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A High Schooler, a Pair of Muddy Boots, and the Future of Education

Why Experiential Learning Matters

In the summer of 2015, Melissa Lopez stood ankle-deep in the wetlands of the Texas Gulf Coast, unsure of what she had gotten herself into. A rising junior from a Los Angeles high school, she had just joined the �������� expedition, Endangered Whooping Cranes on the Texas Coast.

While Lopez had taken an environmental science course in high school, this was her first time participating in field research, and the first time she’d spent more than a few hours in the outdoors. “I had no idea what to expect,” she said.

The research focused on one of the most iconic endangered species in North America—the Whooping Crane—and how changes to the Texas Gulf Coast are impacting the bird’s migratory habitat. Over the course of the expedition, Lopez and her peers collected soil and water samples, as well as surveyed key food resources, including blue crabs and wolfberries.

For Lopez, a visual learner, being immersed in the very geography she was studying was “eye-opening,” she recalled. “It was like seeing the textbook come to life. A lot of times, learning about environmental science, you learn that these waterways connect to the land, and they’re deeply complicated ecosystems, but you never really see it for yourself. You never really understand what’s actually happening out there.”

FROM SALT MARSHES TO STANFORD 

Melissa Lopez didn’t just observe science in action on her �������� expedition—she contributed to it. “We were actually adding on data points to years of research,” she said. “As high schoolers, we were able to understand how the scientists collect their data and how all these conclusions are made at the end…It also helped us understand what field research looks like and be less intimidated by it.”

With guidance from the scientists and trained facilitators on the trip, Lopez learned the basics of research design and even helped conduct an experiment on how blue crabs respond to changes in salinity. But it wasn’t just the science that stayed with her—it was the mentorship.

Facilitator Eric Lundquist, an experienced environmental educator and longtime �������� student groups facilitator, took the time to ask Lopez about her interests and goals. “He was literally one of the first mentors I was able to talk to about what I should be looking forward to in colleges or degree paths,” said Lopez. “That was something I hadn’t really talked to anyone about.”

Lundquist suggested that Lopez consider environmental science, and the suggestion stuck. As a first-generation college student, she would go on to study environmental science at Brown University,  in the process. She later completed a master’s degree in sustainable design and construction at Stanford University. Today, Lopez is focused on environmental urban planning and greening the built environment through the use of geospatial data analysis, energy modeling, and city-level sustainability measures.

But her interest in sustainability started in a pair of muddy boots at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

That kind of transformation can’t always be measured in grades or test scores. But it shows up in students’ confidence, curiosity, and direction.

��������’s student group expeditions offer more than lessons; they offer a launchpad. Our current expedition offerings give students the opportunity to survey forest owls in Arizona, track sharks in Belize, or work with scientists to collect climate data anywhere from Acadia National Park to the Andorran Pyrenees, to name just a few. In the process of actively participating in environmental research, students discover that they have an important place in the scientific process. They’re empowered to shape not just their own futures, but the future of this planet.

Melissa Lopez is proof.

My journey in environmental science really started with ��������.

—Melissa Lopez