David Kroodsma has modest goals. All he really wants to do is raise awareness about global warming and climate change—while riding to South America on his bike.
A former researcher at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment, Kroodsma, ’01, MS ’03, began his 14-month trip last November. He plans to pedal to the southern tip of Argentina, spreading the word about the effects of climate change on the Americas. Armed with 40 pounds of equipment, a digital camera and a Palm handheld to update his website for the several hundred high school students following his trek, Kroodsma has met with school groups in six Latin American countries. As of July 25, he had reached Venezuela.
The 14,000-mile journey is more than 15 times the length of his first bike tour in 1999—when he and his roommate pedaled from Portland, Ore., to Stanford. That gave Kroodsma the idea for this ride, and his interest grew while he was at Stanford in Santiago.
Kroodsma expects to finish the ride by May 2007.
