Originally from Massachusetts, Josh graduated with his undergraduate degree in Outdoor Education from Johnson State College. Josh worked and lived in Northern Vermont for seven years, guiding and instructing outdoor education, before spending two years in Ohio earning his Master’s degree in Recreation Studies from Ohio University. Experiential Education has routed Josh’s life and he is excited to now join the community of Sterling College that so strongly believes in and supports experiential learning. Josh’s passion for outdoor endeavors has taken him throughout North America, and as far as the southern tip of South America, through the regions of Patagonia.

Josh looks at Outdoor Education as a way of creating good citizens of the world with the skills needed to be productive members of a larger society. Kris Tompkins said, “…people only protect the things they love. And you can’t love something unless you inherently identify with it.” Josh wants students to find an inherent identity in some part of the experience he helps to provide. Once this identity has been set, they can further themselves around that idea or belief. Some may go on to be environmental stewards like Tompkins, and others may become professional experiential educators. Though many will not pursue a profession in the outdoor community, the goal is to foster “passion” in an individual that can be transferred to daily life and any future ambitions.

In his leisure time, Josh enjoys outdoor activities with his partner Juliana, playing with their dog Topper, fixing broken things, and making pickles and outdoor gear.