WEBVTT

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All right.

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INTERVIEWER: We're going to give you about five minutes

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or so to see what you can accomplish.

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Where do you even start with a globe puzzle?

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It's like, you can't start with the border.

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Geospatial information systems and technology

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is putting all these little pieces together,

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mapping our world, and making it more accessible for a wider

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public.

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Couple more areas of North America over here, though.

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I'd love it if I could find Wyoming in here.

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INTERVIEWER: All right, Sam.

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Time's up.

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[SIGHS] All right.

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[CHUCKLES]

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SAM: My name is Sam Martinich.

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My life has absolutely changed since landing at CWC.

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We are somewhere right around here where the bison is.

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I'm from Missoula, Montana.

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Growing up, I loved going out, playing in the woods,

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exploring, pulling sticks off of trees and sword fighting

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with my siblings.

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I was not a very good student, not at all.

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I got my GED when I was 16 and was accepted into college,

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and lasted there for about a year and a half

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before doing poorly, dropping out.

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And that's when I went and started hitchhiking around

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North America, up through Canada, down through Mexico.

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After about three years, it was time to move on,

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find something different.

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Let's just go big or go home, right.

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So the Continental Divide trail is 3,100 miles.

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Along the way, I made friends, one of them

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who had been an old expedition science student here

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at Central Wyoming College.

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I hadn't thought of school in some time.

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I'd been wandering for so long and looking for adventure,

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but having a hard time supporting myself doing it.

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Let's try Central Wyoming College.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Geography is destiny.

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I was standing there and going, what

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I need is somebody who's turned on to this climate project who

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also understands some geospatial thinking, who also understands

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the Continental Divide trail, and in walks Sam.

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[LAUGHTER]

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It's really interesting to hear that he was kind of adrift,

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right?

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Because what I've seen of him, he

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is so passionate about the work he does.

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And I think for me in my work here, that's what's so special,

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is pulling in: what about our students' lives

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outside of school, makes them better

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students in the classroom?

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You bring the street cred of investment and willingness

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to embrace something new.

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What we're looking for here is assessing oxygenation.

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SAM: Jacki is the kind of professor

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who really encourages her students

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to get on the technical side of the outdoor industry.

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The Advanced Technological Education program

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takes you down a slightly different avenue and says,

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not only are you going to gain these technological skills,

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but we're going to help bridge to real life employers.

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We are going to use this geospatial tool

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that you and your peers developed in class.

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SAM: We have incredible data gaps

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around these glacial regions and these ice fields

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where we're not getting climate data collection.

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And so to be part of the work that

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becomes that solution is an experience that I'll never

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forget.

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If we're catching the water here, we've got the sediment

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and we're sending it towards the river versus away.

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KARRI: Not only are we accomplishing meaningful work

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on the ground, you guys are becoming

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really proficient in these essential skill

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sets that make you more efficient at a job, a career.

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So just so that I'm clear, the National Science Foundation

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and the ATE are providing support for us?

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How does that work?

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Great question.

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I think many people are familiar with the National Science

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Foundation.

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They, in turn fund the Advanced Technological Education or ATE

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program.

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Really has an emphasis specifically

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on two-year community colleges and meeting

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the mission of advancing scientific literacy

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in the nation.

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SAM: After drifting for a while and not really knowing

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where I was aiming, I do feel like I've found

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what I want to do with my life.

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I feel very confident.

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I can leave this world now and know

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Sam is going to be-- going to be self sufficient

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and have a lot of skills, valuable skills.

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He's found a place to land in a place

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where he is focused and has--

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it's just a big change.

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I think I'm the most proud of what is yet

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to come when I think about Sam.

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I'm pretty dang proud of myself.

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[LAUGHTER]

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A couple of years ago, I would not have imagined myself

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in this position.

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I'm immensely grateful to be pursuing an education that

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will lead into not just a profitable

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career, but a fulfilling one where I'm out doing work

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in the backcountry that will work

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towards the sustainability of it and the use of it

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for future generations.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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