Acknowledgement

My favorite way to get outside is to be in, on, under, or near the water. My dream adventure is to do a kayak camping trip along a beautiful Alaskan river. I'm an entomologist, which means I get very excited about insects and will bombard you with interesting facts about them in hopes that you will love them as much as I do.

Urban kid turned hiker/backpacker. Aspiring naturalist always searching for birds and insects in natural areas. Give me those creepy crawlies! 

Growing up by the sea in the Philippines, I have a deep fondness for bodies of water and food. My favorite outdoor activities are expedition sea kayaking, outdoor cooking and relaxing by rivers and waterfalls. I am also a dancer and a boardgame nerd and I look forward to share my other indoor interests to the outdoors! 

My favorite way to get outside is kayaking and /or hanging out by water. My dream adventure is learning to sea kayak in a beautiful tropical place with warm, easy waves alongside the love of my life surrounded by dolphin and sea turtles. I love to roller skate and bake desserts-- sometimes at the same time!

My favorite way to get outside is through walking which can happen anywhere-- in a park, in a natural area, or in my neighborhood. My dream adventure is to climb Mount Saint Helens. To me it sounds like the right mix of all day adventure and true physical challenge. I grew up in Northern New Mexico and I love and miss the high desert mountains!

Being outdoors is something I've grown to love, and nature is now a place of relief and reflection for me. I fell in love with hiking after moving to Portland in 2015, and am recently getting into backpacking and kayaking. When not on the trail I like to make art of all kinds, bake vegan stuff, play in my garden, and hang out with my wife, dog, and two cats.

Some of my favorite ways to be outdoors in joy is solo hiking with my pup Walter, kayaking, backpacking, and snow shoeing with friends. I also LOVE sun naps especially near water, or staring up at the trees. A few secret talents of mine include signing and dancing, painting and making photos -- and I'm often doing those outdoors. I currently work as a designer and researcher, and am a former architect. Looking forward to being in community outside.

My favorite way to get outside is one foot in front of the other... preferably with my dog Rodney on an early morning . I try to drop the pressure of “how” I should get outside and instead call on the gratitude I have when the opportunity presents itself-- whether it’s 10 minutes or a few days at a time. My dream adventure is an epic couple of days off grid connecting with new and old friends in the queer/trans community where we impress each other with outdoor cooking, tent building and nature knowledge. I'm a nerd about aviation and I’ve worked as a commercial aircraft mechanic for the past 13 years. I’m always game for a convo about your fear of flying! Also, I mostly hike in jeans. 

Tracie  grew up camping with her family in the Midwest and while that  experience definitely instilled in her a love of the outdoors, it also  raised her awareness of the challenges of being "other" in these spaces.  She enjoys cycling, hiking and camping. She's also looking forward to  enjoying new challenges and adventures with Wild Diversity including  backpacking, climbing and kayaking in particular. 

Tracie passionate about creating welcoming  and accessible spaces for queer POC. Her favorite way to enjoy the wild is with friends and folks who are  interested in exploring more off the beaten path places.

As an Oregonian, I’ve always had a strong connection to nature and the outdoors. My partner and I go hiking on most weekends, along with my dog Roscoe! However as a Fat Black Woman, I haven’t always felt welcomed in the outdoor community. Joining WD feels very empowering because I get to lead and build community especially with other BI-POC and LGBTQ+ folks! 

I was born in Peru and grew up in the beautiful PNW. I enjoy being out in a kayak or exploring new trails, and finds connection to the earth by being outdoors. I have a background facilitating ESL classes and dreams of creating space to hold these classes outdoors. I love adventuring with my dog, creating art and learning new things.

My favorite way to get outside is an overnight canoe trip down a lazy river. I'm happiest when I'm around water, whether it's a lake, river, or ocean. I also love to cook- part of why I love canoe camping is all of the elaborate meal options that exist when you have a big canoe to pack everything in! When I'm not on the water you can find me biking and hiking, and trying to keep up with my ever-growing list of places I want to visit.

My favorite way to get outside is to spend the day hiking in search of waterfalls. My dream adventure is to go backpacking in the Patagonia. A fun fact about me is that one of my goals is to swing on every swing in every neighborhood park in Portland.  

My favorite way to get outside is taking long meandering walks and splashing in any body of water. My dream adventure is spending an entire month doing all of the following, one week at a time: bike touring, then canoe camping on mountain lakes, then backpacking in a dense forest, then lazing around and swimming in a lake and napping all day in a hammock. 

I am passionate about creating equitable and inclusive access in the outdoors. I receive so much nourishment from spending time outside and loves empowering and supporting others in finding their own ways of finding joy outside. I especially loves hiking, backpacking, foraging, car camping and shared meals over a campfire. A few of my favorite recent adventures are camping in the Owyhee Canyonlands, ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon and exploring tidepools and rock formations along the Southern Oregon Coast.

I love exploring the outdoors! The big kid in this old geezer still goes, "Wow!" and LOLs when seeing a peregrine falcon, a rainbow, or maybe a lady slipper orchid. As a second gen, cishet Taiwanese-American, I'll be doing my best for us to have safe, inclusive, and fun (!!!) experiences on our hikes.

After years of working in Hollywood as a Casting Director and feeling spiritually unfulfilled, I walked out of the studio and picked up a camera. It was time to tell the stories of people who don’t have a voice, and from their point of view, rather than casting for commercial advertising and consumer products that nobody needs.
I am a boots-on-the-ground- social documentary photographer. I am honored to have been an eyewitness to the historical and Indigenous-led movement that occurred on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in 2016-2017.  I started hiking and backpacking in 2009. The experience helped save my life.
https://www.cervantesnomad.photography/
https://www.nomadcasting/

Katie is from Hawaiʻi and moved to Oregon in 2016 with her spouse. Katie has traveled extensively throughout Japan in the homelands of her grandparents by studying abroad to Kobe and Hiroshima as a college student, and upon graduation teaching English for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program in Kumamoto. Through immersing in and learning traditional Japanese way of life, she rekindled a desire to reconnect with nature and preserve cultural traditions and lifestyles of her Native Hawaiian ancestors. Since returning home, Katie has worked on environmental science and conservation in higher education, public and nonprofit sectors in Hawaiʻi and Oregon. Her hobbies include ocean sports, making things for family and friends, and spending time in nature. Katie graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama and holds an AS in Biology and BA in Japanese from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and is currently pursuing a MA in Indigenous Education, Native Hawaiian Cohort, at Arizona State University.

Quel has spent much of her life in, on, or around water. She grew up  mostly in Washington, but has resided in Oregon for the last decade and  she is still exploring the waterways here.

Bio to come