Trip Leaders
Heading up each program is a team of talented, dynamic trip leaders who have extensive experience in the field — and love working with high school students. With no more than nine students to every leader, we'll have the freedom to break into teams to pursue our On Assignment and community service projects. Here are a few of our outstanding trip leaders who may accompany you on a National Geographic Student Expedition.
Carina del Valle Schorske
Yale University, BA. Carina is a writer and poet. She graduated from Yale with a double-major in Literature and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. Among her many academic honors was the Academy of American Poets Prize. She was the literary editor of the Yale Literary Magazine and a columnist for the Yale Daily News. Carina has traveled extensively in Latin America, studying in Argentina for a semester and conducting a research and translation project in Mexico City. She conducted workshops on poetry and hip-hop culture in California and currently serves as the assistant editor for Transition Magazine in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Jes Therkelsen
Amherst College, BA; American University, MFA. Jes is a photographer, filmmaker, and educator. He is currently a Filmmaker-in-Residence at the College of William and Mary, and has written, produced, and directed several award-winning independent films. He is also the owner and founding director of Sensory Media Arts LLC, a Washington-based media production company. Jes was awarded a 2009 Washington D.C. Artist Fellowship for work in photography and video. He is also an avid musician and composer.
Karina Yager
Colorado State University, BA; Columbia University, MA; Yale University, PhD. Karina received her master’s in Archaeology at Columbia, where she researched the Inca Royal Estates in Peru. At Yale, her doctoral research was focused on social ecology, Andean climate and ecology, and Andean archaeology. She has published numerous articles in academic and ecological policy journals on a wide range of topics including sustainable high-altitude agriculture and climate change in the Andes. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga and enjoys hiking and exploring the mountain cultures of the world.
Lisa Hornak
Boston University, BA. Lisa is a Rhode Island–based photojournalist and freelance photographer. She spent a semester abroad in South Africa where she volunteered for Cheetah Outreach, educating visitors about cheetahs and photographing visitors' interactions with the wild cats. Formerly a staff photographer for the Boston Herald, Lisa is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe. Besides traveling and photographing, Lisa is an avid surfer, climber, and yoga practitioner.
Nick Fitzhugh
Brown University, BA. Nick is a Washington, D.C.-based photographer, producer, and filmmaker. At Brown, he founded Glimpse, a multimedia storytelling web and print platform for young people to share stories about personal, cultural experiences abroad. Glimpse was acquired by the National Geographic Society in 2008. Nick currently works as a director, producer, and photographer for redfitz productions, LLC, where his projects have included Soccer City, a documentary video series about life and soccer in township South Africa during the first ever World Cup in Africa.
Patrick Mclaughlin
St. Lawrence University, BS; Drexel University, PhD candidate. Patrick developed a passion for field research and travel as a biology and environmental studies major and was awarded a university fellowship in field biology. He has worked as a fisheries technician for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Vermont, a snow-coach guide in Yellowstone, and a director of the environmental education program for the Grand Teton Lodge Company. He has researched endangered primates in Equatorial Guinea and is currently studying biodiversity conservation.
