Stage 1
Before the expedition
Educators prepare for the field experience and connect their professional learning goals to their classroom work.
Odyssey Discovery Educator Fellowship™
Put real science in the hands of educators.
Help send educators into the field to learn alongside the scientists and researchers doing the work.
Odyssey Discovery is opening a limited number of sponsored educator fellowship places on its field-based professional learning expeditions. Sponsors make these experiences possible for educators who might not otherwise have access to them.
Why the fellowship exists
Educators shouldn't have to teach the field without ever getting into it.
Most educators want to give students authentic exposure to science, conservation, exploration, and research. Very few ever get to experience those environments themselves.
Classroom science is powerful. But there is something different about standing on a glacier with a glaciologist, observing wildlife research with a field scientist, or learning directly from researchers working in extreme environments. The fellowship exists to help close that gap — with a particular focus on educators working in science, environmental education, conservation, STEM, and outdoor learning.
What educators bring back
- Firsthand knowledge of how field science actually works
- Stories and experiences students can't get from a textbook
- Stronger connections to current research
- Greater confidence teaching real-world science
- New ideas for student learning
- Working relationships with scientists and researchers
What a fellowship supports
Sponsorship supports an educator's participation.
Depending on the sponsorship level and the specific expedition, support may contribute toward any of the following. Each fellowship opportunity is structured around the specific expedition and sponsorship level.
- Expedition participation
- Professional learning program
- Lodging
- Ground transportation
- Field experiences
- Scientist and researcher experiences
- Expedition coordination
- Educator materials
- Other eligible expedition-related costs
The experience
Field → educator → classroom → students.
Stage 2
In the field
Educators learn directly from scientists, researchers, conservationists, and other field professionals in real research environments.
Stage 3
After the expedition
Educators bring the experience — knowledge, materials, stories, and connections — back to their students and classrooms.
What makes Odyssey Discovery different
This isn't a conference.
It isn't a sightseeing trip. It isn't a traditional professional-development workshop. It is an opportunity for educators to step into the environments where science is actually happening.
- Small-group experiences
- Direct access to working scientists
- Field-based learning
- Real research environments
- Conservation and science focus
- Structured professional learning
- Authentic, unscripted experiences
- A direct line from field science to classroom learning
The fellowship model
How it works.
- 01
Sponsors support educator participation.
A sponsorship is confirmed for one or more educator places on a specific expedition.
- 02
Odyssey Discovery administers the fellowship.
We handle criteria, selection, logistics, and the professional learning program.
- 03
Educators apply or are selected.
Eligible educators are considered against the fellowship criteria established for that expedition.
- 04
Fellows participate in the expedition.
Small group, real research environments, working scientists and conservation professionals.
- 05
Fellows return with the experience.
Back to schools and communities with knowledge, materials, and connections.
- 06
Sponsors receive an impact summary.
An appropriate post-expedition summary of what the sponsorship made possible.
Sponsorship availability is limited by expedition capacity.
Sponsorship opportunities
Example sponsorship levels.
These are example levels intended as a starting point for a conversation — each arrangement is customized to the expedition, the number of educators supported, and the sponsor's interests.
Educator Fellowship Sponsor
$12,975
Support one educator's participation in a complete Odyssey Discovery expedition.
Potential sponsor recognition
- Recognition on the Odyssey Discovery fellowship webpage
- Sponsor recognition in appropriate program communications
- Post-expedition impact summary
- Educator or fellowship story where appropriate permissions exist
Field Science Partner
$25,000
Support two educators.
Potential sponsor recognition
- All Educator Fellowship Sponsor recognition
- Enhanced recognition on the fellowship webpage and in program communications
- Expanded post-expedition impact summary covering both fellows
- A conversation with Kirsten following the expedition to review outcomes
Expedition Education Partner
$50,000
Support up to four educators.
Potential sponsor recognition
- Lead recognition on the fellowship webpage and in program communications
- Full expedition impact summary
- Educator reflections and field photography where permissions exist
- Option to structure the sponsorship around a specific expedition or educator-access focus
Custom sponsorship opportunities are available for organizations interested in supporting multiple educators, specific expeditions, or a broader educator-access initiative.
Odyssey Discovery is not a nonprofit organization and does not represent sponsorship payments as charitable donations or as tax-deductible. Sponsors should consult their own tax and accounting advisors regarding the treatment of sponsorship expenses.
Who makes a good sponsor?
You don't have to be an Arctic company to support Arctic educators.
The strongest sponsors are organizations that care about science, the environment, education, or the communities they operate in. If your organization sees itself in the work — that's usually enough of a fit to start a conversation.
- Environmental organizations
- Conservation organizations
- Outdoor companies
- Science and technology companies
- STEM-focused companies
- Climate and sustainability companies
- Environmental technology
- Scientific equipment companies
- Outdoor recreation companies
- Travel and expedition companies
- Education companies
- Universities and research organizations
- Foundations and mission-aligned organizations
- Companies with employee or community impact initiatives
Why sponsors participate
What sponsorship can offer an organization.
Community impact
Meaningful, traceable support for educators and the students they teach.
Science and environmental education
Direct investment in environmental literacy and STEM learning.
Connection to future generations
Support that reaches classrooms, not just an institution.
Authentic storytelling
Field-based stories to share where appropriate permissions exist.
Association with field science
Alignment with credible research and exploration work.
Employee and community engagement
A program employees and communities can follow and care about.
The educator impact
One educator can reach dozens or hundreds of students in a single school year.
The fellowship is built around that arithmetic. Funding one educator extends well beyond the expedition itself — into lesson plans, classroom conversations, student projects, and connections to scientists that outlast the trip.
- One sponsored educator
- Field experience
- New knowledge + stories + connections
- Classroom
- Students
- Community
The first fellows
Early sponsors establish the model.
The Educator Fellowship is intentionally a limited program in its first years. There is no long history to point to — there is a clear design, a working expedition program, and a small number of places.
Founding fellowship sponsors will help make it possible to expand access to field-based professional learning for educators who otherwise might not be able to participate.
2027 Arctic Educator Expedition
Only a small number of educators will participate.
- Location
- Arctic Alaska — Odyssey Discovery's flagship expedition region.
- Dates
- Summer 2027. Exact dates confirmed with sponsors and fellows once the expedition window is finalized.
- Length
- Multi-day field expedition; final length set with the expedition schedule.
- Educators
- A small cohort. Participation is intentionally limited by field capacity.
- Scientific focus
- Arctic and polar science, climate and sea-ice change, ecology, and conservation.
- Who educators may meet
- Working scientists, researchers, conservation professionals, and community knowledge holders participating in that expedition. Specific participants are confirmed closer to the expedition.
- Professional learning focus
- Field methods, current research, science storytelling, and translating field experience into classroom learning.
Program experience
Developed with educators, in real classrooms.
Odyssey Discovery's field-based educator programming has been developed through direct work with educators and students in conservation-focused school environments, including a pilot partnership with Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School.
Educator and student privacy comes first: we publish student names, images, work, or quotes only with documented permission.
Sponsor impact reporting
What sponsors receive afterward.
Following the expedition, Odyssey Discovery provides an appropriate impact summary. It reports on the program and the educators' experience — never identifiable student information or personal student stories.
- Number of educators supported
- Confirmation that the expedition was completed
- Summary of professional learning activities
- Broad educator reflections
- Classroom and community impact where available
- Photographs or media where appropriate permissions exist
- A short narrative impact summary
How to become a sponsor
Five steps.
- 1
Tell us what you're interested in supporting.
- 2
Choose an educator sponsorship level or discuss a custom partnership.
- 3
Odyssey Discovery confirms the sponsorship arrangement and fellowship details.
- 4
Sponsored educators participate in the expedition.
- 5
Odyssey Discovery provides an appropriate post-expedition impact summary.
Questions
Fellowship FAQ.
Is Odyssey Discovery a nonprofit?
No. Odyssey Discovery is a mission-driven company, not a nonprofit or 501(c)(3) organization. The Educator Fellowship is a sponsorship program administered by Odyssey Discovery.
Is my sponsorship tax deductible?
Odyssey Discovery does not represent sponsorship payments as charitable donations and makes no representation that they are tax deductible. Sponsors should consult their own tax and accounting advisors regarding the treatment of sponsorship expenses.
What does my sponsorship pay for?
It supports educator participation and expedition-related program costs according to the specific sponsorship agreement. Each fellowship opportunity is structured around the specific expedition and sponsorship level.
Can we sponsor a specific educator?
Sponsors may nominate an educator or a group of educators for consideration. Selection is made by Odyssey Discovery according to the fellowship criteria for that expedition, so nomination does not guarantee selection or funding.
Can our company sponsor multiple educators?
Yes, subject to expedition capacity. Because participation is intentionally limited, multi-educator sponsorships are confirmed in the order they are arranged.
Can we sponsor educators from a particular school or region?
Custom sponsorship arrangements may be possible, subject to the fellowship criteria and program capacity for that expedition. Let's talk about what you have in mind.
Can we sponsor an expedition rather than an individual educator?
Yes. Organizations interested in underwriting a full cohort, a specific expedition, or a broader educator-access initiative can discuss a custom partnership.
What recognition does a sponsor receive?
Recognition on the Odyssey Discovery fellowship webpage, recognition in appropriate program communications, and a post-expedition impact summary. We do not promise advertising reach, impressions, or media placements.
Can sponsors provide equipment or in-kind support?
In-kind sponsorship — field equipment, gear, or educator materials — is welcome and reviewed case by case for fit with the expedition and its participants.
How are educators selected?
Each expedition has its own published fellowship criteria, generally weighted toward teaching context, science or environmental focus, student reach, and readiness to bring the experience back into the classroom.
What happens after the expedition?
Fellows carry the experience into their classrooms and school communities, and Odyssey Discovery provides sponsors with an appropriate post-expedition impact summary.
Interested in sponsoring an educator?
Science shouldn't stop at the classroom door.
Help put educators where discovery is happening — and help bring what they learn back to students. Let's talk.
hello@odysseydiscovery.org