Who We Are

Our mission is to redefine who can be an explorer in the natural world. For far too long our heroes have been homogeneous. We live in a global society made up of billions of different people. It’s time for our fabled stories of adventure and the heroes who occupy them to be as diverse as the world we all live in. This is a new wilderness we are all living in.

These are the New Wilderness Essays.

The Team:

Elina Osborne

(She/Her)

"Growing up in the suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand I was raised in a family of 7; my Kiwi dad, my Japanese mother, and my four siblings. My burning desire to travel came from my parents who had both moved from their respective home countries to live and work in the US for 12 years, where they eventually met.

Despite my family having little interest in the outdoors, my love for it grew alongside my passion for filmmaking, so in 2019, I set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (with camera-in-hand). After 4.5 months of walking from Mexico to Canada, my eyes were opened to the responsibility we all share to protect and preserve our planet, and the world of possibility we create when we own and tell our stories."

Samuel Makali'i Seto Tanner

(He/Him)

“I grew up in a multicultural household in the Pacific Northwest. My father descends from a family of the Alaskan Gold Rush and my mother is of Hawaiian/Chinese descent and grew up on the island of Oahu. Thanks to my parents, I developed a wide-ranging love for the outdoors, whether it be alpine lakes and glacial rivers or coral reefs and dense jungles. Over the course of my life I have seen the environments I love begin to acidify, melt, wither, and burn.

Climate change is here, we are experiencing the effects of it daily. It is my belief that through diverse storytelling, we can inspire our international community to take action in defense of the people, places, plants, and animals that all of our survival depends on.”

Dillon Byron

(He/Him)

"I was raised in the Pacific Northwest by my parents, both coming from large families with Icelandic, Native American, and Irish roots. I am grateful for their and previous generations' actions - encouraging me to explore and recognize my place in the natural world.

So far, this spirit has ensured my pursuit of a life where I can see the impact of my work within communities - building tools for them to use, and helping people tell their stories through film, photography, and other mediums.

I've felt stories inspire me to act, try something new, and perhaps most importantly - change my mind. My hope is that the stories we tell here can bring an inspiration of care for the world we share."