Glenn Nelson
Based in Seattle, Wash., Glenn Nelson is the founder of The Trail Posse, which explores the intersection of race and the outdoors. He recently served as Community Director, leading antiracism activities for Birds Connect Seattle, where he also led the name change from Seattle "Audubon." He was included in the inaugural People of Color Environmental Professionals: Profiles of Courage and Leadership by the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Sustainability Initiative at Yale School of the Environment (JEDSI).
Nelson has won several national awards for his writing, photography and Web publishing, including second place in 2020 from Best of the West for his columns on race for Crosscut and South Seattle Emerald, first-place honors from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 for his columns on race for Crosscut and South Seattle Emerald, and Outstanding Beat Reporting (Race, Inclusion and Environmental Justice) from the Society of Environmental Journalists. His photography is published in Bird Photographer of the Year and has been honored by North American Nature Photograhy Association, the Audubon Photography Awards, Best of Nikonians, and Share the View.
Nelson also is a founding member of the Next 100 Coalition, a national alliance of civil rights, environmental and community groups advocating for more inclusive management of public lands, and a founding steering committee member of the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge, which advises outdoor brands on DEI work. A graduate of Seattle University and Columbia University, he was born in Japan and started his career at The Seattle Times. He later founded HoopGurlz (now at ESPN), which covered girl’s basketball and college prospects nationally, and helped found Scout.com, a network of sports websites. Nelson is the primary author of a teen book about the NBA, has been published in numerous magazines and book collections, had his photographic work appear at the Smithsonian, and has been profiled by NPR. He has served on the board of directors for several nonprofits, as well as the Washington Governor's advisory committee on outdoor recreation, the advisory committee for the Japanese American Remembrance Trail, and the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Task Force.
A Grand Teton Tour
This may look like a week’s worth, but it was about a day and a half in October. The beauty simply is everywhere you look in Grand Teton National Park. NOTE: Clicking on an image will launch a larger viewer with the gallery.
Yellowstone Erupts
Yellowstone National Park has emerged in spectacular fashion from a summer that could have gone down as the season of tourist-goring bison. Instead, the nation’s first national park, known for its geysers and geological oddities, abundant wildlife and grand canyon, shattered attendance records with another...
Virtually Visit Yosemite
The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Yosemite National Park’s largest grove of the famed trees, currently is closed for a major restoration project. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is closed to the public. That’s because Yosemite National Park and Google have built upon their...
Pikas in Peril
Above: A pika sounds the alarm near Lake Ann in the North Cascades (photo by Glenn Nelson) The bottom line for promoting diversity and inclusion in the outdoors is imbuing the impending nonwhite majority in the U.S. with a sense of stewardship about our planet....
Parks: Free, Uneasy
Just a few days after our country’s federally managed public lands conduct one of their biggest celebrations of the year, they could be staring into a financial abyss that will negatively impact their health for years. Saturday, Sept. 26 is National Public Lands Day, meaning...
Hispanic Heritage Collaboration
Above: Joe Camacho (photo courtesy Latino Outdoors). Joe Camacho debunks the myth that Latinos don’t care about the outdoors. Vivana Reyes finds “green therapy” on Girl Scout hikes with her daughter, Vida. Ronald Quintero gets into mountaineering, starting on Mount Shasta. Those are just some...