Shannon is an ecologist and a wanderer through landscapes. Always fascinated by the natural world, her early memories include catching fireflies with her mom and sister, and riding on her dad’s shoulders to pick honeysuckle in their North Carolina backyard, then climbing trees, catching frogs and snakes, and picking wild blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries when the family moved to Maine. Eventually, Shannon studied ecology and evolutionary biology, then forestry, and spent eight years, her first career, doing ecological research at the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 1999, she began her second career as a NOLS instructor, exploring the landscapes of 10 US states as well as the Indian Himalayas with NOLS students. Additionally, she has been deeply involved in NOLS expedition curriculum review and revision as a Program Supervisor in Alaska in the 2000s, as Research Manager from 2014 to 2020, and as Expedition Curriculum Manager since 2020. When Shannon’s not wandering through landscapes with NOLS students, you can find her running or hiking through the spectacular landscapes of the mountains and plains of Wyoming near her Lander home.