Alex Flores
It’s 7:30 and the sun is still barely rising. The crisp air is blanketed with a soft sheet of fog. Alex gets dressed as fast as his groggy self allows, and leaves to Flakey Cream, in Healdsburg, CA. There, he gets his usual (two eggs, a biscuit, and a chocolate bar donut). She calls, though, and he can’t ignore her. Carson Warner Memorial Skate Park. As soon as the black chain-link fence opens up, he pulls in, hops out, grabs his skateboard, and sits in the middle of the empty park. His world. There he reflects: on Philosophy, his major and passion; on his loving family and beautiful friends; on the song he keeps trying to play and the short story he keeps trying to write; on the awesome bike ride he’s going to take later that day, and on the new book he has to read; he doesn’t know what life is going to end up being…but boy, is he happy. The sun sneaks out from behind the fog and gently pats his back, and he smiles, grabs his board, and… SPLAT!
Alexa Petersen
Alexa comes from the foreign country of Connecticut. She lives there with Martha Stewart and 50 Cent. In her spare time, Alexa likes long walks on the academic quad drinking virgin pina coladas out of sippy cups with the little umbrellas on the side. She enjoys playing angry birds and bejewled on her phone, but honestly prefers apples to apples to any other type of game. She hopes to one day graduate on time.
Alexis Hoffman
Alexis is from Santa Cruz, California so coming to Tufts was a big shift for her. Luckily, she loved it from Day 1 thanks to T.W.O.! At Tufts, she is a Political Science and American Studies double major. Last year she was Support Staff Mom for T.W.O., participated in LIFT, danced in TDC, and held a part-time internship at Planned Parenthood in Boston.
Andrew Meleney
Andrew lived the first half of his life in Chicago and the second half in Greenwich, CT. He is an Economics major with a minor in music and has been sailing and playing the drums for as long as he can remember. Wilderliving became a hobby of his after a semester long canoeing/backpacking NOLS trip in rural Australia.
Anna Graham
Anna is an Archaeology major from the depths of good ole’ Mississippi. She loves eating, digging, and hiking. She’s been to etiquette school three times and often finds twigs in her hair.
Anna Kanter
Anna is a rising senior from Syracuse, NY, majoring in Political Science and Community Health. She is currently studying abroad in New Delhi, India learning about Public Health issues throughout the country. While at school, she volunteers for an organization called Peer Health Exchange in Boston, providing health education to 9th graders in public schools. She also loves getting out into the mountains and hiking around any chance she gets! She is super excited to have a fantastic trip and savor her last year of wilderlove!
Arlen Weiner
Arlen is a junior majoring in Peace and Justice Studies and International Relations. She is from Goshen, New York and loves yoga, singing, rock climbing, and playing in the woods. Arlen is also the Loj Director for Tufts Mountain Club.
Averi Becque
Averi is from a small town on the rocky coast of Maine, where she grew up loving the mountains, lakes and seashore. She loves traveling, food, dancing and silly costumes – and has spent most of her time at Tufts pursuing these activities. She also studies International Relations, hoping that this will lead to adventures down the road.
Ben Helm
Ben is from Contoocook, NH and studies Mechanical Engineering at Tufts. He enjoys dragonslaying, butterfly catching, casual daffodilling and milk. He is the sole founder of the premier honeybee resale and distribution facility at Tufts. He always keeps the left side of his body painted red and the right side of his body painted green so that people can tell which direction he is traveling at night. His middle name is Danger.
Brad DeBattista
Brad is from the sunny YAY Area of California and is learning the art of Civil Engineering… and Math. He participates in TMC, ASCE, TDC, and some other acronyms that pertain to stuff to do at Tufts. Brad likes to build, hike, philosophize, riddle, play games, cook, and hammock (it’s a verb).
Bronwen Raff
Bronnie the Bear Raff was born in the good ol’ small town of Sun Valley, Idaho. Born and raised amongst mountains, streams, lakes, rivers, bears, and deer, the outdoors have always been a big part of her life. As an avid cross-country skier, road biker, swimmer, and runner, she spends much of her free time frolicking in mother nature. In the academic world, she is a Peace and Justice Studies and Community Health double major. Interested in studying low-income food insecure populations and women’s health, she plans to rule the non-profit world one day.
Cameron Wright
Cameron is a rising senior from the great state of Vermont. At Tufts, she is double majoring in French Literature and ultimate frisbee. She loves to do anything outdoors, especially hiking, running, and snowboarding. She also loves being a part of TWO!
Charlee Corra
Charlee Corra is a senior double majoring in Biology/Environmental Studies. She is from a small town called Toluca Lake in Los Angeles, California. In her free time she likes to rock climb, play ultimate frisbee, practice the drums, hang out with friends, and cook. After graduating, she plans on spending as much time as possible scuba diving in tropical locations and studying marine biology and conservation.
Dan Katz-Zeiger
Dan Katz-Zeiger is a mild-mannered Jewish boy from Brookline, Massachusetts. He is majoring in American Studies and English. Dan is a member of Cheap Sox, Tufts only improv comedy team and he enjoys sweaters, brunch and wearing a sweater while eating brunch.
Dan Kim
Dan is a New Jersian (cringe), who is studying clinical psychology and child development, and he loves to paint, sing, dance, and hike! He sends you all big hugs!
Danny Shassian
Danny is a Myers Briggs type ESFJ. Danny hates when people call Westchester (the Bestchester) “upstate New York.” Danny is studying abroad in Buenos Aires at the time that he is writing this, and still cannot figure out how to use the “at” symbol on Spanish keyboards. Danny is double majoring in Psychology and Spanish, but often only tells people one or the other so they don’t make the inevitable hilarious joke about how he should only analyze Spanish speakers. Most importantly, Danny can barely contain his excitement for TWO 2012 and will probably explode before the end of August as a result!
Dave Sokoler
Dave is from upstate New York – straight out of Bethlehem. He was formerly a student at Northeastern University and transferred to Tufts as a junior. He studies political science. He is “always down” to kayak or hike–especially if a roadtrip is required to get there!
Eloise Libre
Eloise is a rising junior from Norwalk, CT, majoring in History and minoring in Music. She is a member of the Tufts Ski Team and Tufts Symphony Orchestra. This fall, she will be studying abroad at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland!
Emily Carlin
Emily C. Carlin hails from Colorful Colorado (Boulder, to be precise). Her major is Cognitive and Brain Science and her minor is Computer Science. She will be spending the spring speaking Chinese in Hangzhou. You can usually find her drinking coffee, composing dance routines with Rose Mendelsohn, or beating people at ping-pong.
Emily Paine
Emily Paine’s name has always caused much amusement for her gym teachers. She grew up in Montclair, NJ and studies International Relations and Community Health at Tufts. She is currently studying abroad on a comparative program that goes to India, Argentina and South Africa. She likes to dance and swim, debate people about liberal arts collegy things, and play with puppies (unless they are in India). She is TWO excited for Wilderness this year, just like every year.
Emily Wyner
Emily Wyner is a proud member of the class of 2013 majoring in Anthropology. She is passionate about uncovering the roles of people, technology, and nature in social change. Recently, she has shifted her focus to all things food and farming. This past semester, she co-founded Food for Thought, a branch of the Tufts Sustainability Collective that addresses contemporary food issues through a variety of lenses, including environmental, political, social, ethical, economic, and nutritional. She is currently interning with environmental journalist Simran Sethi and will be going out to Colorado this summer to work at Chimney Rock Farm, where she hopes to help bridge the gap between farm and community. Emily loves TWO with all her heart and feels most at peace under the stars. In her spare time, she enjoys watching documentaries, exploring new board games, cooking, climbing, traveling, doing puzzles, and finding hole-in-the-wall thrift stores.
Eric Archibald
Eric is a Psychology major from Denver, Colorado. He’s often in a tree or having a mohawk. If he’s not doing one of those things, he’s probably watching Parks and Rec or Disney channel original movies. Eric is currently studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, and is losing the capacity to speak English. His favorite English word is brouhaha and his favorite Spanish word is ¡Fijaos!
Gabe Nicholas
“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet – there is where the bullet went through – and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best.” Gabe Nicholas does not like writing biographies, so he uses Teddy Roosevelt speeches instead. He also has two first names.
Hannah Bassett
Hannah Bassett is a proud, life-long resident of New Hampshire and is SO PUMPED to be on TWO staff this year. In her free time, Hannah enjoys playing club soccer, practicing spelling her name backwards, eating pies, and – intentionally or not – sounding like Marcel the Shell. At Tufts, she is studying International Relations (so unique, she knows!) and Linguistics.
Henry Blanchette
Henry Blanchette: half man, other half: krispy. When Henry was only two years old, his father was killed while pursuing orcs. Henry was afterwards fostered in Marion, Massachusetts by animated lawn gnomes. At the request of his mother, his lineage was kept secret, as she feared he would be killed like his father and grandfather if his true identity became known. At the age of ten Henry was renamed Kia Shine, and began pursuing a lucrative career as a full time rapper, part time G. But he was forced into early retirement at the age of 18, and that is when he decided to go to Tufts.
Hilary Ludlow
Hilary was born and raised on a small fruit and vegetable farm in Lexington, Massachusetts. She’s an International Relations major with a focus in international security and a minor in English. She works at a student-run on-campus coffee shop called the Rez Cafe, is the vice-president elect of her graduating class, and volunteers at the Mystic Learning Center at the Somerville Housing Development. She is an environmentalist, a feminist, and a cereal connoisseur.
Jake Lazarus
Jake was raised by wolves in the Appalachian outskirts of Louisville, KY. He overcame the adversity of a world dominated by fried chicken and horse racing to become a mechanical engineer at Tufts. He plays tennis, guitar, and with puppies.
Jenny Smith
Jenny is a rising junior majoring in English. She is originally from Chicago, which has the greatest deep dish pizza and wind ever known to man. She is interested in non-profit work and becoming the greatest feminist to ever live. She likes to bike, read, lay on the prez lawn, dance, smell flowers, and watch Mad Men. She is a Health Educator for Peer Health Exchange at Tufts. She is also involved in Tufts Dance Collective and choreographed last semester.
Joe Wat
Born in Chicago, little Joe Wat hunted for food in the vast prairies and forests of the midwest. Boy Scouts, Swim Teams and Hurricanes all happened. Now, Joe studies Chinese and Biology when he can’t avoid it and spends most of his time outdoors.
Jonathan Steinberg
Jonathan Steinberg is a Junior from Teaneck, New Jersey. He is double majoring in Political Science and Spanish and minoring in Drama. As a child star, he played the role of Angelina Jolie’s younger brother and starred in a Plan B commercial. His other acting credits include a child serial killer on “Criminal Minds” and a house husband on “Desperate Housewives.” Now having given up his career in acting, he focuses most of his time on his cooking show, “Paula Deen and the New Healthy Way to Live.” At Tufts, Jonathan continues to explore the life to its fullest, spending his days and nights in Tisch and waiting for the sun to return so he can work on his tan.
Jordan Ko
Jordan comes from Los Angeles, CA and is studying Child Development. She loves spending time outdoors and getting Groupons to try random outdoor activities like paddle boarding and an outdoor flying trapeze class. When she’s not outside, you can probably find her cooking, singing, dancing, and of course enjoying some chocolate. After hiking and snorkeling her way through the Galápagos and Machu Picchu last summer, she is really excited to spend August with TWO!
Joshua Elliott
Joshua grew up in Milford, Massachusetts and spent many fond summers in Shirley, Maine. He is majoring in Electrical Engineering and minoring in Chinese. Previously the president of the Tufts Mountain Club, Joshua has always enjoyed outdoor activities. Joshua is also a huge geek, not Battlestar Galactica style, but certainly LOTR.
Katie Lowe
Katie is a Colorado girl who may have a slight problem of addiction to being outside. Accordingly, she is a geology major and loves rocks. Her goal in life is to explore another planet. Katie loves strawberries and cool socks.
Kearney Coghlan
Who is Kearney? Why has she left her natural habitat of San Francisco? What IS American Studies? Why does she like climbing rocks and swimming in rivers so much? When does she bake and how can I have a slice? Is she a hipster? The world may never know.
Konrad Gessler
Konrad Gessler is a sophomore at Tufts University, majoring in International Relations with a concentration in security studies. He was born in the Bronx, New York and has lived in North Salem, New York since. Konrad has a strong passion for understanding conflict and major threats that states currently face. Konrad is the current network director for ALLIES (Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services), a group that strives to bridge the gap between civilian and military culture and he is heavily involved in the planning of FIELDEX (Field Exercise in Peace and Stability Operations), a role playing simulation held annually that places university students and military academy students in a theoretical conflict situation. In his free time, Konrad enjoys traveling to Germany to visit family, practicing Krav Maga self-defense, playing basketball, and reading the news.
Lane Florsheim
Lane is a rising senior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin currently studying abroad in Paris. She is majoring in International Relations (concentration: international security) and minoring in Entrepreneurial Leadership. On campus, Lane is an assistant photography editor for the Daily, a member of Tufts Dance Collective, and a Tufts Admissions Tour Guide. She loves reading, jewelry-making, and museum-going. Although loving life (and food) in France, she is so excited to come back and lead a TWO 2012 trip!
Laurel Starr
Laurel Starr proudly hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She plays hockey (all those MN stereotypes you heard were true) and soccer, and loves to spend as much time as possible outdoors – hiking, canoeing, and singing around campfires. At Tufts she’s a Peace and Justice Studies major and co-director of Strong Women, Strong Girls, an after-school mentoring program that works with local elementary school girls. Her biggest passion in life, however, is TWO and she can’t wait to share that with all of you!
Leah Effron
Hailing from West Orange, NJ., Leah is majoring in Child Development and Community Health. She is passionate about everything involving children and being in the outdoors. In her spare time she loves to run, experiment with new recipes, garden, swim, and wander.
Lincoln Giesel
This tall drink of Louisville, Kentucky water is simply tickled pink to be leading a TWO trip this summer! He loves nothing more than frolicking in the outdoors under the sun, moon, rain, and snow. Lincoln also enjoys teaching sex ed to Boston youth, going on adventures, and of course, dancing like nobody is watching. He is also currently studying abroad in Saigon, Vietnam and spends a mighty hefty chunk of his time cruising around on a motorbike and eating all the delicious street food he can find! His majors are International Relations and Anthropology.
Linzy Prudden
Linzy is a Junior from Santa Barbara, CA, and a Sociology major at Tufts. Every semester, she enjoys participating in Tufts Dance Collective with all of her wilderness friends. She also devotes much of her free time to leading the Chi Omega sorority as its president. She loves having thoughtful conversations, so come find her to chat anytime!
Luke Abdow
Luke comes from the wonderful town of Amherst in Western Mass. When he is not in Dewick or Tisch, he is probably off rowing on some river, taking a nap, or trying to find something to eat somewhere else. He majors in Community Health and American Studies. His favorite foods at Dewick include vegan meatballs, macaroni and cheese, seasoned wedges, and cinnamon bread.
Michael Grant
Michael is from Corvallis, Oregon, a small college town nestled in the bosom of the Willamette Valley, where skiing, rafting, backpacking, and mushroom hunting were but a stone’s throw away. Besides raising himself on the succulent pine sap of the Pacific Northwest’s coniferous forests, Michael enjoys making music and cooking gourmet food. He is a music major with a film studies minor in the class of 2014, and spends most of his time singing with the Beelzebubs.
Nathan Lingafelter
Nathan “Fez” Lingafelter hails from the beautiful Midwest town of Akron, OH. He’s majoring in Biochem with plans to head to med school sometime after Tufts. If he had to choose two things he loves most they would likely be science and fishing. He spends his extra time at Tufts attempting to inspire young scientists at local schools, promoting science based medicine, volunteering at a local hospital, and playing some intramural soccer. If he could be anywhere right now, it would probably be on a small river with a fly rod in hand.
Nick Harmon
Born on a dark and wintery night in Westbrook, Maine, Nick Harmon would one day grow up to study Mechanical Engineering at Tufts. He enjoys European football, climbing rocks, and recreational snow shoveling. He was a TWO 2010 freshman and a TWO 2011 Support Staffer. He is an Eagle Scout, a Tufts Energy Conference Organizer, and a 5-time Hawaiian Open Surf Champion (one of these facts is kind of completely false).
Orli Gottlieb
Orli is a rising senior from Bow, New Hampshire, and is studying Environmental Engineering at Tufts. She is currently serving as the President of the Tufts Mountain Club and she loves whitewater kayaking. She is also a research assistant on an air pollution monitoring project with the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, eating, and hanging out in trees with friends.
Patricia Moncure
Patricia is a woman of many nicknames–Trish, Pattycakes, Patty, Pmoney, etc. She grew up in New Canaan, CT and is studying Psychology and International Relations at Tufts, though she is interested in pursuing a degree in nutrition after her undergraduate education. She is currently improving her Spanish during her semester abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, and loves to travel and explore new places. Her free time is usually filled with running, yoga, and vegetarian cooking. She is also a sun-seeker!
Pike Hughes
Pike is a rising Junior hailing from Dana Point, California. He is an Economics and International Relations major who has taken a few jaunts into philosophy and computer science. Extracurricularly, he plays club tennis and club water polo. He’s also quite involved in the Tufts Mountain Club. He spends his summers leading canoeing trips for a summer camp in Northern Wisconsin. At Tufts, he tries to get out on the water as much as possible, whether canoeing, kayaking or otherwise. Wilderness tripping has played an incredibly important role in his life, and there are few things that he has as vibrant a passion for.
Polly Murray
Polly is from Cohasset, MA, and studies civil engineering and environmental studies at Tufts. She’s on the sailing team and loves trail saunas, chocolate free s’mores, and dogs. She has a permanent shorts tan and is very excited about frosted sugar cookies. She is a settler of catamaran.
Riley Jack Meehan
Riley Jack Meehan, also known as Riley Jack, Riley, RJ, or whatever else you like to call him, lived in Glendale, CA for his entire life. As soon as he graduated he hopped on over to the other end of the country to join the ranks of Jumbohood. On the hill, he is a mechanical enginerd, but when he’s not building robots he runs, climbs, searches for spirit animals, and dancedancedances.
Rose Mendelsohn
Rose loves many things. Specifically, pickles and The Food Network and miniature things (preferably food) and the name Jórge and high waisted sweatpants and hiking and canoeing and books and her short toe. She is majoring in American Studies and Political Science.
Ryan O’Hara
Ryan comes from the beautiful town of Holyoke, Massachusetts, which has the claims to fame of being both the first planned city in America and the city in which Volleyball was invented. At Tufts, he studies International Relations and German, and is currently studying abroad in Tuebingen, Germany. Ryan’s interests include politics, the NBA and NFL, travel, foreign languages, running, hiking, and playing soccer. His major activity at Tufts, aside from TWO, is being a member and student leader of Major: Undecided, Tufts’ award-winning sketch comedy group.
Ryan Pandya
Ryan “Panda” Pandya is a Connecticut native (Milford, if you know the area) and a student of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts. Besides scampering around in the woods, he loves cooking, programming computers, biking, and travel. And dogs. Dogs are the coolest. He can’t stand sarcasm because he has no sense of humor. As a vegetarian as well as a bioengineer, he is currently researching in vitro (lab-grown) meat as an alternative to factory farming.
Samantha Lund
Samantha is from St. Louis, which is NOT in the South, contrary to popular New England belief. She is a huge St. Louis sports fan, especially the hockey team, the Blues. At Tufts she is an international relations with a concentration in global health and community health double major. Her favorite activities at school are the ski team, TDC, volunteering at the Sharewood Health Clinic, and the Gospel Choir. She also trained with the marathon team to run in the Boston marathon in April! She loves ice cream, reading outside, jumping off big rocks into lakes, and Lord of the Rings.
Sam Cantor
His name is Samuel Cantor, and his story is a long, hard one. Born on the outskirts of a small trading post they call West Hartford, Connecticut, Sam was one of four sons in small time bootleggin’/vegetable farmin’ family. He and his three brothers learned to survive in an environment surrounded by scraggly-bearded-bar-fightin’-drunk-singin’-spitoon-spittin’-poker-playin’-somewhat-law-abidin’ travelers, adventurers and misfits. Some were just looking for gold and glory, while others were just runnin’ from the law. Soon Sam became one of ‘em and decided to head on west to find his manifest destiny. But Sam’s compass was broke’d so he went northeast instead and ended up at Tufts. You can find him there today studyin’ Political Science, Pre-Med-stuff or Music. He might be singin’ or playin’ the gee-tar, eatin’, sleepin’, runnin’, swimmin’, jokin’ ’round… or he might just be writin’ some nonsense for the Tufts Wilderness Website…
Sam Kittross-Schnell
Sam is originally from beautiful Seattle, Washington, where he first fell in love with the great outdoors. He is a rising Senior double majoring in Political Science and Economics. Ryan Gosling is often mistaken for Sam. If you stop him on the street, he’ll give you a dollar if you can successfully spell his last name.
Sam Rock
Sam’s parents found him fully formed under a moist rock in the northwestern US on their honeymoon. Ask him about green vegetables. Depending on who you ask, he may or may not have two first names.
Talia Lieber
Tali is currently studying abroad in Rwanda! She likes to dance the samba! Her favorite restaurant is La Bamba! Of TWO she is so fonda!
Thea Mink
Thea is a Biology and Environmental Studies major from Washington, DC, who enjoys pottery, kayaking, and nomming on a good hunk o’ cheese. Don’t steal her cheese!
Thiago Lima
Thiago is a senior majoring in International Relations. Born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut, he decided to leave the east coast last fall to study in Morocco. At Tufts he’s a middle-distance runner for the Cross-Country and Track & Field teams and a proud TUXC Crazy. He’s also been involved with student groups on campus promoting social and environmental sustainability. When he’s not impatiently counting down the days until TWO, he likes to practice his Arabic, pretend like he’s a good cook, and watch Lionel Messi videos on YouTube.
Will Ross
Will is double majoring in Environmental Studies and Philosophy. He grew up in the great white north (Winnipeg, MB) but now lives in Pasadena, CA. When asked in a recent job interview what he ‘loved’? He said “Water. Water is awesome. You can drink it. You can pour it on yourself. You can row on it. You can canoe on it. When it freezes you can ski and climb on it. Its just that cool!” And, best of all, because humans are made up of more than 50% water its guaranteed that Will loves you too!
