The Earth Explore Foundation is privileged to work with some of the world's foremost science and cultural education organizations.  This access to world-class teaching insures our programs deliver the highest educational standards, and the most complete adventure learning experience available.

Here are a few of our partners for the current program year:

Costa Rica Expeditions

As the Earth Explore Foundation's primary partner in Costa Rica, the renowned naturalists of Costa Rica Expeditions work with Earth Explore staff to create an exclusive and unmatched science-based learning experience for our students.  Taking advantage of a vast array of activities and resources, our carefully crafted program allows students and teachers to probe pristine coastal rainforest by motorlaunch, spotting monkeys, toucan, and basilisk lizards, zipline above the jungle canopy, climb to skywalks and horseback ride among the lush Monteverde Cloud Forest, raft the spectacular Pejibaye River, and observe the rare Atlantic Green Sea Turtle during nesting.  A one-of-a-kind opportunity.

Sea Turtle Conservancy

As the world's oldest sea turtle conservation group, the Sea Turtle Conservancy has led global efforts to study and protect sea turtles for more than 50 years.  In Tortuguero, the organzation works with local villagers to protect the most important green sea turtle nesting beach in the western hemisphere.   Our partnership with the Conservancy provides Earth Explore students an opportunity to join licensed guides on nightime walks to observe nesting and egg laying activities.  Beyond this unforgettable experience, the Conservancy offers our students the chance to extend their involvement by sponsoring individual animals, and by doing so, help to protect them, their offspring, and their nesting beach at Tortuguero.

University of Hawaii

Educators and staff from the University of Hawaii campus in Hilo work closely with Earth Explore to arrange a vast array of hands-on experiences on the Big Island of Hawaii. University resource persons accompany groups to sites like Akaka Falls, Kealakekua Marine Sancturay, and Mauna Kea to provide expert guidance and instruction on-site. At other locations like the Kilauea volcano, UHH staff coordinates the finest local experts to share their knowledge of topics including volcanology, Hawaiian crafts and culture, and marine science.

Yellowstone Association Institute

Earth Explore works directly with the Yellowstone Association Institute on an unforgettable program of discovery inside Yellowstone National Park. The curriculum includes science activities like wolf and bison viewing, trailside ecology talks, and volcanology demonstrations, based in the Upper Geyser Basin, Lamar Valley and Mammoth Hot Springs.  Groups also travel to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Hayden Valley for discussions and activities.  Students come to know Yellowstone and its secrets as few other visitors ever do.

Teton Science School

The famous Teton Science School is the Earth Explore Foundation's partner in Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson Hole.  Accessing some of the finest naturalists in the West, our active and exclusive science program puts students out on the trail with experts, and focuses on wildlife observation, including bison, moose and elk, glaciation and the study of mountain ecosystems, and is presented during trail hikes and discussion groups.  During two full days at the TSS campus inside Grand Teton National Park, students explore and make discoveries in small groups, assisted at all times by fun and informative Science School naturalist-guides.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Big Horn Basin Foundation

In partnership with Earth Explore, WDC scientists and Big Horn Basin Foundation educators have assembled a unique and active paleontology learning experience for our students.

Using supplied tools, Earth Explore students unearth actual dinosaur fossils at Jurassic quarry sites made available to our groups, and take part in lab activities like preparing bones for museum display.  Besides having lots of fun, students emerge with a better understanding of how dinosaur bones are unearthed, how they are identified, and how they are prepared for exhibit.  Earth Explore students even get to bring home a fossil sample of their find.

Alaska Geographic-Denali Education Center

As the experts on Denali, the Foundation's partnerships with Alaska Geographic and the Denali Education Center allow Earth Explore students the chance to get up close and personal with the wonders of Denali National Park's mountain and tundra environments.  Using chartered buses and our own dedicated guides, we explore off the beaten path, walk trails teaming with wildlife, and go hands-on with park experts.  Our partnership also gives us access to the Murie Science and Learning Center within the park, as well as the DEC campus along the Nenana River.

Kenai Fjords National Park

Within spectacular Kenai Fjords we work with expert interpreters who share their knowledge of the Harding Icefield, Exit Glacier, and the fragile glacial habitats of the park.  On a walk to the terminus of Exit Glacier we keep a watch for grizzly bears, and discuss the glacial movements of the past 100 years marked by terminal moraine left by the glacier's steady retreat.

CSU Monterey Bay Camp Sea Lab

Camp Sea Lab staff and the University partner with Earth Explore to create an amazing and comprehensive learning experience. During 3-days in Monterey, our students are based at the university dorms, where they eat and sleep before venturing out on a variety of marine science adventures. Guided by Camp Sea Lab staff, students kayak protected kelp beds just off Monterey's Cannery Row, spot humpback, gray and blue whales on a whale watch cruise, take part in a beach-bucket scavenger hunt for tidal-zone creatures, explore the wetland/ocean ecosystem and even build their own robotic models of deep sea craft. Camp Sea Lab and Earth Explore staff keep the experience fun and engaging, organizing daily team building and game playing activities for participating students.

Yosemite National Institute

As recognized experts on Yosemite and the High Sierra, our partnership with Yosemite Institute opens up a world of wondrous learning  opportunities for our Student Naturalists. From high country hikes, to walks and talks in Giant Sequoia groves, to the exploration of Yosemite Valley waterfalls, the activities available to Earth Explore students are memorable and diverse.  Institute staff lead all activities, including special evening campfire programs. From atop granite domes to the base of crashing waterfalls, there is no better way to learn about Yosemite's amazing environments, and fascinating natural history.