As one of Marymount’s two annual Earthwatch fellows, Class IV teacher Kelly LeSage was thrilled to have the opportunity of traveling to Red Butte Canyon in Utah from January 25-31 and partaking in research by the Earthwatch Institute on wildlife corridors for ungulates—deer, elk, moose, etc. Ms. LeSage worked with a team of fellow teachers, students, and scientists who spent each day in the field, tracking deer, measuring snow-depth, and establishing the ungulates’ preferred paths through the canyon by using hand-held GPS systems. Battling snow that at times was several feet deep, forging her way through trackless wilderness, and scaling almost vertical cliff-faces within the canyon, Ms. LeSage learned firsthand the obstacles and achievements that are part of a scientist’s daily research in the field. To read more about Ms. LeSage’s challenging experiences, read her Earthwatch Blog.
Trekking through the canyon and collecting data, however, were only part of Ms. LeSage’s activities in Utah: the second part was the daily discussion via Skype with Marymount students in New York. Each day a different group of students—Class IV, Class III, an Upper School history class, or the entire Middle School—gathered to see 
Ms. LeSage projected on a screen, describing her latest adventures. Her own Class IV students were among the most excited: gathering eagerly before the computer, they shrieked with excitement when Ms. LeSage appeared and peppered her with questions, ranging from what hiking clothes she wore to how many animals she had seen so far.
“I found my Earthwatch experience to be a an enlightening and rewarding one,” says Ms. LeSage. “Contributing directly to a study and sharing my field experience with students through Skyping and blogging was truly invaluable. I feel that both the students and I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge through our daily communication, and that we have all developed a deeper understanding of the impact that human development has on the wildlife population.”
Marymount’s annual Earthwatch Fellowships join together two fundamental aspects of the Marymount mission—the first a commitment to supporting professional development for faculty and staff, through which they can increase their expertise and expand their interests, and the second a commitment to sharing with students the most up-to-date research, technology, and discoveries throughout the world. When these two goals are combined, as with Marymount’s Earthwatch Fellowships, one need only see the delighted faces of students as they watch their teachers in action to realize the effectiveness of Marymount’s method of education.