Leadership — GOATs

Outdoor Ed guides (GOATs) apply in December and then are interviewed in January. Selected guides spend the spring semester in training. There are weekly trainings, wilderness first responder (WFR) training over spring break, and a capstone backpacking trip after finals. After new guides’ first semester, they attend biweekly meetings and lead trips and pre-orientation (GOPOP).

Kris Nessler

Director of Outdoor Education
Hometown: Bethesda, MD

Elizabeth Mao

CAS ’24
Hometown: Olney, MD
Major: Environmental Biology
Minor: Chinese
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite Hike:
The Beehive Loop in Acadia National Park. It has breathtaking views from incredible heights and fun rock scrambling!

Lucy Bowden

CAS ’24
Hometown: Naples, FL
Major: Biology
Minor: Music
Goat Class: Spring ’22

Favorite OE Memory:
I loved front country camping on the last night of GOPOP in Seneca Rocks. We made ramen bombs and had a huge campfire before watching an improvised play.

Tallulah Bowden

CAS ’24
Hometown: Naples, FL
Major: Environmental Biology
Goat Class: Spring ’22

Favorite OE Memory:
During training we were camping in April and it started hailing while we were doing a group obstacle course. We had not yet gone over the lesson on how to layer and it was so cold. It was very bonding.

Eliza Zaroff

CAS ’25
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Major: Biology of Global Health
Goat Class: Spring ’24

Favorite OE Memory:
Setting up a tent in the middle of yates

Jordan Schuman

CAS ’25
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Major: Chemistry
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite Hike:
My favorite hike is The Narrows in Zion National Park. I hiked up the Virgin River with my family through the beautiful gorge, until we got rained out. Even though we couldn’t finish the hike, I still had an awesome time and made some great memories.

Maeve Pierson

CAS ’25
Hometown: Boise, Idaho
Major: Psychology
Goat Class: Spring ’22

Favorite OE Memory:
During this year’s (summer ‘23) GOPOP. My group was obsessed with the Luke Combs version of fast car and on the last night of camp, we played the song and all danced and screamed the song at the top of our lungs while the sun was setting. It was just a goofy, special moment of connecting and left me feeling grateful to get to facilitate the GOPOP experience as an OE guide.

Cici Sprouse

CAS ’26
Hometown: Chattanooga, TN
Major: JUPS
Minor: Government and Spanish
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite hike:
The Triple Crown in Virginia, which I hiked last semester with a group. It has the most incredible views, especially during Fall, and trail takes you up and down multiple ridges around the same valley.

Dylan Davis

CAS ’26
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Major: Psychology
Minor: Pre-Med
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
Learning how to build a femur traction splint and making new friends during WFR training.

Dylan Taylor

CAS ’26
Hometown: Durango, CO
Major: Philosophy
Minor: Theology
Goat Class: Spring ’24

Favorite Hike:
North Kaibab, Grand Canyon. It’s a grueling battle of a hike, but the reward is such a powerful, spiritual experience when you finally see the Colorado River at the bottom.

Eddy Binford-Ross

SFS ‘26
Hometown: Salem, OR
Major: International Politics
Minor: Journalism
Goat Class: Spring ’24

Favorite Hike:
Mount Saint Helens, Washington. For years, my family’s Mother’s Day tradition was to climb Helens. Following the decades old PNW tradition, we would don our best (goodwill) dresses for the climb to the summit.

Emma Lindbergh

CAS ’26
Hometown: Charlottesville, VA
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Environmental Studies
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
Doing gymnastics and yoga on paddle boards in the upper Potomac with my GOPOP group!

Jaylah “Jay” Lewis

SFS ‘26
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Major: RCST (Regional and Comparative Studies)
Minor: Biology and Japanese
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite hike:
Solstice Canyon Loop, Malibu, California, I have done this hike numerous times with friends, basketball teammates, and family. My dad and I got lost on the trail once while on our annual Father’s Day hike.

Jessie Traxler

CAS ’26
Hometown: Newton, MA
Major: Political Economy
Minor: Chinese and Environmental Studies
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
overnight trip to Elk Neck State Park. The drive up had a lot of leaf peeping, and I got to spend a night in the woods with friends! Was able to relax and eat some great trail good!

Lauren Amodio

CAS ’26
Hometown: Pembroke Pines, FL
Major: Psychology
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite hike:
Billy Goat, MD, I love the scrambling!

Matt Gardiner

CAS ’26
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Major: History and Biology
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
Camping under the stars while guiding GOPOP ’23.

Scott Burke

CAS ’26
Hometown: Irvine, CA
Major: Physics and Classics
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
Writing a play with my backpacking group during GOPOP 2023.

Tess Prutow

MSB ’26
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Major: Operations & Analytics
Minor: Statistics
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
On a camping trip this fall, we spent over an hour trying to build a fire and then right when it worked it started raining. But, we held a raincoat over the fire so we could still make s’mores

Vera Berezhny

CAS ’26
Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya and Kyiv, Ukraine
Major: Economics and Environmental Biology
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite hike:
Mount Kenya in Kenya! The highest mountain I’ve done and the most beautiful views ever. I’ve never again seen that many stars in the night sky – even colored stars!

Xenia Ellis

CAS ’26
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Major: Government
Minor: Sociology and Environmental Studies
Goat Class: Spring ’23

Favorite OE Memory:
Making ramen bombs on the guide capstone trip!

Daisy Thomas

CAS ’27
Hometown: New York, NY
Major: History and Linguistics
Goat Class: Spring ’24

Favorite Hike:
Sabattus Mountain in Maine, there’s a bench at the top where you can sit and watch the birds with an incredible view.

Kate Nonnenkamp

CAS ’27
Hometown: Germantown, MD
Major: Physics and Linguistics
Goat Class: Spring ’24

Favorite OE Memory:
Cowboy camping the last night of GOPOP – and having to run into the tent at 4am because it started raining!

Sophie Westen

SOH ‘27
Hometown: Lafayette, CA
Major: Global Health
Goat Class: Spring ’24

Favorite Hike:
Little Lakes Valley in the Eastern Sierra. Nothing can beat cold plunging into an alpine lake!