Eric Siegel

Instructor

Eric fell for Montana (especially Missoula) while bicycling cross country from Providence RI to Seattle, raising money for affordable housing with the organization Bike & Build. But before that, at the University of Vermont, Eric earned a B.A. in English and Geography, a combination which taught him to analyze landscapes as a form of writing – and literature as a form of landscape. After cycling cross country, Eric worked as an environmental educator and on trail crews in New England and in Washington’s North Cascades wilderness. Later, as a graduate student at the University of Iowa, Eric studied environmental writing, poetry and poetics, and eco-criticism, earning his master’s degree in English. He currently teaches environmental humanities courses at the Colorado School of Mines as an adjunct professor and works as a writing coach at the University of Denver; he is also a freelance writer for High Country News. Last summer, Eric worked as a field naturalist at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, where he shared his passion for Rocky Mountain ecology, botany, and geology with others so that they, too, could connect with the social, historical, and ecological significance of Western landscapes. Eric is incredibly excited to continue exploring the ecological, lyrical, and spiritual qualities of the Intermountain West with WRFI students this summer!