As Hig and Erin begin their 4-month long trip around Cook Inlet they asked me to write a blog post on “Who is Ground Truth Trekking?”.
Hig, Erin, David and Andrew before GTT was a gleam in Hig and Erin’s eyes (2004)
To start I thought I’d just briefly describe the history of the organization as I understand it. Starting way back in 2004 or so Erin and Hig became interested in the Pebble Mine prospect, and planned a couple of trips to the area to “see what it was actually like”. These trips, and particularly their photos, turned out to be very popular and were posted on their “Alaska Trekking” page. In 2007, not long before starting off on their epic “Journey on the Wild Coast” they created a non-profit entity called “Ground Truth Trekking (GTT)”. The general idea was to merge their adventure travel with their interest in natural resources issues in Alaska and to provide a vehicle for raising awareness of those issues. At that time they were the Board of Directors and the sole members of the organization. Erin blogged about the origins of the organization in 2009, just after I came on board to help with coal-related research.
Fast forward to today and Ground Truth Trekking has grown enough that we have to file the “long” IRS form for non-profits and have actual Board of Directors meetings (though only over Google Hangouts, no suits required!). In addition to our extensive website we have supported various treks, provide technical and scientific advice to a number of organizations, conduct public outreach, produce reports on natural resource issues etc. All of this is made possible through grants, sponsors, book/DVD sales, and of course donations. We’ve also been greatly helped along the way by a number of volunteers.
So who is Ground Truth Trekking?
Board of Directors:
Bretwood “Hig” Higman, PhD (Specialties: Management, Figures, Seismic Hazards)
Erin McKittrick, M.S. (Specialties: Media Relations, Books, Climate Change)
David Coil, PhD (Specialties: Content Creation, Coal and Metals Mining)
Andrew Mattox, (Specialties: Economics, Business, Finances, Geology)
Programmers/Website Development
Michael Kirk
Sam Vevang
Damien Tougas
Copyeditors
Liz Lester, PhD
Niki Hoagland
Elisa Mader
Accounting/Finances
Amy Gilson
Other Contributors
Bjorn Olson (jack of all-trades; filmmaker, contractor, website work, content creation, etc.)
Mike Borden, M.S. (field assistant, photo expeditions)
Valisa Higman (graphic arts)
Chelsea Suydam (maps)
(Read more about most of these folks on our “GTT Team” page)