Leader Bios: Meet our New England Mountains & Coast and Maine Coast Junior Leaders!

We’re excited to share our first batch of summer staff biographies with you. Please read on to learn about our outstanding New England Mountains & Coast and Maine Coast Junior leaders!


Leader Name: Giuseppe Inglima (he/him/his) 

2021 Trip: New England’s Mountains & Coast (and Support Staff!)

Hometown: Ivyland, Pennsylvania

School: Franklin & Marshall College, Class of 2020

Major: Environmental Science & Environmental Studies

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities: Backpacking, Biking, Gardening, and Kayaking

Highlights of 2020: Giuseppe worked for a local organic CSA farm! 

Where you can find Giuseppe when he’s not backpacking or on the farm: Cooking! Making his own recipes and creating things from scratch!  

Other impressive notes: He spent four months living in Patagonia. He was on his college’s rowing team for four years, and spent a summer doing research in Costa Rica where he devoted lots of time to learning the art of tree climbing.


Leader Name: Maddy Braybrooke (she/her/hers) 

2021 Trip: New England’s Mountains & Coast (And Support Staff!)

Hometown: Hermosa Beach, California

School: Dickinson College, Class of 2019

Major: Sociology and Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid & CPR

Favorite Activities: Swimming at the beach, coaching/playing soccer, and petting all the dogs.

Highlights of 2020: Maddy went skydiving! 

Where you can find Maddy when she is not jumping out of a plane or hopping into any body of water: Helping students with their college essays or taking hip-hop classes with her mother. 

Bonus reasons that she is awesome: Maddy spent a year and a half in Taiwan as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. She became a nationally licensed soccer coach at the age of 15. And most importantly, she can dunk a basketball…psych! She is 5′ tall and only moderately good at playing HORSE. 


Leader Name: Merrick Rubinstein (he/him/his)

2021 Trips: Maine Coast Junior and New England Mountains & Coast

Hometown: Bourne, Massachusetts

School: Vassar College; Class of 2022

Major: Drama; Minor: Sociology

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities: Biking, Hiking, Exploring, Beachwalking, Sunset Photography

Highlights of 2020: Merrick did an internship last summer with environmental artist and activist Alejandro Duran who creates naturescapes with oceanic pollution from the Yucatan Peninsula. 

Where you can find Merrick when he’s not on stage or on a hiking trip: Chilling out with his pet chinchilla. 

Other tidbits: Merrick has helped sail a sailboat from Massachusetts to the Caribbean and can hum and whistle at the same time! 


Leader Name: Chase Meininger (she/her/hers)

2021 Trips: Maine Coast Junior and New England Mountains & Coast

Hometown: Bolton, Massachusetts

School: Clemson University, Class of 2022

Major: Marketing; Minor: Brand Communication

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities: Running, hiking, kayaking, paddle boarding

Highlights of 2020: Chase was abroad in Paris! 

Where you can find Chase when she isn’t hanging out outside: Chase runs a small business making birthday signs for other people at Clemson and enjoys going to kickboxing classes with her roommate and attending professional events with her Business Fraternity.  

Other awesome facts: Chase is a two-time Apogee alumni – she participated on our California Mountains & Coast and Northwest Explorer trips. Chase is a triplet and has two other sisters, but they look nothing alike! 


Leader Name: Anna Price (she/her/hers)

2021 Trips:  Maine Coast Junior and New England Mountains & Coast 

Hometown: Hendersonville, North Carolina

School: Wake Forest University, Class of 2022

Major: Psychology

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities:  Sailing, Hiking, Ultimate Frisbee

Highlights of 2020: Anna sailed the intercoastal waterway! 

Where you can find Anna when she’s not on the water or tossing a frisbee: Working in Wake Forest’s office of sustainability to implement low-waste consumption campaigns.

Other super cool things: During Anna’s freshman year of college, she spent her year in Denmark. She has also met Bill Nye the Science Guy! 


Leader Name: Duncan Ward (he/him/his)

2021 Trips: Maine Coast Junior and New England Mountains & Coast 

Hometown: Minnetonka, Minnesota

School: Grinnell College, Class of 2020

Major: Economics & Psychology

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities: Duncan enjoys climbing, trail running, and sailing

Highlights of 2020: Duncan drove out to Wyoming after graduation and climbed in Vedauwoo and around Grand Teton for a few weeks!

Where you can find Duncan when he’s not climbing: Playing guitar, reading, practicing photography, and experimenting with new cooking recipes.

Impressive and extra notes: During college, Duncan somehow found his way into becoming an expert on the impact of pig dung and its impacts on society. He also spent two weeks ice climbing in Ouray, Colorado during his final year of college. 


Leader Name: Savannah Kile (she/her/hers)

2021 Trip: New England’s Mountains & Coast (and Support Staff!) 

Hometown: Point Lookout, New York

School: Elon University, Class of 2021

Major: Biochemistry

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguard & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities: Hammocking, hiking, and backpacking

Highlights of 2020: Savannah Kile road tripped to Florida to see manatees.

Where you can find Savannah when she’s not lounging in a hammock: She’s always up for a game of Spikeball or can be spotted laying outside listening to music while she creates her art. 

Other fun facts about Savannah and why we think she rocks: Savannah once went scuba diving and had the opportunity to explore a shipwreck! She is also the older of three girls, and they are each named after southern cities, (Savannah, Charlotte, and Alexandria) – everyone always asks her if her parents are from the south, but the answer is no: they are from New York and Indiana! 


Leader Name: Jonathan Tucker (he/him/his)

2021 Trip: New England’s Mountains & Coast (and Support Staff!) 

Hometown: Katy, Texas

School: Washington and Lee University, Class of 2021

Major: History

Certifications: Wilderness First Aid & CPR

Favorite Outdoor Activities: Trail Running, Backpacking, Swimming

Highlights of 2020: Jonathan backpacked in Big Bend National Park

Where you can find Jonathan when he’s not on the trail: Jonathan is currently learning Russian and enjoys writing poetry, reading, and can always appreciate a good cup of coffee. 

Other awesome tidbits: He has read the Harry Potter series thirteen times! Also, in 2019, Johnathan worked as an investigative intern at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia!