Derek Horner has been a passionate fisherman since childhood: He began fishing at the age of 3 in his late great-grandmother’s pond on the outskirts of State College. One of the first things he did when he started at Penn State was to join the Bass Fishing Club, which competes in major collegiate circuits across the country. Horner was also eager to share his love for fishing with the broader Penn State community and to interest more students in the sport.

In 2016, Horner ’18 Edu and his partner won the FLW College Series Northern Conference Tournament on Chautauqua Lake, securing a bid to the national championship. And in 2017, he won the Pennsylvania Bass Federation state championship. By the time he graduated, the club’s membership had grown from 30 to 160. Horner also played an important role in securing sponsorships from the fishing industry for the club and still serves as its unofficial adviser and mentor.

An outdoorsman through and through—“Nothing about spending time outdoors is a hobby for me; it’s a lifestyle,” he says—Horner has channeled his passion for fishing and hunting into a lasting career. After graduation and thanks to the connections he made through the Bass Fishing Club, he joined ANGLR, a data-driven fishing app startup designed to aid anglers on their trips. He stayed there for four years, helping to scale up the business, before landing the position of manager of audience development for Field & Stream and Outdoor Life, two magazines he’s dreamed of working for since he was a kid. Horner now manages the Outdoor Life social media content and newsletter campaigns, and he also writes articles about fishing and hunting.

“It feels like there’s fewer and fewer people who live for the outdoors like myself,” Horner says. “I would hate to see that go away.” —Patrick Hillmeyer