Virtual Conversation: Apprenticing to the Wild

Pathways to Planetary Health Forum

Apprenticing to the Wild:
A conversation with Kurt Hoelting and Stephen Posner

What if engaging with the wild – both within us and around us – could radically transform how we live in the world?

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with Kurt Hoelting, author, long-time Zen practitioner, mindfulness teacher, and founder of Inside Passages – an organization that provided mindfulness and nature-based expeditions in Alaska.

Drawing on his decades of experience weaving mindfulness practice into wilderness exploration, Kurt will share how ancient human traditions rooted in nature can offer balance in a technology-driven world. He will also share insights on how embracing elderhood can mean shifting from striving and achieving to a path of giving oneself away.

Together, we will explore what it means to cultivate resilience by facing challenges with an intact heart and a spirit of optimism.

Join this session to learn about how the ways we engage with wildness can transform our sense of purpose and belonging.

We will hold this live Forum on Zoom at 1:00 p.m. ET July 16, 2025. After registering, you will receive a link to join the session.

SPEAKERS

Kurt Hoelting grew up by the shores of Puget Sound and makes his home on an island in the Salish Sea. He has lived a migratory lifestyle his entire adult life, heading north every summer to work as a commercial fisherman and wilderness guide in Southeast Alaska. A graduate of the University of Washington and Harvard Divinity School, Kurt is an ordained minister, Zen practitioner and mindfulness teacher, who has sought to blend his passion for spiritual inquiry into his life on the wild edge of Alaska. He is the author of the recently published book Apprentice to the Wild (2025) and The Circumference of Home: One Man’s Quest for a Radically Local Life (2010).

Stephen Posner, PhD, is Director of the Pathways to Planetary Health initiative at the Garrison Institute. Stephen draws from scientific inquiry and contemplative practices to align human systems with nature. He builds understanding of nature across sectors and serves as a trusted advisor to policymakers and funders. Stephen has published over 50 technical and non-technical articles and reports on sustainability science, leverage points for systems change, and scientific assessment methods. His encounters with the wild include urban and suburban adventures growing up in Baltimore, solo retreats in the wilderness, and 20 years of rock climbing from Yosemite to the Spanish Pyrenees Mountains.

Please contact us for questions and inquiries at events@garrisoninstitute.org.