Between talks of “Keep Jumbo Wild” tattoos, endless Shrek references, and renditions of Abba’s finest, there are meaningful moments.  Moments that make me stop.  Moments that make me think, “This just changed my entire perspective in the span of a second.”  It seems to be a daily occurrence for me on this course. We have

Today we met with Lou Bruno an older man who lives in East Glacier who shared his story of becoming involved with different Montana organizations and making a change. Lou joked about how when he was a young adult he didn’t even really know what the difference between a Democrat and Republican meant. I really

As I walked through ponderosa pine covered forests, on top of glacial moraines, through snow, and along boulders the size of cars, I began to understand why Jumbo is a place people want to protect. Mount Jumbo and the Jumbo Valley are located in British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains. This range is located in the Ktunaxa

By now, I’d say that our group has pretty much reached pro-status when it comes to ridge walking. It started as a kind of frightening experience, but with every ridge I’ve become increasingly more confident with my footing and comfortable with the heights. This ridge in particular, which we summited on July 16th, may have

After a cold and wet six-mile hike, there was nothing I wanted to do more than crawl into my sleeping bag and go to sleep. However, everyone still needed to eat. Of course that day my course job was to help cook dinner. At home, I am more of a microwave chef. If all else

“Even when I’m a thousand miles away from my roots, I’m home.” -Zac Brown Band Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey with not many things to do and always wanting to be elsewhere, it was hard to find a sense of place and home there. Since moving out West four years

To the fathers of eight exceptional young women: You sent your girls off into the backcountry of Montana and Canada. I would have been nervous being a father of three adult girls myself. We left two days after Father’s Day. I, like many of you, most likely did not get to enjoy our daughters’ company

After a thoroughly educational talk with Mike Scott, a farmer from Billings, about the effects of an oil spill on his land and the surrounding community, we went inside his relative’s house to watch a film.  On screen we’d see a younger version of Mike and his wife Alexis from seven years prior when they

While biking up the hill in Eastern Montana, I thought about my arrival to the United States three years ago. Now I am studying energy issues and climate change while I bike from Billings, MT to Glacier National Park with nine of my classmates. The Wild Rockies Field Institute offers a course called Cycle the

How long can you go without a cup of coffee? Tea? Red Bull? Do you get headaches if you miss your morning cup of coffee? If so, you are chemically dependent. A chemical dependency can take many forms like drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and in my experience, fossil fuels like coal. According to the U.S. Energy