Faculty & Staff

Laurel is thrilled to bring her passion for education and outdoor adventure to her first season at HMI! Laurel grew up in California and has pursued work that combines both of these interests, instructing various youth programs across the state and guiding backpacking and rock climbing in the Sierra Nevada. While attending Pitzer College, she spent a semester studying public health and traditional medicine in Chile. This experience sparked her curiosity about Latin American history and wild glacial landscapes, and she has returned to Chile and visited other parts of Latin America multiple times since. In addition to playing in the mountains, Laurel loves cooking, painting, and singing.

Ruby graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2019 with a degree in history and religion and has been working fulltime in outdoor education since then. Her varied professional experience includes leading trips for United World College, Eagle Rock School, Albuquerque Academy, and Camp Kawanhee, among several other organizations. She enjoys reading, playing with her dog, and generally any activity that gets her outside.

Walter originally hails from Indiana, but is now based out of Truckee, California. Growing up, Walter spent a lot of his summers canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota where he fell in love with backcountry trips, mosquitos, and campfires. After attending college in southern Tennessee and graduating with a BA in Forestry and Natural Resources, Walter returned to Minnesota to guide canoe expeditions in Minnesota and Canada. In the winters he helped run a dog-sledding program. After four years in Minnesota, Walter moved out west and worked as an instructor at Colorado Outward Bound School for a few years and now works as a consultant and guide for Alpenglow Expeditions. In between his guiding work, Walter loves to rock climb, bake, and has a secret passion for chess.

Macy Cunningham grew up in Seattle, Washington, but thinks of herself as an honorary Midwesterner. She studied Outdoor Education and Gender & Women’s Studies at Northland College and has led many trips, including 7 weeks in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with Camp Widjiwagan and more recently for her alma mater. Macy loves climbing, paddling in beautiful places and drinking lots and lots of coffee.

Yanitsa Habla Español

Luke spent his childhood exploring the modest but beautiful landscapes of Connecticut until his family moved to Portland, OR while he was in high school. Luke moved back to New England to study environmental anthropology at Middlebury College, and he spent many days enjoying the nearby Adirondacks and Green Mountains. He first joined HMI in Fall 2021 as a Science Apprentice and has since worked as the Academic and Wellness Support Fellow at the school. He is thrilled to continue working to support, teach, and learn from HMI students! When he is not busy at HMI, Luke is likely out rock climbing, skiing, reading poetry, or playing around on a guitar.

Steph spent her childhood moving between seven US states and after completing her undergrad in Colorado moved to England where she taught a range of physical education, geography, Spanish and outdoor education for 9 years. She then moved to Malaysia for 3 years, continuing to educate young people and became more involved in the outdoors. She returned to the US in 2019, first moving to Hawaii and then settling back in Colorado. When she’s not working, she can be found walking her dog Inky, hiking, running, cycling, snowboarding, backpacking and enjoying the outdoors.

Steph Habla Español

Sydney first joined the HMI family as a student of Semester 32. After returning as an apprentice in 2020, she decided she would never get enough of the HMI magic and has been leading with Gap since the spring of 2021. Her favorite part of the HMI experience is creating strong communities built on love, curiosity, and adventure! One of her greatest passions has always been to travel, so working semesters in both the American West and Chilean Patagonia is a dream come true. Prior to working as outdoor educator, Sydney studied Sociology and Spanish at Northwestern University. She now proudly calls Chicago home, and spends summers in the Windy City with her best friends and their dog, Rogier. As an amateur astrologist, she also deems it essential to mention she’s an Aries sun, Sagittarius moon, and Virgo rising.

Madeline grew up on her family’s farm in rural Pennsylvania and earned her degree in environmental studies from the University of Vermont. She first came to HMI as an intern in 2017 and has since had the pleasure of working for the semester, summer term, and gap year program. In her free time she loves trail running, mountain biking, and cooking yummy food with her friends and family.