Andy Maser of Epicocity awarded National Geographic Grant

The National Geographic Expeditions Council recently awarded Andy Maser a Young Explorers Grant for Epicocity’s presently ongoing expedition to Bolivia. The expedition team of Andy Maser, Trip Jennings, Brian Eustis and Scott Feindel are combining elements of adventure, science and conservation in an environment on the brink of hydrological crisis.

Glaciologists have been monitoring the status of the country’s glaciers closely for the last 20 years, and their findings do not bode well for the population of Latin America’s poorest country. Glaciers that have followed a natural cycle of growing in cold times and shrinking in warm times have begun to melt extremely rapidly, to the point that one, Chacaltaya, has completely disappeared. As climate change continues in a country that produces a proportionately tiny amount of carbon, available water resources will continue to rapidly decline.

During the course of the expedition that will last until late April, Epicocity will be filming for a feature documentary, a National Geographic TV show on global water issues and a segment for the PBS show Foreign Exchange. Stay tuned to the Epicocity blog, as well as the National Geographic Adventure blog for updates as the expedition develops.

Special thanks to NRS and National Geographic for making this expedition possible!