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.