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 Adult Faculty and Guest Lecturers

Matt Blank was 7 when he attended his first summit in New Hampshire. He has been attending them ever since and is excited to have added a rock climbing class to the program. He has been instructing and guiding rock climbing for the last 4-1/2 years. Matt enjoys many thrill-seeking activities and always stresses safety first so he can keep enjoying them.

Carla Brown is originally from Atlantic Canada - she was born in Newfoundland and her parents live in Nova Scotia. She became acquainted with Family Nature Summits when they were run by the National Wildlife Federation, where she has worked on the internet team since 2000. She taught at the Summits in Montana, Maine, Colorado, New Brunswick and Oregon. She taught crafts such as hand quilting, crazy quilting and rug hooking, as well as classes in green lifestyles, global warming solutions and raising children as global citizens. Her daughter said her first "word" at a Summit (a bear's roar in Colorado) and now her parents come to Summits as well. Carla also volunteers on the Family Nature Summits board where she writes the e-newsletters and maintains the Summit website.

Professor William Brown is a vertebrate zoologist and herpetologist; he holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University (1965, 1968) and a Ph.D. degree in Biology from the University of Utah (1973). Brown is a native of southeastern Pennsylvania where he grew up on a family farm and, when not doing chores, could be found chasing turtles and snakes in the local streams and fields. From 1974 to 1997 he was an Associate Professor of Biology at Skidmore College in New York, teaching a variety of courses (Field Zoology, Vertebrate Anatomy, Environmental Science). Since 1997 he has been an emeritus professor of biology at Skidmore College. Currently, he is a part-time lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Albany, where for nine years he taught Field Biology and Vertebrate Histology (1997-2007), and where he currently teaches Comparative Anatomy of Chordates (2007-2009). In 1990, Brown served a one-year elected term as President of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR), an international professional organization of over 2,000 herpetologists, research biologists, and zoo professionals. In recent years he has served as a consultant for the State of New York in evaluating development projects impacting the timber rattlesnake as well as other reptiles and amphibians, and other wildlife. He has also provided evaluations for citizens' conservation groups opposing inappropriate developments that impact timber rattlesnakes.

James Bruchac is an award winning author, storyteller, tracking expert, wilderness instructor and guide. Raised in the Adirondack foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York Jim is the eldest son of World renowned Abenaki Indian storyteller and author Joseph Bruchac III. Of Abenaki and Slovak descent Jim grew up immersed in the outdoors and the art of storytelling. Due to their combined efforts to educate others about the natural world in March of 2005 Jim and his father were awarded a CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION. Along with teaching classes, James is also presenting our Saturday evening program.

Josh Burnette is a 2006 graduate of Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh. After a six month externship cooking at  Disneyworld, he moved back to Washington, DC and has worked at several of D.C.’s finest restaurants including 2941, Le Paradou and Adour by Alain Ducasse. He is currently a chef de partie at The Oval Room which was just ranked the eighth best restaurant in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. He is part of the Young Adult group and this will be his 12th summit.

Annie Tiberio Cameron is a fine art nature photographer with a special emphasis on teaching. She brings to this Summit (in 2009, her 28th Summit) over 32 years of elementary school teaching, coordinating environmental education programs for Massachusetts Audubon Society, and teaching photography for the National Wildlife Federation, University of Massachusetts Continuing Education, Bay Path College and many other institutions. Her photos have been exhibited in galleries and museums, received awards and have been published in numerous calendars, magazines, newspapers, and other publications, including a two editions of a top-selling Sierra Club book entitled: Mother Earth -- Through the Eyes of Women Photographers and Writers, as well as its accompanying postcard book. Annie also tours a narrated photographic slide adventure entitled “Death Valley, Okefinokee and Beyond,” a retrospective of 15 years of Annie’s solo wilderness travel to wild and remote places to photograph. Annie volunteers on the faculty recruiting committee and co-organizes the evening programs with Junior Naturalist Director Steve Houser.

Dave Egan got his undergraduate degree in the Valley and Ridge Province of central Pennsylvania at Bucknell University and then his graduate degree in the glacial plains of the Miami River Valley at Wright State University in Ohio. Dave has been involved with geologic studies nationwide as a geologist supporting cleanup of soils, groundwater, streams and estuaries at Superfund sites and other industrial or former industrial facilities. He has also helped to interpret geology for hikers and other enjoyers of the outdoors for the past 20 years. In his spare time, you may find him biking, hiking, kayaking, swimming or playing ultimate Frisbee.

Donny Goetz is 25 years old and lives in southern California. This will be his second Summit. He first heard about Family Summits from his friend Matt Blank. Donny began exploring nature at a young age with his family and broadened his experience while in the Boy Scouts. With his friends and scout troop, he has logged over 1000 backpacking miles, almost all in the Sierra Nevada. He also began climbing as a scout. He has been climbing for over a decade now and has dabbled in all areas of the sport from bouldering to ice to big wall climbing.

Julia Goren is an active environmental educator and interpreter with experience from the Catskills to Western Mass., but especially in the Adirondacks. The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) Summit Steward Coordinator since February, she worked with the ADK in '05 doing guided walks, campfire presentations, and interpretation at her post atop Mt. Jo and at the Nature Museum. With ADK in '06 and '07 she did extensive alpine endangered species field research for ADK's Summit Steward program and served as the Summit Botany Steward. From '07 to early '09 she headed a summer NYC teacher program for the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development to continue her work to "develop a sense of place in several different ecosystems." She has also done  interpretation work at Wupatki National Monument in Arizona, been a farm hand and trail crew member, and trained park personnel in the Altai region of Siberia. She holds an MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch Univ. and is a National Assoc. for Interpretation Certified Guide and Trainer.

John Green, an interpretive naturalist, has conducted songbird surveys for the US Forest Service during his tenure with the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station – the research arm of the US Forest Service located in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has done breeding bird surveys for the past 20 years for both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Town of Amherst. John has taught bird identification to new and seasoned birders for over 30 years and has led nature tours from Newfoundland to Florida. He is an expert in birding by ear.

Lee Hadden has been a vacationer in the Adirondacks all of his life, beginning with his parents taking him and his sisters as children [actually before he can remember going as a baby], and that vacation tradition continues as he and his own children [and his mother and family friends] still gather at Indian Lake every August. He is Professor of Biology at Wingate University in Wingate, NC. He received the BS in Biology from Muhlenberg College and the MA and Ph. D. in Biology from Wake Forest University. Lee has taught college students for over 40 years and is beginning his 34th year at Wingate University. He is the father of three children, one of whom, Christi, is in her 7th year as a Summit faculty member. He is also a colleague at Wingate University of Marilyn Hartness, another veteran Summiteer. Lee has taught a wide selection of college biology courses including Environmental Biology and Microbiology, and currently teaches Plant Biology, Human Biology, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. His favorite classroom is the out-of-doors and his favorite style is a "walk and talk" format. He enjoys nature, camping, kayaking, canoeing and sailing, gardening, and woodworking and coppersmithing. As a woodworker, he appreciates trees beyond their biology, and enjoys using "nature's art" in his work as well as photographing plants typifying "nature's sculpture" in general. He is thrilled to be a "Summiteer" for the second time [his first time was at the Summit in 2002 at Big Sky].

Al Hicks has toiled for years and years on behalf of New York state wildlife as an endangered species biologist with the state's Dept. of Environmental Conservation. In January, 2007, however, his life changed with the news of a mysterious disease that had been discovered near Albany that would soon be wiping out entire bat colonies. Since then, Al has led a national effort studying what has become known as white-nose syndrome from his Albany base of operations, doing extensive field and lab research and passing along news of the spread of the disease and potential checks to media outlets from Time magazine to network television.

Katie Johnson is a career professional educator in the Mounds View School District (suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, area) and has been sidelining in ecospirituality as an adult educator since the early 1990s. She is a threetime participant at Sophia Summer Institute (Holy Names College, Oakland), where the staff is comprised of some of the brightest minds and wisest spirits on the planet who meet each summer to discuss new thinking and further implications of the interface of spirituality and the environment. She is a 14-year veteran of summer summits, first attending in 1989.

Dave Linthicum 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 33rd Summit. Dave also volunteers on the Family Nature Summits board and on the faculty recruiting committee.

Al Lookofsky graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1971 with a B.S. Degree in Wildlife Management. After working for the Corps of Engineers as a Park Ranger from 1974 at Old Hickory Lake and Cordell Hull Lakes in Tennessee, he transferred to Lake Shelbyville in central Illinois were he retired in 2005 as the lead Ranger for the Interpretive Services section. Previous lead Ranger assignments include the Visitor Assistance and Recreation/Management sections. He also has taught courses across our country in Operation and Maintenance Contracting, Campground Design, and Primitive Technologies. Al started his association with NWF while still in college at the first three summers of the NWF youth camps and has also worked with either the youth program or adult programs at ten summits. He is a past president, secretary, and board member for the Illinois Association for Advancement of Archaeology. Recipient of Legends Award presented annually by the Recreation Coalition to an outstanding employee in each of the federal lands management agencies. Received first Hiram M. Chittenden Award for interpretive excellence presented to an employee in the St. Louis District Corps of Engineers. Hobbies include knife collecting, Native American (Stone Age) technologies, hunting, and gardening. Al is married to Betsy and they have two children, Walt and Alice. Betsy is a high school biology teacher and enjoys reading and walking. Walt is a practicing defense attorney. Alice is soon to be a Special Agent for Diplomatic Security.

Denis Pellichero is a retired Naval engineer who is now focusing his skills on improving Health Care infrastructure in Nova Scotia Canada. Denis is at the forefront of a dramatic change in providing Nursing Home Care to an ever increasing senior population as well as a shift to “Green Building” design. Denis is a certified Casting Instructor from the International Federation of Fly Fishers and a Nova Scotia Professional Fishing Guide. Denis was hooked (pardon the pun) on fishing since he was a little boy but has been an active fly fisher for over 14 years and promotes Catch and Release fishing to help protect the species. Denis has been a certified instructor for over 4 years and teaches part time at the Atlantic Fly Fishing School (http://www.flyschool.net/) in Brookfield Nova Scotia.

Michael Pelton is Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Science, Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, The University of Tennessee. For 32 years he conducted research on black bears and various other mammals (raccoon, deer, cottontail rabbits, European wild hogs, red wolves, river otter) in the southern Appalachians. He and his graduate students have delved into numerous aspects of the ecology and life history of black bears and assisted private and public organizations and agencies on management issues regarding this species. Michael is currently technical advisor to a variety of bear projects and wildlife organizations and agencies regarding bear issues. The black bear research project he initiated in 1968 is Great Smoky Mountains National Park just completed its 40th consecutive field season and is the longest continuous research project of any bear species in the world. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Valley Conservation Council and is an Associate Director of Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District. Michael has 4 grown sons and 3 grandchildren. His wife Tamra is on the faculty of Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA. They reside on their mountain farm in Augusta County, VA. Michael volunteered on the faculty recruiting committee.

Sue Sabo 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. Sue is also volunteering to coordinate the Summit Store in 2009.

James Sherrard is a New Hampshire native and his mother and he have been attending Family Nature Summits since 1993 when he was 8 years old. Over the years, the Family Nature Summits helped shape James’ life in one positive way after another. In addition to the life long friends he has made, the knowledge gained from each class and activity has lead him into a life of nature awareness. James graduated in May of 2007 with a degree in Civil Engineering with Emphasis in Sustainability and began working within the field of sustainability following graduation. James says his choice of major and career is due to his level of exposure to wildlife through his family and the Family Nature Summits. He hopes to start giving back what the Family Nature Summits has given him in the following years by doing his part in the conservation effort.

Clare Walker Leslie is a nationally recognized author, artist, naturalist and educator. She has taught for National Wildlife Summits since 1995. She is working on her 11th book – Connecting Parents and Teachers to Nature. She will have an assortment of her other books with her to buy. Clare comes to us from over the lake, in Vermont.

Tamra Willis is an assistant professor in the Graduate Teacher Education Program at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton Virginia. She has developed an Environment-Based Learning (EBL) program at the college, providing professional development for teachers and a Master of Education degree in EBL. The program encourages K-12 teachers to take students outside and to use the local environment to teach all subjects including reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and art. A primary goal is to engage students in outdoor learning experiences so that they will connect with nature in a meaningful way. Tamra lives on the side of Little North Mountain, VA in an 1850s farmhouse with her husband, Michael Pelton. Tamra volunteered on the faculty recruiting committee.

Book Club

  Childcare Program

Early Discovery Program

 Junior Naturalist Program

Co-Director - Delene Hoffner - This is DeLene Hoffner's 6th summit. She has been a co-director for the past two summits and a Junior Naturalist leader four summits before that. She is a K-2 science teacher and half day kindergarten teacher in her "real" life. She has been teaching elementary education for over 23 years. She is always involved in environmental education in many ways: author, curriculum designer, as well as instructor for outdoor education summer courses (a favorite of hers!) She instructs teachers in Project Wild /WET/Learning Tree. DeLene received the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in Elementary Science, Teacher of the Year for her school, and Exemplary Elementary Science Teacher by the Council for Elementary Science International (CESI). Currently she is the Preschool/Elementary Director for the National Science Teacher Association, serves on several national science committee and is also involved in reviewing publications and a magazine, Science & Children. She is so excited to be part of OUR summits where families can experience adventures, learn about nature, meet new friends and MORE!!! DeLene believes in the critical importance of connecting children with nature. Our future is in their hands!

Co-Director - Steve Houser Jr. is an award winning teacher of gifted children at Providence Spring Elementary School in Charlotte, NC. He uses the natural world as a gateway for instruction in all areas of the curriculum. Hands-on and experiential learning are his main instructional strategies. In the past, Steve was selected to receive the Governor's Award as North Carolina's Environmental Educator of the Year, and he has been the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (a program of the White House and the National Science Foundation). He is a North Carolina certified Environmental Educator and has been named an "Educator of Excellence" by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. One of Steve's goals is for his students to be happy, stimulated, and learning. He also strives to help children learn to be good stewards of the earth, and encourages them to go outdoors often.

  Teen Program

Director - Joel Schroeder became involved with the NWF Family Conservation Summits starting in 1985 and has either served on the teen staff or directed the teen program many times since then. He is a secondary science teacher and technology coordinator for a school district in Iowa. His current teaching duties include classes in all areas of science and some college-level science classes as well.

Christi Hadden has been working with students outdoors for ten years. This is her 7th 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.

Penny Owens 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 5th Summit working with the teens.

Kelsey and Danny Williams graduated from Messiah College with degrees in Adventure Education. While Kelsey was still in school, Danny spent a year working at Outside In School of Experiential Learning leading expedition backpacking trips from Pennsylvania to New Mexico. After their marriage in 2008 they began working as Adventure Staff at Yellow Breeches Educational Center, a private adventure based school. In their free time they enjoy various adventure activities such as backpacking, rock climbing and whitewater canoeing.

 Young Adult Program

 Hike Leaders

Logistics

 Carl Brown was born in Newfoundland, and currently lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. His first summit was in 2004 at Estes Park, Colorado. His wife is Gloria Brown, his daughter is Carla Brown (Green Lifestyles at 2009, Newsletter Editor, Board member) and he is grandfather to Nora and Russell. Carl worked 34 years with Imperial Oil, an affiliate of ExxonMobil as a Planning /Real Estate Manager. He retired in 2003 and has continued to do contract work with Imperial Oil since retirement. Carl has a business degree from Memorial University, Newfoundland. He says he enjoys dealing with people and has plenty of energy to coordinate, organize and manage. He says that must be why the Logistics Coordinator role fits his personality. He used to be a Venturer/Boy Scout leader dealing with ages 14 – 17. They experienced many outdoor activities including winter and summer camping, hiking and canoeing. He has also been an Advisor for the Duke of Edinburgh Program, a soccer and T ball coach. New York will be his fourth Summit.

Rosanne Mistretta has been coming to Summits with her family for the past 8 years. She has been a science teacher at Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania for the past 10 years. She was also an attorney for the US Environmental Protection Agency in Philadelphia for 10 years before going back to school for a Master's Degree in Environmental Education and becoming a science teacher.  She is the Summer Programs Coordinator for the Mokoma Conservancy, a nonprofit land conservancy group in Northcentral Pennsylvania, running educational outdoor programming every summer for the community.