Elizabeth Arnold is a freelance reporter for NPR. From 2000 - 2004, she was an NPR national correspondent, covering America's public lands with a focus on the environment, politics, economics, and culture.
In July of 1956, wilderness activists Olaus and Mardy Murie made an expedition to the upper Sheenjek River of Alaska's Brooks Range to inventory an untouched wilderness. Five decades later, one of their young disciples returns to find the beauty intact.
In the next few weeks, millions of songbirds, shorebirds and waterfowl will begin arriving in Alaska to breed. These migratory birds -- some of which wintered in Southeast Asia -- could bring with them the deadly strain of bird flu known as avian influenza A, or H5N1.
For the latest NPR/National Geographic Radio Expedition report, Elizabeth Arnold begins a journey to China's eastern Himalayas, near the border with Tibet, to profile a team of scientists studying the link between global warming and disappearing plant life high in the mountains.