Meet The Camp Dodge Staff - 2011

2011 North Country Trails Volunteer Programs Staff
Below are the number of outstanding individuals that you may be working with for a day, or maybe as many as four weeks, this summer. Each person brings unique strengths to add to the experience of our volunteers wile maintaining a safe and productive crew atmosphere.
I want to wish all of the 2011 Coordinators, Filed Leaders, Interns, and Trails Volunteer Leaders the best of luck for the upcoming season. See you on the trails!
-Alex DeLucia

North Country Trails Volunteer Programs Supervisor /

LNT Program Coordinator
Alex DeLucia
I have been working with AMC Trails and the Camp Dodge Volunteer Trail Crew Programs since 2001. Originally from New Haven, CT, I attended Unity College in Maine and have a degree in Adventure Education & Outdoor Program Administration. One of my favorite aspects of the program is getting to work with a great group of staff and volunteers all dedicated to conservation and land management. I am very much looking forward to another safe, successful, and productive summer season. I wish the Camp Dodge Staff and Field Leaders for the 2011

season the best of luck and I hope to get on the trails with many of our volunteers this year.

(For more info on Alex DeLucia - see the Trails Department Staff posting)

North Country Trails Volunteer Programs Coordinator
Ashley Tetu
This will be my second season at Camp Dodge and I’m very excited to be returning! I had the opportunity to work for the Trails Volunteer Program last year as a head leader, an incredible experience. This year I will be taking on the role of Trails Volunteer Programs Coordinator. I’ll miss my time in the woods this summer but am excited to spend my days interacting with more of our volunteers and their families, supporting our leaders in the field, and assisting our Camp Dodge Cook and Facilities Coordinator with daily operations at Dodge.When not busy with Camp Dodge responsibilities, I love to cook, knit, run and practice yoga. In addition, I love to travel and have lived in both South African and Kenya. I am passionate about finding ways to provide sanitation sustainably in developing countries and volunteer for an organization that builds composting toilets in Haiti. This field season promises to be busy, particularly with the addition of so many new volunteer crews this year, but I’m eager for it to arrive. Until then, happy spring and I’ll see you on the trails!

North Country Trails Volunteer Projects Coordinator
Megan Johnson
I started working with Camp Dodge Volunteer Vacations and Teen Trail Crews a year ago as the Project Coordinator, and I'm thrilled to be here once again for a second opening of the facility and the field season. I've been backpacking and leading groups of all ages in the backcountry since 2005, but in the past year and a half trail work has exposed me to a whole new way of living in, working

with, and giving back to the Northeast trails and forests I cherish.

I'm looking forward to sharing many more unique and meaningful learning experiences with our volunteers and staff this season.
Prior to my work with the AMC, I studied Anthropology and Studio Art at the University of Vermont, was a trip leader and president of the UVM Outing Club, site and summit caretaker for the Green Mountain Club, Assistant Director of an Adventure Day Camp, and worked at an after-school drop-in teen center in Vermont. I hail from Pennsylvania, where my passion for being outside was initially fueled with backyard woods exploration and family adventures to the mountains of the Northeast. I have an appreciation for poignant books, an affinity for quiet moments, and I'm fond of good cookin' shared with good company - the best way to finish a hard day's work on the trail.

Camp Dodge Facility Coordinator
Chris "Goose" Grosjean
Goose here, I am every excited to be apart of the Dodge Crew for a third year. The last two summers have been great and I expect this one to be even better. We have got a whole slue of great

returning staff. This past off season I did allot of traveling around the country and have been working for Alex doing some behind the scenes work for our programs. It has been a great learning experience, but needless to say I am very eager to get out of the office and set up my tent and be back at Dodge. Out garden this year has got some great potential to be EPIC, I am very excited about this. I look forward to meeting every one that comes through Camp, I hope you all have a great spring, we shall see you on the trails.

Camp Dodge Cook
Ethan Denny
This summer will be my first working at Camp Dodge, in fact my first time ever working for AMC, and I am looking forward to cooking for you! I grew up running around in the woods, carrying big sticks and making forts, so I think I'll feel right at home at Camp Dodge.
I'm a Georgia native with roots in Vermont and have spent the last few years going to school at Marlboro College (in the hills of southern Vermont), traveling the world and generally being a scuff-shoed vagabond when I'm not tied down. My interests include political, economic and philosophic theory, dance, writing, running around in the woods (carrying big sticks and making forts), Tai Chi, good food and good company. See you in the Whites!

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor
Ryan Wilford
I graduated from Southern Maine Community College in the Spring of 2007 with an Associates Degree in Construction Technology. Only days after graduating, I set out on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. Upon finishing the trail, I worked as a carpenter for only 4 months before landing a

job with the AMC as a Backcountry Caretaker in the spring of 2008. Needless to say, I haven't really left the AMC since. I have worked 3 seasons in self-service huts (Lonesome Lake in spring of 2009, Zealand in spring of 2008 and winter 2009-2010) and I have worked 3 summers in Backcountry Shelters and Campsites (Kinsman in '08, Guyot in '09, Ethan Pond in 2010). This past winter of 2011, I worked at the Highland Center as an Adventure Guide. I am very dedicated to AMC's mission and thoroughly enjoy the sense of accomplishment that goes with doing trail work. I look forward most to all the new people I will get to meet and work with this summer.

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor
Nate Eckman

This will be my second summer working at Camp Dodge as a trail crew leader. Having also spent two summers as a volunteer, trail work has become something of a passion for me and Camp Dodge a second home. Needless to say, I am super excited for another season in the Whites! When I am not busily ridding the world of pesky erosion dragons, I am studying mechanical engineering at Tufts University where I spend an embarrassing amount of time staring at textbooks, charts, and computers. I also work with the student garden and Engineers Without Borders, and somehow I find time to train in Shotokan Karate which, after 11 years, has become a way of life for me. When weather permits (and often when it doesn't), I like to get outside to go sailing, hiking, kayaking, skiing, and rolling in the mud. I enjoy a good book as much as a challenging physics problem or a few hours spent doing heavy manual labor. I am a firm believer that variety is the spice of life.

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor
Zack Urgese
A native from Fryeburg, ME nestled in the foothills of the White Mountains I take great pride in returning to the homeland for the summer. Celebrate with me in my graduation from the University of Maine in Orono with a degree in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism! I like to consider the outdoors my office space- Let it be on river, among mountains, or within the valleys. Last summer I lived in Greenville, ME, guiding rafts down the Kennebec River, South and Upper West Branches of the Penobscot River. Due to inclement weather I play the guitar, harmonica, and read books depicting nature

natural history, culture, and adventure. Food is an integral part of my lifestyle and there's nothing better than homemade pizza (long live Pizza Night!) I'm looking forward to this new experience in the mountains and amongst the outdoor appreciative crew.

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor

Olivia Neville
Hey! Last year I was a trail crew leader in the Berkshires and am especially excited this year to work hard and have fun in the dirt in the Whites where I grew up exploring. I went to university on the west coast graduated in 09' and have since been following the snow and exploring the desert. I have done a lot of backpacking in both the extremely wet forests of Washington and the dry unworldly rocks of southern Utah. Ski bumming in the winters and being a desert rat in the spring I am excited to get to the alpine mountains of New Hampshire this summer and experience all the glory mother

nature has to offer. My whole family is from right outside of Conway and I can't wait to give back to the trails that my family and I have been wandering around on all our lives.

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor
John Toussaint
I am returning to Camp Dodge this year as a trail crew leader and I am very excited. I spent 2008 and 2009 working out of dodge as a caretaker and now I will get a taste of the other side. I am currently living in Plymouth, NH and I graduated from PSU in 2010. I love the outdoors as well as my longboard the two go hand in hand. When I'm not skating downhills I may be moving rocks in the woods or enjoying the company of good friends somewhere along my road of life. I love to find the good in life and people and I look forward to working with you this season.

Enjoy summer 2011!

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor
Joey Croft
I am originally from Massachusetts but in my sophomore year at Lyndon State College in Vermont where I am studying Mountain Recreation Management with a concentration is Adventure Leadership. I have spent countless days throughout the White Mountains hiking, climbing, and generally having a good time. I was the camp dodge leadership intern this past summer and am looking forward to coming back as a full on leader this year. I can’t wait to spend another amazing summer in the whites with all the volunteers!

Trail Crew Leader/LNT Instructor
Beth Gula
Born and raised in suburban Maryland, I spent more time on soccer fields and dodgeball courts than in the woods as a child, but I was always interested in environmental issues and ecology. Leading trips for an adventure recreation camp during my summer breaks in college ultimately cemented my love for the outdoors. I graduated with a biology degree from Oberlin College in 2008 and went on to teach environmental education in Western North Carolina and collect native seeds for restoration in southern Arizona. I was a volunteer with a conservation trail crew in the Southwest at the end of 2010, and I'm excited to lead volunteers in the White Mountains this summer! Currently, I work on the lodge crew at the AMC Pinkham Notch Visitor Center/Joe Dodge Lodge.

Trails Leadership Internship
Anna Lello-SmithI am so excited to be back at Dodge as an intern! Last year I volunteered on a two-week trail crew and had such an incredible experience that I wanted to stay for the rest of the summer. I am originally from Seattle, WA but have grown up mostly in Northampton, MA (home of hippies and organic food). I am currently finishing up my freshman year at Tufts University, where I am studying biology and environmental science. My first year of college has been wonderful, but I’m itching to get out of the city and into the White Mountains! Most things involving the great outdoors make me happy, so I’ve tried to integrate as many outdoorsy activities as possible into my life at Tufts. I am a member of the Tufts Mountain Club and a caretaker at the Tufts ‘Loj’ in Woodstock, NH; I enjoy running and hiking in the Fells, a beautiful nature reserve near campus; and I’ve recently gotten hooked on climbing (mostly bouldering indoors so far, but I can’t wait to get outside!).
During the summer I love to travel, backpack, swim, kayak, read, and relax in the mountains. I can’t wait to get back to Dodge, and I can’t wait to meet you!

Trails Leadership Internship
Travis Bennett

Ever since I was a little kid running around in the woods, with my friends, near my house in Nashua, New Hampshire, I've always had a deep affection for nature, and the outdoors, along with the freedom, and inspiration it can award you. Not to mention all of the amazing people you meet along the way! I first came across the Camp Dodge volunteer program last summer, just by clicking around on the AMC website, looking at what kind of trips, and groups they run. This particular program struck me because it provides a unique opportunity not only to immerse yourself in the beautiful White Mountains, but to help conserve, and preserve it. And yes, there is a difference! As you will learn...

Trails Volunteer Programs Internship

Emily Fox

Hey! I am from Temple, NH where I was raised to love the outdoors and hard work. I was a volunteer and intern at Dodge last summer and I am so excited to be returning. I am finishing up my first year studying Sustainable Agriculture and Parks, Recreation and Tourism at the University of Maine, Orono. I enjoy hiking, gardening, hunting, cooking, bouldering, working with my horse, Eddy, and basically anything outside. Someday, I plan on homesteading and having my own farm, but that’s a long way off. My dream is to share my passion for conservation, nature, sustainable farming and living, with others at the local level. I love mountains and can’t wait for the challenges and adventures at Camp Dodge this summer!

Trails Volunteer Leaders 2011
George Brown
Todd Flagg
Mike Sullivan
Julie LePage
Michael O'Connor
Paula Hudson
Bill Brodnitzki
Bill Patrick
Deb Burke
Kelly Caruso
Jon Evans