Most people spend their teenage years discovering who they are. For Savannah Lehnert, sixteen was the year she found herself deep in the Amazon rainforest of Madre de Dios, Peru, working as a volunteer alongside scientists on a conservation expedition that would stay with her long after she returned home.
A father-daughter journey begins
When she joined Biosphere Expeditions with her father back in 2011, she became one of the youngest citizen scientists, but she was far from out of place.
The beauty of Biosphere Expeditions teams is that they bring together people (or citizen scientists) from all walks of life and every stage of adulthood, united not by age or profession, but by a shared passion to protect wild animals and places.
‘I was very compelled by the adventure of visiting the Amazon and working with conservation biologists and other volunteers to protect endangered species in an incredible landscape.’
An expedition that became more
The impact of her volunteering experience is clear to see in her beautifully atmospheric descriptions. She remembers, ‘every morning waking up before dawn and getting ready by candlelight. Outside of our curtained-off, rustic room, we could hear the jungle slowly coming to life. The citizen scientists all gathered with the professional scientist for early coffee and breakfast before splitting off for the day. It was magic.’
Those early mornings quickly gave way to the scientific fieldwork that lay at the heart of the expedition. Every citizen scientist contributes to long-term biodiversity monitoring, collecting data, which can then be used by local scientists as proof that something has to change.
‘One of the activities for us citizen scientist was performing salt-lick observations. I remember hiking to a hidden blind above the Tambopata River, with binoculars and a clipboard. Then, with another volunteer, we would sit for hours, periodically scanning the salt lick and writing down animal behavioural observations of the dozens of scarlet macaws and other species that came to the claylick for essential salts and minerals. These technicolour displays were incredible.’
For a sixteen-year-old experiencing the world for the first time, these weren’t simply wildlife encounters. These marked a transformation that allowed her to see what her future could look like.
A scientist that changed everything
The wildlife was inspiring, but perhaps an even greater impact was that of the people protecting it.
Watching conservation in action gave Savannah something even more valuable than unforgettable memories; a glimpse of a future she hadn’t yet imagined for herself.
‘I remember working with one of the biologists, Sarah, on mammal transects. Sarah was completing her PhD on primate conservation, and I would follow her on long transects, assisting with note-taking. Sarah shared her passion for the jungle with me, and I looked up to her as an Indiana Jones-like young scientist. It was magical hiking through the jungle with someone who could read tracks and other silent signs of a recent animal’s passage or nearby presence.’
Seeing a young scientist working in the field made a career in conservation suddenly feel tangible rather than aspirational.
‘Though I completed this expedition over 15 years ago, it stuck with me and set my life on a trajectory that I am still following today.’
Curiosity to Commitment
What began as curiosity soon became commitment. The following year, when the time came to choose her university degree, the decision had already been shaped by those weeks in the Amazon.
‘I was inspired to major in Conservation Biology and Spanish.’ As part of this, she ‘managed projects in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and the United States.’
Next came her Master’s degree, which is where she ‘led citizen scientist expeditions as a wildlife biologist in rural Costa Rica, with Earthwatch.’
Fast forward to the present day and she is ‘currently completing a PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder, focusing on avian conservation in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.’
Fast forward to the present day and she is ‘currently completing a PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder, focusing on avian conservation in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.’
Looking back, Savannah is in no doubt where that journey began. ‘Not only did the expedition give me an initial experience as a volunteer, it opened my eyes to career paths in the field of conservation. I was compelled by the imperative to protect endangered places, and attracted to the resulting adventures. Before the expedition, the Amazon was a remote and theoretical place in my mind. Afterwards, its beauty and the threats it faces became tangible.’
Reflections
Although her experience in Peru remains her only project with Biosphere Expeditions, its impact has endured. More than a decade later, the bond she has with her father and the lessons she learnt in the Peruvian Amazon have lasted a lifetime.
‘My father and I are planning to do another expedition together soon! It was a fantastic father-daughter bonding experience, and I can’t wait to do it again.’
Fifteen years ago, she arrived in Peru as a curious teenager. Today, she is completing her PhD. None of this would have happened without the impetus Biosphere Expeditions gave her.
Inspired by Savannah’s story?
Whether you’re considering a career in conservation or simply want to make your next trip more meaningful, a Biosphere Expedition lets you contribute to real scientific research while experiencing wildlife in a way few people ever do.
See our upcoming expeditions and find the one that’s right for you.
Author: Liesl Hammer
Liesl Hammer grew up bilingual in England and Germany with a passion for writing and conservation and holds an English Literature with Creative Writing degree. As the daughter of Biosphere Expeditions’ founder and executive director, she has been on many expeditions, for example to Namibia, South Africa, Oman and Maldives, where she was always captivated by the different cultures, wildlife and wild places she found. Combining all these interests, Liesl now has her own business, helping organisations and businesses improve their social media presence and quality of writing, which is exactly what she does for Biosphere Expeditions – from creating a social media strategy to producing a blog to looking at communication in wildlife conservation.