PhD University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
MA Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
BA Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

I enjoy helping my students develop into outdoor professionals who have the interpersonal skills to lead groups, the technical and risk management skills to facilitate challenging outdoor experiences, comfort in teaching diverse learners, and the critical perspective to develop curriculum that promotes ethical relationships with the land community.

Prior to joining the Northland faculty, I instructed whitewater canoeing, mountaineering, dog sledding, and backpacking expeditions and staff trainings for Outward Bound and for the University of Montana's Wild Rockies Field Institute in Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, Montana, Texas, Utah, Costa Rica, and the European Alps. I joined National Geographic explorer Will Steger's 2007 dog sled expedition across Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic and wrote educational material for both the Steger Foundation and for National Geographic explorer Jon Bowermaster's project Oceans 8: Antarctica.

View Current CV

Course Videos
The Great Courses: Outdoor Fundamentals
OED 332: Winter Travel
OED 446: Wilderness Instructor Training

My research centers around creating outdoor experiences that promote environmentally responsible behavior and also on how we, as environmentalists, can maintain hope in the face of daunting challenges.

I am involved professionally with the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE), where I served on the Board of Directors from 2009–2013, and as president from 2011–2012. Every year I take Northland students to the AORE conference, where they have the opportunity to network with directors of hundreds of college, military, and community outdoor programs.

I enjoy whitewater canoeing and compete each year at the American Canoe Association's North American Open Canoe Slalom Championships. My partner, Tim, and I are building an off-the-grid 13' x 14' cabin on a trout stream with timbers we salvaged from a century-old barn. We also try to spend as much time as possible on Lake Superior in our sea kayaks and small sailboat.