There’s No Mountain We Can’t Climb!
Marvelwood’s Envirothon Success & Reflections from Alberta, CA
Striving to find a way to push our talented science students onto a much larger stage, Marvelwood started competing in Envirothon nearly two decades ago. The National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon is an “environmental and natural resources conservation problem-solving, leadership experience and academic competition for high school students across the United States, Canada, China, and Singapore.”
Preparing for the Envirothon can be an intimidating process. The sheer volume of material to be studied and mastered is overwhelming, and the competition is intense, especially against schools with much larger student populations. Nevertheless, our students never give up, and year after year they push themselves to learn the material in Forestry, Wildlife, Aquatics, Soils and the Current Issue. Much like the title character in The Little Engine that Could – a story that emphasizes the importance of resilience, perseverance, remaining positive, and believing in one’s abilities when faced with immense challenges – slowly but surely over the years, Marvelwood’s teams began to climb the steep scientific academic mountain and started to believe they had the ability to compete against students from larger schools.
In recent years, we have managed tremendous success at the state level. Marvelwood won its first state competition in 2021 and followed that achievement up with back-to-back state championships in 2024 and 2025. These wins, in turn, have enabled us to compete on much larger stages.
This summer, longtime Envirothon guru Laurie Doss turned the team over to the school’s new lead advisor Emilie Arseneault and her co-advisor Alecia Pickett who, along with new faculty member Caleb May, literally steered Marvelwood’s “Team Purple Martin” – Irine D. ’25, Jonas M-G. ’25, Micah T. ’25, Rasmiwan "Pear" I. ’25 and Peppi D. ’26 – up the mountains to represent our state at the 2025 NCF Envirothon Competition held in Alberta, Canada in July.
What a trip it was! Guided by their hardworking faculty leaders, the team was able to take time to study the landscape and cultural norms of the host province prior to the start of the competition. In the first few days, the group explored downtown Calgary, went birding in the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, and wandered through the Calgary Latin Festival, where they enjoyed authentic food and music. One of the most exciting moments of the trip came during a hike on the Grassi Lakes trail in Kananaskis County, when the group spotted an American Dipper – the only truly aquatic songbird in North America! – and shared their excitement and knowledge with other hikers as they passed.
Throughout the week of the competition, our students worked tirelessly to absorb copious amounts of information about the landscape and traditions of Alberta. Despite all of the readings and meetings intended to help them learn about the province prior to the trip, nothing truly prepares someone until they are on site. Our team participated in vigorous training for various field tools, studied the soil make-up of the local areas, identified the area’s endangered wildlife species and the tactics being used to remedy these situations, and studied indigenous involvement with land management. The trainings in Canada prior to the start of the competition took place out on the land itself, despite temperatures in the 50s and many days of heavy rain. For their Current Issue presentation, the team put together a comprehensive plan to manage the long-term sustainability of land belonging to the fictional Alberta Timber Company, identifying indigenous communities that would be involved in the project as well as ways to protect native species such as the beaver and the rat root.
Fortunately, not all of the time during the competition week was work! The entire group of Envirothon competitors took a day away to hike in Banff National Park and meet fellow competitors in a more relaxed environment. At Sunshine Meadows, Team Purple Martin rode the gondola up to the peak and then hiked the Rock Isle Road trail, entering British Columbia as they did so. The Standish Outlook offered a beautiful view of Grizzly, Laryx, and Rock Isle Lakes and the Canadian Rockies beyond. After exploring the local town of Canmore, the group was taken to a local venue for an afternoon of lawn games, dancing, and plenty of food. True to form, many of our students used this time to wander towards the edges of the park attempting to sight birds native to the area! Throughout their nine days together, the students laughed, studied, reminisced about Marvelwood, and shared their new-found knowledge about the Albertan land and people. They represented Marvelwood admirably and had a lot of fun in the process. It was truly a memorable experience for all!
During the Envirothon program’s tenure at Marvelwood, close to 150 students have participated. It is the past efforts of our Envirothon alumni and advisors that have helped to contribute to Marvelwood’s recent success! By charting territory, clearing trails, and laying tracks of confidence up the sides of the mountain, the ascent to the summit has been made much easier. Our teams have gone from “I think I can…” to “There's not a mountain that we can't climb! There's not a river we can't cross! There's no tomorrow that we can't find if we try! Nothing can stop us now!”
