WILD ROCKIES

April 2024 Newsletter

We have a lot to share this week, and for good reason - there's so much happening within our WRFI community! Thank you for being here as we welcome a new staff member, update you on our recruiting efforts, share an opportunity to benefit our students, look forward to our 30-year celebration, feature one of our favorite courses, pass along professional opportunities, and more. We're so grateful you're here with us 💙🧡

Help Us Welcome Our New

Student Experience Manager!

Kelsey Wellington Joins the WRFI Team

Please help us give a warm welcome to our new Student Experience Manager, Kelsey Wellington! She will be the go-to contact for all of the students who are joining us on course this year and beyond! She'll play key roles in recruiting, marketing, and communications as well. Kelsey has a background in and a passion for experiential outdoor education, which she excited to bring to WRFI.

When she’s not working with our awesome students and instructors, you can often find Kelsey outdoors - her interests include rock climbing, trail running, mountain biking, skiing, and backpacking!

When asked how experiential education has influenced her life, Kelsey shared:

"While outdoor education has taught me a lot about different subjects, it's also taught me a lot about myself - my strength, resolve, and endurance, my leadership skills, and my ability to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I am who I am because of my time spent learning outdoors, getting my hands dirty, and trying things that once scared me."

We hope you all get a chance to meet or talk with Kelsey soon. Click the link below if you'd like to email her and introduce yourself. We’re so excited to have her on our WRFI team! 🥳

Missoula Gives 2024

Support WRFI Student Financial Aid

Do you want to help WRFI fundraise for Missoula Gives this year? Reply to this email and we'll help you set up a profile + provide other helpful tools. Thank you!!

Recruiting Update: A Month in the Midwest

Zoe Describes a New Meaning of "In the Field"

After 6 weeks of recruiting in the Midwest, I’ve returned to Missoula with a check engine light, newfound love for fried cheese curds, and a full heart for the WRFI community! My time “in the field” looked a little different this go around; subalpine meadows were swapped for college campuses, discussions in the Bob Marshall for class presentations, and giggles under the stars for chats over coffee. But the enthusiasm, dedication, and openness I found from so many folks seeking depth in our understanding and connection to the world remained the same. It takes a village to support students on their WRFI experiences, and I am so appreciative of all the advisors and faculty who welcomed me in their offices and classes, committed to the shared goal of helping students have transformative learning experiences. As I bounced from place to place, I was filled with gratitude for the vast network of faculty, students, and alumni who quickly became my community while solo traveling.

My recruiting journey took me along the Great Plains of Kansas toward Mizzou and up to Wisconsin where I had a wonderful week at UW-Madison. From there I teamed up with Matt at the NACADA Conference where we met many kind advisors, and I continued on to UW-Milwaukee, UW-La Crosse, and UW-River Falls, before culminating at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Personal highlights and notable side quests include reconnecting with friends from my WRFI courses, listening to Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller on the long stretches of Iowa, seeing a shooting star above a 400-year-old bur oak in Columbia, MO, learning guitar on an Ibanez Daytripper I obtained from a pawn shop, running along the coasts in Door County, seeing Lake Michigan for the first time, watching a sunset in the Badlands, and embodying Storm Chasers during an insane lightning storm above Devils Tower in Wyoming. 

I met so many lovely WRFI friends, old and new, along the way who reminded me how special this community is; the compassion, joy, and willingness to listen, share, and support WRFI’s mission was immensely inspiring! I enjoyed hearing alumni share their favorite backcountry memories and how their experiences influenced their post-grad trajectories. All of these connections uplifted perhaps my favorite aspect, which was meeting students interested in joining us for the first time! To witness and support the beginnings of what could be a life-long exploration of the interconnections among people, place, and self amidst the whirlwind of complex socio-ecological issues to be addressed renewed my sense of shared hope, joy, and commitment to this work. I am so excited for this year’s cohort of students and to see all the rippling impacts their learning may have in the world. Cheers to the 2024 field season and the WRFI community!

-Zoe Transtrum, Recruitment and Enrollment Coordinator

There was no shortage of adventures to be had for Zoe on her recent month-long recruiting trip, which took her to campuses and parks across the Midwest.

30-Year Celebration Reminder

Celebrate in Missoula July 26th-29th

Hearing from members of the WRFI community as we celebrate 30 years of field courses has been both humbling and inspiring. We are honored to be a part of so many of your amazing lives. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Missoula this summer for our anniversary celebration July 26th-29th. There are many more memories to share and good times to be had together! Follow the link below for all of the important event details and to reserve your spot. Respond to this email if you have any questions!

Featured Course: Restoration Ecology

in Greater Yellowstone

21 Field Days | 3 Semester Credits | $5,695 

June 10th-30th and August 2nd-22nd, 2024

This course explores the iconic Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion, both in Yellowstone National Park and in surrounding landscapes, through two backpacking trips, field investigations, site visits, and meetings with guest speakers. Students on this course receive an introduction to the principles of restoration ecology and natural history, followed by the unique opportunity to immediately apply what they have learned through hands-on participation in important ongoing restoration projects in the area.

Conservation Lands Foundation

Seeking Chief Executive Officer

Is the perfect candidate in our WRFI community?

The Conservation Lands Foundation is a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Durango, Colorado, with staff in Northern and Southern California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington, DC. 

The Conservation Lands Foundation mission is to protect, restore, and expand the National Conservation Lands through education, advocacy, and partnerships.

There is no other nonprofit organization solely dedicated to protecting and expanding America’s National Conservation Lands and investing in a community-powered strategy to protect them, as well as active partnerships with Indigenous-led conservation efforts. With an annual operating budget of $8.5MM, Conservation Land Foundation’s ability to be nimble, dynamic, and adaptive has made it a leader in public land conservation.

Check the full description below if you or someone you know would be a good fit for this role!