Emily is a native of East Coaster who grew up in North Wales, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. For most of her life, she planned to become a math teacher, which led her to study math and education at Penn State. However, she diverged from that path after spending a few seasons working at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center season after season. She spent time handling and training birds of prey, leading all ages on local hikes, and tracking amphibian and reptile populations.
After graduating from Penn State with a degree in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Emily moved to a small island off the coast of Washington to work at YMCA Camp Orkila. At Orkila, she bounced through many roles and responsibilities – but she loved the chaos, staying there for over two years! She led marine science beach walks, facilitated many high ropes courses and ziplines, guided multi-day kayaking trips, and taught all ages about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Camp Orkila and Orcas Island hold a large part of her heart!
Since leaving Orkila, she has worked as a wilderness therapy guide in central/southern Utah. She spent my time outdoors with kids facing all sorts of emotions and struggles – for eight days at a time, she would help them use the world around them and adventure activities, such as climbing and mountain biking, to facilitate processing the things life throws at us.
With ARCC, Emily has led a wide variety of programs. In the Spring of 2021, she led a custom school program exploring the coast of California and Point Reyes. Jumping into summer, she was backpacking near Denali and hanging out with Orcas on a Fjords boat tour—three weeks in Alaska with older teens! She has also led three gap semesters in Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, and the Northwest.
