March 5, 2024

Expedition Behavior: Growing Leaders with NOLS President Sandy Colhoun

Time and time again, we’ve seen that spending time in nature has profound effects on our physical and mental wellbeing, but did you know that the outdoors are also uniquely suited for imparting leadership skills? This week, we’re chatting with Sandy Colhoun, the President of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), a global nonprofit wilderness school that is dedicated to stewardship & sustainability, diversity in the outdoors, education, leadership, safety, and community. Their programs range from expeditions for young students and semester-away programs to executive leadership and even NASA training courses. 

In this conversation, we chat with Sandy about his own formative experience in a NOLS program, discovering yourself in the wild, and we define a core tenet of the NOLS philosophy, expedition behavior.

Show Notes


Key Words: NOLS, Outdoor Education, Leadership, Outdoor Adventure, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Nature Based Solutions, Nature Based Learning, Wilderness, Wilderness Medicine