Meet the Crew: Chris Carr, volunteer

Chirs Carr came to be part of our Crew little by little, dipping his toe (or, should we say, his paddle!) in by volunteering on the Mill Creek during Ohio River Paddlefest and as a safety paddler at the Great Ohio River Swim.

He'd check out the Adventure Crew website and think, "maybe, someday, I'll get more involved. I've always liked introducing people to new types of outdoor adventures," he said.

Then last year, another dedicated volunteer, Larry Falkin, invited Chris to help with our water-focused summer camp. From there, Chris started volunteering during our Discoverer rock climbing and canoeing programs.

"It's a chance to give back," he said. "Growing up in leafy suburbs, I had the chance to be out in nature and learn all kinds of outdoor skills. Lots of inner city kids don't have that opportunity. Adventure Crew provides it."

Those leafy suburbs where Chris grew up were in New York City and Chicago. He and his wife moved to Cincinnati after Procter & Gamble recruited him from Cornell, where he studied engineering. 

After 30 years at P&G, he retired. Not a fan of Florida or golf, he decided to build on the experiences he had during volunteer vacations with Earthwatch over the years.

"I love the outdoors and maps," he said. "I discovered geography and enrolled in the grad program at UC." 

After earning his PhD in 2014, he's now a research assistant professor in UC's geography department. His research focus is human impacts on the natural environment. That includes both modern impacts (from the activities we all love, like camping, hiking, rock climbing and paddling) and ancient ones (primarily the ancient Maya of Central America). 

"My grad research took me to parks all over the U.S., including Haleakala National Park, Chaco Canyon National Park and Denali National Park," he said. "For the ancient impacts, I've done almost 20 years of archaeological field work studying the ancient Maya in Belize, Guatemala and southern Mexico. Our University of Cincinnati research group has a major interest in ancient Maya water management (a good connection back to my engineering background). I use imagery from satellites and LIDAR to explore in the jungle to try to understand how ancient people managed." 

As for modern impacts on the natural world, one of his focus areas is increasing paddling access to the Mill Creek and its tributaries. (Chris serves on the board of directors for the Mill Creek Alliance.) 

When he's not working, Chris enjoys spending time outdoors, especially if there's a boat (kayak, canoe or sailboat) involved. He also loves just exploring in nature, to "take out a map and say, 'that spot looks interesting. Let's hike there, trail or not (not being better).' Rock climbing fits into the exploring category -- especially the multi-pitch traditional climbing I favor."

He's glad to have had the outdoors as a constant throughout his life.

"From playing in the woods building forts and dams, to camping, skiing and ocean swimming with my parents, the outdoors has always been a place to balance out the work (and school) world," he said. 

Thanks for helping us bring that balance to city teens, Chris! We're so glad you're part of our Crew!