Elizabeth Miller

• Title: freelance journalist
• Email: elizabethmmiller@gmail.com
• Location: Santa Fe, NM
• Social Media Links
• she/her

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-miller-470a4449/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obliviliz/

Expertise

• Topics of Expertise: Hiking, backpacking, skiing, mountain biking, climbing, camping, trail running 
• Years in This Expertise: 15+
• Number Of Products & Number Of Hours Expert Has Tested: dozens of products, hundreds of hours

Experience

When Elizabeth Miller told her friends she was quitting her salaried staff writer job at a newspaper to freelance full time, one encouraged her, “Don’t starve.” Far from it, as a freelancer, she’s been able to balance pursuing stories she’s passionate about with a life that includes time outside almost daily, whether hiking, mountain biking, climbing, or skiing. That’s included filing assignments from trailheads, working through story edits while on a layover to Japan, and taking some much-needed time away from screens in the Galápagos.

A love affair with the outdoors that dates to skiing with her mom and backpacking with her dad beginning around age 5 deepened through a yoga teacher training in the Bahamas that saw her camping in a grove of palm trees for a month. She’s also taught skiing since 2011, which started as a source for second income when a newspaper salary struggled to keep up with the cost of living in Boulder, Colorado. Now, that’s mostly became a way of subsidizing a growing skiing habit and a reason to be the kind of adult who spends her time debating powder chasing destinations and best pocket snacks with her friends.

Career Highlights

• Hiking into the Colorado high country before sunrise with ptarmigan researchers
• Paddling an Oru Kayak down the Colorado River
• Skiing Red 3 from the Red Mountain Alpine Lodge in Colorado with San Juan Mountain Guides
• Being the student in an Avy 1 course whose homework other students wanted to copy
• Interviewing Conrad Anker and Jennifer Lowe-Anker about the Khumbu Climbing Center
• Skiing for a month in Hokkaido
• Peak-bagging 15ers and higher in Ecuador 

Education & Certifications

• Education: Bachelor’s of English, Lewis and Clark College; Master’s of Journalism, University of Colorado
• Years of Writing: 17
• Certifications: Professional Ski Instructors of America Alpine 2, Telemark 1, and Children’s Specialist 2; Avalanche 1; Companion Rescue; certified yoga instructor
• Club or Association Memberships: Professional Ski Instructors of America; Society of Environmental Journalists
• Awards or Recognitions: Awards from Society of Professional Journalists, Society of American Travel Writers, Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, and International Regional Magazine Association. Support from the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources, National Geographic Society’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists, National Press Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, and The Water Desk at the University of Colorado.
• Previous Publications: Backpacker, The Drake, Elevation Outdoors, New Mexico Magazine, Outside, among others

Personal 

I pursued a career in journalism with an interested in connecting people with information that expands their understanding of the world around them, whether that’s hearing a new perspective or sharing details of a place or particular species of wildlife they haven’t yet seen.

At first, my time spent outdoors was a way to rest and reset from hours at the desk, but as my career has evolved over more than 15 years, I’ve found myself writing about those experiences more often. My hope is that that work also returns to the broader theme of opening up a wider view of our planet, while inspiring or facilitating readers in finding new ways to explore it and, sometimes, new gear with which to head out there.