Connecting people to information that serves their goals is a wide-ranging theme in Debra's life. Her community work started as a Michigan State University student in Environmental Education & Natural Resources and continued as she moved onto graduate study in Environmental Land Use Planning at Washington State University. Moving to Lander, WY, in 1978 allowed her to re-open the local office for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, a statewide conservation organization. Subsequent employment and volunteer work in state welfare programs, as well as social justice and inclusion training allowed her to provide leadership when it came to local responses to national issues. These collaborative experiences with people from different backgrounds serve her as NOLS Wilderness Medicine Admissions Manager. She is an avid swimmer, cyclist, free weight wrangler and budding yoga practitioner.