Nobody asks engineers how they got their job. Or even a doctor or a lawyer. But GORP's roundtable panel, representing a few lucky ones who get their paycheck by working or inspiring life in the great outdoors, no doubt have had to answer the same familiar question, "How did you get that job?"
They are the envy of most who dream of turning their passions into paychecks. Is it as rewarding as it appears? How did they achieve their goals? Those of you who haven't quite figured out how to combine life with a living, no doubt have questions. Now is your chance. Fire off questions to our roundtable panel as they write about, guide, mind, or inspire a life of adventure in the great outdoors.
Our roundtable features travel writer Jonathan Waterman, adventure guide Amy Finger, outdoor entrepreneur William Greer, and park ranger Ellen Petrick-Underwood. Let us tell you about them. . .
Amy Finger's typical work day is without a 12-1 lunch break, and that familiar email prompt showing it's enveloped face on the bottom right of the monitor every second. It's a day filled with adventure and new experiences. If you are looking for adventure, let Amy be your guide. She does afterall make her living guiding people into life changing experiences on the road, on horseback, or on foot in Colorado, Mexico's Copper Canyon, and Peru.
Arriving on the scene of Adventure Specialists, the outfitter that she works for, in 1980, Amy finished her degree in geology from the University of Coloradobecoming a partner in the fledgling adventure company.
With strong concerns for environmental protection andpreservation of native cultures, Amy influenced their programs in the direction of low impactand positive contribution long before this became cool. She has led more than 70 trips to the depths of Copper Canyon.
If this picture isn't evidence enough of how Jonathan Waterman makes his living, let's lay it out for you. Living, breathing, challenging, fearing, succeeding, and creating adventure has been Jon's occupation, and evidence of this is the many book titles, magazine articles, photographs, and documentaries with his name attached.
He has retraced the route of an Italian prince on Alaska's Mount St. Elias and wrote a book on it. He paddled 800 miles down the Sea of Cortes in Mexico and wrote a book on it. In fact for that one he was awarded the Best Adventure Travel Book of the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. He has experienced and shared experiences on the rock and edited a book called The Quotable Climber and Fearful Moments in Climbing.
To add to the impressive mix he has also authored In the Shadow of Denali, Surviving Denali; A Study of Accidents on Mt McKinley and has contributed many magazine articles to Alaska Geographic, Backpacker, Wildbird, Climbing, Summit, Buzzworm, Outside, Country America, National Geographic News Service, National Geographic Adventurer, Rock and Ice and Powder.
William Greer is our very own founder and Vice President of Content and Community at GORP.com. Bill co-founded GORP along with his wife and partner Diane Greer in 1995, merging a business background in management consulting with a passion for outdoor recreation and adventure travel. Over the prior two decades, Bill indulged that passion with travels through the Americas, Asia and Australia. Foreseeing the communities that would develop as the Internet became a mass medium, he was determined to build GORP as a place where outdoor enthusiasts could congregate online, sharing information, experiences and camaraderie.
Before trading the suit and tie for the backpack of GORP, Bill served as Senior Vice President at Technology Solutions Company.
Ellen Petrick-Underwood has lived and breathed nature — in one of America's premier outdoor spots — Yellowstone National Park. She has been the National Park Service's Program Manager for Formal Education there for 6 years and oversees Expedition Yellowstone!, a residential program for school groups in the Lamar Valley, the park's Junior Ranger program which serves 15,000 children each summer, as well as outreach programs.
Ellen received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Tufts University in 1982. She worked as a graduate teaching fellow at the New Jersey School of Conservation for a year, after which she received a Master's degree in Environmental Education in 1984 from Montclair State College.
She has worked as a seasonal Park Ranger for the Park Service and has done contract work for the Forest Service, Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources, the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT, and the Weber State Museum of Natural Science in Ogden, UT. She worked as a cross-country ski instructor at Weber State University and as a Teacher-Naturalist and Education Program Director at the Ogden Nature Center.
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