ANSLEY RUBINSTEIN
Harvard University, B.A., Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Arabic Literature

While at Harvard, Ansley focused on modern Arabic language and literature and spent time in Jordan and Egypt. For three summers, she wrote for the internationally published travel guide, Let’s Go, traveling to Australia, Greece, Austria, and Germany to explore both cosmopolitan cities and remote islands. Ansley has spent time in India, South Africa, and Argentina studying urban issues; taught dance classes at an orphanage in Peru; and performed in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Utilizing her love for and experience in the arts, she led a program on documentary filmmaking in the United Kingdom. Most recently, she also developed a university-level comparative study abroad program on social innovation and entrepreneurship in San Francisco, Brazil, India, and Uganda. While in Los Angeles, Ansley works as a personal tutor for middle and high school students as well as explores artistic endeavors, usually involving dance. Ansley has led high school travel programs for New York Times Student Journeys in London and Oxford, and for Putney Student Travel in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Costa Rica, and Thailand.

JESSE WEBER
Northern Arizona University, M.S., Environmental Science and Policy
University of Tennessee, B.S., Geology and Environmental Studies

At the University of Tennessee, Jesse worked as a rock climbing and whitewater kayaking guide for the school’s outdoor program while pursuing an honors interdisciplinary major in geology and environmental studies, and a minor in Mandarin. He studied abroad at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, where he simultaneously explored the region’s rock climbing and played for the city’s rugby club. On a separate trip to China he worked as a science journalist with a National Science Foundation study on water quality in Lake Taihu near Nanjing. Both during and after college, Jesse found opportunities for personal travel around the world, including Iceland, where he discovered for himself the country’s incredible outdoors. He continued his academics with a master’s degree in environmental science and policy at Northern Arizona University, where he taught undergraduate courses and completed his thesis on collaborative forest management. Jesse currently lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he works as a freelance writer and creative consultant for outdoors and environmentally focused organizations. He has twice led Putney’s Community Service Vietnam program.