people ask me all the time what got me interested in science was there a person or a moment when that light bulb went off in my head I was like yeah science my usual answer is there wasn't just one person or one moment not for me anyway of course I can't remember to have breakfast three days ago so maybe there was a moment and I just can't remember it I've been thinking about this question a lot lately and I think I have a new answer there was something that made me fall in love with wanting to learn about the natural world going out and being it huh what coyote poop it is time for the 2016 project for awesome donut the project for awesome is it was started by the vlogbrothers Hank and John Green with one sole mission to decrease worldsuck through charity people all over YouTube make videos about charities that are meaningful to them we watch in boat on those videos there's a live stream and by giving a community of youtubers makes the world a better place that's pretty awesome this year I want to tell you about the National Parks Foundation the charity whose sole mission is to protect our national parks and to inspire people like us to go out and experience them I've been lucky enough to work in the national parks the past couple of years making videos for you guys but it took me a while to realize just how important the national parks have been to the scientists that I have become and I hope by the end of this video you'll realize why they're important to you too and we'll consider supporting them in 1872 the United States government set aside a place called the Yellowstone for the benefit and enjoyment of the people now the idea of national parks seems totally normal today but in fact then this was completely revolutionary to set aside land that belonged to everyone not only was Yellowstone the first national park in the world it was my first National Park I was only a year and a half old we went so I don't really remember it but my dad put me on his back hiked through that place so that I would know one lesson from a very early age that this land is our land and it's also your land I mean a little bit of it anyway right like this that might be your rock over there that one right there that's a nice Rock people like Teddy Roosevelt and John me our new that nature was too big for any one person to own which is why they set outside places like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite for all of us and could we just talk about how awesome Teddy Roosevelt is for a second okay that picture of him riding a moose is fake but if any president wrote a moose it would have been Teddy Roosevelt today we have 59 national parks 79 national monuments 10 national seashores and hundreds of other national park places and these these are just postcards come to life these are real places some of Earth's best places and there's yours and I hope that you will go out and see them just found some trash not cool people that's all can geez cans older than me I'll come back get later promised my dad and I used to come out here we used to live near this little bit of National Forest when I was growing up and this was like our little bit of nature being in places like this is what made me fall in love with nature and want to learn about it when you see nature when you feel it under your feet when you smell it when you hear it you fall in love with it and when you fall in love with it you want to know how it works and that's what made me fall in love with science my dad passed away this year and it's made me realize that there isn't much out there that lasts I mean think about what you own what will really live on well the parks belong to all of us and we can make sure that they live on 2016 was the hundredth birthday of the National Park System our world is changing in completely crazy ways and we need our parks now more than ever to preserve nature and remind us why it's worth protecting