Three Jolly Good Fellows

NOLS June 17, 2009 1 min read

In a recent showing of camaraderie, WMI’s own Shana Tarter (Instructor and Assistant Director) and Gates Richards (Instructor and Special Projects Manager) joined Tod Schimelpfenig (Instructor and Curriculum Director) as Fellows of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine.

According to the Wilderness Medical Society’s website, Academy Fellowship is awarded to “those who have achieved a demanding set of requirements validating their training and experience in Wilderness Medicine for the assurances of patients, clients, and the public at large.”

Having three Fellows among their staff (and jolly, good ones, at that) is another thing that sets WMI apart from other wilderness medicine schools. That’s something that nobody can deny!

Gates Richards

Gates Richards

Gates Richards has been involved in outdoor education and EMS since the early ’90s. Over the years he’s worked outdoor programming throughout the Rockies, Pacific Northwest and Alaska. He’s worked urban EMS in DC, WA, CO and WY. Gates began teaching for NOLS Wilderness Medicine in 1998 and has been awarded the Wilderness Medical Society’s Warren Bowman award for contributions to wilderness medicine by a non-physician as well as the National Collegiate EMS Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. He was the former Associate Director and is currently a NOLS Wilderness Medicine Faculty member.

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