Eagle Scout earns rare honor from Nat Geo, plus other good news from this week

Lee Berger, renown scientist and Eagle Scout — Lee Berger, left, at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree. BSA photo by Jeff Hattrick

Lee Berger, Eagle Scout and award-winning researcher and paleoanthropologist, has been named a National Geographic Explorer in Residence.

It’s a big deal: The title of Explorer in Residence is highly prestigious, and there are only a handful of them at any given time.

“I am proud of my long relationship with National Geographic and thankful for their consistent support,” says Berger. “The National Geographic Society has played a significant role in supporting scientists who strive to understand human origins. I see it as a natural home for me and my work, as we share a curiosity and passion for understanding the very roots of humanity. I am excited for what more we can accomplish together as I undertake this new role.”

Berger has long been a supporter of Scouting. He helped create the Exploring merit badge back in 2017.

Scouts BSA member saves family from drowning in Hawaii

“We were in Hawaii for my aunt’s wedding, and I saw a father and a son struggling to swim back into the shore. And then the mom went out there to try to help them, so I swim out there and helped them with my boogie board and I helped them swim back in to shore,” says Wesley Reed, 13, from Bossier City, Louisiana.

Reed earned the BSA’s Medal of Merit for his actions.

Read more about the heroic rescue at KSLA News 12 in Shreveport, La.

Scouts collect pajamas for foster children

For the third year in a row, Scouts from Troop 768 in Ramona, California, collected pajamas and donated them to a local foster children’s facility.

“We understand the difference made by just one pair of new pajamas to a foster child,” says Cyndi Wear, the grandmother of Scouts BSA member Brandon Duran, who led this year’s efforts. “It can mean the difference between making it and not making it out of that institution. I’m so proud of him.”

Cortland County, N.Y., Scouts honor local community hero

Molly Reagan is an art teacher, Little League baseball coach, 1^st– and 2^nd-grade basketball coach, swimming instructor and musician.

The Baden-Powell Council will recognize Reagan for all she does at an upcoming banquet.

Twins earn rank of Eagle together

“We’ve been working towards this for four to five years,” says 17-year-old Travis Richter. “It was something we’ve always wanted to accomplish.”

Travis and his twin, Austin, began their Scouting journey as Tiger Cub Scouts and have advanced through the program together ever since, eventually earning the rank of Eagle from Troop 55 in Santa Rosa, Calif.

“Scouting is our outlet,” says Austin. “We love being in nature with our troop. It’s kind of an escape from the world.”

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