstone.
They made keys to identify species and features
for other grades that visited the exhibits.
The program has completed its sixth year
and is now an established—and eagerly
anticipated—school event that requires a
large team of teachers and staff members to
coordinate.
“We make it work so we can have fun
learning with our students,” said Hartung.
Y E L L O W S T O N E
P A R K
F O U N D A T I O N
YPF Welcomes New Chairman
Education Center (OFVEC), currently under
YELLOWSTONE PARK
FOUNDATION
construction, will open to the public on
IS PLEASED TO
August 25, 2010 and you can be part of
the excitement! Attend the dedication cere-
INTRODUCE OUR NEW
mony that day, and be among the first to
CHAIRMAN, BANNUS HUDSON,
elected this past June to lead our 25-member
Board of Directors for the next two years.
Hudson, who joined the Foundation’s
Board in 2005, brings a wealth of experience
from the business sector. He has been the
CEO of several successful companies,
including LensCrafters and the US Shoe
Corporation. He recently retired as CEO of
Beverages & More (BevMo!), a West Coast
chain of beverage and gourmet superstores.
In addition to fundraising and financial
leadership, the YPF Board is responsible for
reviewing potential projects submitted by
Yellowstone and choosing which ones the
Foundation will commit to fund.
Bannus and his wife, Cecily, live in
Y
OU CAN SUP-
PORT WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION
YELLOWSTONE
NATIONAL PARK WITH THE SYMBOLIC
ADOPTION OF A
YELLOWSTONE BEAR.
This huggable plush bear cub will be
sent to you, or your gift recipient,
complete with a personalized adoption
certificate and a fact sheet filled with
color photographs and interesting
information on bears. Start your holiday shopping early! Learn more at
www.ypf.org.
explore the interactive, hands-on exhibits
inside the state-of-the-art building.
With the help of hundreds of donors to
our capital campaign, the Yellowstone Park
Foundation contributed $15 million to the
OFVEC design, construction, and exhibits.
Watch for updates on the opening at
www.ypf.org/OFVEC.
Bannus Hudson, YPF Chairman
San Francisco, and have owned a part-time
residence in Montana, near Yellowstone,
for the past 13 years. He replaces outgoing
chairman Chuck Koob, who is now
serving on YPF’s Emeritus Board.
Photo courtesy of Wild Republic/K&M Intl.
Adopt a
Yellowstone
Bear!
IN
Mark your calendars: The Old Faithful Visitor
(INTERNS: continued from page 3)
“Yellowstone’s employees are so dedicated
to protecting the Park’s precious resources,”
said Angela. “I hope that I have played a
role in raising awareness about what each
individual can do to increase sustainability in
Yellowstone, and empowering them to effect
change from within.”
Michael has a B.S. in Civil Engineering,
and is currently pursuing his masters degree in
water resources from Georgia Tech. This past
summer, he focused on water conservation
projects within the Park, including plans for
an improved irrigation system at Mammoth,
advanced water metering, and a micro-hydro
turbine project (recently funded through the
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act)
that will use water to create clean energy.
Yellowstone has antiquated water meters
that are no longer reliable, so it is difficult to
monitor how much water was being used
and how much was being wasted. In addition, analyzing metering data was difficult
because records were kept by printing out
meter readings and filing them in notebooks.
Michael explained that over the summer
he compiled past water usage information
from the notebooks and transferred it into
electronic format. He then analyzed the data
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NPS photo
T
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Save the Date
to track water usage patterns and identify
confusing data that might indicate malfunctioning meters. He then produced recommendations as to where new meters are needed
most to help staff better understand Parkwide water distribution and consumption.
“Working in a national park is different
since we don’t always have existing templates
to solve problems,” explained Michael. “In
Yellowstone, I worked on creating models
and systems from scratch, and it made me
really appreciate the importance of collecting
baseline statistics early on. I hope that the
work I did will be instrumental in helping
Yellowstone implement water-saving measures for years to come.”
Yellowstone staff is very appreciative for
Angela and Michael’s hard work on the YES!
Initiative and the chance to benefit from their
expertise, dedication, and enthusiasm.
Angela and Michael’s internships are
part of a partnership between Yellowstone
National Park, the Yellowstone Park
Foundation, and the Georgia Tech Research
Institute. Funding for the positions was made
possible through a generous grant to the
Foundation from Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Learn more about the YES! Initiative at
www.ypf.org/YES.