Exodus Adventure Travels Announces "Exploration Without Boundaries" Grants

In partnership with The Explorers Club, Exodus Adventure Travels recognizes four honorees with funds to support endeavors in environmental and cultural conservation.

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Exodus Adventure Travels today announced "Exploration Without Boundaries" grants to four honorees in partnership with The Explorers Club for the second year. As the leading adventure tour operator, Exodus celebrates 50 years of taking people to experience the best sights, smells, tastes, views and cultures that our world can offer. The company believes it has a role in preserving the environment, cultures, and the spirit of adventure for future generations. 

"The privilege of travel, especially to such unique destinations as one may experience on an Exodus tour, comes with responsibility. As we celebrate our second year of partnership with The Explorers Club, it is inspiring to see that there are so many incredible minds with big ideas to make our world a better place. To be able to support them in their goal to create positive change is an honor," said Rochelle Turner Head of Sustainability, Exodus Adventure Travels.

The "Exploration Without Boundaries" grants support people and projects that advance a global understanding of the social and natural world through cultural, scientific and conservation fieldwork. Led by explorers who have taken alternative routes to acquire the skills necessary to conduct their research, the four grant recipients have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge. Their stories of unwavering determination and insatiable curiosity serve as beacons of inspiration. Further information regarding the ambitions and qualifications of the 2023 recipients is listed below:

Amanda Ho
Seagrass Preservation & Restoration in Cambodia
After earning her degrees in Oceanography and Environmental Science, Amanda has been using her skills as an AAUS-certified Scientific Diver to research seagrass meadows in Cambodia. Her goal is to protect and preserve these blue carbon systems due to their ability to sequester carbon and combat climate change. She will use this award to continue her research to conserve the planet's vital seagrass ecosystems. Amanda has been a member of The Explorers Club since 2020 thanks to her internship with the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society. As a budding explorer, she is grateful for this opportunity to venture into the field and do such urgent work.

Project Goal: This project will map, monitor, conserve, andrestore the extent of seagrass meadows in the Kep Archipelago and Kampot Province in Cambodia. Seagrass restoration has been limited in developing countries, which this project can help remedy.

Susmita Lama
Climate communication in trans-Himalayan communities of Nepal: Stories of Indigenous People from Ngisyang Valley
Susmita Lama is a graduate of Tribhuvan University, where she studied Forestry Science. Her passion for wildlife is tied not only to her academic career but also to her roots and the culture of Nepal. She is an avid traveler, nature advocate, and research enthusiast. With today's global environmental issues relating to climate change and biodiversity loss, Susmita regards understanding environmental conservation techniques as an immediate necessity. Her goal with this project is to document the stories of resilience and traditional knowledge and to outline what actions should be taken by the relevant authorities.  

Project Goal: Sci-stories (Stories and science): Bridging the unequal climate exchanges in the trans-Himalayan region of Nepal by using storytelling as a tool to bring scientific recommendations and indigenous recognition.

Christian Nolorbe
Danger in the Diet: Microplastic Contamination of Indigenous Amazonian Fishing Grounds
Christian Nolorbe Payahua is an Associate Professor at the National University of the Peruvian Amazon. He holds a master's degree in the Biology of Continental Aquatic Environments from the Federal Rio Grande University. He is also formerly the director of several ichthyological projects at the molecular biology and genetics laboratory of the Institute for the Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon. For his grant project, he aims to investigate the level of microplastic contamination in Amazonian fish. Such contaminants could have profound health consequences for the people who rely on these fish for sustenance.

Project Goal: Microplastics are an environmental contaminant disproportionately affecting fish and consumers. This project will investigate microplastic contamination in the fishing grounds of indigenous Amazonians, who depend on fish for sustenance and face great harm if stocks are reduced.

Cassidy Schoenfelder
Traditions of Erasure: A Geo-aesthetic Study of the National Park Service Artist Residency
Programs
Cassidy Schoenfelder, a citizen of the Oglala band of the Lakota Sioux tribe, is a Tucson, Arizona-based geographer, art historian, and artist. She researches tribal/federal co-management initiatives in national parks within the United States that grant tribes a legal voice in the ways that their homelands are managed. These policies encourage the implementation of Indigenous ways of knowing into park management practices. In addition to how the land, water, and non-human beings are physically managed, tribes are also concerned with how their lands are represented and perceived by the public. By focusing on representation, she seeks a more nuanced understanding of how Native-centered policies are implemented on the ground and in practice.

Project Goal: To observe how artists and their artworks inform how people understand, navigate, behave, and politicize public lands, like national parks, and where an Indigenous perspective fits into this relationship.

Stay up to date on these explorers and their expeditions here.  For more information on Exodus Adventure Travels and its 500+ trips to more than 100 countries, visit ExodusAdventureTravels.com

About Exodus Adventure Travels
For 50 years Exodus Adventure Travels has been the leader in active adventures and is known for "improving life through travel." Exodus Travels is a winner of the National Geographic Traveler Reader Awards and is a recipient of the Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Award, Wanderlust Magazine's Best Tour Leader of the Year, USA Today's Readers' Choice Award, and the British Travel Awards.

Exodus Adventure Travels provides unforgettable journeys and expert insights through more than 500 active adventures to Europe and 100 other countries. Award-winning trips across seven continents include active adventures to the majestic peaks of Kilimanjaro, the agent wonders of Machu Picchu, the breathtaking beauty of Italy's Amalfi Coast, and other memorable destinations.

With an unwavering commitment to sustainability, Exodus Adventure Travels is dedicated to creating incredible, responsibly run adventures, and understands the importance of regenerative travel. Efforts include a "re-wilding" initiative that ensures for every traveler, 100 square meters of land is dedicated to preservation projects. Exodus Travels is dedicated to creating memorable and responsible adventures so travelers can book and travel with confidence.

Exodus Adventure Travels is part of Travelopia, the world's largest collection of experiential travel brands. Travelopia's 26 award-winning travel brands lead the way in creating unique experiences for guests around the world.  To learn more about Exodus Travels and the company's award-winning adventures visit ExodusTravels.com, or follow the company on social @ExodusTravels.

About The Explorers Club

The Explorers Club is a multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation. Headquartered in New York City with a community of Chapters around the world, they have been supporting scientific expeditions of all disciplines, and uniting members in the bonds of good fellowship since 1904.

For further information visit explorers.org

Editors' note:  Images available upon request.

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