Lily Glidden Scholarship Fund

In the spirit of Lily, this fund helps provide opportunities for inspired teens to push beyond their comfort zones on adventurous, life-changing trips to natural areas to explore their roles as mentors and leaders.

The Lily Glidden Scholarship Fund was established in 2015 with support from Steve and Nancy Glidden.

A celebration of Lily’s extraordinary life and a way for her parents and friends at Primitive Pursuits to carry on her incredible spirit of curiosity, adventure, and love for nature.

Attending Primitive Pursuits programs from age 11, Lily Glidden made an impression on the Primitive Pursuits family from day one. Asking thought-provoking questions well beyond her years and taking on difficult challenges with unparalleled enthusiasm and infectious laughter, Lily’s role quickly changed from participant to mentor and then to staff.

“Lily was in fact, so ambitious that we had to develop new challenges just to keep her on her toes! Whether identifying trees by touch while blindfolded, building a winter shelter to sleep in, or stepping up to lead an activity for her peers, Lily was always prepared to experience, learn, and engage fully with the world.” Tim Drake

Lily studied at the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington and earned a degree in biology from Tufts University where she graduated with honors in 2012. Lily pursued her dreams with a passion that led her all over the world. She spent time in the western U.S. working with coyotes, wolves, and other mammals, in Tanzania with the Serengeti Wildlife Preserve, and later in Southern China collecting and tagging bamboo pit vipers for relocation.

Lily Glidden completed her final adventure in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand, January 2014 at the age of 24. She was traveling and observing the wildlife in Southeast Asia after finishing an internship in Southern China. The Lily Glidden Scholarship Fund is a celebration of Lily’s extraordinary life and a way for her parents and friends at Primitive Pursuits to carry on her incredible spirit of curiosity, adventure, and love for nature.

If you’d like to help give nature education opportunities to more kids in memory of Lily, donate online and put “Lily Glidden” in the “In Honor” area of the online form.