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Highlander Magazine

Staff

Mady Koller

Editor

Mady is a junior who is studying Outdoor Product Design and Development/Environmental Law. She loves Climbing, hiking, backpacking, camping, paddle boarding, etc. To her the outdoors are a place she feel most like herself and is the best place for her to unwind.

Hannah Madsen

Writer/Social Media specialist 

Hannah is dual majoring in Journalism and American Studies. She is a fan of most outdoor activities, but hiking and camping are her top picks. She believes the outdoors are really important. She feels like anyone who has spent time outside feels that way at least a little bit. She love having a place to go where things can feel both vast and simple. She think it’s important to protect natural resources so that everyone can continue to feel that way. 
 

Chase Anderson 

Writer/Podcast Host & Producer

Chase is the Program Coordinator  for the Outdoor Product Design & Development Program at USU. He loves to fly fish and cycle. For him, the outdoors allows him peace and a chance at discovery. He believes that there’s nothing like pushing yourself on a bike, finding a new route, or the perfect undiscovered fishing hole.

Bennett Fisher

Highlander Guru/writer

Bennett is a senior studying Technology Systems emphasis Product Development. He enjoy backpacking. He has thru hiked the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. He also likes snowboarding, rock climbing, trail running, mountain biking and fly fishing. The outdoors to him are a place to be whoever he wants to be. It’s a place to challenge himself and find beauty and peace. The outdoors is a place where bonds with others are formed fast and strong and where he have met so many wonderful, loving, passionate people. The outdoors have molded his life and made him into the person he is today. 

Zach Buffaloe 

Photographer

Zach is a sophomore studying Outdoor Product Design and Development  and International Business. He likes Backpacking, Climbing, Slack-lining, Skiing and Mountain Biking. The outdoors to him are not only a playground, but a sanctuary. Exploring remote areas, with breathe taking views, and challenging ascents is his way of remembering there’s much more to life and this world than himself. The outdoors gives him a sense of belonging, and inspires him to be a better person. 

Summer Vaughn

Writer/Website Manager

Summer is a freshman studying English and Outdoor Education. She loves paddle sports like stand up paddle-boarding, canoeing and rafting. She also loves to camp and just soak up some views. She lives by the saying “do it for the view” and believes that the outdoors are the only place you can truly find yourself.

Sarah Powell

Writer

Sarah is a sophomore with an exploratory major. Her goal is to make a difference with her career. She likes to 
do anything she can outdoors, including but not limited to: running, hiking, climbing, kayaking, and frolicking. The outdoors, to her, can be summed up in one of her favorite quotes from Aldo Leopold in a Sand County Almanac that says “In wildness is the salvation of the world. Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men.”

Kyle Jensen

Videographer

Kyle is a sophomore with an Exploratory Major but looking into Documentary Filmmaking. He loves rock climbing, trail running and wake sports. To him, the outdoors is a place of inspiration. It is a place where he can prepare himself to overcome daily challenges and a place where he can be at one in his element.

Hannah Smith

Designer

Hannah is a junior majoring in Outdoor Product Design and Development. She enjoys surfing, skiing, and yoga. To her the outdoors is a place where she can be happy, healthy, and embrace adventure. 

Chelsea Morley

Writer/photographer

Chelsea is a sophomore in outdoor product design and development. She wants to help make the outdoors community more inclusive. She love canyoneering, kayaking, and backpacking. The outdoors is a place where she can release her mental and emotional pain through physical exertion, it puts the world into perspective and reminds her that whatever she is going through is just a blip in her life. 

Megan Nielsen

Designer 

Megan is alumni who studied Print Journalism with minors in multimedia development and art history with hopes and dreams of being a photojournalist. 
She does not see herself as a real rough it in the wilderness person but she loves being outdoors. Utah’s mountains are beautiful and just feel so peaceful to her. Whether it’s camping, hiking, or just a drive with her windows down she likes being surrounded by something so huge and amazing. 

Instagram

Happy last week of school!! We want to celebrate w Happy last week of school!! We want to celebrate with the newest issue of the highlander!! This issue is about survival. We have stories covering ultra light backpacking to mental health to climbing accidents! 

Link is in the bio! 

So go give it a read. And leave us a comment here and share it if you enjoyed it!

happy holidays!
“Over the past 5 years Steelheading has changed “Over the past 5 years Steelheading has changed a bunch, lots more people than there used to be and less fish”

Learn more about Steelhead conservation in @ethanmuhlestein’s article.
“On Thursday last week, the Bureau of Land Manag “On Thursday last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rushed to issue a lease to allow drilling within the soon designated wilderness area. The project will allow extensive construction in the usually quiet Labyrinth wilderness, including road building, well construction, pipelines, infrastructure, and building a 10-acre processing facility on nearby Utah School Trust Lands. This drilling would be for helium, which has similar impacts of oil and gas drilling.

We are writing this Op-Ed to ask you to please reach out and make a comment on or before Wednesday, November 4th. You can make a comment using a premade message, or by writing your own, at  https://p2a.co/V5DN0kO. This process will take less than five minutes, and we ask you to please take the time to preserve this magical canyon.”

@summervaughn_ 
@merwappett
“Women have really amazing and really powerful b “Women have really amazing and really powerful bodies! For some women getting into the backcountry is a way to celebrate that and if you are new to the backcountry don’t let some of the more delicate points of life as a woman prevent you from getting outside.” - @ksburns05 

Read more tips about women in the backcountry on our website. 

Shoutout to all the lovely women who volunteered their photos.

@summervaughn_
“At the end of the day, that moment of realizati “At the end of the day, that moment of realization before swipe, click, and camera is necessary. Why are you actually outside? Why do you actively participate in these sports? Why does the photograph never look as good as the moment? If no answer comes to mind the phone should maybe stay in the car. Take every time spent in the great outdoors with these thoughts of some yogi, “view every moment as if you are seeing it in the crystal clear reflection of water: brand new, fresh, and awe-inspiring.’”

Read more about social media and the outdoor on our website
“When life gives you online school, move to a be “When life gives you online school, move to a beautiful place.”

Read @sareelane’s article about USU students living in a dreamy Hawaiian town on our website.
When life gives you a rock, climb it. When life gi When life gives you a rock, climb it. When life gives you an ocean, slackline over it.

The world is a beautiful place and is there for you to enjoy it. Now is the time to go outside and make the most of it all! Take a break this week to go outside and do something you love.

Follow us for more pictures of all things outdoors.
A new class hit the catalog this semester, RAM 170 A new class hit the catalog this semester, RAM 1700 - Backcountry Basics. If you are interested in learning or refreshing proper backcountry skills and want to head to southern Utah for a multi day backpacking trip, sign up for this class in the spring.
As leaves begin to change, adventures in the mount As leaves begin to change, adventures in the mountains become more attainable and less intimidating. Right now is a perfect time to take a step back from zoom and go out in our lovely canyon to try something new. Trail running for instance... 

Follow us for more coverage of the outdoor sports available to you
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