Explain Yourself
Watch scientists and park employees try to describe what they do and projects they're working on using only the 1000 most used words in the English language.
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Explain Yourself: Vegetation Program Technician
The first rule of plants is: you do not talk about plants (or at least in this game, you can't use the word!). Suzy works at the Native Plant Nursery that helps to grow and revegetate native plants to restore areas of Glacier National Park after disturbances. Root for her as she’s challenged to describe her role in Glacier using only the 1000 most common words in the English language.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 30 seconds
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Explain Yourself: Bear Biologist
Curious about what some of our other wildlife biologists could paw-sibly do? Watch as Steven bears with us and doesn’t get too grizzly as we ask him to describe his role in bear management at Glacier using only the 1000 most common word in the English language.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 25 seconds
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Explain Yourself: Wildlife Technician
Gabby is a Wildlife Technician at Glacier National Park whose focus is on birds and bats. Watch her try to explain a recent research project she's working on, vaccinating bats for White-Nose Syndrome, using only the 1000 most common words in the English language.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 27 seconds
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Explain Yourself: Physical Science Technician
Ed is a Physical Science Technician who studies and monitors air quality in Glacier National Park. He also manages the equipment that records the number of visitors coming to the park. Despite his research, he’s definitely not an airhead. He was able to describe what he does using the 1,000 most common words in English pretty quickly!
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 27 seconds
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Explain Yourself: Northern Lights
Sydney, an Astronomy Volunteer in Glacier National Park, explains the complex astronomical phenomena of Northern Lights using only the 1000 most common word in the English language.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 27 seconds
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Explain Yourself: Cartographic Technician
Megan is a Cartographic Technician at Glacier National Park. Her role is to support staff with any and all projects related to mapping, cartographic design, data collection, and device management. A lesser-known position in the park, and a pretty complex one as well, we asked her to explain what she does using only the 1000 most common words in the English language.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 28 seconds
Science Stories
Insights into relevant scientific research, sustainability, and community activities in the crown of the continent ecosystem.-
Sperry Glacier Mass Balance Research: A 20-year Legacy
What are glaciers symbols of? Vitality? Curiosity? Power? Loss? How might this change over time? In 2024, we’re celebrating 20 years of USGS mass balance measurements on Sperry Glacier. That’s 20 years of dedication, data collection, and deliberation. This rare, continuous record helps us understand our glacier’s vital signs and connections to climate.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 29 seconds
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It's Electric (Vehicle Charger in Apgar)!
Our rangers are amped up for the new electric vehicle (EV) charger in the Apgar Visitor Center parking lot! Thanks to generous Glacier National Park Conservancy donors, this level- two EV charging station is free for public use (limited to two hours of charging time when in heavy demand). While we can’t promise rangers dancing the Electric Slide every time you plug in, we hope the reduction of carbon emissions and improvement in sustainable travel accessibility will be enough to spark joy.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 23 seconds
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Silent Storytellers: A Cross-section of Science and Art
For returning Artist-in-Residence, Amory Abbott, inspiration lies at the cross section of science and art. Follow along on his return journey to Glacier National Park after five years away as he reflects on themes within his work and explores with the community how we connect to and create from nature. What do you create that is inspired by the natural world?
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 30 seconds
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Silent Storytellers: Reading the Rings
Trees are the silent storytellers of our natural world. Each individual, a different tale to tell. Each ring, a chapter of growth. Researchers in Glacier have collected cross-sections of fallen trees throughout the park to tease out these stories related to avalanche history. The next step is making these wooden records digitally available to the public. Hear from USGS researchers Dr. Erich Peitzsch and Lisa McKeon about their building of this database and why these samples are important to preserve.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 29 seconds
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MAPS Bird Banding in Glacier: Intro
What would you wake up at 4 am for? Come along as we take a walk into the woods before dawn in Glacier National Park with a group of wildlife biologists and volunteers for the MAPS program – Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 29 seconds
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MAPS Bird Banding in Glacier: Feathers
What stories do feathers tell? Every feather on a bird’s body serves an essential, life-sustaining purpose, like enabling flight, providing insulation, or attracting mates. Birds replace feathers through molting. Breeding, migration, and molting are the most crucial and energy-intensive parts of their life cycle, so they can only do one at a time. To learn more about these complex activities, birds in Glacier are caught as part of the MAPS program – Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 25 seconds
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MAPS Bird Banding in Glacier: Missed Connections
How much is a bird in the hand worth? Banding birds in Glacier National Park is part of the MAPS program – Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship. A recent study using MAPS data found that spring is occurring earlier than in past decades and birds aren't responding quickly enough to this shift in timing. These research efforts help us see what’s happening with birds on a continent-wide scale—so that we may value what we already have, and fight to protect it.
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 22 seconds
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From Spoils to Soils
Glacier National Park is turning its spoils into soil! We offer our staff two centralized locations to drop off household food waste for composting. These “bear proof” bins get picked up every two weeks by a local composter. We compost so that park employees can be part of the solution to food waste and climate change.
- Duration:
- 38.906 seconds
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Looking for Loons with the Piikuni Lands Crew
The Piikuni Lands Crew is an all-Blackfeet conservation crew that helps youth and young adults connect to and care for ancestral lands while gaining valuable conservation job skills and experience. The crew partners with the park's citizen science program to conduct common loon surveys in the park and on the Blackfeet Reservation, helping to paint a wider picture of how loons, a Montana Species of Concern, are doing in the region. Thank you to the PLC for your important partnership on your homelands!
- Duration:
- 1 minute, 4 seconds
Last updated: November 7, 2024