Erika Skogg, an NDA alum from the class of 2004, now travels the world capturing images with her camera for the rest of the world to see. 

After graduating from Notre Dame, Skogg attended Arizona State University with a major in business as that seemed like the safest option at the time. 

“It seemed like a safe choice and a fun place to spend my undergrad,” said Skogg. 

During the middle of her second year she decided to transfer to Montana State University. In Montana she spent her winters as a ski instructor and summers as a whitewater raft guide. 

There she also discovered her love for photography and through her professors got her first job working for the National Parks as a photography instructor for Canon, the camera company. 

“My high school self would absolutely not see me in my current profession. My career path wasn’t necessarily always choosing the best jobs or opportunities, but more so consciously turning down opportunities or leaving jobs that weren’t a good fit which then naturally led me to a place I was happy and fulfilled,” said Skogg.

Now she works as a photographer and international travel guide for National Geographic. Her spontaneous lifestyle is one that is desired by a lot of people. 

“Every day of my job looks a little different. Sometimes I’m working from home editing photographs and writing travel stories. On other days, I’m abroad leading photography trips through Morocco and Cuba, or onboard a ship in the Arctic,” said Skogg. 

She recently moved back to Wisconsin and is living in Sturgeon Bay with her husband and her one-year-old daughter. 

Skogg met her husband at her first job working for Canon. He is Colombian; thus,  Skogg and her family make a couple-month trip every winter to his hometown of Bogotà, so their daughter can learn about one of her home countries and learn more Spanish. 

Her favorite memories from Notre Dame are, of course, Mrs.Brown’s classes and how fun she made them all of the time. 

To see Skogg’s work you can visit these websites: https://vesterheim.org/exhibit/scandinavian-american-photography-by-national-geographic-explorer-erika-skogg/ 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/experts/erika-skogg/