New Heights for Scholarship Fundraiser

From the Fall 2019 issue of Sequel

Climb it 4 Climate has grown over the years. Quite literally.

In 2016, Bethany Garretson带着一些额外的灵感，开始了创纪录的穿越阿迪朗达克山脉46座高峰的旅行——引起人们对气候变化的关注，同时为她的母校筹集资金.

当气温在第四天飙升至90多华氏度，并在接下来的一周继续保持这种温度时，她的记录尝试以某种合适的方式失败了. The fundraiser, however, continued. 加勒森修改了她的个人行程，在两周的时间里完成了46场比赛. Meanwhile, 捐款者承诺，每翻过一座山，保罗·史密斯学院社区的成员就会捐钱.

Using the hashtag #climbit4climate, 学生和员工利用他们的“人力”赚了大约30美元,000美元用于学生奖学金和学院的可持续发展项目. 最后，信息比唱片更有意义，所以它进化了.

Last winter, 当凯西·德芙总统出发前往坦桑尼亚的乞力马扎罗山，加勒森前往阿根廷的阿空加瓜时，气候从纽约的最高点到达了非洲和南美洲的最高点. Both help comprise the world’s “Seven Summits,” or highest points on each continent and landmark climbing goals.

1月1日，达夫站在乞力马扎罗山山顶，手里拿着保罗·史密斯学院的锦旗. A month later, 一次为队友执行的高空救援任务缩短了加勒森的探险行程, and her retelling of the events was published by Outside. Meanwhile in the Adirondacks, a group of students calling themselves Ranger Team – Audrey Emerson, Jordan Spordone, Damon Emerson, Greg Davidson, RJ Monroe and Carrie Granger – logged 24,742’ of total elevation gain in one week.

By the end of its third year, Climb it 4 Climate has raised over $70,000 and its message has been featured on television, in print and at speaking events around the region.

“I climb mountains for many reasons,” Garretson said. “Awareness, advocacy, empowerment, and yes, fun. In 2019, 我受到鼓舞，为那些有潜力成为国内和世界环境变革者和领导者的学生筹集资金.”

Inspired in part by Arlene Blum, 她经常被科学界和登山界所忽视，因为她是一名犹太女性, 加勒森也决定跳出传统的科学框框，转而专注于宣传和讲故事. Two climate fellowships were funded, 允许学生肖恩·杰克逊和瑞安·诺瓦克进行国际采访和研究, bringing their findings back to the college this fall.

“Climb it 4 Climate is so many things,” Garretson added. “It’s a climb. 它是采访、讨论、探险、社区运动、演讲. Next, 冰球突破mg平台将与尼泊尔加德满都国立学院合作，收集喜马拉雅山的气候数据.”

在非洲之行之后，达夫还通过国际视角谈到了气候变化问题, 他指出，乞力马扎罗山是世界上许多可以用肉眼看到气候变化的地方之一.

“Due to its rapidly shrinking ice fields, 它被认为是全球气候变化的一个非常明显的指标,” Dove said in a short essay published on Garretson’s website, bethanyclimbs.com. “The more I learned about Climb it 4 Climate, 很明显，我有一个独特的机会，可以把攀登世界最高峰之一的长期目标与为这项伟大的计划提供支持结合起来.”

Over the course of eight days, Dove, a team of 10 fellow climbers, 在导游和搬运工的陪同下，他们穿越了六个不同的生态区，从雨林到贫瘠的北极. Along the way, 导游们解释说，自从他们十年前开始带队以来，这里的景观发生了怎样的变化. The mountain’s ice fields, which once provided abundant water for the region, are at least 50 percent smaller, with effects felt especially in agriculture. 水力发电变得越来越不可用，而旅游业也面临威胁. Added Dove:

当冰球突破mg平台继续往山上爬的时候，这些和冰球突破mg平台出色的导游的对话一直在我的脑海里. At daybreak on January 1, 2019 I reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 凛冽的寒风并没有影响“非洲屋脊”上令人难以置信的美景和令人叹为观止的景色。. Sadly, the minimal icecaps were clear to see from the mountain peak. 剩下的那些已经支离破碎，在冰球突破mg平台到达山顶的短暂时间里，几乎可以看到它们破裂. As I descended (by far the worst part of the hike!), I reflected on the seriousness of the situation. While ‘Hakuna Matata’ (Swahili for ‘no worries’) – is the Tanzanian outlook on life; it is clear that there is legitimate concern about the significant current and future impact of climate change. The Tanzanians, nor any country, can solve this problem in isolation. 冰球突破mg平台每个人都必须加入一个统一的全球社区，以提高认识并制定解决方案. 我感到自豪的是，保罗·史密斯的社区在应对世界上最大的挑战之一方面发挥了领导作用.”

While the Climb it 4 Climate message has crossed oceans, its core message continues to resonate locally. Triple-digit hikers hit the trails during the initial year, donning bracelets and spreading the message across social media. At Osgood Farm, located north of the main campus on its namesake body of water, 筹集的资金帮助建立了马田的灌溉系统，学生们承担了各种可持续发展项目和谷仓修复. 这个网站仍然是Garretson课程编程的大本营, the Osgood Club, 以及与年度阿迪朗达克农村技能和宅基地节等活动同时进行的编程/演示. 加勒森还为青年气候峰会和SAM Fest观众展示了作品.

随着加勒森继续探索未来的登山探险(德纳里, the highest point in North America, is her next potential goal) and research opportunities, 她很小心地权衡她用来传递信息的工具——爬山——和这种活动可能产生的影响之间的平衡. “我承认我是问题的一部分，也是解决方案的一部分,加勒森在谈到与她参加的一些旅行有关的碳足迹时说. In the end, however, Garretson perceives the work as a net gain. As awareness grows, so to does the population of students, graduates and community members who strive to make a change. “这就是为什么我鼓励学生成为变革推动者，并关注当地社区. We can all make positive changes.”