Growing up in Farmington, NM, Evan Tweedie’s parents would find him talking to the trees for fun. “It was like my own language with them,” he says. Now an incoming junior at Durango High School, his connection to nature and the outdoors has only increased. He cites Durango’s close proximity to nature and recreation as a big part of what makes the region special to him. “Along with the environmental consciousness in the community, plus I love that it’s in the middle of the mountains.” An opinion we can all agree with!

Evan has joined MSI in multiple efforts over the years, fostering his love for science and environmental conservation. This year, in particular, he has been a key part of our GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado) grant-funded Citizen Science Water Quality monitoring program, the GLORIA alpine revegetation project, and is a returning participant in the Environment & Climate Institute, a collaborative program introducing high school students to environmental science and sustainability work. We sat down with Evan to discuss his involvement with MSI, love for science, and future stewardship.

What does the natural world mean to you?
I really like to spend time outdoors, I always have. I love hiking. My dad and I go backpacking every summer for five days, which is really cool. And around my neighborhood, in my backyard, there’s a ton of natural space. My friends and I like to name all the forests and make maps of the areas and stuff, and we even go camping. We build forts and everything. I like to spend time out there.

Tell me about the projects you’ve been involved in with MSI this summer.
Well, I’ve been doing the E. coli sampling project, where I’ve been helping go to different tributaries of the Animas and carrying out lab and field research on the samples taken. I also worked on GLORIA. I got to help attend field sampling near Red Cloud and Sunshine Peak to do alpine vegetation research. It was a five-day backpacking trip, so I camped and helped identify plants and record data within sampling sites. My favorite part was getting to be with professional botanists and see what their work is like in the field. It was really fun to learn a lot more about plants, I learned more about the diversity and different types of plants in the alpine ecosystem. I also learned how to use a dichotomous key, so that was pretty cool.

Finally, I attended the week-long kickoff for ECI and will be doing that this year at school. I liked being able to visit professionals within the environmental science field and learn what they do for a living. I chose to go to Timber Age Builders and James Ranch and enjoyed hearing their perspective on sustainability.

*Evan participates in the Environment and Climate Institute Summer Intensive Kick-off at Fort Lewis College, Summer 2021*

You are a returning student to the Environment and Climate Institute program that MSI co-hosts with its partners. What was your experience like last year and what do you have planned for this year?
Last year it wasn’t a complete success, but I had planned to do a project on the impacts of urbanization on biodiversity in my neighborhood. I had it all planned out with plots I was going to sample, mostly to be looking at plant and insect diversity. But I missed most of the growing season, and since my project was scheduled over the winter, it made it difficult to follow through. This year, I don’t know exactly what I’ll be working on but it’ll probably be focused around forest ecology and fire ecology, with more emphasis on public education than research-based. Last year my whole project was based around research and would have taken a lot of work, especially by myself. This year, I’m not quite sure, but I want to focus on the education aspect.

What is the main thing that draws you to science?
I’m a very curious person that likes learning a lot about the natural world. I’ve always loved science, but I especially like the life sciences.

What has been your favorite thing to learn about in school so far?
I got to take AP Environmental Science in freshman year, that was really fun. I also enjoy other fields of science like psychology and biology.

What do you want to study in school in the future?
Something in the environmental sciences. I like studying ecology because everything connects together, and the interworking of natural ecosystems is so important. Possibly entomology or biology too, I just need to find applications for all of that. I might decide to go more specific or might try to keep it broad with general environmental study.

How has your work with MSI informed your career goals and aspirations?
It’s gotten me a lot more into botany with GLORIA, I found that the field work was really fun. In general, I find that all the projects MSI is involved with are what I’m really interested in. It has definitely gotten me more into hands on science and gives me more access to some working professionals to see what their career is really like. It’s been great to take advantage of the great resources that MSI offers.

Evan has joined MSI in multiple efforts over the years, fostering his love for science and environmental conservation.

How can people more effectively engage young scientists?
Learning about more careers in science and showing them that there are so many options and ways to get into science.

Is there something specific that inspired you to get into science?
I watched a lot of nature documentaries, like David Attenborough and National Geographic. I’ve always been super into this kind of thing. I’ve made my own bug boards since I was a kid and tried to identify stuff for fun. I’ve done science fairs since I was in second grade.

If you could deliver any message to your fellow students about the importance of science, what would it be?
Well, it’s important to me because it explains how the world works. It definitely affects the quality of life for us and the world. I would encourage everyone to start exploring science around them.