Hello, and welcome back to the Shadows Run Podcast!

Today's episode is the sixth and final installment of the WRFI Stories series. The Wild Rockies Field Institute is a nonprofit organization that offers college level field courses accredited through the University of Montana. Their mission is to offer academically rigorous, place-based field courses that develop engaged, informed citizens and strong leaders capable of addressing complex social and environmental issues.

Today's guest is Fiona Monahan, a student on the most recent Restoration Ecology course during summer 2025. Fiona is in school at Reed College in Oregon studying Environmental Studies with a concentration in Biology. They hope to go on to pursue a PhD in Ecology or Lichenology. They are an avid backpacker, river surfer, climber, all-round adventurer, and steward of the world around them!

In this conversation we talk about:

• Fiona's experience hiking the Colorado Trail after high school
• their thoughts on risk and risk assessment
• why they took a WRFI course, and some stories from the field
• the definitions and differences between restoration, conservation, and preservation
• Fiona's thoughts on building community with the more-than-human world
• ...and a lot more

Thank you for joining us!

Wild Rockies Field Institute website: https://www.wrfi.net/

Ways to Support WRFI: https://www.wrfi.net/support/ways-to-give/

WRFI's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wild_rockies/

Women's Wilderness: https://womenswilderness.org/

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