Summer 2011 • Vol. 26 • No.3 THE Leader For Alumni of the National Outdoor Leadership School A DAM N-FOOL PORTLAND, OREGON, IDEA TO PORTLAND, MAINE WMI STARS RISK MANAGEMENT NOLS THEN AND NOW 3 IN HOLLYWOOD 6 12 IN TAHRIR SQUARE THe LeADeR iN WiLDeRNeSS eDuCATiON WiLDeRNeSS iN LeADeR THe JACkSON, Wy JACkSON, PeRmiT NO. 81 NO. PeRmiT www.nols.edu • (800) 710-NOLS (800) • www.nols.edu PAID Lander, WY 82520-2848 WY Lander, US POSTAGE POSTAGE US 284 Lincoln Street Lincoln 284 NONPROFiT ORg. NONPROFiT National Outdoor Leadership School Leadership Outdoor National 2 THE Leader mEssagE from the dir EcTor THE Leader Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin Editor Brad Christensen Brad Julie Cornia Three thousand field weeks under one tent: 160 faculty from across the globe gathered this spring to be inspired at our Graphic Designer Faculty Summit. Joanne Haines ummer at NOLS is filled with the anxious en- first NOLS Alaska course . Following our meeting, Publications Manager Sergy of students departing for the wilderness and the majority of our Trustees carved out time from the exuberant spirit of students and instructors re- their busy lives to enjoy an abbreviated sea kayak Rich Brame turning from the field . While we have students in course in Prince William Sound and sample our Alumni Relations Director the field year-round, the boreal summer is still our curriculum, from sea kayaking skills to fishing and John Gans peak season and the zenith of energy and activity at wet weather camping to natural history . The faculty NOLS Executive Director NOLS as well as a reminder that the most significant working these courses—Donna Ford, Darren Rora- contributor to course outcomes are the NOLS fac- baugh, Oscar Manguay, and Yuriria Herndandez July 2011 • Volume 26 • Number 3 ulty who teach and lead our programs . Alarcon—provided their own story line . Donna and Published three times a year in In fact, prior to jumping into our busy sum- Darren have been with NOLS for over 30 years and March, July, and November . mer season, over 160 faculty from across the globe are consummate sea kayaking experts . Donna was Postmaster: Send address changes to met in Lander to both expand and share their wis- course leader on the first NOLS course I worked National Outdoor Leadership School 284 Lincoln St ,. Lander, WY 82520 dom, knowledge, and experience on a range of top- in 1981 . Oscar and Yuriria are stars out of our sea ics, including leadership, educational effectiveness, kayaking program in Mexico and have also worked The Leader is a newsletter for alumni of the National evidence-based curriculum, wilderness steward- around the world for NOLS in various administra- Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), a nonprofit ship, and risk management . To further inspire us, tive capacities . This lineup was a reminder of the school focusing on wilderness skills, leadership, and educators, astronauts, NOLS trustees, authors, ad- talented, dedicated, diverse, experienced, fun, and environmental ethics . It is mailed to approximately venturers, and Forest Service leaders made presenta- committed staff who make up our faculty . While I 50,000 NOLS alumni and an additional 10,000 pro- tions on timely topics . Before and after the Faculty have been in the Sound many, many times before, spective students . NOLS graduates living in the U S. Summit we held training and knowledge-sharing I was once again able to take home new knowl- receive a free subscription to The Leader for life . workshops for staff on rock rescue, river crossing, edge and new skills, a hallmark of a NOLS educa- The Leader accepts paid advertising and wel- fly-fishing, and more . Throughout the Summit, I tion . comes article submissions and comments . Please address all correspondence to theleader@nols .edu was impressed to observe the powerful commitment I think it’s time for all of you to reacquaint or call (307) 332-8800 . Alumni can direct address our faculty have to continued training and building yourselves with the all-star NOLS faculty . Join us for changes to alumni@nols .edu or (800) 332-4280 . For their knowledge base, and I was reminded again that another course or an alumni trip . We look forward the most up-to-date information on NOLS, visit NOLS faculty are clearly the best in the field of out- to seeing you again at NOLS . www .nols .edu or e-mail admissions@nols .edu . door and wilderness education . The Leader is printed in Jackson, Wyoming, on I had another opportunity to connect with our newsprint with a minimum 40% post-consumer- faculty following a recent Trustee meeting in Alaska, waste recycled content . A paperless version is also when we also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the available online at www .nols edu/alumni/leader. John Gans, NOLS Executive Director wHo’s THis? Table of conTEnTs fEaTurEs NOLS THEN AND NOW: Reflections on Two Courses 40 Years Apart . 6 A DAMN-Fool IDEA: Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine . 10 DeparTmEnTs ALUMni PRofilE: Zach Gilford Sizes Up the Hollywood Scene . 3 WilD SIDE of MEDICinE: Beautiful and Dangerous Plants of the Rocky Mountains . 4 IssUE RooM: Farming the Sea in Chile . 5 SUstAinABilitY UPDATE . 5 Q&A: Gary Cukjati on Spending a Quarter Century with NOLS . 8 ALUMni IN ACtion: Grad Dustin Smith Pilots for Wings of Hope in Congo . 9 Recognize this person? The first 10 people to contact FIELD NotES: Taking NOLS Risk Management to Tahrir Square . 12 us with the correct answer will receive a free NOLS BooK REVIEWS: Blue Lines, The Last Mountians, and Northwest Foraging . 13 t-shirt. Call NOLS Alumni at (800) 332-4280 or e-mail RECipE BOX: Backcountry Tortillas . 14 [email protected]. The answer to last issue’s “Who’s This?” is Paula GEAR RooM: NOLS Parents Review Kid Carriers . 14 Hunker, former NOLS field instructor and current TRAVERSES: Haikus . 15 Associate State Director of the Nature Conservancy’s BELAY Off: A Science Teacher Treks the Arctic . 20 Wyoming chapter. SUMMERSUMMER 2011 2011 3 aLumni profiLE night, right?” his representatives asked, perplexed . From changing medical drama scripts to be And . Action! But these days it’s less jarring for his agent, manager WMI-compliant to making sure he has everything and publicist when Zach heads into the backcoun- with him when he gets “stuck” on set to forcing cast Zach Gilford Sizes Up try . “I’ve kind of taken all these people I work with members to hold out their hands when they want in this weird, sometimes disgusting industry, and some of his snacks, Zach is working hard to teach the Hollywood Scene made them part of my team,” says Zach . “And now NOLS and WMI lessons in the unlikely setting they get it . They get me .” of Hollywood . And the next time he has the time By Amy RATHke, NOLS DeveLOPmeNT COmmuNiCA- Although these days Zach doesn’t spend entire between projects, we might just see him on another TiONS COORDiNATOR summers in the wilderness, he still brings his wilder- NOLS course . hen was the last time you had to treat a femur Wfracture? For Zach Gilford, it is all in a day’s work . As a cast member on ABC’s television series Off the Map, a medical drama based in remote rural South America, Zach frequently starred in scenes requiring his character to think quickly and make sound medical decisions . But unlike fellow cast members, Zach brought something unique to the table: real wilderness experience from NOLS and hands-on wilderness medical training from WMI . Growing up outside Chicago, Zach spent his Copyright NBC Universal summers at camp in Michigan . “I always wanted to lead trips for my camp,” he says, “but they wouldn’t hire me until I was 21 .” So then 20-year-old Zach decided to take a NOLS Pacifi c Northwest Outdoor Educator course . If he couldn’t lead trips right then, zach as quarterback matt Saracen in Friday Night Lights. Next, look for him as at least he could get the training to lead trips later . Dr. Tommy Fuller on ABC’s Off the Map. “Even though he was the youngest student on the course, he was funny and charismatic,” recalls ness training to the set . When working on a fi lm or NOLS Pacifi c Northwest Director Chris Agnew, television show, an urban version of the possibilities one of Zach’s instructors . “Everyone loved him .” bag is never far from his side . “On set everybody Following that summer, Zach certifi ed as a makes fun of me—I take my backpack everywhere,” Wilderness First Responder through WMI . He he says . He keeps all the predictable items close at then worked for seven seasons for Adventures hand, including a water bottle, a book, a clean t-shirt, Cross-Country, an outdoor travel program for teens, leading trips from Yosemite to Alaska to Hawaii . Directed to move his “patient” “I just love being outside,“ he says . “Sharing these things with people for the fi rst time, I’ve never seen from a stable position underneath anyone whose eyes didn’t literally light up .” a tree before he could prep his But it wasn’t leading youth expeditions that splinting materials, Zach said, made Zach famous . It was his role as high school football quarterback Matt Saracen in the critically “Whoa! This guy’s leg is broken acclaimed NBC television series Friday Night Lights —that’s a serious injury. and later as Dr . Tommy Fuller onOff the Map . He also recently played Gus Oviston in the fi lm adap- Why would I pull him out and tation of The River Why and has starred in several then get everything ready?” other feature-length fi lms .