Major: Outdoor Education
Graduation Year: 2011
I was born in Exeter, New Hampshire and grew up in Massachusetts. My family are life-long Appalachian Mountain Club members and I spent most of my summers hiking around the White Mountains of New Hampshire with them. I attended Harvard University for my undergraduate degree and received my B.A. in the History of Science.
When I wasn't pouring over the archives in Harvard's libraries, I could often be found working with the Harvard First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP). I was a FOP participant, leader, leader trainer, and logistics worker as a student and after graduation. I was also an active member of the Harvard Mountaineering Club and Harvard Outing Club. I spent my summers working outside, leading backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, and climbing trips in New England and in Spain.
After graduation, I worked at an outdoor school in Southern California and as a summer camp coordinator in Western North Carolina. I also found my way to UNH for a summer to work as a research assistant, studying outdoor orientation programs.
I decided to return to UNH to pursue a Master's degree in Outdoor Education to learn about how to be an effective coordinator of outdoor programs for high school and college students. While at UNH I continued to work as a research assistant studying outdoor orientation programs and co-authored several articles on the subject. I became immersed in the history and theory of outdoor education while simultaneously honing my outdoor, research, and leadership skills. I also had the opportunities to instruct and TA with the Outdoor Education department and to work as a facilitator at the Browne center. My experiences at UNH confirmed for me that teaching and coordinating outdoor trips in a college or university setting was where I wanted to be!
Luckily enough I found a job doing just that! I currently work as an Assistant Director with the Venture program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am primarily responsible for organizing Venture's trips program and for teaching backpacking classes with the Kinesiology department. The knowledge and experiences I gained at UNH are absolutely invaluable and essential for this job and I feel grateful for my time at UNH!
