to our world. - NOLS
to our world. - NOLS to our world. - NOLS
NOLS IS THE SKILLS SCHOOL. Be prepared to use your NOLS skills for the rest of your life. Below: NOLS grad Shane Young dropped what he was doing and went to Haiti to provide aid after the 2010 earthquake. Photos courtesy of Shane Young A CONVERSATION WITH SHANE YOUNG Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, wilderness firefighter, and humanitarian; WEMT '09 An Eagle Scout and captain of his high school track and field team, Shane Young has always been a leader. After graduating from Georgetown University in 2008, Shane spent a year camping and backpacking, culminating with a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) course with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS in 2009. As fate would have it, he was newly trained when a devastating earthquake struck weeks later in Haiti. Shane credits NOLS for instilling in him the skills and confidence to drop everything to go to Haiti and “be useful.” After this experience, he now feels even more prepared for his next adventure as a wilderness firefighter. What was most memorable about your WEMT course? “The most memorable part was the mass casualty rescue scenario, a plane crash, especially because of the real-life makeup and the fact that some of the ‘patients,’ who were fellow students, were amazing actors, making us truly believe they were injured.” What technical skills did you transfer to your volunteer work in Haiti? “Even arriving three weeks after the quake, I applied nearly all of my WEMT skills. I took the lead in establishing a safe and clean location outside a damaged hospital building where we could treat patients; set up all the supplies and equipment such as medications, bandages and gloves; triaged patients as they arrived on site; instructed them on keeping hydrated in the hot environment; dealt with major wound care; and had considerable leeway to diagnose and treat due to my WEMT skills.” If there was a single experience in Haiti that left you feeling truly rewarded, what would that be? “When I arrived in Haiti, I found an amazing sandwich vendor and started buying lunch from him. On day one, the money in my pocket bought me one sixinch sandwich. On day 30, after I had administered to the medical needs of the vendor and several of his family members, I was able to buy a 15-inch sandwich and three sodas for the same price. Plus, I am now the vendor’s newborn child’s godfather. My NOLS training was the bridge to this new friendship.” Would you recommend NOLS to others, and why? “Of course! At NOLS, you find yourself learning alongside others with similar interests in the outdoors, and in my case, classmates who were interested in knowing how to rescue someone in the backcountry. But above all, the teachers— who included people who had worked at high altitude camps on Denali and Everest—had firsthand knowledge and experience and were truly inspiring. I can’t imagine anyone better to learn from.” 10 www.nols.edu • (800) 710-NOLS • admissions@nols.edu
Photo courtesy of Ellie Johnston Learn what it takes to care for our wild places and develop a strong wilderness ethic with NOLS. Above: Grad Ellie Johnston in her element. Huascarán National Park, Peru NOLS EXPLORES REMOTE BACKCOUNTRY ON EXTENDED EXPEDITIONS AND SHAPES WILDERNESS ETHICS. A CONVERSATION WITH ELLIE JOHNSTON University of North Carolina-Asheville, biology major; Semester in the Pacific Northwest '05 It has been six years since Ellie Johnston’s NOLS course and she continues to demonstrate and implement the leadership training and wilderness ethics she learned in the backcountry. Committed to fighting climate change, she has been an active leader on campus as a part of the UNC Asheville Student Government Association, as well as with organizations such as Active Students for a Healthy Environment and the Southern Energy Network. In 2010, Ellie attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of the SustainUS youth delegation. How did your NOLS course lead to your participation in wilderness advocacy? “The impacts from my NOLS course are intertwined into all aspects of my life today. I did my NOLS course during a critical part of my life, right after high school graduation, which for me was a time when the lessons of self-awareness were very new. I think without my NOLS experience I wouldn’t have taken the amount of initiative that I have in the past few years in working around climate issues at the campus, community, state, regional, and international levels.” How did living and learning in the wilderness inspire you? “The experience of being in the wilderness for many continuous days always renews my appreciation of the vast interconnections that people have with the natural world. This awareness has been essential to my motivation in working to ensure our needs as a species do not continue to outstrip the world’s natural limits.” What wilderness concepts did you take away from NOLS? “The Leave No Trace principles taught at NOLS helped me to draw the relationship between my actions and their effects in a way that was more concrete than any lessons previously taught to me within four walls. For me, the wilderness setting provides both inspiration and reflection for whenever I return to our built environments.” Would you recommend NOLS to others, and why? “Since my course, I’ve always been quick to recommend NOLS to others. With the average person increasingly spending the vast majority of their lives indoors, it is invaluable to have opportunities like NOLS for people to get outside and learn about the world that we depend on. Without first knowing the world around us, how can we know when it is irrevocably lost?” 11
- Page 1 and 2: THE LEADER IN WILDERNESS EDUCATION
- Page 3 and 4: WELCOME TO OUR WORLD. Welcome from
- Page 5 and 6: WELCOME FROM THE DIRECTOR “ COME
- Page 7 and 8: Abe Goodale 5
- Page 9 and 10: Ignacio Grez Above: Each member of
- Page 11: NOLS Stephen Shames DEVELOPS LEADER
- Page 15 and 16: Tracy Baynes/STEP 13
- Page 17 and 18: NOLS AND WMI FIELD STAFF ARE A DIVE
- Page 19 and 20: Betsy Winston Above: Affording a NO
- Page 21 and 22: WHITEWATER RIVER EXPEDITION BACKCOU
- Page 23 and 24: The first NOLS courses ventured int
- Page 25 and 26: ROCKY MOUNTAIN Abe Goodale Environm
- Page 27 and 28: ROCKY MOUNTAIN Jeff Wohl Yearning f
- Page 29 and 30: ROCKY MOUNTAIN Ashley Wise The rive
- Page 31 and 32: ROCKY MOUNTAIN Ashley Wise 29
- Page 33 and 34: ROCKY MOUNTAIN Shanan Sussman 31
- Page 35 and 36: ROCKY MOUNTAIN Josh Beckner 33
- Page 37 and 38: Nestled below the western flanks of
- Page 39 and 40: TETON VALLEY Ashley Wise With exper
- Page 41 and 42: TETON VALLEY Casey Kanode 39
- Page 43 and 44: Forest and ocean. Glacier and river
- Page 45 and 46: “IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGI
- Page 47 and 48: PACIFIC NORTHWEST Rainbow Weinstock
- Page 49 and 50: Welcome to the American Southwest:
- Page 51 and 52: SOUTHWEST Brian Murphy 49
- Page 53 and 54: SOUTHWEST Rainbow Weinstock 51
- Page 55 and 56: SOUTHWEST Dave Anderson 53
- Page 57 and 58: A patchwork of public and private l
- Page 59 and 60: The boundlessness of the place will
- Page 61 and 62: ALASKA Bryan Palmintier Being so sm
Pho<strong>to</strong> c<strong>our</strong>tesy of Ellie Johns<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Learn what it takes <strong>to</strong> care for <strong>our</strong> wild places and develop a strong wilderness ethic with <strong>NOLS</strong>. Above: Grad Ellie Johns<strong>to</strong>n in her element. Huascarán National Park, Peru<br />
<strong>NOLS</strong> EXPLORES REMOTE BACKCOUNTRY ON EXTENDED<br />
EXPEDITIONS AND SHAPES WILDERNESS ETHICS.<br />
A CONVERSATION WITH ELLIE JOHNSTON<br />
University of North Carolina-Asheville, biology major; Semester in the Pacific Northwest '05<br />
It has been six years since Ellie Johns<strong>to</strong>n’s <strong>NOLS</strong> c<strong>our</strong>se and she continues <strong>to</strong> demonstrate<br />
and implement the leadership training and wilderness ethics she learned in<br />
the backcountry. Committed <strong>to</strong> fighting climate change, she has been an active leader<br />
on campus as a part of the UNC Asheville Student Government Association, as well as<br />
with organizations such as Active Students for a Healthy Environment and the Southern<br />
Energy Network. In 2010, Ellie attended the UN Climate Change Conference in<br />
Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of the SustainUS youth delegation.<br />
How did y<strong>our</strong> <strong>NOLS</strong> c<strong>our</strong>se lead <strong>to</strong> y<strong>our</strong><br />
participation in wilderness advocacy?<br />
“The impacts from my <strong>NOLS</strong> c<strong>our</strong>se<br />
are intertwined in<strong>to</strong> all aspects of my<br />
life <strong>to</strong>day. I did my <strong>NOLS</strong> c<strong>our</strong>se during<br />
a critical part of my life, right after<br />
high school graduation, which for me<br />
was a time when the lessons of self-awareness<br />
were very new. I think without my<br />
<strong>NOLS</strong> experience I wouldn’t have taken<br />
the amount of initiative that I have in the<br />
past few years in working around climate<br />
issues at the campus, community, state,<br />
regional, and international levels.”<br />
How did living and learning in the wilderness<br />
inspire you? “The experience of being<br />
in the wilderness for many continuous days<br />
always renews my appreciation of the vast<br />
interconnections that people have with the<br />
natural <strong>world</strong>. This awareness has been essential<br />
<strong>to</strong> my motivation in working <strong>to</strong> ensure<br />
<strong>our</strong> needs as a species do not continue<br />
<strong>to</strong> outstrip the <strong>world</strong>’s natural limits.”<br />
What wilderness concepts did you take<br />
away from <strong>NOLS</strong>? “The Leave No Trace<br />
principles taught at <strong>NOLS</strong> helped me<br />
<strong>to</strong> draw the relationship between my actions<br />
and their effects in a way that was<br />
more concrete than any lessons previously<br />
taught <strong>to</strong> me within f<strong>our</strong> walls. For me,<br />
the wilderness setting provides both inspiration<br />
and reflection for whenever I return<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>our</strong> built environments.”<br />
Would you recommend <strong>NOLS</strong> <strong>to</strong> others,<br />
and why? “Since my c<strong>our</strong>se, I’ve always<br />
been quick <strong>to</strong> recommend <strong>NOLS</strong> <strong>to</strong> others.<br />
With the average person increasingly<br />
spending the vast majority of their lives<br />
indoors, it is invaluable <strong>to</strong> have opportunities<br />
like <strong>NOLS</strong> for people <strong>to</strong> get outside<br />
and learn about the <strong>world</strong> that we depend<br />
on. Without first knowing the <strong>world</strong><br />
around us, how can we know when it is<br />
irrevocably lost?”<br />
11
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