Here it is: the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
Support bios!
These are the folks who keep the wheels rolling (sometimes quite literally) when there’s a bump in the road (also sometimes quite literally). We’ve introduced and celebrated all our incredible trip leaders, but we also could not make it through the summer without our amazing support staff. So without further ado, and to wrap up this summer’s talented crew, meet this year’s New England, Pacific Coast, America Coast to Coast, and Europe Coast to Coast Support team!
Josh Goldenberg – New England Support
Josh Goldenberg credits the origin of his passion for the outdoors to a ten-day canoeing trip on Lake Temagami during his childhood. Having grown up in Philadelphia, Josh relished opportunities to explore beyond the city. He built upon his canoeing trip with a 12-day bike tour through Holland the following year, which further solidified his love of adventure. After graduating from Trinity College with a History degree in 2014, Josh spent a year of service based in DC working for Service Nation but found himself longing to see more of the world. He then packed up and headed for New Zealand, where he worked on a dairy farm and vineyard; there, he explored the extensive natural wonders the country has to offer and even took an eight day trek on the Dusky Track in Fiordland National Park! The following summer, Josh split his time traveling between Peru and Ecuador while working to make a positive impact on the ecosystem of the Amazon jungle. While in Ecuador, Josh volunteered at Merazonia, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization, where he tended to birds, monkeys, and other animals with the ultimate goal of releasing them back into the wild. After returning to the United States, Josh spent the better part of the last year working at the Philadelphia Rock Gym, where he is a youth coach for students age eleven to sixteen. Josh loves working with kids – not only teaching them advanced climbing techniques and the skills to piece together difficult climbing problems, but also ensuring they’re safe and having fun. With seemingly endless experience traveling, trekking, and trip leading, we know Josh will seamlessly join the Apogee family as this summer’s New England Support!
Alex Brantl – New England Support
Irvington, NY native Alex Brantl joins Apogee with a hot-off-the-press degree from Hamilton College where she majored in Sociology and minored in Classical Languages – which included classes in Latin, French, and Arabic! Along with her studies, Alex has been involved in a myriad of activities on campus. After joining the crew team freshman year, Alex has left as a two-time captain and has taken her passion for leadership and athletics beyond the boundaries of Hamilton. Alex was an Executive Board Member and School Coordinator for Strong Girls, a national organization of college students focused on teaching athletic engagement and confidence to elementary school girls. As a student ambassador, Alex interviewed prospective students for Hamilton’s Office of Admissions and served as a Trip Leader for Adirondack Adventure, an outdoor pre-orientation trip for incoming freshmen. Despite her on-campus commitments, Alex has found time to venture abroad and spent a summer in New Delhi studying traditional medicine and healthcare systems in Northern India. Bitten by the travel bug, Alex spent the following semester in Rabat, Morocco, where she concentrated on migration and transnational identity, culminating in a thesis that she presented to a panel of professors from Mohammed V University. This past summer had Alex a bit closer to home; she interned at Boston Alliance for Community Health, a community health organization focused on housing, education, and racial equity issues. With such wide-ranging passions, areas of expertise, leadership experience, and a love of working with kids, we know that Alex will be an amazing asset to the Apogee team as this summer’s New England Support!
Sam Carey – Europe Coast to Coast Support
A graduate of Dartmouth College, veteran Support Staffer Sam Carey doesn’t have to travel far to visit his parents and golden retriever at home — three minutes, to be precise. Growing up in Hanover, New Hampshire, Sam served as captain of his high school’s varsity soccer and hockey teams, worked as a camp counselor, and was a dedicated volunteer for a local soup kitchen. At Dartmouth, when Sam wasn’t studying Math and Astronomy or reading David Foster Wallace and J.R.R Tolkien, you could probably find him on the ice, where he was a committed member of Dartmouth’s club hockey team. On top of it all, Sam is a true outdoorsman — from weekend camping trips throughout the Northeast as a kid, to a four-week backpacking trip along the world-famous El Camino de Santiago trail in Spain, Sam’s outdoor resume is quite varied and impressive! His junior year, Sam spent three months traveling and working through the work-trade program World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). Living out of his tent, Sam’s first month was spent alongside goats, chickens, and donkeys on a livestock ranch in Austin, TX. His next two months were spent in Puerto Rico, first at a fruit tree farm, then at a cacao tree farm. Sam thrived in the the community-minded environment of WWOOF, and he loved soaking up the sun and learning about sustainable living. After having supported our America Coast to Coast trips last summer, Sam can’t wait to try driving on the other side of the road, and we can’t wait to welcome him back to the Apogee team – this time as the Support Staff for Europe Coast to Coast!
Ben Campbell – Pacific Coast Support
Growing up in Connecticut, returning leader Ben Campbell spent many of his summers vacationing on Cape Cod before his family moved to North Carolina ten years ago. After enjoying numerous east coast sunrises as our Cape Cod & the Islands leader last year, Ben looks forward to taking in some gorgeous west coast sunsets this summer as our Pacific Coast Support Staff. A dedicated Tarheel and rising senior at the University of North Carolina, Ben is working toward a degree in Communications/ Entrepreneurship. When he’s not hitting the books, he can be found outside as a leader for the U.S. National Whitewater Program at UNC or, in previous summers, as a summer camp counselor at Camp Rockmont outside of Asheville, NC. Ben has worked at Camp Rockmont for three summers, where he coordinated activities and backpacking trips for campers between ages eight and twelve. Ben’s passion for traveling and engaging with new communities has also led him farther afield than just the mountains of North Carolina – he recently returned from Honduras, where he spent time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Ben is not only an avid traveler and outdoorsman; he is also a frisbee whiz and once competed in a sponsored frisbee trick-shot group (Pacific Coast students should expect some seriously impressive stunts this summer)! The jury is still out on whether we’re more excited to welcome Ben back to the Apogee team or if he’s more excited to support our Pacific Coast trips this summer – either way, he and his students are in for a treat!