At EPI’s Missoula office, we love seeing pictures and hearing stories of your travels with us. So when a colleague shared a photo of a mural made by students after their time with EPI, I had to learn more. I ended up connecting with Samantha La, a recent graduate of Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, CA, who traveled to Yellowstone and México with EPI and helped spearhead the mural project once the group returned home. Here I tell you about what we talked!

Yellowstone was the first national park ever created anywhere in the world, with a history spanning more than 150 years. And although it remains one of the least human-altered landscapes in the United States, the impacts of climate change are already becoming visible across this iconic conservation area. EPI students learn about this impacts through participatory science while collecting data for ongoing research