Audrey’s outdoor experience

Wilderness guide at Women’s Wilderness in Boulder, Colorado for two years

I led trips for teen girls backpacking in Colorado and Wyoming with an emphasis on teaching social and emotional skills as well as hard skills like setting up tents, cooking outdoors, and bear hangs. My favorite experience was taking a group of corporate women on a week-long canoeing course and how many great conversations we had over the campfires!

Wilderness therapy guide at Open Sky in Durango, Colorado for one year

I guided groups of young adults (18-25) and teenagers (13-17) in the backcountry of the Utah desert for 8 days at a time for over a year. I helped students learn how to bow-drill (start a fire), setup a tarp shelter, and build backpacks out of tarps too. I also helped students process emotional experiences with assistance from wilderness therapists. My favorite experience was working with a teen who was trying to bow-drill a fire for weeks and finally did!

I trained with Outward Bound to become an instructor in the wilderness. I learned how to teach others to mountaineer, rappel, and rock climb—all while learning how to weave into wilderness curriculum aspects of social-emotional skills and wilderness safety. My favorite experience was learning how to turn rafts after they’ve flipped, by flipping a raft in the freezing cold March waters!

Trip leader at the Outing Club at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine for two years

I led around 20 trips throughout college that included several day long backpacks and flat-water canoe trips. My favorite experience was a trip for incoming first year college students where we summited Mt. Katahdin after canoeing several days on Moosehead Lake.

Majored in Geology and Minored in Education at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine

I spent four years in college studying the natural landscape from oceans to rocks. Most of my classes were outdoors by the ocean, in the forest, or other natural spaces. I was a teacher’s assistant for Geology 101 for two semesters and loved assisting my professors teaching in the outdoors. My favorite experience as a geology major was waking up to see the sunrise on a field trip at the farthest eastern point in the continental United States, aka we were the first people to see the sun that day!

Created and taught a 10-week nature program called “Discovery Club” for middle schoolers in Brunswick, Maine

I created a 10-week nature program and seven students came twice a week for an hour of connecting with nature, themselves, and others. My favorite experience was the culminating experience for students of doing a 30-minute solo walk in the woods.

Wilderness guide at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, Washington for a summer season

I led different groups for 5 days at a time for day-time nature learning at IslandWood’s pristine on-campus forested areas. My favorite experience was watching what kids and teens would create in the forest building part of the program.

Ski instructor in Park City, Utah for a winter season

I taught kids ages 3-17 to ski on green and blue runs at Vail Resorts in Park City. My favorite part was learning how to keep kids that young both engaged and warm for 6 hours of skiing time—it turned out to be a lot of making skiing into a game.

Personal Trips

I love working in the outdoors and I still take plenty of time to be outside without working! Here are a few of my favorite photos from wilderness trips!