On Friday, April 22, at 1 p.m. ET, join National Geographic for a 35-minute Virtual Field Trip! Three National Geographic Explorers are helping us better understand and protect the Amazon rainforest. We’ll hike through the cloud forests of Peru, where an Indigenous biologist is studying the movement of Andean bears. Next, we’ll wend our way through the mangrove forests of Brazil with a marine ecologist. And finally, we’ll bird-watch in southern Brazil and discover an intricate web of rainforest fauna.
FEATURING:
- Ruthmery “Ruth” Pillco: Ruth is a Peruvian biologist, expert tree climber, and high-mountain adventurer. As a native of the Amazon Basin, she brings unique insights to her conservation work and has a deep connection with local communities and Andean bears.
- Angelo Bernardino: Angelo knows how to work in tough conditions. As a marine ecologist in the Brazilian Amazon, Angelo spends weeks at a time living on boats and sampling mangrove forests. He also communicates with coastal communities in an effort to understand the importance of mangroves to their way of life.
- Lorena Patrício Silva: Lorena is a 19-year-old Young Explorer and bird enthusiast from Brazil. She brings her love of birds into her studies at Cornell University, where she is pursuing a degree in environment and sustainability to help educate local communities.
We will also honor the legacy of the late National Geographic Explorer at Large Thomas Lovejoy. Tom was an environmentalist, conservationist, and field biologist who was dedicated to conserving and protecting the Amazon rainforest for over 50 years.
Subjects: geography, social studies, history, conservation
Content recommended for: grades 4-8
For more Earth Day resources, visit natgeo.org/amazonrainforest.
This Virtual Field Trip is hosted by Krista Strahan and is presented in partnership with the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative.
Photos comprising featured image by Rocio Vega, Lorena Patrício Silva, Mark Thiessen, and Charlie Hamilton James