Category: Education / How To šŸ“š

Several US National Parks are hosting stargazing events in 2023

NY Times Ā»

How Kristine Tompkins and some 300 of her closest friends helped protect 15 Million acres in Chile and Argentina

Doug Tompkins; the Tompkinses on the coast of Chilean Patagonia

Outside Ā»

The only way forward was to dive even further into her conservation work. With the help of a roughly 300-person staff at Tompkins Conservation, she exceeded her late husbandā€™s dream of creating 12 national parks. The current count: 15, along with two marine parks and a total of 14.8 million protected acres in Chile and Argentinaā€”an area roughly the size of West Virginia. Those numbers keep expanding, along with Kristineā€™s seemingly endless supply of energy to continue the work she started with her husband. ā€œI carry Doug around in my pocket. If I get really stuck on something, I simply ask: ā€˜What would you do?ā€™ I am just grateful that we have this marriage,ā€ she said, still speaking of their union in the present tense. ā€œItā€™s given me unbelievable strength.ā€

The GPS wars are here, or why you need to learn to use a compass

It is important to recognise how vulnerable our technology is and how over-dependent we have become to fragile systems, some of which was built during a more trusting era.

Many things we do today, and much of our economy, relies on global navigation satellite navigation and time keeping. Much of the western economy relies on the Global Positioning System (GPS), an aging, fragile, and vulnerable US military project. Turns out that it can be easily be jammed, hacked, and turned off. And has been. Sometimes unintentionally.

All this makes for a good argument to learn how to use an old-fashionedĀ compass and read a map. Continue reading

CSU Now Offers a Graduate Certificate in Adventure Tourism

Colorado State University has started a certificate program focusedĀ on the business behind adventure to serviceĀ Colorado’sĀ booming adventure travel industry. CSU’s graduate level program will concentrate onĀ entrepreneurship, advocacy for the environment, and lobbying for changes in public policy.

Kassondra Cloos, writing on 5280.com:

Every year, an estimated $28 billion is spent in Colorado on activities like camping, hiking, skiing, rafting, climbing, and hunting. But the people who work in adventure industries often have no formal education specific to their job, which can make it challenging to rise up the corporate ranks after a certain point. Thanks to a new program at Colorado State University focused on the business behind adventure, thatā€™s about to change.

The Graduate Certificate in Adventure Tourism is a 12-credit online program starting this month that focuses on topics like how to build an adventure tourism business, how to plan and lead adventures, how to brand, sell, and distribute outdoor gear, and how to market it all.