She holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Near Coastal Masters license, with experience sailing everywhere from the lakes of Minnesota, to the sounds and fjords of Southeast Alaska.

Erin was born and raised in Mahtomedi, Minnesota, where her love for the outdoors grew amid the forests, lakes, and rivers of the Midwest. She first visited Alaska in high school while on a family trip along the Inside Passage, and Alaska held a special place in her heart ever since.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and Environmental Studies at St. Olaf College, and a Master’s of Forestry and Master’s of Environmental Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. After finishing her degrees, Erin felt the north calling and headed all the way north to Sitka in 2012, where she “forgot to leave” for over a decade, bought a house in 2020 and now supposes she’ll stick around for a while.

Her passion for learning and exploring Southeast Alaska has led her to work at conservation organizations, as a National Park ranger, with sustainable fisheries cooperatives, commercial trolling for salmon, and as a naturalist and guide aboard small cruise ships. It’s getting out on the water, exploring the hidden corners and hard to reach inlets, sharing her love of the great outdoors and of Southeast Alaska that she’s really found her niche.