Alex's dad was on an early NOLS course led by Paul Petzoldt in 1970, so he knew growing up that NOLS was in his future. He took a student course out of the Teton Valley Branch at age 14, and then the Summer IC in 2013. He's worked backpacking courses each summer since. When not working for NOLS, Alex is a PhD student at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara, where he studies environmental political activism and environmental messaging. In his free time, Alex loves climbing, fly fishing, skiing, and backpacking with his partner and their dog Flick (Flick isn't much of a climber, but does everything else).