Transcending Boundaries: Art, Science, and Conservation Come Together
At EPI’s Missoula office, we love seeing pictures and hearing stories of your travels with us. The new friendships, the scientific “ah-ha!”s, the wildlife encounters: they connect us all to the importance of our work and make the hours in front of the computer screen worth it. 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. We chatted about the rigorous process of applying for a spot on a Natomas One Voice trip, highlights from her time in the field, the mural creation process, and what she plans to do now that she has graduated.
Getting selected to participate on a Natomas One Voice trip is no easy task. These programs aim to promote world peace through the arts, sending select groups of students to destinations around the world to engage with local communities, learn from their peers, and share self-designed artistic projects and performances.
Needless to say, serving as an ambassador is a huge responsibility, and the selection process reflects that. Samantha and her fellow ambassadors submitted their resumes and cover letters, interviewed with a panel of teachers, and prepared a 3-4 minute artistic piece in order to be chosen for the honor of representing Natomas.
After their selection, Samantha and her cohort packed their bags, took to the skies, and landed in Yellowstone a few hours later.
Though she was three years removed from her Yellowstone experience when we talked, Samantha remembered the names of each of her instructors, saying, “I don’t know how EPI finds such wonderful people. My instructors were kind, smart, fun, and organized.” (Shoutout to Syd, Morgan, and Carly!) Her experience was so impactful that she decided to apply again when Natomas partnered with EPI for a trip to Mexico in 2025.
This time when Samantha took her seat on the plane, she did so as one of the student directors of the trip. As she managed the pre-travel production of stickers, t-shirts, and gifts, she wondered if her time in La Paz would measure up to her Yellowstone experience.
She needn’t have worried, as her 9 days in Mexico impacted her in immensely positive ways, including memories from snorkeling, water games, and seeing goats on Isla Espíritu Santo. The shared experience of surviving the heat, bugs, and unexpected high tides even bonded her group together through “type 2” fun—rough in the moment, hilarious afterward—and one year later they still fondly commiserate about what they endured together.
The mural that adorns the walls of the Natomas campus came together just as the group’s trips did: in a community effort. Yellowstone ambassadors who graduated in 2023 completed the initial painting, which uses Sacramento’s Tower Bridge to connect elements from the national park to Natomas’ home in California.
Samantha contributed the wood cutouts of the turtle and whale shark after her Mexico course to bring the spirit of her experience in Baja California Sur up north. In the center of it all lies the silhouette of a dove, a symbol of peace that underlies all One Voice trips and connects Natomas students everywhere.
Now, Samantha plans on attending UCLA to study data science and statistics. We hope her memories of conducting research in Yellowstone and Mexico inspire her as she takes on this next chapter of life, and we can’t wait to see what she and her Natomas classmates do next!
