Telephone construction lineman connects to the world

Telephone construction lineman connects to the world with Earthwatch

Fred Steinwedel is often outside, working hard connecting people in his job as a construction lineman for Verizon. Yet the most powerful connections he's made have been on the Earthwatch expeditions he's volunteered on since 1998.

Now 52, Fred was always interested in foreign lands, and with Earthwatch he’s trekked the South African bush in search of wildlife, hiked mountains in Nepal studying snow leopards, and gotten close to crocs, rhinos, cheetahs, and bats in Africa and Asia. In addition to staying active--he admits it's "a unique fitness program"—he now takes the comforts of American life less for granted, and is "more humble" about his place in the world.

After studying water shortages in Mongolia, he conserves more at home, and has learned that lower material wealth doesn't necessarily diminish human happiness, especially in relation to the natural world. He remembers when Namibian villagers gathered around the truck transporting a caged cheetah to camp for study, treatment, and eventual release. Though the animal was native to Namibia, they were fascinated, just as he would be if seeing a bear in his small town of Sykesville, MD. In the encounter with the wildness that fascinates us and needs our help, Fred's found the clearest signal.