A field researcher lowers a water-sampling instrument through Arctic sea ice

Real science. Real people. Real places. Brought closer to the classroom.

Field Notes: Explorer connects classrooms and the public with real scientists, real fieldwork, and real science as it happens — science happening now, not science summarized years later.

Explorer is free to explore. Scientists participate free. Schools that want deeper classroom support can add Classroom Bridge.

Explore Field Notes Share your science Bring Explorer to your school

Explorer Classroom Bridge is $1,997 / school / year — school access is handled on FieldNotesExplorer.com, Field Notes: Explorer by Odyssey Discovery.

Explorer is not a speaker directory, a video library, a webinar series, an LMS or a curriculum package. It is an ongoing connection to real science and the people doing it.

Scientists share the science. Odyssey builds the bridge to classrooms.

Access

Science should reach people.

Explorer is designed to expand access to scientists and their work — not put science behind a wall. It is free to discover: scientist profiles and approved public field content can be explored freely by educators, students, schools and the public, and scientists participate free.

Schools that want a deeper classroom experience add Explorer Classroom Bridge — the educational experience Odyssey Discovery builds around that science: live classroom connections, Odyssey-created resources, teacher support, eligible Live Discovery participation, Discovery Circles, coordination and school-wide access.

Scientists keep ownership of their work and decide what they share and how it may be used.

Our job is to build the bridge between the science happening in the world and the classrooms that want to experience it.

Three pathways

One network. Three ways in.

For scientists

Share the science you're already doing — field notes, photos, videos, data, projects, research updates, or optional Live Discoveries. Free to participate. No lesson plans required. Live participation is optional. You keep ownership of your work; Odyssey handles the classroom bridge.

Share your science

For educators

Explore scientists, discoveries, Field Notes, fieldwork, data, projects and real-world science for free.

Explore Field Notes

For schools

Schools wanting a deeper classroom experience can add Classroom Bridge — Odyssey-created resources, teacher support, eligible Live Discovery participation and more, turning the real science happening across Explorer into meaningful classroom learning.

$1,997 / school / year

Bring Explorer to your school

For partners & sponsors

Help bring real-world science into classrooms by funding Classroom Bridge access for schools or districts.

Fund school access

What students experience

Real science, brought into the room.

A wetland ecologist measures water conditions in a freshwater marsh

A marine scientist retrieves a plankton net from a small research boat

Scientists

Working scientists, researchers and conservationists sharing the science they are actually doing right now.

Live Discoveries

Scheduled live sessions where students hear from the people doing the work and ask their own questions.

Field video + photos

What the field really looks like — the sites, the gear, the conditions, the animals, the ice, the water.

Field stories

What surprised them, what went wrong, what they are still trying to figure out.

Data + projects

Real measurements and real research questions students can look at and think about.

Discovery Replays

Recorded Discoveries available to participating classrooms so a missed session isn't a missed opportunity.

Student questions

Student curiosity is part of the experience, not an afterthought at the end.

Educator resources

Simple preparation and follow-up materials so a teacher can use a Discovery without building a unit from scratch.

Available scientists, Discoveries and materials are confirmed for each access period as the network grows.

How Explorer works

Connect. Explore. Teach.

Connect

Live Discoveries with the people doing the science.

Explore

Scientists, field stories, Discovery Replays, data, projects and discoveries.

Teach

Simple educator resources that help teachers bring the discovery into classroom learning.

Students seen from behind watch an Arctic field scientist demonstrate water sampling on a classroom screen

Field science, front and centre

Show students where discovery happens.

Students aren't only hearing scientists talk. Explorer helps them see the work itself.

A polar researcher checks a weather instrument within a vast Arctic coastal landscape

— Where the science happens
— What fieldwork actually looks like
— What scientists are seeing
— What they're measuring
— What they're wondering
— What goes wrong
— What surprises them
— What they're discovering

The scientist network

Odyssey handles the infrastructure.

Odyssey Discovery builds and maintains relationships with working scientists, researchers, conservationists and appropriate knowledge keepers. Schools don't have to do any of this on their own:

— Finding working scientists and researchers
— Vetting and preparing them
— Building the relationships over time
— Coordinating scheduling
— Managing the ongoing communication
— Building the educational framing around the science

A forest ecologist measures the trunk of a mature tree during fieldwork

Arctic + polar scienceMarine scienceWildlife biology + conservationWetlands + freshwaterClimate + atmospheric scienceForests + terrestrial ecologyEndangered species + recoveryand other areas of science and conservation

Meet the scientists

Classroom Bridge — optional school upgrade

Explorer is free. Classroom Bridge deepens it.

For schools that want a deeper classroom experience, Explorer Classroom Bridge helps teachers turn the real science happening across Explorer into meaningful classroom learning — one price per school, not per teacher.

Explorer Classroom Bridge

$1,997 / school / year

One school. Multiple classrooms. A year of support turning real science into classroom learning.

— Live Discoveries with participating scientists
— Discovery Replays throughout the access period
— Field stories, photos and video from the field
— Data, projects and research questions where available
— Student question opportunities
— Odyssey-created resources and teacher support
— Eligible Live Discovery participation
— New material added as the network grows

Twelve months run from your school's own start date. Field Notes runs year-round, so a February start gets the same full access period as a September start.

Bring Explorer to your school

One school license may serve participating educators and classrooms within that licensed school according to Explorer terms and operational capacity. Explorer does not include individual student accounts. Schools and districts purchase Explorer — teachers should not be paying for this out of pocket.

Explorer pricing is introductory access pricing and may change for future access periods.

Multiple schools

District access.

Districts can bring Explorer to several schools through one coordinated partnership rather than school-by-school purchases.

— Multi-school Explorer access
— Shared Live Discoveries across participating schools
— Discovery Replays and educator resources
— One coordinated agreement and start date
— Centralized coordination with Odyssey

Discuss district access

Partner-funded access

A partner can fund school access.

Companies, foundations, science organizations, conservation organizations, universities, community organizations and other appropriate partners may help fund Explorer access for schools. $1,997 funds one school for twelve months at current pricing; larger commitments can fund multiple schools.

Scientist participation is separate from organizational funding. A scientist does not need their employer to purchase Explorer in order to take part.

Fund school access Discuss an Odyssey partnership

Field Notes: Signature

Something more customized?

Explorer is the shared science discovery network — the same offer for every school. Signature is a separate, limited, customized partnership built around a specific school, organization or research focus. Most schools want Explorer.

Ask about Signature

Where Explorer comes from

Shaped in real classrooms.

Field Notes: Explorer was developed through an extended partnership with our pilot school, where students and educators connected with working scientists and conservationists across several areas of environmental science — from polar research to wetlands restoration.

We publish results, quotes and school names only with permission, in the words of the people who said them. As verified evidence from participating schools, scientists and Discoveries becomes available, it will appear here.

Earn with Odyssey

Know another school that needs this?

Introduce us and Odyssey handles the rest. Eligible referrals earn $300 when a referred school joins for 12 months.

Earn with Odyssey

For businesses & organizations

Bring Explorer to a school.

Businesses and organizations can fund Field Notes: Explorer access for a school in their community — one school, several schools, or an entire community. The sponsor funds the access, the school learns, and real scientists lead the science.

Sponsor a school

Questions from schools

Explorer FAQ.

Is Explorer really free?

Yes. Scientists participate free, and educators, students, schools and the public can explore scientist profiles, field notes, photos, video, data and projects for free. Schools that want deeper classroom support add Explorer Classroom Bridge.

What does Classroom Bridge include?

Classroom Bridge is the optional school add-on: Live Discoveries with participating scientists, Discovery Replays, field stories, photos and video, data and project material where available, student question opportunities, and Odyssey-created educator resources — school-wide for your access period. New material is added as the network grows.

How many classrooms can participate?

Explorer is licensed per school, not per teacher. Participating educators and classrooms within the licensed school may take part, subject to Explorer terms and operational capacity. Teachers should not be paying for this personally.

When does access start?

Access runs from your school's own start date. Field Notes runs year-round, so a school starting in February gets the same full access period as a school starting in September.

How do Live Discoveries work?

Discoveries are scheduled sessions hosted by Odyssey with a participating scientist. Multiple participating schools may join the same Discovery — that shared model is what keeps Explorer affordable for schools.

Are students recorded?

Discoveries are built around the scientist's presentation and student questions. Recording of participating classrooms is not required to take part; recording practices for any given Discovery are confirmed with the school in advance.

What if we miss a Discovery?

Discovery Replays are available to participating schools during their access period, so a scheduling conflict doesn't cost you the content.

What technology is required?

A reliable internet connection and a way to project or display video and audio for a class. No special software, hardware or student accounts are required.

How do schools pay?

Schools can purchase directly, or work through a purchase order or invoice for school and district purchasing processes. Start the conversation and we'll match your process.

Can a sponsor fund us?

Yes. Companies, foundations, science and conservation organizations, universities and community partners can fund Explorer access for a school. If you have a possible funder in mind, tell us and we'll help make the ask.

How does district access work?

Districts can bring Explorer to multiple schools through one coordinated partnership, with shared Discoveries, Replays, educator resources and centralized coordination. Pricing is scoped to the number of participating schools.

What is Field Notes: Signature?

Signature is a separate, limited, customized partnership built around a specific school, organization or research focus. It is not the standard Explorer offer and is intentionally small in number. Explorer is the shared network; Signature is bespoke.

Next step

Let's get real science into your classrooms.

Tell us about your school or district and we'll walk you through access, start dates, purchasing and funding options.

Bring Explorer to your school Discuss district access Fund school access See the network