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Kathy Bales
Kathy (Youth Group Leader) - a recreation therapist, has experience working with people of all ages and now works in the Waterford School Pre-K program and at a Rehab Center. Mother of three, she has been involved in Girl Scouts, PTA, Audubon Camp, after-school programs, and 4H. Her leisure activities reflect her love of the outdoors and include bicycling, kayaking, exploring natural areas, and gardening. This will be her 10th Summit.
Matt Blank
I was 7 when I attended my first summit in New Hampshire. I have been attending them ever since and I am excited to add a rock climbing class to the program. I have been instructing and guiding rock climbing for the last 3 and a half years. I enjoy many thrill seeking activities and I always stress safety first so I can keep enjoying them.
Peggy Brosnan
This is Peggy’s 22nd Summit. She has been a leader for hiking, youth, teens, and young adult programs. A biology and genetics teacher, she advises an ecology club and Environthon team at one of the D.C. area's top public high schools. She has done hikes to 12,000, 14,000, 16,000, and 20,000 feet in the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes, and the Himalayas, respectively, and camped inside Kilimanjaro's crater at 18,800 ft. She has kayaked Baja, New Zealand, Italy's Elba Island, and Alaska's Glacier Bay, but says that one kayaking moment in Canada's westernmost islands topped them all.
Carla Brown
Carla has a keen interest in folk art. She loves to reduce her impact on the earth and make useful things out of “trash.” She grew up in Atlantic Canada, renowned for folk art. At 15, she started making folk art quilts. With her journalism background and global world view, Carla has interviewed quilters from many cultures. Carla’s mother, Gloria Brown, who is also teaching at this Summit, is a very creative person, and she is a great inspiration for Carla’s “waste not – want not” attitude.
Carla joined the National Wildlife Federation’s internet team in 2000. The primary mission of NWF is to promote global warming solutions. As global warming content manager, Carla has the privilege of working with the latest science and policy information. In the past, Carla surveyed many audiences to understand what global warming information they find most compelling. The top three answers were green lifestyle solutions, how global warming will impact different parts of the U.S., and scientific solutions. This is the lens she will bring to her walk & talk on global warming solutions.
Carla taught at five Summits and was sorry to miss two Summits while having her second child, Russell. Her daughter Nora spoke her first “word” at the Colorado Summit in 2004 – a bear’s roar. She is excited to re-join the Summit family.
Gloria Brown
Gloria is a Decorative Artist from Nova Scotia, Canada, who taught acrylic painting for 18 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education. She also paints in oils and watercolors. Her original designs are often inspired by scenes in Atlantic Canada and have been featured on several Decorative Art catalogue covers. She is also a Folk Artist, creating with wood, tin, glass, and fabric. Her passion is especially rewarding when she can resurrect something which has been discarded and make it functional and attractive. Her Summit classes use recycled materials. Gloria taught at St. Andrews by-the-Sea, NB 2005 Family Summit and is the proud mom of Summit instructor, Carla Brown.
Carolyn Duckworth
Carolyn is an experienced Summit instructor with more than 16 years experience teaching about field journals, field sketching, and writing about nature. Her essays and field journal pages have been published in numerous national magazines such as National Wildlife, Orion Afield and several anthologies, and in Nature Journaling: Learning to Observe and Connect With the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles Roth (1998, Storey Books). She has also written for Ranger Rick magazine (where she was an editor for many years), and currently works for Yellowstone National Park as a publications manager.
Dr. Susie Dunham
Dr. Dunham currently holds a Faculty Research Assistant position in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. Her research, teaching, and technical writing work all focus on natural resource management and conservation in the western United States. She completed her Ph.D. in Forest Ecology, with a special focus on fungal population biology, at Oregon State University and also holds dual masters degrees in Biology and Curriculum Development from the University of Nevada, Reno. Much of the research Susie conducted in Nevada was focused on desert bird communities. Over the past decade, Susie has developed and taught college-level science courses covering general ecology, population and ecosystem biology, molecular genetics, organismal biology, statistics, ornithology, coral reef ecology, subtropical ecology, and Hawaiian natural history for Oregon State University and Linn-Benton and Lane community colleges in Oregon a well as Boise State University and the College of Idaho. Susie lives with her husband, Jason, in Corvallis, Oregon where she enjoys gardening, long dog walks, and (of course) mushroom hunting and bird watching.
Dave Egan
Dave is a professional geologist working on the cleanup and environmental restoration of contaminated sites for over 25 years. As owner of RC&D, Inc., he performs cleanup and restoration of waterways and wetlands, and is currently completing a sediment cleanup in what is believed to be the oldest canal in the U.S. (in Boston). He has worked at Summit locations throughout the U.S. with a goal of providing enough understanding of the local geology to enhance your enjoyment and appreciation for the outdoors and for the Mt. Hood area.
Amy Filerman Hahn
Amy has lead hikes for Family Nature Summits for many years and is looking forward to renewing friendships with many long time Summiteers and making new friendships in Mt. Hood, Oregon this year.
After 15 years as a sales rep in the climbing industry, Amy just took a job in Italy. She is working for 2 commercial partner companies, strategizing for the US market on design, color, sales and marketing. It's about a 10 hat job. One company, Kayland, makes mountaineering and hiking boots, and the other company, Bailo, makes mountaineering and ski clothing. Bailo is not yet in the US and will launch officially in Fall 2009.
This follows many years of working in the outdoor industry. Amy has worked for Outward Bound, she has tested gear and clothing for numerous companies, and she is somewhat of a confessed altitude addict. Her loves are climbing, mountain running, hiking, and backcountry skiing. Her husband Doug is an accomplished kayaker and helicopter pilot, so she feels they have a pretty nice life for a couple of poor people!
Jean Florman
Jean has spent the last 21 years in Iowa, where she constantly has to convince non-Iowa friends that the state lays claim to a certain natural beauty, still contains some remnant native prairie, and is not flat. As the Associate Director of the University of Iowa Center for Teaching, she spends too much time looking out her window at the southwestern sky, from whence comes a lot of Iowa “weather” (in the Midwest vernacular, “weather” stands for blizzards, drought, tornadoes, straight-line winds, or anything else that knocks us on our heels). She also writes, edits, and produces public radio features.
Donny Goetz
I am 24 years old and live in southern California. This will be my first Summit. I heard about it from my friend Matt Blank. I began exploring nature at a young age with my family and broadened my experience while in the Boy Scouts. With my friends and scout troop, I've logged over 1000 backpacking miles, almost all in the Sierra Nevada. I also began climbing as a scout. I've been climbing for over a decade now and have dabbled in all areas of the sport from bouldering to ice to big wall climbing.
Jack Grauer
Noted local historian and expert Mt. Hood guide.
Brete Griffin
Brete has had a passion for birds since his early teens while growing up in the hills of West Virginia. From there he went to the University of Toronto to get his M.S. in Zoology while studying the seasonal foraging behavior of Gray Vireos in Big Bend National Park, Texas in the early 80s.
He also worked as a research assistant monitoring bird populations in various avian community research projects conducted in W.V., California, and Oklahoma before starting a career as a high school science teacher in Canada. Since then he has been teaching a community education birding class on the weekends, doing annual Birdathons to raise funds and awareness for the research and bird monitoring projects of Bird Studies Canada, and working at the school, community, and board levels to promote environmental science education and bird conservation programs in both the U.S. and Canada. Brete has been leading the birding trips at Family Summits for the last seven years and is still excited about helping people enjoy and learn about birds while connecting to nature.
Christi Hadden
Christi has been working with students outdoors for ten years. This is her 6th summit. She currently resides in Harrisburg, PA where she teaches middle and high school art and adventure education at Yellow Breeches Educational Center. Previous to teaching at YBEC, she worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Catalina Island Marine Institute. Other than teaching, Christi loves to paddle, climb, dive, paint, draw, and garden. She is certified in swift water rescue, Red Cross CPR, first aid, and lifeguarding, and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. Her favorite living thing is kelp. She lives with her emotionally disturbed, 20 pound cat, Theo.
Jim Halfpenny Jim is a scientist and educator whose background is mammalogy and ecology including polar, alpine, long-term specialties. He has been tracking since 1957 and teaching tracking since 1969. Jim is author of many books, articles, and
videos including Since 1961, Jim has taught outdoor education and environmental programs for state, federal, and private organizations including among others Aspen Center for Environmental Sciences, Audubon, Colorado Outward Bound School, National Outdoor Leadership School, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Smithsonian, Teton Science School, Wilderness Society, Yellowstone Institute, various Universities and state wildlife agencies, and Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. Jim has conducted research and led expeditions to the four corners of the world including both polar regions, the deserts and mountains of China and Africa, and the forests of the tropics. Jim is a member of the Explorer's Club and a Vietnam Veteran.
Marilyn Hartness Marilyn is a naturalist/artist from Monroe, N.C. She enjoys using the beauty found in nature to inspire art projects. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at Wingate University and she encourages her students to use earthy designs which are prevalent in the immediate surroundings to make unique art projects. Participants will find the class a lot of fun while they learn to examine the flora and fauna around them.
Matt Hays Matt has been teaching high school science in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for 25 years. He currently teaches AP Environmental Science, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry. In addition, he organizes hiking and climbing trips for his high school students and faculty. Matt is an avid hiker, backpacker, rock-climber, skier, and mountaineer. He has climbed all fifty-four fourteeners in Colorado numerous times. He has also climbed Mt. Whitney, CA and will be climbing the Grand Teton, WY, later this summer. He is excited to be attending his first Nature Summit.
Peggy Hays Peggy teaches elementary science in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has been teaching for 25 years in all grade levels with the past eight years as a science specialist. She has also taught outdoor education classes and workshops for both students and teachers. She is married and has two grown children of her own. She loves the outdoors and enjoys helping children to appreciate and take responsibility for its preservation. She is excited to be returning for her fifth consecutive Summit.
DeLene Hoffner This is DeLene's 5th summit. She has been an elementary teacher for 22 years. She is involved in environmental education as an author of several programs and curriculum, as well as an instructor for outdoor education summer courses. She instructs adult learners as a Project Wild /WET/Learning Tree facilitator for the state of Colorado. DeLene has a Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in Elementary Science and Teacher of the Year for her school. Currently she serves on several national science committees and is also involved in reviewing publications and a magazine, Science & Children. DeLene believes it is important to connect children with nature.
Steve Houser Steve has worked 21 Summits as a member of the Summit youth staff. He is a certified Environmental Educator and has Masters Degrees in Elementary Education and in Counseling. Steve is certified in geography, social sciences, and gifted education. He has been employed for over 30 years as an educator of youth, also as a storyteller, and he has been recognized through numerous awards, including: The NC Environmental Educator of the Year, The Presidential Award for Excellence and Math and Science Teaching (a program of the White House and National Science Foundation), and his school system’s “Teacher Of The Year” award. As an “Educator of Excellence” with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Steve has participated in museum educator institutes in Belize, Ecuador, The Amazon Rain Forest, and in Yellowstone National Park. Steve feels that the Summits offer children an opportunity to truly see, appreciate, and learn about the beauty and awe of the nature world. As a result, Steve’s goal is for these Youth Summiteers to become good stewards of the earth.
Sara Jackson Sara has worked for the Great Lakes office of the National Wildlife Federation in Ann Arbor, MI. for the past 6 years assisting with graphic design and outreach events. She recently shifted to working part-time for NWF and is excited to now spend the other half of her working week combating invasive species, assisting with prescribed natural area burns, and leading volunteer work events for Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation. Prior to moving to Ann Arbor she spent many years moving about the country teaching and directing programs at various environmental education and outdoor adventure facilities. She has a B.S. in Environmental Communications, Education, and Interpretation from Ohio State University. In her spare time, Sara enjoys backpacking, hiking, traveling, reading, teaching piano lessons, taking snapshots, and spending time with her friends and family. This will be Sara’s 6th Summit.
Larry Kinsella Larry is from Illinois and has been teaching primitive skills for about 25 years. He makes artifact replicas for individuals, colleges, and museums around the country. His atlatls and darts were used in 2 Discovery Channel specials and 2 History Channel specials and he won the Atlatl World Open competition in 1983. Larry started flint knapping in 1980 and has presented hundreds of programs on flint knapping, archaeology, experimental archaeology, and primitive skills. He teams up with his storyteller wife, Marilyn, in a program titled “Stories-N-Stones” in which storytelling is combined with primitive skills and/or experimental archaeology.
Leslie Krebs
Jr. Naturalists Leader. Originally from St Louis, I have both of my degrees from the University of Iowa; Elementary Education, (Science), Outdoor Recreation and a Masters in Science Education. My teaching in environmental education has taken me to Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming Iowa, and Ohio. These have included work with the Girl Scouts, National Park Service, and other fine non-profits over the years. I currently am employed with the McHenry County Conservation District the Chicago area. I enjoy working with all ages in the outdoors and am pleased to be teaching at my 22 summit.
Chris LeDoux Chris is a climbing guide for NW School of Survival (http://www.nwsos.com)
and Oregon Peak Adventures (http://www.oregonpeakadventures.com)
and a Wilderness First Responder . While she has often guided ascents of Mt.
Hood, Mt Adams, and Mt St Helens, she's equally comfortable leading lower
elevation hikes, snowshoes, and backpacking trips for Oregon Peak Adventures.
She is a team leader with Portland Mountain Rescue and stresses the need for
smart decision-making on mountain trips. She is also a climb leader for
Portland's big Mazamas club (http://www.mazamas.org/your/adventure/leader/1171/)
and says she prefers "leading from the middle." While her heart is in the alpine
rock and ice, or deep in the snowpack sniffing for avalanches or teaching others
how to avoid them, she spends much time hiking and running the trails near her
home with her dog and identifying wildflowers with her husband. They were
married on the summit of Mt Hood and completed high-altitude expeditions to Peru
and Canada's Mt. Logan. Formerly a marketing and senior program manager in the
high-tech working world, she recently completed an MS in geology, specializing
in glaciology. She has climbed throughout the Pacific Northwest and she'll be
able to answer many questions about Mt. Hood's glaciers and their effects.
Dave Linthicum Dave is a recipient of the 2000 Jug Bay (Md.) Environmental Award. He used mapping to help save the last 2,200 acres on the Potomac near Washington, D.C. and 1,200 unique acres on the Patuxent from becoming a 4,200 unit town home development and a gravel pit respectively. In Pakistan in 2006 he helped bring an endangered snow leopard cub ("Leo") to safety after its mother was killed. Trekking for weeks in snow leopard habitat on the world's longest glacial traverse outside of the Polar Regions, he found that a GPS and map could be handy (staying out of crevasses, for example.) This is his 32nd Summit.
Pete Loschl
The bulk of my profession experience as a wildlife biologist has involved studies of the Northern Spotted Owl in Oregon. I served as a study area crew leader working for the USDA Forest Service and Oregon State University (OSU) for most of the last 20 years. These studies have included radio telemetry work to examine home ranges and habitat use of owls as well as long-term marking and resighting (color-banding) work to estimate owl survival and population trends. I have been involved in numerous additional projects that have allowed me to work closely with raptors and other avian species. After completing my Master’s degree in Wildlife Science at OSU in March of this year, I accepted my current position as a field coordinator with the Columbia River Avian Predation Project at OSU. My current work focuses on the colony nesting birds and their impacts on salmonids in the Pacific Northwest. This will be my first Family Nature Summit!
Heather Northway Heather currently works as a religious educator for a Unitarian Universalist congregation. She has developed and taught environmental education programs at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes in Cleveland, Leslie Science Center, and Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and nature centers in the Chicago area. In addition to having fun experiencing the outdoors with her husband and two sons, she enjoys running and native landscaping in her yard.
Penny Owens Penny has nearly a decade of experience in the environmental education sector. Currently, she is the Education Coordinator and Assistant Biologist for Santa Barbara Channel Keeper, an environmental group working to protect and restore the Santa Barbara Channel and its watersheds. In her free time she enjoys playing in the ocean and being outside. This will be her 4th Summit working with the teens.
Gary Pfisterer Gary is an avid hiker, backpacker, trekker, and mountaineer. His enthusiasm for the outdoors began as a teenager in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He moved on to higher peaks in North and South America eventually climbing the highest peaks on the seven continents. He spent about ten years organizing and leading expeditions to the world’s highest peaks and currently leads treks for several organizers to Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan. He is currently attempting to reach the top of the highpoint of every state. He loves exploring new areas and is looking forward to leading hikes on his first summit.
Nicole Rom
Teen Leader. Biography to be added.
Sue Sabo Sue first contracted the Conservation Summit Virus (CSV) about 17 years ago when her parents invited her to join them at the Blue Ridge Summit and she has been infected with it ever since! Since the CSV is so contagious, she has managed to infect the rest of her family and a few others along the way! The symptoms of CSV include an intense desire to collect scarves of differing colors, greet others infected with the same virus, and see parts of this country that un-infected people never get a chance to experience! About 6 years ago she developed a new symptom--an uncontrollable desire to become even more involved in the Summit experience. Thus, I have now entered the "Faculty" phase, working with the Adult Adventure Class and eventually leading the Family Adventure class on her own. Two years ago the CSV mutated into a new but very similar virus known as the Family Summit Virus (FSV), and hopes to remain infected with this new virus for many years to come! When not indulging her viral symptoms, she is a media specialist in an elementary school near Columbus Ohio, and also a member of the Improv Comedy Troupe, Squishy! www.getsquishy.com
Carol Savonen Carol has been a science and garden writer for Oregon State University for 20 years. She has led natural history field trips and hikes for the past 25 years. She earned an M.S. in Botany from University of Vermont and a B.S. in Biology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland. She gardens, kayaks, and explores with her spouse, Kirk Schroeder.
Joel and Teri Schroeder Joel and his family became involved in Summits in 1985. Since then, he has been a teen leader or teen director almost every summer. Joel has been teaching high school science for over 30 years.
Teri has been a Summit youth program leader or served as child care staff or child care director for many years. She has a strong background in elementary education and lesson development.
Kirk Schroeder Kirk is enjoying his 30th year as a research salmon biologist for Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. He studies Willamette Basin Chinook salmon, a listed species and works on the rivers of Mt. Hood. A dedicated conservationist, he earned his degree in fisheries at University of Idaho. He gardens, kayaks, and explores with his spouse, Carol Savonen.
Leslie Sherrard Leslie is a National Board Certified teacher with 25 years of teaching experience in elementary and middle schools. Currently teaching middle school math in Charlotte, NC. Outdoor experience: worked at Glacier National Park in Montana, attended the Lake George, NY Family Summit as a Jr. Naturalist teacher, Director of Camp Invention (a science camp for elementary students), assistant PADI scuba diving Instructor. Mom of two teenage sons: older is a sophomore at Clemson, younger is a senior in HS.
Sally Sherrard Pre-School and Childcare Director. Sally lives in Littleton, NH with her husband and their son. She has her degree in Early Childhood Education and is presently working as an assistant teacher. This will be Sally and her son James’s 14th Summit. They are also magicians; who will share their magic at the Mt. Hood Family Summit.
Annie Tiberio Cameron Annie's professional training is in environmental education. She taught public school and was an education coordinator for the Massachusetts Audubon Society for a total of 13 years before leaving to begin a family and to run a performing arts agency as a business endeavor from home. Photography has always played a part in her professional life, shooting, exhibiting and teaching for many institutions, including Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts, and the National Wildlife Federation. She also tours a slide show, "Death Valley, Okefinokee, and Beyond," a visual and narrative retrospective of her 15 years of solo wilderness camping trips, designed to do her photography in solitude. After more than 35 years living in Amherst and the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts, and with her two children now grown, (Adam and Jenny grew up coming to Summits,) Annie moved to Vermont to marry Paul Cameron, an old college buddy and new Summiteer. With photography now her full time career, she is focusing her lens on all corners of Vermont. Annie has taught photography at the Summits since the mid-Eighties, with the 2008 Oregon Summit her 27th.
Anne Triebert This is Anne’s second year as a Faculty member of the Jr. Naturalist group for the age 7 to 8 group. She is a native of North Carolina with a background of outdoor education in settings such as City Parks and Recreation Dept., NC Natural Sciences museum with an emphasis on youth programming and is certified as a N.C. Environmental Educator. Currently, she works in the field of Personal Fitness and Health.
Betty Trummel Betty is a veteran faculty member of 32 Summits. An experienced elementary educator with a Master’s Degree in Outdoor Education, Betty was the recipient of the 1996 Presidential Award for Excellence in Elementary Science Teaching. She’s been to Antarctica twice as part of scientific research grants funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). As part of the immersion into working science teams, one of her main roles has been to bring the process of science and also current information to teachers, students, and the general public as part of broad multi-national educational outreach initiatives. Betty’s an experienced naturalist, backpacker, kayaker, and leader who encourages all ages to become involved in environmental concerns and programs.
Ame Vanorio Ame is from Kentucky where she teaches Special Education and Science. She lives on a farm with her son, Caleb, where they raise heritage livestock and organic vegetables. She loves being outdoors and enjoys nature. She is looking forward to traveling to Oregon and seeing the Pacific Ocean!!
Ron Wahl Ron is a computer scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and is currently working to develop GIS databases for geologic maps. He received a Geophysical Engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines and a Master of Science degree in geophysics from Stanford University. He’s taught geology, computer science, physics, and astronomy for Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado and astronomy for the Jefferson County, CO Schools Adult Education Program. Ron has taught various classes at a number of summits across the country since 1973. |
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