Podcast appearances and mentions of shelton johnson

On this episode we'll be talking about “How to Think “ , Discussing Goals , Changing your Mindset , Reading & More Featuring Shelton Johnson. Shelton Johnson Sr As a dynamic speaker, author, trainer and life coach. Visit his website to learn more information about the services that he offers and also where you can find his books

In episode 6, poet and Yosemite park ranger @yosemite_shelton on how the raw beauty of our national parks can rearrange your molecules and allow you to live in the miraculous. Shelton is an historian, author and advocate to get more people of all backgrounds into our national parks to discover how these places can return us to the sacred connection we humans once had with the land. Shelton's likely invited more first-time visitors to our national parks than anyone else in America, including a special invitation to @oprah to camp out in Yosemite. Listen to the end to find out what happened when she received his moving letter.

Misha gets on the road to see America, and to tell a new story of our National Parks. When she gets to her first park, Yosemite, she learns about the Chinese and Black history of Yosemite from rangers, Yenyen Chan and Shelton Johnson. She also overcomes one of her greatest fears.The Southern Sierra Miwok Nation, The Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bridgeport Indian Colony, Mono Lake Kutzadika'a, North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians have been stewards of this land for over 4,000 years. More about the podcast:Hello, Nature host, Misha Euceph, didn't know about the National Parks until she turned 21. But after an experience in Joshua Tree and watching 12 hours of a national park documentary, she sets out on a road trip to answer the question: if the parks are public, aren't they supposed to be for everyone? In this podcast, she goes out to see America and tell a new story of our national parks.Hello, Nature can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Learn more about the podcast and our season sponsor, Subaru.  

JT The Brick is joined by former safety Shelton Johnson to discuss his journey as an undrafted free agent, Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, his Legacy Brick and more.

Joining us this week on The Lookfar Podcast: Voices from the Wild is Shelton Johnson, a park ranger with the U.S. National Park Service, stationed in Yosemite National Park. Shelton was featured on Ken Burns' documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea in 2009 and is renowned for his eloquence in telling the story of the Buffalo Soldiers and his tireless efforts to champion diversity and inclusion in our parks. Shelton talks with Lookfar CEO Scott Stone about growing up both in Detroit and, thanks to his father's military service, in Germany and the United Kingdom, and how this formed his remarkable connection to the natural world, particularly after a visit to Berchtesgaden in the German Alps. Shelton shares his insights on the role of parks and public lands in America, drawing on his African American and Native American heritage and his experiences as an African American park ranger working in U.S. national parks. Available on all major podcast platforms. Just search “Lookfar” and you'll find it!

Many people have never been to a US National Park.  If you're African American, the chances are even less that you feel compelled to visit.  But today's guest on the Explorers podcast tells us that the closest we can come to visit Africa is to spend time in one of America's National Parks.  Our podcast host, Richard Wiese, sat down and enjoyed a conversation with Shelton Johnson, a US National Park Ranger in Yosemite National Park. He is also a prominent speaker on our national parks. He also shares the history of the Buffalo Soldier with those who are interested.  Shelton was featured on Ken Burn's documentary special on the National Parks.  When he spoke with Richard, Shelton said he gets paid in “gasps” and that he lives for that moment when young people experience the parks for the first time and have those “Wow” moments.    He's had the pleasure of camping with Oprah and showing President Obama and his family around the park.  He enjoyed watching them as they experienced all the grandeur of the falls, sequoias, and all the rest that comes as part of the Yosemite experience.  African American cavalry and infantry troops served in the west after the civil war. The name “Buffalo Soldier” was bestowed upon them by the Plains Indians. The hair on their heads was not dissimilar to the hair on the buffalo head, thus the name. Although many Americans are not familiar with the Buffalo Soldiers, they were memorialized in the song “Buffalo Soldier” by reggae musician Bob Marley.  Ranger Shelton works to get more African Americans to visit our National Parks and realize and acknowledge that the parks are for all people, including them.  He feels like all Americans should be encouraged to visit the Parks, here and abroad, and experience the wonder of them.  To learn more about explorer Shelton Johnson and his experience with the US National Parks, check here. Learn more about the role of the Buffalo Soldier in our history. To hear about other explorers, join us for new episodes of Life's Tough: Explorers are TOUGHER! At https://www.lifestough.com/podcast/explorers/.  Richard Wiese, the host of this podcast, is an American explorer. He is the author of the guidebook, Born to Explore: How to Be a Backyard Adventurer. He became the youngest person to become president of the Explorers Club in 2002. Richard is also Executive Producer and Host of the PBS weekly television series Born to Explore with Richard Wiese. 

Even though we might be seeing the back end of the global Covid-19 Pandemic many of us are still stuck at home wading through endless meetings over Zoom and other teleconferencing platforms. With the hopes of creating a little community spirit and to encourage folks out there to step away from their screens and maybe crack open a book instead, I started a little group called the Joy Trip Reading Project. Each month we're taking a deep dive into stories of primarily Black authors whose work centers around nature and the identity many of us share in common as people who love the great outdoors. In February, for Black History Month, the title we read was Gloryland, by National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. This novel is the story of a Black American sergeant in the United States Army at the turn of the last century. As a member of the Buffalo Soldiers, the principle character, Elijah Yancy, reveals to us the life and times of the men who were among the world's original protectors of public land at the National Parks of Yosemite and Sequoia. Not enough people know that in 1903 the first superintendent of Sequoia was a Black American U.S. Cavalry officer by the name of Captain Charles Young. Despite the national climate of Jim Crow segregation these men were among our first National Park Rangers During a time when race relation in this country were at their most abysmal, the Buffalo Soldiers fought to preserve the best idea America ever had. Unfortunately, because of some technical difficulties connecting with Ranger Johnson over Zoom I literally had to hold my cellphone up to my computer microphone to conduct this interview. Sorry in advance for the marginal sound quality, but under the circumstances, really can you do? I'm James Edward Mills and you're listening to the Joy Trip Project. [/vc_column_text] [/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner] Music courtesy of Artlist featuring the band Muted, Steve Poloni and Ty Simon.   [/vc_column][/vc_row] The Joy Trip Project is made possible thanks to support of Seirus Innovation and Outdoor Research. This recording of the Joy Trip Reading Project was created in partnership with University of Wisconsin Madison Nelson Institute For Environmental Studies. Here we acknowledge the ancestral homeland of the Ho-Chunk People on the sacred land known for time and memorial as DeJope. Wherever you are in North American please recognize the native people of the place you now call home. Thanks for listening, but as  always, I want to hear from you so please drop me in note in the comments with your questions, comments or criticisms or write to me via email at info@joytripproject.com. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. If you liked this episode please write me a review on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. For now, go be joyful and until next time. Take care.  

Even though we might be seeing the back end of the global Covid-19 Pandemic many of us are still stuck at home wading through endless meetings over Zoom and other teleconferencing platforms. With the hopes of creating a little community spirit and to encourage folks out there to step away from their screens and maybe crack open a book instead, I started a little group called the Joy Trip Reading Project. Each month we're taking a deep dive into stories of primarily Black authors whose work centers around nature and the identity many of us share in common as people who love the great outdoors. In February, for Black History Month, the title we read was Gloryland, by National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. This novel is the story of a Black American sergeant in the United States Army at the turn of the last century. As a member of the Buffalo Soldiers, the principle character, Elijah Yancy, reveals to us the life and times of the men who were among the world's original protectors of public land at the National Parks of Yosemite and Sequoia. Not enough people know that in 1903 the first superintendent of Sequoia was a Black American U.S. Cavalry officer by the name of Captain Charles Young. Despite the national climate of Jim Crow segregation these men were among our first National Park Rangers During a time when race relation in this country were at their most abysmal, the Buffalo Soldiers fought to preserve the best idea America ever had. Unfortunately, because of some technical difficulties connecting with Ranger Johnson over Zoom I literally had to hold my cellphone up to my computer microphone to conduct this interview. Sorry in advance for the marginal sound quality, but under the circumstances, really can you do? I'm James Edward Mills and you're listening to the Joy Trip Project. [/vc_column_text] [/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner] Music courtesy of Artlist featuring the band Muted, Steve Poloni and Ty Simon.   [/vc_column][/vc_row] The Joy Trip Project is made possible thanks to support of Seirus Innovation and Outdoor Research. This recording of the Joy Trip Reading Project was created in partnership with University of Wisconsin Madison Nelson Institute For Environmental Studies. Here we acknowledge the ancestral homeland of the Ho-Chunk People on the sacred land known for time and memorial as DeJope. Wherever you are in North American please recognize the native people of the place you now call home. Thanks for listening, but as  always, I want to hear from you so please drop me in note in the comments with your questions, comments or criticisms or write to me via email at info@joytripproject.com. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. If you liked this episode please write me a review on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. For now, go be joyful and until next time. Take care.  

This week, in honor of Black History Month, host Dean DeVore is joined by Shelton Johnson, one of America's best-known Park Rangers. Shelton is a Ranger at Yosemite National Park and has spent his nearly 30 year career educating people about the Buffalo Soldiers and how the Buffalo Soldiers were some of the first National Park Rangers in America. He discusses his career, what inspired him to become a Park Ranger, and the importance of education about lesser-known facts of American History and our national parks Then, following severe winter weather and states suffering power outages, we are joined by Sara Lambert, Director of Product Management and Kirtis Hill, VP, Market and Business Development for BatteriesPlus, to discuss power, batteries, and how you can be prepared in the event of a power outage. And in our final segment Meteorologist, Dave Dombek joins Dean to recap this recent pattern of snow and ice and they will preview the weekend's forecast and the week ahead. It's all this week on 'Everything Under the Sun' Download the new AccuWeather app today, available now in the App Store on iOS and in the Google Play Store - https://accuweather.onelink.me/dZpv/49183895 For more about Shelton Johnson and the Buffalo Soldiers, check out the following story: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/the-hidden-history-of-the-buffalo-soldiers/900968 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yosemite Ranger, Shelton Johnson, shares his stories as a Buffalo Soldier re-enactor. In addition, Shelton will talk about his experience hosting Oprah Winfrey and a group of her friends on their first camping experience at Yosemite. Shelton's experience as a four year old standing in the Bavarian Alps planted the seed leading to him becoming a ranger. He talks about his historical novel, Gloryland, which tells the story of Buffalo Soldier Elijah Yancy. Shelton Johnson starred in the Ken Burns docu-series on National Parks. As a result, he is arguably the National Park Service's most famous ranger. Yosemite Ranger Shelton Johnson is a master storyteller. Get his book Gloryland, here.

Our new trailer highlights up coming podcasts. We interview Yosemite Ranger and Buffalo Soldier Re-enactor, Shelton Johnson. Shelton was featured on the Ken Burns documentary on National Parks. Next up will be award winning environmental journalist, Paul Rogers. Later in August former National Park Service director Jon Jarvis and his daughter will join us to tell stories about their adventurers. Give a listen to our new trailer and learn more about the podcast.

Description: This is a replay. Bryan speaks with Park Ranger Shelton Johnson and Sergeant Elizy Bowman, a Buffalo Soldier in the 9th Cavalry in Yosemite (portrayed by Shelton Johnson). Sergeant Bowman discusses what it was like to be a Buffalo Soldier, the name given to African-American cavalry troops of the U.S. Army who were among the first park rangers. Ranger Shelton talks about diversity in the national parks. This is episode number 19.5. This is the fifth episode in our series on Yosemite National Park. For complete show notes, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to the other episodes in our Yosemite series including our trip report, a conversation with park naturalist Erik Westerlund, Tom Bopp sings for us while recounting the 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, and a wonderful conversation about Ansel Adams’ Legacy with his son, grandson and internationally known photographer and Ansel’s last darkroom assistant, Alan Ross. Upcoming topics in our Yosemite series include Mountaineering, geology and tips for planning your own trip to Yosemite.   Actions: Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/ Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks Support us on Patreon Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Description: This episode, number eight in our Yosemite National Park series, is for the geology geeks and climbing enthusiasts. If neither of those monikers interests you right now, just wait: you’ll want to pick up a rock hammer or clip yourself to a rope by the end of the show -- possibly both! To start, Bryan chats with Park Geologist and Ranger Greg Stock on the forces that shaped Yosemite’s stunning scenery and the toll our warming climate is having on the park. Then, Danielle dives into mountaineering with Dave Bengston, director of Yosemite Mountaineering School, to learn about the highs and lows of this perennially popular park activity.   Discussion includes the following: 0:01 - Introduction to the episode’s guests: Yosemite’s Park Geologist and Ranger Greg Stock and Dave Bengston, director of Yosemite Mountaineering School, plus Danielle reads a sweet note from a listener. 2:54 - Bryan exposes a geologist’s best-kept secret and gets to know Greg Stock 4:08 - Fatal rockfalls and shifting attitudes toward climate challenges drive the National Park Service to hire a geologist for Yosemite National Park 5:44 - A geological timeline: The formation of Yosemite’s iconic granite peaks El Capitán, Half Dome, Cathedral Peak, Lembert Dome, and Pothole Dome 7:26 - The Merced River 8:10 - A closer look at the processes of exfoliation, glacial erosion, and rockfalls 9:41 - The dynamic, year-round forces that trigger rockfalls 12:29 - Quantitative rockfall hazard risk and assessment and front-country campsite safety; an incident at Curry Village (2008) 15:20 - Yosemite’s fading ice: The Lyell and Maclure glaciers 16:38 - Replicating John Muir’s 1872 Maclure glacier survey 18:22 - The alarming truth about the future of Yosemite’s glaciers 19:51 - Greg tips his rock hammer to John Muir 22:23 - Hiking, rappelling, and taking modern measurements in the backcountry 24:39 - Dome upon cliff upon dome: Greg shares his favorite Yosemite memory 26:24 - Danielle dives into mountaineering at Yosemite and gets to know Dave Bankston 28:48 - From climbing to skiing: Four seasons of activity 31:18 - Universal language: Yosemite’s international mountaineering appeal 32:22 - Coming to terms with climbing lingo 33:20 - Newbies and indoor climbers welcome! 37:25 - Outdoor climbing vs sport climbing 38:56 - The perfect climbing spots for every level: From Toulumne Meadows, Swan Slab, and Puppy Dome for beginners to pitch climbing on East Buttress for intermediate climbers and El Capitán for advanced climbers 41:51 - All about pitch climbing 44:26 - Mountaineering School: Screening process 45:12 - Mountaineering School: Classes, climbs, and conditions 47:41 - Mountaineering tips for families 48:30 - Female climbers on the ascent 49:05 - Plan ahead for peak season climbing 49:51 - Free Solo Climbing 51:57 - A trip up Mount Conness: Dave shares his favorite climbing memory   For complete show notes, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to the other episodes in this Yosemite series including our trip report, a conversation with park naturalist Eric Westerlund, musician and historian Tom Bob sings for us while recounting the 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, and a wonderful conversation about Antal Adams' legacy. Episode 19.5 features park ranger Shelton Johnson and his alter ego Sergeant Elizy Bowman, a Buffalo Soldier with the ninth cavalry in Yosemite. Episodes 19.6 and 19.7 discuss visiting Yosemite in different seasons and planning your trip. Listen to the the complete Yosemite Series: 19.1 Yosemite: Trip Report 19.2 Yosemite: Curious Characters In Nature - Parasitic Plants, Psychedelic Salamanders, And A Yodeling Ranger 19.3 Yosemite: John Muir And Theodore Roosevelt Camping Trip Told Through Song, An Interview With Tom Bopp 19.4 Yosemite: Ansel Adams’ Legacy ENP 19.5 Yosemite: Ranger Shelton Johnson On The Buffalo Soldiers And Diversity In The National Parks ENP 19.6 Yosemite: Things To Do By Season With Yosemite Conservancy And Yosemite Hospitality ENP 19.7 Yosemite: Plan Your Trip With TripPossible   Actions: Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/ Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks Send us your national park stories, recommendations, comments, or questions to Hello at everybodysnps.com. Support us on Patreon Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Description: Danielle speaks with Nick Mock, owner of TripPossible. They are experts in vacation planning and travel advice and they specialize in planning trips to the national parks. Nick shares his tips and time-saving advice about travelling to a national park like Yosemite.  He planned a trip there with his family in May 2019 and wants to help you make the most out of your visit there. (This episode is sponsored by TripPossible) Discussion Includes the following: 2:04 - TripPossible: how it started, what it is, and why you should consider using it for your next trip 3:35 - Encountering the National Parks via the slow lane 5:31 - Variety + Flexibility = when & where to go 8:09 - Yosemite in the spotlight: perception vs reality 10:29 - Best kept secret: Yosemite West lodging options 12:14 - Editing your must-see list down to a less-is-more trip 14:29 - Inside the park lodging options from Yosemite Hospitality: Curry Village, Ahwahnee Lodge, Wawona Hotel 15:36 - The principles of packing for a four seasons in one day trip 18:08 - Trail weather along the Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls hikes 19:00 - Mirror Lake memories 21:31 - Overcoming common traffic frustrations in places like Yosemite Valley and Zion National Park 25:24 - Practical tips for enjoying Yosemite no matter the weather 27:22 - Itinerary planning: how not to see it all 29:32 - Yosemite memories big and small 32:32 - Additional TripPossible contact information Resources: TripPossible https://www.mytrippossible.com/ Phone number for weather updates Yosemite National Park Current Conditions https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm Call 209-372-0200 (press 1 then 1) for the most up-to-date conditions.   For complete show notes, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to the other episodes in this Yosemite series including our trip report, a conversation with park naturalist Eric Westerlund, musician and historian Tom Bob sings for us while recounting the 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, and a wonderful conversation about Antal Adams' legacy. Episode 19.5 features park ranger Shelton Johnson and his alter ego Sergeant Elizy Bowman, a Buffalo Soldier with the ninth cavalry in Yosemite. Episode 19.6 features recommendations for visiting Yosemite in each season with Yosemite Conservancy and Yosemite Hospitality. Actions: Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/ Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks Support us on Patreon Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Description: Danielle gets tips and recommendations for visiting Yosemite National Park in every season from Adonia Ripple from Yosemite Conservancy, the park’s official nonprofit partner and Lisa Cesaro from Yosemite Hospitality, the park’s concessionaire. A winter stay at the Glacier Point Ski hut and a summer backpacking trip around the High Sierra Camps are on the bucket list. Discussed in this episode: 3:25 - Adonia RIpple of Yosemite Conservancy describes her background 5:07 - About Yosemite Conservancy 9:21 - Description of Yosemite National Park and the different regions of the park 12:13 - Hetch Hetchy 12:55 - Tom Bopp interview and Ken Burns Interview 13:29 - How long to visit and how to avoid crowds 16:51 - Spring itinerary 23:09 - Summer itinerary 28:05 - Fall itinerary 32:53 - Winter itinerary 35:03 - Yosemite Conservancy Programs 43:06 - Yosemite Conservancy Bookstores 45:22 - Climbing Cathedral Peak and the wisdom of this timeless environment 47:38 - Lisa Cesaro talks about Yosemite Hospitality 48:13 - Yosemite Hospitality accommodations 51:22 - High Sierra Camps 55:12 - Yosemite Hospitality Activities 1:00:15 - Yosemite in winter 1:03:52 - Glacier Point Ski Hut 1:05:12 - Lisa shares how special it is to live in Yosemite year-round   For complete show notes, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to the other episodes in this Yosemite series including our trip report, a conversation with park naturalist Eric Westerlund, musician and historian Tom Bob sings for us while recounting the 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, and a wonderful conversation about Antal Adams' legacy. Episode 19.5 features park ranger Shelton Johnson and his alter ego Sergeant Elizy Bowman, a Buffalo Soldier with the ninth cavalry in Yosemite.   Actions: Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/   Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks   Support us on Patreon   Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Description: Bryan speaks with Park Ranger Shelton Johnson and Sergeant Elizy Bowman, a Buffalo Soldier in the 9th Cavalry in Yosemite (portrayed by Shelton Johnson). Sergeant Bowman discusses what it was like to be a Buffalo Soldier, the name given to African-American cavalry troops of the U.S. Army who were among the first park rangers. Ranger Shelton talks about diversity in the national parks. This is episode number 19.5. This is the fifth episode in our series on Yosemite National Park. In this episode, For complete show notes, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to the other episodes in our Yosemite series including our trip report, a conversation with park naturalist Erik Westerlund, Tom Bopp sings for us while recounting the 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, and a wonderful conversation about Ansel Adams’ Legacy with his son, grandson and internationally known photographer and Ansel’s last darkroom assistant, Alan Ross. Upcoming topics in our Yosemite series include Mountaineering, geology and tips for planning your own trip to Yosemite.   Actions: Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/   Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks   Support us on Patreon   Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Shelton Johnson relishes his role as one of Yosemite's preeminent ambassadors. He welcomes visitors to the park on a daily basis and treats each one with kindness and warmth. Best known for his role in "National Parks: America's Best Idea", a documentary film by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, Shelton invites visitors of public lands to connect fully with nature and wilderness. His mission is to encourage more people of color to claim their cultural inheritance in national parks. Shelton is an interpreter of living history, and he shares stories of the fascinating lives of Buffalo Soldiers along with their role in the early years of Yosemite National Park. Join us as we discuss Shelton's influence on visitors to Yosemite, including inspiring a very famous first time camper, Oprah Winfrey. There's so much more he shares as we also received a visit from a black bear in Cook's Meadow.

It's summertime and we're sharing some stories, portraits essays and things that you've been telling us you want to hear more of. In this episode we hear from Shelton Johnson, a park ranger at Yosemite National Park who reenacts the story of a Buffalo Soldier who used to patrol the park as a ranger. A complicated history that comes with both pride and shame.

[00:00:03] Hey everyone. This is Lynn Vartan and you're listening to the apex hour on SUU's Thunder ninety one point one in this show you get more personal time with the guests who visit Southern Utah University from all over. Learning more about their stories and opinions beyond their presentations on stage. We will also give you some new music to listen to and hope to turn you on to new genres. You can find us here every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. on the web at suu.edu/apex or email us at suuapex@icloud.com. But for now. Welcome to this week's show here Thunder ninety one point one [00:00:50] Hi everyone. So this is Lynn Vartan and I am still in Los Angeles so that means this is another best of show. It's actually spring break on campus. But never fear. I have some clips for you. We're going to start with Emily Graslie the great scientist and YouTube sensation who was on campus in February. Listen in. Here you go. [00:01:11] I Want to start by kind of spending this first bit talking about how you came to be who you are today which is such a great story and I know you talked a little bit about it earlier but if you could kind of give us another version of that painter turned scientist story. I would love to hear it. Yeah. So I won't go into all of the details but essentially I was studying landscape painting at the University of Montana in Missoula. [00:01:37] I enrolled in 2007 and for the first about three years that I was there was really heavily focused on landscape painting as my as my source of inspiration and what I was going to do my senior thesis project on for my BFA. And it wasn't until I learned about the campus Zoological Museum which is known as the Philip Allwright Zoological Museum that I really started to turn my attention toward why these museums exist why these research collections are a part of a campus like that who they serve what their role is and then how I could become involved in. So essentially I turned my last semester of college into an internship where I could draw the specimens within the collection and then just gradually became more and more involved in the day to day operations of the museum learning about how the specimens were cataloged and organized but also how how he obtained them you know what research projects they were associated with. And then I was volunteering the preparation lab to actually help process and prepare some of these specimens for the research collection which was a pretty interesting experience going from you know just landscape painting to you know dissecting roadkill for Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Did it ever gross you out because I mean I know some people I mean you came from a painting background so maybe it's the cause I know you also grew up on a farm or near farmland that did it ever. Gross You Out. I think it's just been more of a morbid fascination more than anything. Especially when you know a lot of the gross out factor associated with things like specimen preparation. It's more of like a cultural stigma than it is like a natural thing so. [00:03:26] So what we've learned through the program that I do now my YouTube show the brain scoop is actually the younger the viewers are the less biased they have toward these sort of things. It's more of like a cultural and societal pressure that we put on kids girls especially once they're past the age of 8 or 9 to really enforce that gross factor. Don't touch that or that's nasty. Like a lot of the natural inquisitiveness is kind of stifled and so you know once I started learning about the value of these research collections and how I could contribute to growing them and making having a small role in a significant scientific discovery it just. I mean yes sometimes it smells kind of bad and you're dealing with like gross hydrogen peroxide and dealings overkilled but if you can get a sight all those things get really interesting. Yeah. I mean did you did you learn the process. I mean I didn't mean to initially start talking about dissection so much but I'm kind of fascinated by it as the day goes on. Did you have to learn like the exact procedures because it's very tough. I mean that's very step by step right. Or mean how did all that knowledge come. Did somebody show you. Did you read it. Yeah. So so I started volunteering in this museum after I did my internship. I graduated from college and I kept volunteering in the museum and it was a friend of mine who introduced me to the collection who was actually one of the first people to help train me in specimen preparation. [00:04:57] And it happened because the day she showed me to this research collection which I should also clarify. This museum does not have public exhibits purely behind the scenes 24000 specimens mostly northern Rocky Mount Rocky Mountain mammals and birds and and so there was a number of Montana natural heritage projects and Fish and Wildlife projects that they would collect about your specimens and then deposit them in this museum for preparation and volunteers who were part of the wildlife bio programs or the ecology programs at the University Montana would help prepare them. And so she was one of these volunteers in the prep lab and she brought me in. We walked into the prep lab and she handed me this Ziploc bag that had like a soggy mouse in it. The mouse the mouse story the mouse story with the label this informational label about where it was collected when what time of year what the habitat was like the sex of the animal. And this was all part of a larger study looking at the distribution of rodents across western Montana to see at what point of elevation they were occurring. And if that that point of elevation was changing were they going higher you know due to climate change impacting the average median average temperatures of the northern Rocky Mountains. Anyway she hands me this this western jumping mouse Zappa’s princeps is the scientific name and she she asked Do you want to prepare this. And I said Oh no. you know me I deal with paint brushes like this is not my thing. And she's like No I’ll teach you how to do it. [00:06:32] She's like you know did you ever take homework in middle school and I was like yeah she's like you know you do a sewing project where you stitch things together. And I was like yeah she's a guest the same thing. And I was like that remains to be seen but OK. But she walked me through the process of making the first incision and separating the skin from the muscle tissue and removing the bones in a specific order. And you know after about 30 minutes I had I had skin this mammal and had the body separated from the rest of it from the tide. And then you create a little armature out of cotton and wire and a little small dowel and essentially put that back inside of the body and then you pin it onto a board. And it's it's called a study skin. So it's not meant to look like a live taxidermy animal like it was in life but it now it's a research specimen and that to me the most important part of that whole process was that I got to sign my name on the label for this specimen as a source of accountability mostly of a scientist in the future was going to look at this mouse and be like this thing is prepared really weird who's responsible for this. Emily Graslie no Christian name but to me it was almost like I guess I felt a stronger sense of gratification signing my name on that mouse than I ever had signing my name on a piece of artwork. No way. Fascinate was it. It was overwhelming. And I think it's because I mean the seemingly inconsequential mouse was going to be part of a larger history is going to be bigger than myself. [00:08:00] It's part of a research project that's been going on for decades. You know I contributed to science and it wasn't just this whole like kind of existential moment for me where I was like art you seems so selfish and self you know interested and yet here was the way I felt like I could make some kind of tiny positive contribution to my community I could be a part of the history of western Montana. And this all you know from a dead man. And it was really an it came from a Ziploc bag and I came from a Ziploc bag you know and it was really a moment of revelation for me because I went home that night and I didn't tell anybody what I had done. I I I don't think I talked to any my friends for a week because I thought for sure I was so like a sociopath like sociopath or something like a psychopath. Like what kind of person is so fascinated in like taking an animal inside out. And so I really didn't want to talk about it for a long time and started just you know continuing to volunteer in the museum and becoming more and more interested in it. And that's partially why I started documenting the process is almost like seeking validation from anybody. Right. Like my friends or family and they're like Emily that's weird like you don't want to see your dead animal pictures on our Facebook and so instead I started posting them on tumblr and which was a blog site. [00:09:18] I don't know if people still use tumblr today but I had started a blog after that documenting not just the preparation process but a lot of the artwork I was creating in the museum and some of the other projects we were doing and I found an online community like I found a digital community of other museum volunteers or other art majors who wanted to find their own museum collection to volunteer or even people who were you know amateur taxidermists who wanted to help bring some of these animals back to life. And so I built up a following of about 10000 people who started regularly reading my blog about the museum and eventually that that blog helped to develop the web series that I have now with the Field Museum in Chicago. Yeah that is amazing that that moment that you discuss with the changeover and feeling about putting your name on it. Do you does find it to be an artistic project process or do you feel that it's different than the artistic process. Well I would say creating study skins. It helps if you have a background in art. I think you know if you ask any or look at any of the volunteers or interns that we have at the Field Museum specifically a number of them have backgrounds in our. And I think a lot of that has to do with hand eye coordination right. Attention to detail. I ended up teaching or being the teacher for the vertebrate Ostalgie class for graduate students at the University of Montana for a semester because as an art major you're taught to hone your observation skills. [00:10:43] And so when you're teaching graduate archaeology students how to differentiate certain kinds of animal bones whether they're trying to identify them from a faunal assemblage of you know a native tribe that lived in that area 10000 years ago or if it's sometimes we would work with the Montana crime lab and the police department and they would find a Barebone or someone would bring them a limb bone and they find in the middle of the woods and sometimes these hikers would think like I think this is a human arm or did this belong to a child or something and so they take it to our comparative collection and I got to work with the Montana crime lab to as of like a forensic geologist to help them identify where this animal was coming from and we never had a human. It was always like a ham bone. Yeah a bear bone or something like that but I was able to do that because of my background in art and being able to understand that you know morphological differences or the shape or the size differences between different vertebrate species. That's amazing. That's fascinating. I love it. Ok cool. So you got to kind of be like a forensic scientist in a way also like a sleuth. Yeah kind of. You know I was mostly just a facilitator. I was working with the curator of the museum at the time Dave Dyer who was you know really had the background in mythology and asked geology but he taught me a lot. And you know it was really fun to look at some of these cases and he would put out quizzes and you know kind of test your knowledge. It was a really fun game but it was also you know had important educational implications to it as well. That's so interesting. [00:12:14] I know that also in the dissection of animals used to be a requirement in a lot of school programs and then sort of went away and maybe is how do you feel about that being in schools now do you think that's a really important part of the science pedagogy. Well I think it depends on the learner. Ultimately it depends on who it is you're working with as a student. I know from myself personally had I had more opportunities to do more hands on learning experience experiments when I was in middle and high school. I might have felt a little bit more empowered to think that oh science is something that I can do or I can use my observational skills in this way whereas in my educational background growing up in rapid city South Dakota you know we just a lot of it just immediately went to like standardized tests. Right. And now you know naming diagrams and really took a lot of the creativity out of it. From my perspective so I think there's a true value in getting kids to be hands on especially when it comes to things like that. Gross out stigma sort of thing like if you can perpetuate a culture of curiosity and inquisitiveness rather than one that is just wanting to you know make things from the natural world seem as though there are other foreign or alien or bad or gross or weird you know anything that just fosters the the genuine question asking and answering seeking motivations behind it I think is worth supporting. All right well that's a little bit about your back story. [00:13:47] We're going to take a little musical break and when we come back we'll talk a little more about brain scoop with the awesome Web show that you have and also your work at the field museum. So you know me on the show I like to introduce you to different music. The first song we're going to listen to is called Eye to Eye. And it's by Jordan Rakei on the album Wildflower and you are listening to KSUU thunder ninety one point one. I'd like to turn our discussion to the brain scoop. Can you tell us a little bit about how it got started. I know you talked this morning but just for anybody who's listening to just a quick bit of how it kind of got started and then the transfer over to Chicago. [00:18:34] Yes so after I started this blog where I was posting kind of our day to day work on and on about the Zoological Museum at the University of Montana I ended up meeting this man named Hank Green and he's probably best known for being half of the YouTube series vlogbrothers he and his brother John Green are they've been making videos on YouTube for well over ten years now and Super fame. Yeah yeah. I mean it's kind of ridiculous to try and summarize like everything they do because they're such important roles and like the Internet education and just like positive support network community online. But anyway Hank happened to live in Missoula Montana where I was living at the same time. And we ended up getting connected because he was launching a new educational series called Crash Course and they were doing a video about the vertebrate skeleton. So it made a lot of sense for him to come. Actually he reached out to see if he could come film it in the collection. I was volunteering it and I was over the moon are so excited. And so that's how I met Hank and he and I kind of talked on and off over a couple of months and eventually he came back to the museum in sort of long story short I gave him a tour of the collection which he uploaded on there Vlogbrothers channel. You can still watch it today. It's called. Oh she what is that video called thoughts from dead animals. That's what it's called. It's the thoughts from places they do the series called thoughts from places and this was thoughts from the museum so he called it thoughts from dead animals. But anyway you know the response to it was so overwhelming it's nothing like I've ever seen. [00:20:04] I mean in a couple of days it had been watched a quarter of a million times and the overwhelming majority of comments on the video were just like you know we want to see more of Emily and we want to see more the museum and you should give her only her own channel and so just a couple days later he he emailed me and I'll never forget getting that email because he just basically said well people like this would you want to me would you want to have your own YouTube channel I'd help you get it started and I was completely blown away because at that time you know I was recently unemployed like didn't really wasn't the right thing wasn't going super well for me and I would just kind of trying to get into like a Masters museum studies program and figure out what I wanted to do and this was a I thought a great opportunity. I had no expectation for what would happen with it. Had you ever been on the radio or TV or performed. I mean I know you play the violin but had you ever done any of that kind of thing like been on my before. Well not not to that degree no. I mean I took children's theatre you know and I did some drama performances in high school but I was also like a nerdy kid with a mouthful of braces so act like I'd mostly like ran the lights because I couldn't enunciate on stage at all. [00:21:23] And I had done some promo video stuff from the museum but like never really was coached in it you know and and so Hank came to me and he's like wow you know all you can work with one of our producers Michael Aranda and we'll get you started with some basic equipment but then he left the country for a month to go on tour with his brother John to promote the fault in our stars so that John's Young Adult author and so Hank just kind of left me and Michael and left us to our own devices and when he got back like our channel had just blown up. That's amazing. To what do you attribute. I mean you're so comfortable and so charismatic onscreen. I mean is it just the passion for your subject is it just the curiosity to what do you attribute it. Well I would say the passion and the curiosity certainly but like that has to be fostered and just the vote of confidence from somebody like Hank Green. Like someone who has done this who has been doing this who has like founded in established educational programs that had millions of subscribers and he and his brother were then and are still now some of the best known names in like online education for that person to just email you after knowing you for a week and say like I think you'd be good at this and just knowing that they probably don't tell other people that everyday. Yeah it was like you know. AFT I'm a big Hamilton fan now but it's sort of one of those things where you like I'm not throwing away my shot and I just decided like I don't know what this is going to go but I know I'm not going to take just half ass. So we went I just gave it my all and and just kind of went for it. [00:23:03] It sounds like you are that way as a person though. I mean when you do something you go all in. Like you're not just going to volunteer in a museum and bide your time you're going to try to organize the collection. And I mean that kind of. Go get it. This must also be intrinsically and you I do have a lot of grit and that was definitely the case with me and my art program like you know you're supposed to start working on your senior thesis painting before your spring semester right. And and I was already conceptualizing what I wanted to do like the summer before my senior year. And so you know I've just always I've just always had a lot of pride in being a hard worker. Like when I was in high school I got my first job when I was 14 and so I've always worked hard at and I've always put in the hours. But to me like that's what's so gratifying about it is knowing that you really have done your best and put your best foot forward. And so working on a YouTube channel that had an audience that had potential that was going to help me bring this museum that I'd already spent two years trying to bring to the public just like I'm going to go for it. I love it. That's awesome. So now it went before and before I get to Chicago. [00:24:17] For anybody who may be listening and not familiar with the brain scoop how would you describe how would you describe the brain scoop in like two sentences if you had to the brain scoop is an educational YouTube channel that aims to share the behind the scenes work in collections and research with anybody with the world so perfect. Yeah that's great. Well and of course for those of you who may be interested and not familiar with it just google it and you can find tons and tons of videos in a wide variety of different types of subjects and different angles different locations and we can get into that too. So now the brains group is how's the back brain scoop is housed in Chicago in the field museum and tell me about what life is like there. Yes we've been doing the brain scoop for a couple of months before we started to receive quite a bit of media attention. So we'd been written about by NPR Scientific American. There was like a no in a blog from now geographic like is it incredible for me. And eventually we gain the attention of the Field Museum in Chicago and I got invited out to kind of do some videos with them and after a couple of days they just sat me down in this conference room and basically I said like we'd like to bring you on board here and bring your channel with you. And that was amazing to me as someone who just aspired to work in a museum someday in any capacity to have this new position created for me. I mean I have the job title now as chief curiosity correspondent. So that was an amazing experience and so we brought the brain scoop to the Field Museum in July of 2013 and I've been there ever since so about four and a half years now. That's so cool yeah. [00:26:04] What's a typical day in the life like for you. Well to be honest the typical day is not that exciting because you don't believe it. Well it's a lot of like there's so much planning involved and there's so much like production timelines and scheduling and like there is quite a bit of paperwork and budgeting and you know that kind of back and stuff. But but the really special days are when we get to go out in the field or when we get to interview scientists and so just a couple of weeks ago we ended up filming in Berlin Germany at the Museum of Natural History there. And so it was three months of planning and organizing and everything. But once we're there I mean I got to you know got to see one of the best most iconic fossils of all time the Archaeopteryx specimen which is most of the famous most of the transitional species between birds and dinosaurs like it is wow a famous fossil. I got to be in the historic bird collection at the museum there and the museum for Netter kinda was established in 1814 so this museum is over 200 years old and has endured two world wars so isn't it one of the oldest. It must be it's one of the oldest collections. Yeah and certainly you know the building itself was built in the 1980s. But a day like that is just like you're looking at specimens and a collection that are simultaneously Lake scientifically important but also the witnesses to history like the whole eastern wing of this building was completely destroyed by allied bombing in 1945. [00:27:39] And so you're standing in a reconstructed wing of this institution and just thinking about those decades and centuries of history. I mean those are the kind of moments that are really live for and it doesn't matter that I had to spend three months of like paperwork and figuring out import permits for camera equipment or whatever else like you know once you're there you really try to appreciate those moments. Sounds pretty magical. It's it's pretty cool. Well it's time for another musical break. The next piece that I'd like to show you is a piece called Nomada and that's by Kaleema and it's on the album Nomada. And you are listening to the apex hour on Thunder ninety one point one Suu welcome back. This is Lynn Vartan and you're listening to the apex hour here on KSUU you thunder ninety one point one. Today's show is a best of show that bit that you were just listening to was from February and that was when we had the awesome scientist and YouTube sensation and founder of the coolest YouTube channel Brain Scoop Emily Graslie was here with us in February talking about her life and all of her awesome activities and travels. But now we're going to turn our attention to the outdoors. SUU is outdoors nation. And so in the studio. Also in February I was joined with Bridget Eastep and Kevin Koontz talking about all the awesome possibilities that we have here on campus for students faculty staff and community members that have to do with the outdoors. Have a listen. And I want to rejoin our conversation talking about our cool partnership program that's called semester in the park. [00:33:02] So Kevin I think you're going to tell us about that this semester in the parks program. It's again pretty unique to Southern Utah University. I like to think of it as kind of a study abroad but rather than going abroad the students get to live at Bryce Canyon. They get to work at one of the resorts close to there and during the course of the semester they're able to visit all of our surrounding parks and monuments and different public lands. And they have a course load that kind of incorporates the theme the themes of public lands and preservation conservation stewardship and just kind of kind of honing those outdoor skills altogether. It's 15 credit. So it's an entire. I mean as we said it's semester in the park. So how does that work in terms of their normal course start. So you said it's like a study abroad. So does it do they just kind of take that semester. And this is that semester. So it sort of replaces a semester in a way. Yeah. All of the classes are taken like I said as a cohort to all the students have all the same classes together. And yet they spent the whole semester with that group of students and kind of visiting these different amazing places but it's really fun because the professors actually come to you and you have a classroom in Bryce Canyon right off the room. That's amazing. [00:34:36] And from there a lot of the professors are like OK let's go out into the parking and look at the different aspects that the park offers to learn about the content in the courses and they stay where exactly they stay at Ruby’s in which is just right outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon there and they also work right. And it's part of the it's part of the course load really as as the. There's the hospitality kind of portion of that and the students earn a certificate in interdisciplinary Park studies. Oh that's great. So what's an example of the kind of work that they're doing. I mean they're there waiting tables or they're doing it. It does depend on really the student and the experience that they bring in. But again most of the students end up working in hospitality. That's the fancy way of saying you get trained out of bed. Ah I'm doing those pieces of it. But Beason is really also dedicated to the learning experience. So one they do need that work to be done and part of the reason this experience works is because we're able to help them with the shoulder season. So we provide those workers to do the hospitality work that they need to do. But on top of that they're like OK let's give you some experience with guiding tours or you know we've had students that have had hospitality backgrounds so they end up. She also spoke French so that helped. But she also says she ended up working at the front desk. Now there are different things you can do within it but most of them end up changing a lot of that. Yeah. And then how often how many hours a day are they in class. How long is a typical day in this semester in the park parks students of typical days you wake up normal time. [00:36:33] And then you go to work and you work in the morning. OK you get a break and then you go to class in the afternoon and the classes have a different class focus each day. So you'll have English one day and then you'll have suddenly a top floor the next day you'll have criminal justice the next day you'll have Americans in the outdoors the next day and then every other weekend you have to feel blab time with those courses and you'll go and visit Lake Mead or Gold Butte or Zion or great bass bass. So you really get to know the different parks within it but you don't just visit them because you're looking at it through those different lenses and trying to understand the parks like. All right. How does criminal justice help conserve this park. And then how do how in American and the outdoors are really looking out like what's the value of the parks to our society and how can the parks offer that experience to the visitors in the best way. And what's the visitor experience and how are those visitors managed. A lot of the same kind of challenges that Superintendent Jeff Brady spoke about today during his presentation and how the faculty for semester in the parks comes from. Specifically the faculty in the outdoor education area or is it across the boards across the board. So in 2018 in the fall of Laura Walker from English we have Samwell as from Buyology we have Kelly Akunin from outdoor recreation. We have Brian Burton from criminal justice. And then we have Ann Smith also from Alto recreation and then I get help with the field trips. [00:38:14] Cool. And then they cut to weekends there. There were there exploring and learning and then and do they. Is there free time said. I mean do they come back into town. Do you know how they handle the rest of their time I'm just it. It does become again downtime. Well I guess the best way is safe downtime for them to have wives. Right. Which when you're doing an emergency master. Right. Is really appreciated. And it's just time to do your homework to catch up with friends to take the time that you need to make sure that you're rejuvenated and healthy. It's one of the parks likes to do the fun things that are out there. Yeah. Yeah. Such a cool concept. And this this concept we've been doing this for how long. Two years two years. We're going to be offering our third year and it's each fall semesters or just the fall fall or fall semester only. Yep. And again if you my favorite way to do things on the web is just to google it. So if you Google actually use mastering the parks it will take you to that home page and applications are due mid March. So again have been accepted yes. Now's the time right. This is the time to be looking if you're interested in this. I mean totally go check it out. It's only our Kappus 15 students to be able to give the experience that we want to you. So we do need people to actually apply. [00:39:35] But on time so that we can make sure that we get the best cohort possible. Right. So if you're out there and you're feeling super passionate about it get on it right away. Google semester in the parks. See you and take a look at the application. But time is running out it seems like you're probably getting pretty close to having that locked down. So that's such a cool program and I think probably the maybe the only one there maybe something similar but not to this extent. I mean this is just such a special opportunity to have a study abroad but yet also nearby. But yet in a completely different environment in Bryce Canyon. So and earn a certificate in a single semester which is also kind of unique. That's great. And how do you guys feel about it. Some of the topics that we were talking about today do you have any comments on. We were talking about conservation preservation. Do you have any suggestions or thoughts about anything that students or our listeners and I think we should be aware of that we should be doing or advice that you have that you'd like to impart. Oh Bridgette don't talk about the sustainability. Oh yep. Actually you does have a sustainability miner and we've just worked with a group of faculty to rework it but it is a unique lens. And I guess the way that I look at majors and minors is it gives you a perspective to interact with the world. [00:41:04] Some of them you just dedicate to your profession but otherwise you can take the sustainability minor add it to the major that you're doing and just see the world through a different lens. And so you'll be looking at and asking the questions is like how can we help our society be sustainable. And in that it's not just I guess the scarcity part of it but it's being sustainable in here and really being like a healthy society and that is going to be looking at the ways that we use energy the ways that we interact with the outdoors the ways that we build things and utilize resources so that it's not just for our generation but for future generations as well. That's amazing that we have that as well. All right. I'm going to play one last song and then we're going to come back with what is fast turning into everybody's favorite part of the radio show which is asking you guys about what's turning you on right now. Books TV movies all that kind of stuff getting into the nitty gritty and getting some inspiration for our listeners. But before we do that I have one last song and this one is not Valentine related but it's maybe Olympics related. I've been watching a lot of the winter of Olympics and this is a group that I mentioned last week called Grand tapestry that I think is really interesting from their album titled Grand tapestry. And this song is called Champion. And once again you were listening to the APEX hour on Thunder ninety one point one KSUU. [00:47:05] Well welcome back. This is Lynn Vartan you're listening to the apex hour here on KSUU Thunder ninety one point one. That song that you just heard is olympic inspired it's called Champion by grand tapestry on the album Grand tapestry. [00:47:22] We have just a few minutes left here for the Apex Hour this week and we're going to do the thing that everybody seems to be loving which is what's turning you on this week. Some to start with you. Bridget what's turning you on and it couldn't be books movies TV podcasts. What's something you'd like to share that you're really excited about. Well I am going to say that the book that has gotten me to think the most in the last six months is Florence Williams the nature effects and in that I get to talk about my soapbox because it's all about how the outdoors is good for people. Our brains are wired for it. It makes you a better thinker. It makes your body work better it helps you create social bonds it helps you create meaning for your life and so it actually takes the time to go through the research and tell the stories that we all need to be connected to the natural world. And can you tell us the title and author of that book again. Yep it's Florence Williams and that's the nature facts. You were not the first time I've heard of this thing this week. And stay tuned. We may be researching trying to get her out to see you as an apex future speaker. So let's fingers crossed for that. But I also have to say that I really my passion in this world is to connect people to the outdoors and especially for learning and I really have seen it time and time again. [00:48:51] If you're a stressed out student in the library take the time walk around a beautiful campus because we have a park for our campus so I can guarantee you that your brain is going to work better and you're going to be able to focus and and actually enjoy what you're doing and just being stressed out. Midterms are coming up so everybody get outside and take a look around. That's great. Great advice. Thank you Kevin. How about you. What's inspiring you right now. I've been reading glory land by Shelton Johnson. The story of a buffalo soldier who serves in Yosemite National Park before the Park Service existed in the parks were kind of being overseen by the cavalry and kind of regulated that way. So it's a it's a very interesting perspective on early early park maintenance so to speak. That's amazing. Tell us the name and the title and author of the title is Gloryland and author Shelton Johnson. And again another sort of Apex plug right. This has been one that's come down the pike as a suggestion for future events so we may see what we can do to find these people on campus. Well that is so cool. Do you have any final words or any final things you'd like to promote or announce. There are so many great opportunities here and Su you know students often get bogged down with classwork. They feel like oh I wanna go on a trip I just don't have time or I want to go to the park. I just can't get away from this project or this paper or his presentation that I'm working on. [00:50:30] You got you got to make the time really you gotta make the time to do the things that you want to do otherwise you'll never find it. And all up the ante for that is one of the reasons that actually you has the program especially the outdoor ads put in is for people to actually say I want to learn and then you fill in the blank and you create a project to do it and the outer edge projects are the ones that I love so much because it's people that really want to learn or do something and then they figure out how to do it. So we have people that are one of my favorites as he builds a new and in that he wanted to learn woodworking skills so that he could go out and be a better theater teacher. Perfect in it so there's projects like that. And so I think that you find what you want to do and you can turn it into your project. Get that requirement out of the way by doing something that you love while I love it. Thank you guys so much for your time today. I really appreciate getting to know everything we have to offer here for us. Yeah. And so you heard it all if you want to even think from going camping come down and check out the Outdoor Center here in the Sharwan Smith Center right across in the welcome center or if you want to look at class offerings online or get involved with the internship program or semester in the parks. Get busy with your Google and find out ways to get outside and experience our awesome landscape. [00:51:58] Well that wraps up another show for us here at the apex hour on KSUU thunder ninety one point one. That was a best of show you heard past moments from February of 2018 because we are on spring break and I am in Los Angeles saying hello and looking forward to getting back in the studio for more action to come. Thanks for listening until next week. This is Lynn Vartan saying goodbye from the apex hour here on Thunder ninety one point one.

Shelton Johnson returns to the Park Leaders Show for episode 101. If you missed part 1 of his interview, you can listen to it here. In this episode, Shelton talks about the importance of telling stories. Shelton's Buffalo Soldiers program at Yosemite National Park has brought a story back to life that the world nearly forgot. Shelton also discusses making meaningful connections with people. "The surest way to change the future is to change today." - Shelton Johnson Shelton is the author of the novel Gloryland. 

Being a park ranger is not usually a job that puts you in the spotlight. But every once in a while, a story gets discovered that needs to be shared with the world. That is what happened to Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson.  When he began telling the story of the Buffalo Soldiers experience in Yosemite, people began to notice. The story of theBuffalo Soldiers led to a pivotal role in Ken Burns' film series about the National Parks. Shelton got to meet Oprah. Shelton got to meet President Obama. Eventually, Shelton got to meet Jody Maberry, host of the Park Leaders Show. No big deal, I know, but it did lead to this interview on the Park Leaders Show.  Shelton discusses the path that lead him from inner city Detroit to being a park ranger in a wilderness park. He also explains why access to the outdoors is a civil rights issue.  Shelton Johnson has also written a novel about Buffalo Soldiers called Gloryland. If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch the Ken Burns' National Parks film for free. Just click here.

Shelton Johnson is a ranger with the National Park Service and has worked for the National Parks for 28 years. After growing up in inner-city Detroit, he found his way to Yellowstone and now Yosemite, where he has been for the past 22 years. He is the author of Gloryland and has shaken hands with both Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama.

Shelton Johnson is a ranger with the National Park Service and has worked for the National Parks for 28 years. After growing up in inner-city Detroit, he found his way to Yellowstone and now Yosemite, where he has been for the past 22 years. He is the author of Gloryland and has shaken hands with both Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama.

For those of us who spend a great deal of time outdoors it's hard to believe that there are many of those who don't. Especially when it comes to our national parks there is an entire segment of the United States population, natural born citizens who seldom if ever visit. This is particularly true among people of color. African-Americans, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities spend far less time in nature than their white counterparts. And in a shifting demographic where minorities will soon become the majority there's rising concern throughout the conservation movement that one day in the not so distant future most U.S. citizens will have no personal relationship with or affinity for the natural world. This concern is expressed most eloquently by National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. The only permanent African-American ranger at Yosemite National Park his mission is to share with audiences, black and white, lessons of stewardship that illustrate the bond with nature that is every U.S. citizen's birth rite. An interpretive ranger that tells the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, African-American cavalrymen who projected Yosemite at the turn of last century, Johnson puts into context the importance of wilderness not merely as a point of national pride but an intrinsic value of what it mean to be human. At the biannual meeting of the Conservation Alliance at the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City Utah, Shelton Johnson was the keynote speaker. Best known for his prominent role in the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks, America's Best Idea," he was also instrumental in bringing Yosemite Valley to the attention of leading black talk show host Oprah Winfrey. In a nationally televised visit to the park in 2010 Winfrey used her media clout to invite millions of minorities across the country to explore the great outdoors. In this unabridged audio recording Johnson is welcomed to the podium by Conservation Alliance executive director John Sterling. For 40 minutes Ranger Johnson inspired a rapt crowd with a message to encourage all people, regardless of race, to embrace the wonders of nature and to claim their inheritance of our national treasures  Music this week by the band Hot Buttered Rum The Joy Trip Project is brought with the support of our sponsor Patagonia.   Coverage of the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market was supported by Knupp, Watson & Wallman

For those of us who spend a great deal of time outdoors it's hard to believe that there are many of those who don't. Especially when it comes to our national parks there is an entire segment of the United States population, natural born citizens who seldom if ever visit. This is particularly true among people of color. African-Americans, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities spend far less time in nature than their white counterparts. And in a shifting demographic where minorities will soon become the majority there's rising concern throughout the conservation movement that one day in the not so distant future most U.S. citizens will have no personal relationship with or affinity for the natural world. This concern is expressed most eloquently by National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. The only permanent African-American ranger at Yosemite National Park his mission is to share with audiences, black and white, lessons of stewardship that illustrate the bond with nature that is every U.S. citizen's birth rite. An interpretive ranger that tells the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, African-American cavalrymen who projected Yosemite at the turn of last century, Johnson puts into context the importance of wilderness not merely as a point of national pride but an intrinsic value of what it mean to be human. At the biannual meeting of the Conservation Alliance at the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City Utah, Shelton Johnson was the keynote speaker. Best known for his prominent role in the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks, America's Best Idea," he was also instrumental in bringing Yosemite Valley to the attention of leading black talk show host Oprah Winfrey. In a nationally televised visit to the park in 2010 Winfrey used her media clout to invite millions of minorities across the country to explore the great outdoors. In this unabridged audio recording Johnson is welcomed to the podium by Conservation Alliance executive director John Sterling. For 40 minutes Ranger Johnson inspired a rapt crowd with a message to encourage all people, regardless of race, to embrace the wonders of nature and to claim their inheritance of our national treasures  Music this week by the band Hot Buttered Rum The Joy Trip Project is brought with the support of our sponsor Patagonia.   Coverage of the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market was supported by Knupp, Watson & Wallman