Gregg Treinish

Before he reached his thirtieth birthday, adventurer and 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer Gregg Treinish had already stacked up an impressive list of accomplishments: hiking the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail, working as a guide and field instructor, completing the first-ever trek of the Andes Mountains Range (covering some 7,800 miles) and being named a National Geographic Adventurer of the year in 2008. But Treinish wanted to do more than tromp through wild places. In 2010, he founded Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, an organization that aims to facilitate partnerships between adventure athletes and researchers who need them to help collect data around the world. The organization recruits backpackers, skiers, trekkers and other outdoor recreationists to collect data on pikas, record sightings of ice worms, take samples of bedrock from mountain ranges and gather other scientific information for ongoing research.