Erin joined the Open Sky team as a field guide in 2019. Prior to that, she had returned to school to pursue outdoor education after serving a year in AmeriCorps. From there, she had a lot of hands-on experience with technical skills and how to conduct learning in the outdoor environment. She worked for Women’s Wilderness Institute based out of Boulder, CO for a few backpacking and rock climbing trips and also had some experience in helping to facilitate ropes course elements for middle school-aged students.

Erin wanted to pursue a career in some sort of social work but wasn’t sure what it would look like. When she learned of wilderness therapy, she knew it was something she wanted to pursue. It was the perfect blend of things she loved: outdoors and helping others help themselves. When she googled wilderness therapy, Open Sky was the first to pop up and it blended with other things she values, such as yoga. She also really appreciates and respects that Open Sky has such a family approach to therapy.

In the field guide role, Erin values being beside someone on their journey of getting to know themselves better and who they want to be in this world. She values the parallel process she experiences learning from the students and the wilderness and about herself. Her strengths are her flexibility, hardworking presence, and desire to do what needs to be done for the team.

In her free time, Erin enjoys spending time with her partner Sam in Denver, where they live with their plant babies. She loves to spend time outside exploring and practicing yoga. She also really enjoys cooking, reading, and watching movies.