Matty Alpert

Assistant Logistics Manager

Erin Beurket

Mountains & Florida Instructor; River Specialist; Course Director

What is your role at NCOBS?

I am a Lead Instructor in both the North Carolina Mountains and the Florida Everglades. When not instructing, I also work as a River Specialist and Course Director for the Mountains and Florida.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

While attending college at Ohio University, I went on a 28-day Outdoor Leadership course. During that month, I remember having an epiphany that I wanted to lead wilderness courses for my career- I fell in love with it! From there, I had a boss in college who worked for Outward Bound for a long time and he taught me everything I know. I chose NCOBS because the wide variety of courses, the opportunity for year-round work, and I love where it is located.

Rose Brown

Mountains Instructor

Amanda Buch

Mountains & Florida Instructor

What is your role at NCOBS?

I am a Lead Instructor in both the North Carolina Mountains and the Florida Everglades.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I was inspired to work at NCOBS because of my love for the outdoors and facilitating teamwork in others.

Blake Burks

Whitewater Program Manager

“Its fine, you're fine, everything is fine!”

Biography

Growing up in Central Virginia, Blake spent his spare time riding mountain bikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway trails, taking day hikes on the Appalachian Trail and learning how to paddle. Blake played year-round soccer in high school and attended Lenoir-Rhyne College where he studied Psychology. After college, he began working in the child mental health field supervising foster homes. Since 2012, Blake has been teaching experiential education and leading high adventure overnight trips. Blake rediscovered his love for rivers in 2012 and began paddling more whitewater. He has been paddling a whitewater canoe since 2014 and has loved the sport and teaching other ever since!

Cici Cambron

Resident Whitewater Specialist

Alyssa Casey

Mountains Program Director

What is your role at NCOBS?

I serve as the Table Rock Program Director.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I was inspired by the way Outward Bound uses the outdoors as a catalyst for self-discovery and learning. Students get to learn to backpack, set-up quality campsites, build fires, filter water, cook, rock climb, and paddle...but the even greater learning students get through all of these skills is how to work with others, how to understand those different from themselves, learning how they themselves react or respond to challenge. They learn to communicate, build relations, cope with challenges, and grow through adversity, and have compassion for others and themselves.

Tom Clement

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I am passionate about the outdoors and adapting education to meet all needs.

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you?

The compassion pillar resonates most with me.

Zozo Dlamini

Mountains Instructor

Susan Drakeford

Course Director; Mountains & Florida Lead Instructor

What is your role at NCOBS?

I am a part of the team of people that deliver & facilitate Outward Bound courses which provide people with opportunity to learn about themselves, others, the four pillars and hopefully leave the course knowing there is so much more in them then they know and that they won't settle for less. I think when people discover their unlimited potential and have compassion for others that we are helping to positively change the world.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I grew up playing in the parks that surround my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. During college I took a Colorado Outward Bound School course and I resonated with the philosophy of Outward Bound. As an added bonus, nothing beats wilderness as a classroom! I learned so much on my own course that I wanted to be a part of helping others learn and grow.

Olive Fortner

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I participated in a course as a 17 year old run out of Cedar Rock which jumpstarted my interest in the outdoors. After college, where I fell in love with rock climbing and backpacking, I was looking for a job that would allow me to keep exploring and remembered NCOBS! I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to impact the lives of my students the same way my instructors impacted my life back in 2017.

Brynn Fuelberth

Logistics Coordinator

Kelsey Gallagher

Mountains & Florida Instructor; Resident Course Director

Lark Gardner

Mountains & Patagonia Instructor; Virtual Instructor

Biography

Lark's outdoor adventure roots stem from a robust childhood in girl scouts and family encouragement to explore around her hometown of Louisville Kentucky. She moved to Asheville NC at the age of 18 to study Experiential Education and shortly after graduating from college began her career with Outward Bound. She has worked in a variety of roles including Course Director and Program Director through her most treasured role is that of Field Instructor. 

Jeff Goldberg

Outward Bound Professional Senior Facilitator

"To serve, to strive and not to yield."

Biography

As a professional facilitator for over twenty-eight years, Jeff has designed and delivered dynamic workshops and programs that create learning experiences focusing on team development, leadership development and cultural understanding.  In addition to working with Outward Bound since 1990, Jeff has also worked with the Anti-Defamation League for over 20 years as a Training Specialist.

His extensive and varied experience, combined with an M.A. in Community Counseling, has enabled Jeff to work with many Fortune 500 companies, major universities, and schools across the US.

Sheil Grandhi

Mountains Instructor

Trish Haitz

Florida Base Camp Program Director; Sea kayaking and Mountains Instructor; Veterans Program Instructor

“'Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.' ~ Helen Keller"

Biography

Trisha was inspired to work for Outward Bound as an opportunity to give back to the world and make an individual attempt to educate young people about the world around them.  This intention has never waned. Trisha continues to seek out personal inspiration by taking time for adventures and challenging herself to gain new skills. 

Cat Harper

Mountains Instructor

Sydney Hilton-Siegel

Mountains Instructor

Addie Hurwitz

Mountains Instructor and Climbing Specialist

What is your role at NCOBS?

My role at NCOBS is to facilitate safe climbing experiences for students. I also keep a big eye on the Table Rock climbing hut and facilities, and I have a hand in training other staff members.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

Impactful wilderness and travel experiences of my own showed me the way of experiential education. I believe in our mission with my whole being because I know that it works through my own experience. The community and climbing program at NCOBS specifically attracted me here.

Joy Hurwitz

Mountains Instructor

Cameron Jaeger

Mountains Instructor

James King

Mountains Instructor

Ryan Kingrey

Mountains Program Director; Mountains & Florida Instructor; River Staff; Course Director

What is your role at NCOBS?

The Program Director ensures the delivery of high-quality programming while cultivating a safe and thriving base camp community. Through training, mentorship, support, and guidance, the Program Director serves as the metaphorical North Star of their basecamp and steadfast anchor holding the ship steady to navigate adversity.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

What inspires me to work for at NCOBS is the opportunity to create learning environments that require groups and individuals to collaborate, work through real differences, and lean on each other through challenges in rugged, and beautiful places.

Kris Kircher

Mountains Instructor

"I find the outdoors to be a healing space. I believe in the work we do at Outward Bound because it provides students with an opportunity to connect with nature, and to learn the level of resilience they have inside to overcome challenge. The rain may pour, but tomorrow, the sun will shine!"

Originally from Virginia, Kris feels blessed to now call the North Carolina Blue Ridge's her home. In college she earned a dual degree in Psychology and Philosophy. Before pursuing outdoor education, she worked in special education. Her career goal is to one day become a therapist who harnesses the power of nature and mindfulness to treat patients. In her free time, you can expect to find Kris practicing yoga, rock-climbing, making crochet items, or playing and enjoying music.

Gabrielle Lamprou

Logistics Coordinator

Abby Lindley

Mountains Instructor

Hayleigh Maynard

Logistics Coordinator

Mitch McCune

Course Director

Gracie Mendoza

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I was inspired by the opportunities for staff development and growth that NCOBS offers.

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you?

The compassion pillar resonates most with me.

Certifications

Gracie is a Wilderness First Responder.

Eli Mills

Mountains Course Director and Outward Bound Professional Facilitator

"Your quality of life is in proportion, always, to your capacity for delight. Your capacity for delight is the gift for paying attention." ~Julia Cameron

Biography

Eli grew up on a small farm in north central Iowa. His thirst for exploration started with bike rides on endless gravel roads, forts built on the banks of the Winnebago River, and annual cross-country vacations in his family's big blue van. Eli graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor's degree in Child, Adult, and Family Services in 2006 and found his way to North Carolina to accept a position as an instructor in wilderness therapy shortly thereafter. 

Ben Mosher

Mountains Instructor

Alice Murphy

Mountains Instructor

Wren Nance

Mountains Instructor

Sebastian Nichols

Mountains Instructor

What is your role at NCOBS?

I am an instructor and I help with rock climbing days.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I took an Outward Bound course as a 16 year old and its mission has always stayed with me. I also love teaching and being outside.

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you?

Compassion and self-reliance resonate most with me.

Willie Nichols

Logistics Manager & Mountains Instructor

Connor O'Leary

Mountains & Florida Instructor; Whitewater Specialist

What is your role at NCOBS?

I instruct courses in the North Carolina Mountains and in the Florida Everglades. I can be put in any water-related role and help people learn something new and develop passion for aquatic spaces and environments. I have also worked as a Whitewater Specialist since I started working at NCOBS.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I was really fortunate to have positive mentors in the outdoor field, some of whom had gone to work at Outward Bound. It was their guidance and my interest in exposing people from a lot of different backgrounds to all there is to love about the nature in all of us that led me to start working at NCOBS.

Kesha Patel

Mountains Instructor

Kesha is an Instructor, as well as a part of the Fellowship for BIPOC Staff this year at NCOBS. She was born in India and moved to America when she was 10. She grew up in California before moving to Wisconsin with her family after high school. Kesha got into outdoor recreation through the Ecology Club at the University of Wisconsin Waukesha. Since then, she has loved spending time outdoors whether hiking, camping, backpacking, stargazing, or nerding out about all the plants and animals on the trail. She was inspired to work for NCOBS because its mission resonates deeply with her own passion for outdoor education. The pillar that resonates with Kesha the most is compassion.

Taylor Petty

Mountains Instructor and Whitewater Specialist

Drew Ponce

Mountains Instructor

Stiles Rader

Mountains & Patagonia Instructor; Whitewater Specialist

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose” – Dolly Parton

Biography 

Stiles grew up spending every weekend and holidays in Jonas Ridge, NC with her family. Table Rock and the outdoors quickly felt like home even as a kid. Stiles’s love for the outdoors blossomed in college when she spent time working in Brevard NC, Alaska, and in Boone NC. During her time at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, Stiles spent a great deal of time working for the school’s Outdoor Programs, Recreation Management Department, and at Watauga High School’s Mountain Alliance program. She received a degree in Recreation Management with a concentration in Outdoor Experiential Education. Stiles was recently the recipient of Boone NC’s Appalachian Adventure Achievement Award for her involvement in the mountain community and dedication to mountain sports.

Em Robbins

Mountains Instructor

Hannah Blue Rose

Instructor; Course Director; Whitewater Specialist

“It was through her actions of reciprocity, the give and take with the land, that the original immigrant became indigenous. For all of us, becoming indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it.” -Robin Wall Kimmerer  

Biography

Caleb Semel

Logistics Manager

Caleb is inspired to continue working at NCOBS due to the way the organization operates as well as the values we teach. Caleb has worked a variety of roles including Lead Instructor and Course Director in the NC mountains and Everglades, and he couldn’t be happier to land in a role where he can make a lasting impact on the quality of our base camps and program as well as our students. It fills his cup to be a part of an organization that values Craftsmanship throughout all levels, from in the field to administrative operations.

Outside of work, Caleb can usually be found fly fishing or rock climbing in the Linville gorge and surrounding areas in the high country.

Ela Shoenmann

Mountains Instructor

Michelle Sissine

Outward Bound Professional Senior Facilitator

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." ~Plato

Biography 

Michelle Sissine has nearly three decades of experience facilitating groups on outdoor challenges and in the classroom.  She concentrates on growing the soft skills necessary to  become more intuitive and effective leaders.

Michelle believes that experiential learning is key in unwinding ineffective behavior patterns and embodying new ways to move through the world.  “Engaging in safe processes under the care of skilled facilitators, in environments conducive to physical, mental, and emotional risk-taking, encourages the development of individuals and teams from the inside out. It improves leadership and positive change within communities and at at every level of organizations.”

Anthony Sousa

Mountains & Florida Lead Instructor

What is your role at NCOBS?

I instruct courses in a variety of places for different Outward Bound schools or similar institutions. I first fell in love with coastal sea kayaking at NCOBS and since then have made that my primary technical specialty.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

At the end of a long military career, I was looking for an opportunity to serve others in a different way. I was looking for a place where I could combine my desire to serve others as a teacher and educator and my love for the outdoors and adventure. When I went on my vets course I knew I had found it and I was deeply impacted and inspired by my instructors and their passion.

Alex Stroshine

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I was inspired by the opportunity to change lives through the outdoors and the level of industry expertise NCOBS brings.

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you?

Compassion resonates most because of its relevance in all aspects of life.

MC Suydam

Mountains Instructor

Kira Sweetman

Mountains Instructor

What is your role at NCOBS?

I work in the field with students as an Instructor.

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I love taking people outside! Nature is an amazing place to learn more about yourself and grow as a person. I get to see and facilitate that growth for students and myself on every course!

Emma Taylor

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I wanted to be a part of a community and workplace of change makers that are working to create a world that cares about one another. I want to inspire my students to lead others in a compassionate way and find their styles in the way that they will lead others in their respective worlds. Originally from California, I wanted to come to NCOBS specifically to challenge myself and grow my comfort zone, the same way we expect students to do so when they come to outward bound.

Lizzie Thompson

Mountains & Florida Instructor

"I believe COMPASSION -- for our world, each other, and ourselves -- is at the heart of every Outward Bound course. Engaging with students in discovering what that means is why I instruct. "

Biography

Lizzie sees her role as a North Carolina Outward Bound instructor as that of an educator, risk manager, mentor and constant learner. In her years with NCOBS, the thing she's loved most is getting to see students overcome challenges -- be they physical, mental or interpersonal -- that they never thought they could. Their strength is what keeps Lizzie coming back to NCOBS and what she thinks will keep her working in education in some way or another for the rest of her life. 

Before coming to Outward Bound, Lizzie grew up in Washington, DC. In college, Lizzie became involved with a pre-orientation backpacking program, which sparked her excitement about education in the outdoors. 

Frankie Tomanek

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I love instructing and the sense of community that comes with Outward Bound, the Pisgah National Forest, and all outdoor activities!

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you?

The pillar the resonates with me most is compassion and I strive to embody this in my everyday life.

Michelle Tuday

Course Director; Climbing Specialist

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I wanted a meaningful job in the outdoors. I had a bunch of friends who worked at NCOBS and knew it was a leader in the industry.

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you? If so, why? 

Craftsmanship- from learning how to work with wood during my youth and taking time to create a solid project, finishing a job with intention speaks to me.

Max Wiggins

Climbing Program Manager

What is your role at NCOBS?

My role at NCOBS is to ensure high quality climbing programing for our students, provide opportunities for further technical development for our Instructors and Specialists, and to help steer the culture of climbing at the school. I am also an instructor for our semester programs in Argentina, as well as a member of our River Staff.

Certifications

Max is a Wilderness First Responder, AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide, and ACA Level 4 Canoe Instructor.

Jane Wilson

Mountains Instructor

What inspired you to work at NCOBS?

I was inspired to work at NCOBS by my love for building intentional community, especially in the outdoors. I am drawn to the magic of an outdoor classroom and love getting creative with various lessons!

Is there a Pillar that resonates with you? If so, why?

Craftsmanship tends to resonate with me most; I was originally drawn to the outdoor leadership space by my love for rock climbing and desire to share that love with others. By learning climbing systems and holding yourself to a high standard of craftsmanship, you can do things like stand (safely) on the side of a cliff...and that's just pretty cool!

John Wright

Mountains Instructor; Facilities Manager