UMaine Machias' Outdoor Recreation and Leadership Program

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Karen Beeftink developed a love for the outdoors in childhood, when family vacations usually included a trip to a national park. After college, she worked as an adventure educator, rock climbing instructor, and wilderness trip leader, before earning a graduate degree in Recreation and Tourism Resources and a PhD in Leisure Studies at Pennsylvania State University. In 2011, she accepted a position as coordinator for the Outdoor Recreation and Leadership Program at the University of Maine at Machias, where the ocean, lakes, forests, and mountains became her classroom. “We are lucky, that is for sure,” she says.

UMaine Machias is the Downeast regional campus of the University of Maine, located on more than 200 acres. For outdoor recreation and leadership students, the location is ideal for the required field experiences that make up a large part of the program. Whether camping on the Bold Coast in Cutler, paddling in Machias Bay, or maintaining the campus’s 15-mile trail system, students get a chance to apply the philosophies of leadership they study in real time. “Being outdoors puts people in a different mindset,” Beeftink says. “It helps students approach things differently than they would if it was in a classroom situation.”

Matt Kelley graduated from the program in 2024 and now works as the outreach director for Downeast Coastal Conservancy. He credits his success to the school’s rural setting, small student body, and required field experience and says the best excursion was a four-day trip down the St. Croix River. Students were tasked with planning the trip, including selecting campsites and meals and navigating rapidly changing weather — from warm sun to wind, hail, and snow. Kelley says the challenges that arose made the trip more memorable. “Ospreys dove after fish around us, the sunsets were beautiful, and I was surrounded by friends,” he says. “The fact I got college credit was purely a bonus.”

All of the students who participate in the program are required to select a topic they’ve learned about in class and teach it to their peers, whether an athletic pursuit like mountain biking or a core principle of Leave No Trace, like wildfire safety. Teaching in a small, bonded group provides a safe environment to practice leading. “The students get to use each other as resources,” Beeftink says. “It’s not just me providing feedback, they’re providing each other feedback, and through that, you can see their confidence build.” Students also complete service projects at local land trusts and schools.

Whether students go on to work as a park ranger, wilderness therapist, or youth-recreation director, Beeftink’s goal is to prepare them for any situation. “Outdoor leadership is not a controlled environment,” she says. “You have to always be thinking about what’s happening, what’s coming ahead, and how your participants are feeling. Our students gain a lot of practice in on-the-spot thinking and developing the skills needed to determine what to do if something changes. And it always does.”