Get Paid To Turn Your Thru-Hike Into Conservation Impact This Summer

This is a guest post brought to you by Adventure Scientists. Adventure Scientists is offering AT and PCT hikers a chance to contribute to real forest research, and eligible hikers can apply for mini grants of up to $500.

No one accidentally ends up hiking for months on a long-distance trail.

Most people don’t wake up one day and hike the AT or decide on a whim to string together hundreds of miles on the PCT. Getting there takes time to plan, to figure out gear, build some form of fitness and stamina, and rearrange your life and commitments.

It’s not easy; that’s part of what makes thru-hiking (or even sustained backcountry travel) what it is. 

It also puts you somewhere most people never go.

Not just physically, but in terms of access. You’re moving over ridgelines and through remote forests, burn zones, alpine basins — places that are hard to reach, harder to study, and often missing from the datasets researchers and land managers, like the US Forest Service, rely on.

Which creates an interesting disconnect: hikers, the people best positioned to reach these places, usually aren’t the ones collecting data — but they can be.

This summer, Adventure Scientists is offering Adventure Mini Grants between $250 and $500 for AT and PCT hikers who want to turn their miles into real conservation impact.

Photo by Kyle Moon courtesy of Adventure Scientists

Where Hikers and Conservation Impact Overlap

Adventure Scientists, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that collects hard-to-gather field data to advance conservation solutions, saw that disconnect as an opportunity. For over 15 years, they’ve been working with researchers, land managers, and conservation organizations that need field data from landscapes that are too remote, too large, or logistically impossible to reach, and then connect those needs with people skilled enough to reach those places.

They’ve reached the highest known plant life on the slopes of Mount Everest; connected backcountry skiers and snowboarders to track threatened tree species that are critical for slope stability and snowpack; and amassed one of the largest and most diverse global microplastic pollution datasets to date, which is being used by businesses, governments, and individuals to limit plastic waste.

They leverage outdoor adventurers and hikers who know how to plan, navigate, and move through the backcountry for days or weeks at a time, who are comfortable being out on the trail or in the woods, and who can get this incredible data on the trips they’re already planning.

In other words, people like you.

This kind of work works because of the skill set outdoor explorers bring to it. Covering long distances consistently, handling variable conditions, paying attention to your surroundings in a way that’s second nature after enough miles translates incredibly well to certain types of field data collection, especially when the work needs to happen far from roads, labs, or easy access points.

Photo courtesy of Adventure Scientists

Opportunities That Fit Into the Hikes You’re Planning

If you have plans this summer along the Pacific Crest Trail or Appalachian Trail, there are a couple of projects worth paying attention to:

Pacific Crest Trail & Northwest Forest Biodiversity

Along the PCT and in forests throughout Washington, Oregon, and California, hikers are carrying passive recording devices into designated National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands. These devices capture wildlife sounds over extended periods, helping U.S. Forest Service researchers better understand how threatened and endangered species use old‑growth and intact forest ecosystems. The resulting data fills critical knowledge gaps and informs decisions about forest management, habitat protection, and recreation access.

Using detailed Quality Assurance Plans and providing training for every project, the data collected by volunteers is scientifically rigorous, research‑grade quality, and reliable. Federal and state agencies, nonprofits, universities, and research institutions use this information to guide real conservation action and decisions that directly shape how Pacific Northwest landscapes are protected and managed.

Pacific Crest Trail Projects PCT Adventure Mini Grant Application

Forest Health & Resilience Along the Appalachian Trail

Forests across the country are facing increased pressure from disease, pests, drought, and extreme weather. The future of our forests will depend on genetic resilience: the rare, naturally resistant trees. Finding those trees is challenging, spread across millions of acres, but it is also one of the most hopeful frontiers in conservation today. Forest genomics — understanding tree diversity — can help land managers restore forests that will be better adapted to the future.

Adventure Scientists is enabling hikers, especially in the Appalachian Mountains, to play a direct role in protecting the forests they love.

Through hands-on, community-powered opportunities designed for people who already spend time outdoors, you will be trained to help locate trees — specifically American beech and butternut — that continue to thrive despite increased environmental stress. These discoveries inform genomics‑informed restoration work on seed sourcing and long‑term reforestation strategies by the U.S. Forest Service and researchers at the University of Connecticut, Purdue University, and the Morton Arboretum.

Appalachian Trail Projects AT Adventure Mini Grant Application

Photo by Cory Crouser courtesy of Adventure Scientists

It Doesn’t Change Your Trip, But It Changes The Impact

You’re still hiking your route, dealing with the same climbs, weather, logistics, and long days. That part doesn’t change, but this adds a layer of connection to the landscapes you’re exploring.

Instead of just moving through a place, you’re also paying attention in a slightly different way. Pausing when it matters, recording something that would otherwise go unnoticed, and contributing a small piece of information that becomes a large, valuable datapoint when combined with thousands of others.

Adventure Mini Grants (Up to $500) to Simultaneously Offset Your Costs & Give Back

Adventure Scientists is offering a limited number of mini grants to AT and PCT hikers this summer (up to $500 per hiker). All applicants must apply for a project first; once approved, you will be eligible to apply for a mini grant.

• Appalachian Trail Projects and AT Adventure Mini Grant Application
• Pacific Crest Trail Projects and PCT Adventure Mini Grant Application

Grants will be selected on a rolling basis through June or until all spots are filled.

Add Conservation Impact to Your Hikes This Summer

If you’ve got a trip planned, it’s worth checking whether any Adventure Scientists projects overlap with where you’ll be, because at this point, you’ve already built the part that matters most: the ability to get out there in the first place.

• Apply for Appalachian Trail Projects and the AT Adventure Mini Grant 
• Apply for Pacific Crest Trail Projects and the PCT Adventure Mini Grant 

Photo courtesy of Adventure Scientists

About the Author

Chrissy Very is an avid supporter of giving back to the natural world that provides for us, working at the intersection of science and adventure and helping connect more people to meaningful ways to engage with nature.

She works with outdoor organizations, such as Adventure Scientists, where she leads growth, storytelling, and partnership initiatives across conservation and outdoor recreation. Based in Pennsylvania, she spends as much time as possible exploring trails — including the AT — and connecting others to purpose-driven outdoor experiences.

Featured photo by Acacia Fike-Nelson courtesy of Adventure Scientists