Meet the Coaches!

  Rachel Watson
Ski coaching provides the root network for all that I do and am! It is from my athletes that I gain inspiration, perspective, and humility. They ground me, challenge me and make me want to know more, be more and do more. I have coached the University of Wyoming Men’s and Women’s ski team for 27 years. In that time, I have coached 14 USCSA National Championship teams. And while this is a demonstrable statistic, it is not the winning itself I value but rather the process of allowing my athletes to reach the full bodymind wellness necessary to win. I educate all of my athletes in the biochemistry, physiology and psychology of training and recovery as well as the chemistry of snow and waxing. I support my athletes through holistic wellness practices including yoga and massage therapy. I hold yoga teacher training certificates and am in the process of becoming a certified massage therapist.

I have been the head coach of Team USA at the World University Games in Turkey, Italy (Val di Fiemme), Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Italy (Pragelato Plan). In 2019, I co-designed the International Nordic Ski Training and Coaching Program. Through this program, student athletes from Shanghai become teammates with the UW skiers. They learn to Nordic ski at an elite level, and master skills in exercise science, coaching and pedagogy through a course that I co-developed called Endurance Mountain Sport. I am most proud of my work to braid together skiing and scholarship through the development of action learning courses including Skiing and Climate Change, Environmental Assessment of an International Athletic Event and The Body as Planet, The Planet as a Body and From Dysbiosis to Pluriversbiosis. To better understand my integration of skiing and scholarship, I invite you to watch my TEDx Talk! 
 
In my day job, I am a Senior Faculty Development Professional. I direct the Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP), a holistic training program that immerses educators in learner-centered, evidence-based pedagogical practices. I lead transformative educational development initiatives at local, state and national levels. I equip Wyoming educators with tools for active pedagogy, inclusive design, and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). As a statewide and national leader in the IMPACT STEM Transfer network, I facilitate cross-institutional learning communities focused on universal pedagogies and reflective dialogue. My work also extends to research on science literacy and self-assessment.

With a rich background in microbiology, biochemistry, and experiential education, I have spent over two decades designing and teaching interdisciplinary courses that integrate problem-based learning, action learning, systems theory, and service-learning. My instructional portfolio spans General and Medical Microbiology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Best Practices Active Learning and Endurance Mountain Sport, with a signature Microbiology Capstone Experience that has empowered nearly 100 students to conduct stakeholder-driven research in collaboration with partners ranging from public clinics and state labs to K-12 educators and local student farms. I bring a dynamic approach to curriculum design, blending scientific rigor with real-world application to foster student agency and community impact.

Christi Boggs
I am a teacher. 
It is what I aspire to, what I love, and all I have ever wanted to be. Although teaching is a small piece of my job description it guides and informs all I do. Whether I am teaching a course, training Nordic ski athletes or working with faculty I see myself first and foremost as a teacher. My teaching style is cooperative and exploratory with moments of chaos and moments of structure. I am but a stepping stone in the path of each person's journey. I hope to provide intellectual, emotional, and physical sustenance that allows each individual to find her/his own way; the key to a door; the ride across the river; the sword with which to slay the dragon. My hope is that those with whom I share a journey go on to wondrous and successful adventures and return to teach me what they have learned.

I am a coach.
I started coaching immediately after completing my undergraduate degree in Biology. I coached High School Cross Country Running, Cross Country Skiing and Track for several years as I trained Biathlon. For the past twenty-eight years, I have been the volunteer co-coach of the Men's and Women's Nordic Ski Team and in 2017 worked to create SNOW. In that time, the UW Nordic Team has skied to fourteen United States Collegiate Championship team titles, thirty-two individual titles and boasts 213 Academic All-Americans. In 2011, 2013, 2015 & 2017, 2019, and 2025 I was the Team Leader for Team USA at the World University Games in Turkey, Italy, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Italy. For the Slovakia and Kazakhstan games, I co-designed and co-taught an integrated curriculum course called ‘Environmental Assessment of an International Event’ and in 2019, ‘Earth as Body, Body as Planet’. Beginning in 2019 I joined Rachel in the fantastic opportunity to co-teach a course that meshes two of my passions, teaching and coaching, into ‘The Art and Science of Nordic Ski Racing’. This course originally designed for only the UW Nordic Team has now broaden into 'Endurance Mountain Sports' and is open to all students at UW.

In 2019 I had the incredible opportunity to broaden my coaching as we invited student athletes from Shanghai University of Sport. These student athletes join us to learn how to ski race and coach and we learn an incredible amount from them as well. We have completed four iterations of this program in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025. 

I believe in honoring all ways of knowing and being. I work to create an environment which is safe and supportive and within which the magnificent variety of human experience and difference is celebrated. This includes ways of being and knowing that are connected to spirituality, the earth, the environment, nature -  everything in an interconnected web of beauty. Every day I work to provide everyone the opportunity to realize their own dreams. 

In 2010 I was inducted to the Lake County Sports Hall of Fame for my athletics as well as my coaching and in 2019 I was the recipient of the United States Ski & Snowboard Association Coach of the Year

Coaching is a labor of love!
 
I am an Educational Developer and instructor.
I am an instructor in American Studies and Kinesiology and Health. I am also the Associate Director of Digital Teaching and Learning at the University of Wyoming Ellbogen Center for teaching and Learning where I supervise 10 incredible humans. As an Educational Developer I teach and work with faculty in the area of technology as an inclusive pedagogy. I have taught numerous workshops on diverse instructional topics as well as student centered learning. I especially enjoy working with faculty, helping them create and master tools and techniques to assist them in actively and inclusively engaging their students for deeper learning. 
 
I am passionate about what I do and inspired every day by the students, athletes, faculty, and staff with whom I work.