
Environmental Quality Protection, Beautification
Adventure Scientists
Explore. Collect. Protect
Mission
We equip partners with data collected from the outdoors that are crucial to unlocking solutions to the world's environmental challenges.
Ruling Year
2014
Executive Director
Gregg Treinish
Main Address
PO Box 1834
Bozeman, MT 59771 USA
Keywords
adventure, science, data, volunteer, conservation
EIN
45-3345338
6181430230
Natural Resource Conservation and Protection (C30)
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management (C32)
Land Resources Conservation (C34)
IRS Filing Requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
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Social Media
Programs + Results
What we aim to solve New!
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Update nowOur programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Where we workNew!
Our Results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one. These quantitative program results are self-reported by the organization, illustrating their committment to transparency, learning, and interest in helping the whole sector learn and grow.
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
Population(s) served
No target populations selected
Context notes
With the successful completion of our worldwide Microplastics project in 2016, our volunteer hours were reduced in 2017 as we turned our attention to location-based and new projects.
Total dollars contributed for conservation
Population(s) served
No target populations selected
Context notes
With the successful completion of our worldwide Microplastics project in 2016, our volunteer dollars contributed were reduced in 2017 as we turned our attention to location-based and new projects.
Charting Impact
Five powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
How will they know if they are making progress?
What have and haven't they accomplished so far?
We envision a balanced, sustainable world driven by a grassroots wildfire of collaborative scientific advancement. We work to:
1. Be the most efficient provider of hard-to-attain environmental data that would otherwise be missing from conservation management.
2. Grow a network of informed advocates who have a deeper engagement after participating in the scientific process.
3. Serve as an invaluable connector between the conservation and outdoor communities.
The outdoor recreation community has the skills, equipment and time to gather otherwise unattainable data from around the world and is poised to help solve some of the worlds most pressing conservation challenges. Identifying projects where these individuals can have the greatest impact, we recruit, train and manage volunteers on data collection protocols designed in cooperation with our partners.
Often, citizen science endeavors focus almost entirely on the education and engagement of the volunteer rather than the direct and tangible pathways from data collection to outcomes and impacts. While there is a clear benefit to empowering citizens to become part of the scientific process, this approach has consistently fallen short of its potential. Providing decision makers with actionable intel that is focused on the management questions they grapple with is essential if reducing our impact is the ultimate goal.
We believe disseminating the information gathered is of equal importance, and here again the outdoor community is strong. With a tradition of storytelling and the backing of the outdoor industry, we're able to share conservation stories with the world.
We rely on the outdoor adventure community because they are comfortable in the outdoors and can therefore focus on proper data collection. Additionally, these are individuals who (1) pay close attention to detail, (2) are creative problem solvers, and (3) are able to share their experiences via the rich tradition of storytelling that is at the heart of the outdoor community.
With each investment we make, we think of our impact around our projects as a 3 ring bullseye:
Bullseye: There are many issues in which access to data has enormous potential to unlock solutions more quickly and more cost effectively than is otherwise possible. Ultimately, our goal is to supply end-users (typically governments corporations) with data that enables new solutions to happen at scale. This is our main focus with each project investment we take on.
Middle Ring: Through surveys, our volunteers (~6,000) tell us that they make behavioral changes after participating in our projects. They are advocating for the issues they have worked on and report that they are more likely to pursue careers in conservation after their service. As we scale, this number will grow quickly. We consider these outcomes a byproduct of our work.
Outer Ring: We have reached ~100,000,000 people through popular media and social media – this outer level of impact is based around issue awareness. We consider this outcome a byproduct of our work.
Since our founding in 2011, Adventure Scientists has sent thousands of volunteers on missions to collect data from remote, difficult-to-access locations for our conservation partners. These partnerships have led to the discovery of more than three dozen new species, provided key information to guide climate change decision-making, and helped protect threatened wildlife habitat around the world.
Our work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets, and our volunteer adventurers are making a difference around the world.
External Reviews

Financials
Adventure Scientists

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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

FREE: Gain immediate access to the following:
- Address, phone, website and contact information
- Forms 990 for 2016, 2016 and 2016
- A Pro report is also available for this organization.
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FREE: Gain immediate access to the following:
- Address, phone, website and contact information
- Forms 990 for 2016, 2016 and 2016
- A Pro report is also available for this organization.
See what's included
Board of Directors
as of 9/11/2018
Board Co-Chair
Gregg Treinish
Board Co-Chair
Christy Chin
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Gib Myers
Jim Young
Kate Wing
Page Dabney
Mike Herring
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board Leadership Practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section, which enables organizations and donors to transparently share information about essential board leadership practices.
SOURCE: Self-reported by organizationBOARD ORIENTATION & EDUCATION
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations?
Yes
CEO OVERSIGHT
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year?
Yes
ETHICS & TRANSPARENCY
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year?
Yes
BOARD COMPOSITION
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership?
Yes
BOARD PERFORMANCE
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years?
Yes