Levine Scholars Leadership Expedition

The Levine Scholars Leadership Expedition empowers students to assume leadership roles through excellent teamwork, communication, and expedition behavior; to travel through the rugged wilderness while practicing outdoor living skills and Leave No Trace; to connect with natural places that enrich their lives and foster a strong environmental ethic; and to apply effective decision-making tools to real-world problems.

Your course will have a strong focus on being an adaptable team member and provide you with opportunities to shift between the roles of “team member” (active follower) and “team leader” (designated leader).

You will learn and develop both technical wilderness skills and interpersonal skills. This combination will allow you to function effectively as a group in a powerful and dynamic environment.
You will have the opportunity to exercise individual decision-making while facilitating great teamwork.
NOLS instructors will coach you through the course in a way that both minimizes stress and encourages peak performance.

Your route will traverse trails, steep hillsides, open steppe, thick vegetation, and river bottoms.

Your course will take place in the Wind River or the Absaroka Mountains: rugged, glacier-carved mountains renowned for their sheer granite walls and famous for their beautiful alpine lakes. You’ll backpack in a wilderness surrounded by towering peaks and perennial snow. You’ll learn the skills needed to travel in the mountains long after your expedition ends.

Your course will begin with basic skills: cooking and stove use, map reading, Leave No Trace practices, expedition behavior, and techniques for hiking and camping in grizzly bear habitat. The group will then move into more advanced topics, such as: leadership styles, effective communication and feedback skills, wilderness first aid, and navigation using a GPS and compass. Other skills that may be taught based on conditions, group interest, and instructor focus include baking, fly-fishing, snow travel, geology, and plant identification.

During the course, you’ll live with two or three other students in a “cook group.” These small groups help disperse our impact on the land and enable you to develop the art of backcountry cooking and living. You’ll also travel in small groups, usually of four to six people, again to disperse impact and enhance learning opportunities.

A foundational course goal is building an inclusive community with your peers. Learning the value of teamwork, you will tackle group challenges and achieve common goals. As you travel, you’ll learn about a range of topics, from natural history to leadership to geology, and you’ll have opportunities to put your new knowledge into practice every day.