Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

Anything but Average

Scientific papers and technical reports by students are used by federal and state agencies including the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, to make wildlife and land management decisions.

Get Your Hands Dirty

Out here, it's about more than coursework and credit hours. Dig-in and do it from day one with archaeology fieldwork.

Hands-on research in climate, water and ecology

CWC's science-based study of anthropology and environmental science provides great opportunities to see the planet.

Partnerships that boost achievement

Partnerships with the Bureau of Land Management, American Climber Science Program, US Forest Service, Environmental Systems Research Institute, University of CA Redlands, NOLS, and UW.

Previous slide
Next slide

ALPINE SCIENCE EXPEDITIONS

Alpine Science Expeditions put students in the most remote locations, climbing the highest mountains, all while conducting cutting-edge research. Expeditions are designed for students who want to learn through outdoor adventure. For those who love mountaintops, wilderness backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and living in a tent for weeks or months at a time at elevations from 3,000 to more than 12,000 feet above sea level – your adventure is calling.

ASI study environments include Yellowstone National Park, Gannett Peak, Grand Teton National Park, and Wyoming’s Wind River Range. The ASI experiential learning strategy focuses on the integration of field-based skills with Outdoor Education, Environmental Science and Archaeology. We are based in the heart of the Rocky Mountains but partner with institutions across the nation and beyond to provide additional opportunities for our students as far away as the Alps and Andes. Classroom and lab instruction is conducted on our campuses in Riverton, Lander, and Jackson, Wyoming.

This annual expedition takes students on extended journeys into the Fitzpatrick Wilderness Area in the Shoshone National Forest to conduct research on and around the Dinwoody Glacier and Gannett Peak (13,809 feet). Students perform glaciological and hydrological research and investigate archaeological sites dating back almost 12,000 years made by some of the earliest humans in North America. These expeditions include explorations of North America’s highest prehistoric buffalo jump (11,000 feet) and related campsites.

Read about the Interdisciplinary Climate Change Expedition (ICCE) in Scientific American. by Ben Storrow, E&E News on September 13, 2017.

Watch the Glaciers of the Winds preview by Wyoming PBS, featuring the ICCE expedition.

Embark upon a long mountain bike tour – long, as in 1500 miles or so!

The ride is called The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, and students will be traveling from Banff, Alberta to Lander Wyoming. The students will all be using SPOT GPS trackers, and you can follow their progress here.

The research project is called BioPeak and will involve the collection of air quality data along the route, as well as self-measurements on HR, weight, and a suite of other physiological parameters.

View the Tour Divide 2018 story map. 



If reaching the highest point in Wyoming is on your bucket list, Central Wyoming College can help you get there. Gannett Peak is the highest point in Wyoming. It stands 13,810′ and is the adventure of a lifetime. Join experienced outdoor education instructor Darran Wells and Stacy Wells and challenge yourself in this Mountaineering Expedition.

CWC archaeology students enjoy spending the summer months roaming high alpine and desert basin landscapes, from Yellowstone National Park in the west to Thunder Basin and the Black Hills in the east. We live in remote tent camps and work at multiple sites from Oregon Trail forts to Paleoindian bison kills dating to the Late Pleistocene. CWC Field School students learn advanced field methods, technologies, and theories in subjects from archaeoastronomy and botany to paleoecology and zoology. These skills prepare our students to join research expeditions overseas, move up in academia, or become one of the hundreds of professional archaeologists working in the US West.

The expedition requires students to develop a scientific research project and implement their plan on the flanks of Mt. Kilimanjaro, East Africa’s highest peak. Participants on this course plan to spend several days at more than 17,000 feet to learn about research methods in glaciology and apply them to the high elevation glaciers of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

https://www.nols.edu/en/coursefinder/courses/tanzania-scientific-research-expedition-TSR/

Authorized permit holder of the US Forest Service and an equal opportunity service provider.