On March 31, 1839, Russian military explorer Nikolai Przewalski was born. A curious boy who wanted to travel, he realized early that his best chances for this were increased if he joined the army; the army travelled! When he finally became a commissioned officer,…
On March 29, 1910, Prince Albert I inaugurated the Musée Océanographique de Monaco / Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. He stocked it with specimens he collected over his 30 years of sea exploration and expeditions. Some of these specimens had not been seen before. The…
On February 11, 1916, Bandelier National Monument was designated in New Mexico. Its 13,355 ha ( 33,000 acres) were set aside for the cultural conservation of archaeological and anthropological sites and materials and to provide recreational trail access to mountain, canyon, and mesa scenery.…
On June 12, 1944, Big Bend National Park became a reality in Texas. An area of markedly contrasting elevations – from Rio Grande shoreline at 550 m (1800 ft) to Emory Peak at 12600 m (7,832 ft) – is home to many varied microclimates…
On February 28, 1956, physicist, astronomer, science educator-strategist Penny D. Sackett was born in Nebraska. Her studies have taken her from theoretical physics at the University of Pittsburgh to the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in the Netherlands to Director of the Australian National University’s Research…
On January 30, 1903, British-American zoologist George Evelyn Hutchinson was born. His growth as a preeminent ecologist was perhaps foreshadowed when the young Hutchinson set up his own aquarium “pond” with red water mites and other aquatic insects to observe their behaviour. And kept…
On July 19, 2014, it is Canada’s Parks Day. Observed on the third Saturday of July, parks across the country join in a national event celebrating the importance of Canada’s national parks and the contribution that they make to healthy and diverse ecosystems. Park…
On July 11, 2014, another Moonlight Hike & Wolf Howl will begin at Gordon’s Park Eco Resort on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. This is one in a series of guided hikes lit by a full moon that includes an educational orientation into northern grey wolves,…
On May 28 1892, in San Francisco, California, conservationist John Muir founded the Sierra Club. Along with many hikers and wilderness travellers, Muir shared a vision of regional heritage sites set aside for public reach, enjoyment, and introduction to nature’s beauty and spectacle. Muir had…
On This Day in 1902, Crater Lake National Park was established. As the deepest lake in the United States of America – 592 m (1943 ft) – it is actually the remaining cauldron or caldera of an ancient volcano called Mount Mazama that exploded…