& posted in Leader Profile
Last, but most certainly not least, this fantastic group of leaders headed out on our Golden State Adventure, Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, and Northwest Explorer trips marks the last batch of our 2024 Leader Bios.
Leader Name: Lucia Daranyi (she/her)
2024 Trip: Golden State Adventure
Prior Apogee Experience: Maine’s Downeast Explorer ‘23
Hometown: Peak’s Island, Maine
School: Colorado College, Class of 2024
Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, Lifeguard & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Hiking, backpacking, trail running, skiing, and picnicking with friends
Highlights of the past year: Lucia has spent much of this last year hiking, running, and skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado! She was also able to come back to her home state of Maine for the month of November and backpack in the Bigelow Mountains!
Where you can find Lucia when she isn’t working or playing outside: She loves to knit – she has made three sweaters this year alone! She also spends a lot of time baking, with carrot cake as her recent favorite.
Other facts about Lucia that will make you say, “Whoa, that’s so cool!”: Lucia is from Peak’s Island in Maine, which is a true island – so she grew up taking a boat to school every day! At school, Lucia was as a New Student Orientation Leader, facilitating an awesome trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and she also served as the captain for a cardboard boat race team (they won the “Titanic Award” for most spectacular sinking…). Before her time with Apogee, Lucia worked as head leader of a day camp where she was responsible for planning and facilitating daily activities and tailoring itineraries to fit different groups’ needs. She also grew up as an Apogee student (Coast to Quebec, Alps Explorer, and Pyrenees Mountains & Coast!)!
Leader Name: Tomer Poole-Dayan (he/him)
2024 Trip: Golden State Adventure
Hometown: Bronx, NY
School: Cornell University, Class of 2024
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Hiking, rock climbing, and running
Highlights of the past year: Tomer spent last summer in Nashville, where he hiked and explored all around the southeast U.S!
Where you can find Tomer when he’s not exploring: He’s probably playing ultimate frisbee, exploring local farmers markets and cooking, and doing crossword puzzles.
More fun facts about Tomer: Passionate about sustainable food systems, Tomer has spent three summers working on farms, including managing the Cornell student farm! Also at Cornell, he captained the Cornell Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team for the last two years, and during the pandemic, he spent four months as an AmeriCorps volunteer building hiking trails in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. During this experience, he would spend weeks at a time living off the grid, sleeping in tents and cooking over camp stoves. Lastly, Tomer also spent a summer as a camp counselor in Pennsylvania before joining the Apogee team!
Leader Name: Anna Woolley (she/her)
2024 Trip: Golden State Adventure
Hometown: Maple Grove, MN
School: Macalester College, Class of 2024
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Hiking, biking, rowing, and paddle boarding
Highlights of the past year: This semester, Anna studied and lived in Denmark!
Where you can find Andrew when he’s not exploring: She’s probably cooking, sketching, painting, weightlifting, or obsessing over NYT games.
Other reasons Anna is the coolest: She loves to travel; her recent trips include exploring Portugal, Hungary, and Greece. At Macalester, Anna works as a Tour Guide and serves as captain of her crew team. Anna is also passionate about volunteering and has worked as a tutor at her local library homework center and as a court observer for human rights. Before joining the Apogee team, Anna spent a season in the Bahamas volunteering on a disaster relief project, which included rebuilding a school campus and humanitarian aid. Last, but certainly not least, Anna has her black belt in karate where she trained and worked with both adults and children.
Leader Name: Maura Toole (she/her)
2024 Trip: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
Prior Apogee Experience: Vermont to Montreal ‘23, Cape Cod & the Islands ‘23
Hometown: Greensboro, North Carolina
School: Emory University, Class of 2025
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Backpacking, kayaking, and running
Highlights of the past year: Biking in New England and Quebec with her amazing Apogee groups, seeing wild ponies on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, and learning how to swing dance
Where you can find Maura when she’s not exploring: She’s probably cooking and sharing food with friends, reading in her hammock, going to concerts, planning her next outdoor adventures, and spending hours and hours working on the New York Times crossword puzzle.
A few more reasons why Maura is awesome: She has visited all of the farmer’s markets in Atlanta! Currently, she works for the Emory Center for Civic and Community Engagement where her job is to help high school and college students in Atlanta become informed and excited voters. Before her time with Apogee, Maura spent a summer working with the Emory Center for Ethics, learning about leadership, nonprofit management, and ethics. She is also the Service Vice President of her Service Fraternity, where she coordinates community engagement opportunities with local Atlanta nonprofits. Lastly, Maura is both a tour guide and an orientation leader with Emory Ignite, helping first-year students successfully transition into college.
Leader Name: Seamus fa*gan (he/him)
2024 Trip: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
Hometown: Sudbury, Massachusetts
School: Hamilton College, Class of 2023 & Rutgers Business School, Class of 2024
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Hiking, skiing, hacky sacking, playing sports, and running!
Highlights of the past year: After graduating from Hamilton College last spring, Seamus went on an epic road trip with three of his friends. They made three stops in seven states in nine days! Since then, Seamus has earned a Master’s Degree in Financial Analysis while playing his final year of lacrosse eligibility at the Division 1 level for Rutgers University.
Where you can find Seamus when he isn’t playing lacrosse: Seamus can be found reading, playing cards, listening (and dancing) to music, having deep conversations about life, going to the movie theater, or checking out a great museum.
Additional super awesome facts about Seamus: He’s a very accomplished lacrosse player (goalie, to be exact); Seamus has earned accolades as a First Team All-American and First Team All-Conference. In addition to his playing career, Seamus also has extensive lacrosse coaching experience throughout New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia to kids 8-18 years old. Outside of lacrosse, he has also worked as a Customer Account Manager at a natural gas firm, a Sports Intern with CNN, and as a Private Equity Intern at a Miami-based firm. A man of many interests, Seamus has also spent two summers volunteering on a farm in Santa Cruz, CA and helped fundraised to provide housing for families seeking specialized cancer treatments.
Leader Name: Lila Gilmer (she/hers)
2024 Trip: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
School: Colorado College, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Trail running, hiking with her dogs Frank and Pepe, making peanut butter s’mores, and camping.
Highlights of the past year: This year, Lila ran up Pikes Peak with her Colorado College track teammates, went camping in Moab, and road tripped through Colorado!
Where you can find Lila when she’s not running: Lila can usually be found making elaborate air fryer meals in her dorm, exploring new coffee shops, and playing Spoons like it’s a professional sport.
Additional super awesome facts about Lila: She is a triplet! At Colorado College, Lila is a Residential Advisor and is the captain and “hype-woman” of her track team. She also teaches swim lessons and has worked as a nanny. Lila is a retired saxophonist – reaching the pinnacle of her career as the MVP of her middle school band. She has had so much fun the past few years at school in Colorado that she decided to head back out to explore more this summer with Apogee! She is looking forward to cooking up some creative camp meals and meeting the Apogee community.
Leader Name: Cat Bergland (she/her)
2024 Trip: Northwest Explorer
Prior Apogee Experience: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and Golden State Adventure
Hometown: Medfield, Massachusetts
School: Middlebury College, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Hiking, running, and cold-plunging!
Highlights of the past year: After leading trips with Apogee last summer, Cat visited her sister in South America! She spent the last year at school in Vermont and got lots of skiing in. She is also always down for a match of pickleball; she just started learning how to play this year.
Where you can find Cat when she’s not on the pickleball court: Cat can be found dancing with her college dance group! For down time, she loves reading a book on the couch with her dogs. When she is out and about, Cat goes to coffee shops, as she is constantly on the hunt for the world’s best iced latte.
Further proof that Cat is the coolest: During her gap year, Cat did a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) Course in Mexico! At Middlebury, Cat is learning both German and Spanish. And, going hand-and-hand with cold-plunging, Cat has gone swimming outdoors every month of the year since she was a freshman in high school! Before her time with Apogee, Cat worked as Head Counselor at the same summer camp in New Hampshire that she attended growing up – 2022 was her TENTH summer at camp!
Leader Name: Andrew Morse (he/him)
2024 Trip: Northwest Explorer
Prior Apogee Experience: New England Mountains and Coast ‘23 and Maine Coast Junior ‘23
Hometown: New Canaan, Connecticut
School: Washington and Lee University, Class of 2024
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite Outdoor Activities: Skiing, camping, kayaking, rock climbing
Highlights of the past year: This year, Andrew section-hiked on the Appalachian Trail! He also was able to hike in National Parks out west, namely Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, and explore the Paria River Canyon.
Where you can find Andrew when he’s not exploring: Andrew loves hanging out (literally); one of his favorite activities is reading in a hammock. When he wants to get out of the air, he enjoys going fly fishing and playing the bass guitar.
Other reasons Andrew is the niftiest: Andrew has road tripped across 18 states and has been to nine National Parks! Throughout his time at Washington and Lee, he has been part of the College Outing Club, where he leads all kinds of trips, ranging from whitewater rafting and kayaking to hiking to skydiving! Also at W&L, Andrew works at the rock climbing wall on campus teaching other students about climbing, and he volunteers as a Peer Counselor, helping incoming first-years to transition into college life. Andrew has also worked as a camp counselor and was president of his community service club in high school. Growing up, Andrew and his family raised chickens and bees for eggs and honey.
