Shauna: It's been amazing so far. So I'm a Wyoming native, born and raised in Wyoming, and have just always appreciated the value of the state and just been blessed to be here.

And I'm an educator with degrees in almost lots of areas and lots of grade levels, and I love to see stuff like this going on where it's hands-on and outdoor based, and I would love to get more programs like this going in Wyoming. So that's my long-term goal, is to start to develop more partnerships with people that do things like this.

And so BioBlitz has been amazing for that, 'cause I've just got all sorts of ideas of who I can contact and who I can reach out to, to partner with, possible donors to start. I originally wanted to start some type of an outdoor school kind of thing with kids, but there's so much legality and things involved in that. And then I thought, "Well, maybe I should just start with adults."

I did an outdoor outing with a whole group of adults, and we went in a place, and I thought, "Well, that might be easier to start." And then my son said, "Mom, why don't you just invite families?"

And then the parents are kind of responsible for their kids, but you still get that part of it. And we can call it, you know, we'll do camps. We decided, instead of trying to do a whole big thing. And so something like this is kind of exactly what I'm thinking would be perfect, and just start to try to offer that a couple times in the summer throughout the state for families to engage in.

And so this has been a great model and a great chance to collaborate and get ideas. So I'm really excited.

Nancy: That's fantastic. Can I just ask you, as you grew up in Wyoming, what's the, like what do you think it is about your relationship to Wyoming as a place and as a community that draws you to natural surroundings, and the kinds of inspiration you have for camps?

Shauna: I think a big part that's never talked about is the mental-emotional piece that everyone connects into but doesn't really mention. And so, especially with kids and families, especially in this day and age, we see a huge need for that, a huge push for that. And so I think you could easily do something like this and also incorporate a couple pieces that talk more about how this makes you feel, how this helps you heal.

How it helps you decompress from the technology. All the things that we know, the grounding and the true power in that, the effect that nature has on people.

Nancy: I love that. That's beautiful. Thank you. Shauna, thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Shauna: Yeah, anything like that. If anybody's interested in helping with anything like that, reach out to me because I'd love to start getting some donors, some partners, something started.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.