From helping their Maine Coast College Essay students craft their essays to volunteering and adventuring on St. Croix, these four wonderful folks are in for quite the summer! Get to know them a bit more below!
Name: Cleo Whitney (she/her) 
2025 Trips: Caribbean Service: Virgin Islands and Maine Coast College Essay
Hometown: Newton, Massachusetts
School: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Backpacking, paddling (in all of its many forms!), and having a good snack with an even better view
Highlights from the past year: This past year Cleo spent the spring semester on exchange in the Netherlands where she learned the art of a good scrapbook and fell in love with biking!
Where you can find Cleo when she’s not scrapbooking at a European cafe: She is probably on the hunt for someone to play cards with or celebrating her latest score on the New York Times Crossword. You can also likely track her down by listening for the Cars soundtrack.
Other reasons Cleo is the niftiest: Cleo has been Irish dancing since she was about five years old, participating in both local and international competitions. She still teaches youth classes and competes with her college team – ask her to teach you a jig! Speaking of dancing, she would also be happy to break out her line dancing skills or the Footloose choreography she memorized from Just Dance Kids 2014. Cleo has spent the last five summers as a kayak, canoe, and paddleboard guide in the Boston area, and also gets her outdoors fix during school as a Backpacking Leader for the Hoofers Outing Club. Cleo has been getting out in nature for a long time; in fact she is a five-year Apogee alumna! Her resume includes: Colorado Rocky Mountains, California’s Mountains & Coast, Scottish Highlands, Pyrenees Mountains and Coast, and Northwest Explorer!
Name: Wyatt Wetzler (he/him) 
2025 Trips: Caribbean Service: Virgin Islands and Maine Coast College Essay
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
School: University of Virginia: McIntire School of Commerce, Class of 2027
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Biking, hiking, and disc golf
Highlights from the past year: Wyatt spent much of last year hitting the hiking trails – memorable highlights include hiking Mount Rainier and visiting Iceland to hike on glaciers.
Where you can find Wyatt when he is not taking in a summit view: He might be playing golf, soccer, basketball, working out, or building something out of wood.
Further proof that Wyatt is the coolest: In high school, he was elected both team captain and player of the year, leading his team to their first ever state soccer championship. He now volunteers with students ages 7-10, teaching them all of his championship-winning soccer moves! His skills as a leader don’t stop there, because Wyatt is also a Trip Leader for the UVA Outing Club, guiding fellow college students out on hiking and biking trips. Wyatt also enjoys travel and adventure, from scuba diving in the Caymans, to sea kayaking in Greece, to hiking the Matterhorn, to biking through Ireland. Wyatt is absolutely stoked to be joining the Apogee community this summer to explore Maine and the Virgin Islands with his students!
Name: Emeline Moss (she/her) 
2025 Trips: Caribbean Service: Virgin Islands and Maine Coast College Essay
Hometown: Houston, Texas
School: Dartmouth College, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, swimming, skiing, and kayaking
Highlights from the past year: Emeline had quite an exciting year: studying abroad in Rome, joining a summer hip-hop dance group with her friends at school, and spending a month doing a NOLS backpacking course in New Zealand!
Where you can find Emeline when she is not eating pasta in Rome: She is likely baking zucchini bread, painting, sitting on a nice shady bench, playing card games, or making new playlists.
More reasons to love Emeline: Throughout Emeline’s time at Dartmouth, she has participated in Dartmouth’s “first-year trips” as a trip leader. This fall, she will be leading another three-day hiking trip introducing a small group of incoming freshmen to Dartmouth and its traditions! She is also involved in Dartmouth’s Outdoor Leadership Experiences (OLE), a group-mentoring program serving local middle school students. Each week, Emeline and her co-mentors plan fun outdoor activities for their kids aimed at creating positive outdoor experiences and developing collaboration and other social skills. Aside from Emeline’s love for exploring the outdoors with groups, she also grew up loving art and art-making, even running a small business painting custom dog portraits in high school! Emeline is pumped to be joining the Apogee team and making lasting memories with her co-leader and all of their wonderful students!
Name: Morgan Dahdal (she/her) 
2025 Trips: Caribbean Service: Virgin Islands and Maine Coast College Essay
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
School: Arizona State University, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, camping, and rafting
Highlights from the past year: Morgan spent a lot of time outside this year, taking a solo trip to Joshua Tree National Park, visiting Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica (one of the most biodiverse places on earth!), and camping in Oregon with her friends.
Where you can find Morgan when she is not visiting a National Park: She is likely at a farmers market, taking a walk, trying out a new coffee shop, or watching a documentary.
Facts that will make you say “Wow, Morgan is awesome”: Morgan worked as a kids counselor for three summers at a dude ranch in Colorado! While on the ranch, she facilitated hiking, rafting, paddleboarding, fishing, horseback riding, and more with her campers. She has also been teaching yoga at the Arizona State University rec center for four years, while also teaching at a hot yoga studio! In addition to teaching yoga, Morgan also works as a rec center coordinator, leading a group of 30 student-employee exercise class instructors! After her experience as on our Alps Explorer trip in high school, Morgan is beyond excited to be joining the Apogee leader community this summer. She cannot wait to spend time in both Maine and the Virgin island, exploring new places with Ky and their students!