Galápagos Trip Open To Lemont High Schoolers, Eighth Graders

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School Biology teacher Scott Collins started organizing trips for eighth graders and high schoolers in 2017.

Collins said he started organizing the trips "with the hopes of exploring wild places on our Earth and exposing students to the wonders that are outside of our little town."

"I hoped to spark interest in biodiversity and conservation," Collins said.

In previous trips, Collins and student groups have traveled to Yellowstone National Park, Maui, Alaska and Roatan.

"We've done research on bison and wolves in Yellowstone, reef fish in Maui, orcas and glacial melt in Alaska, and reef conservation and dolphins in Roatan," Collins told Patch.

Collins is looking for students who would like to travel to the Galápagos Islands in summer 2023.

The trips are not affiliated with the high school, and are open to high school aged-students and current eighth graders who would be freshmen during the summer of 2023.

The trip will be 10 days long, and Collins said students will spend time studying the biodiversity of the islands, as well as the geology and volcanism that brought them to be.

Interested students can contact Collins at sgcollins80@gmail.com. You can check out an itinerary of the trip online.