Erick received his award in 2019. He has been preparing for his trip to Kyrgyzstan on the 22nd of January. He will be working with Ryan Koupal the founder of 40 Tribes a ski guiding and community development initiative. The work will be a combination of three of his passions community development, travel, and outdoor exploration. He will be catching back up with us throughout his journey. He will be helping as a jack of all trades for nearly two months in the Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan.

He is one of our more recent scholars who has been keeping busy since college as a carpenter and a cook here and there. Now he is in Colorado making plans for his trip. He gave us a little background on himself,

“I grew up in Vermont and graduated from UVM in 2014. I started out in the Environmental Science program within Rubenstein School but transferred to the College of Agriculture to create a self-designed bachelor of science in Ecological Design. My course of study combined courses in agriculture, architectural design, community development, and small business management. I double-minored in 1) Spanish, and 2) Green Building and Community Development. I often joke that I had an unofficial third minor in wilderness education – I completed certifications as a Wilderness First Responder and Wilderness EMT, as well as courses in Swiftwater Rescue, Search and Rescue, and Avalanche Safety, and as a guide for UVM’s Wilderness Trek freshman orientation program and for the Outing Club.

Beginning my senior year, I co-founded New Moran, Inc. a 501(c)3 organization working with the City of Burlington on the remediation and re-use of a former coal plant into a community space. For the last year, I have been exploring opportunities in the outdoor sector, and was specifically drawn to 40 Tribes because of their focus on both cultural exchange as well a backcountry guiding.”

 

A picture taken by Erick Crockenberg