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WRFI Instructors

Our instructors are some of the best in the field. Attorneys, professors, writers, teachers, research scientists, they all combine teaching experience and an intimate knowledge of course subject matter with the leadership and backcountry skills necessary to provide our students with safe, high-quality learning experiences in wilderness settings. They are also fun, dynamic, and passionate about education and the wilderness they use as classrooms. Our students tell us all the time that our instructors are as important to their WRFI experience as the landscape and the content.

Steve Alexander

Steve Alexander joined WRFI in the winter of 2008. He received his B.S. in Geology from St. Lawrence University and is an M.S. candidate in Science Education at Montana State University in Bozeman. Steve grew up in northern New York exploring his backyard in the fashion of Thoreau—by foot…along with snowshoes, skis, and bikes.  He currently spends half of the year based near the headwaters of the Grasse River in northern New York, helping to run the Adirondack Semester for St. Lawrence University, a program which engages students in the study of nature and human relationships with nature while based in a secluded yurt campus.  He has also worked as a field instructor for several organizations including the National Outdoor Leadership School and the Teton Science Schools. When it comes to his line of work, Steve says that it is the unparallelled experiences students have in the field that guides his pursuit to reacquaint them with their natural surroundings. Steve will be teaching Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures.

Edgar Caballero Aspe

Tom Bansak

Tom is one of our river enthusiasts. After working on streams as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, Tom moved West to earn his Master's degree in river ecology at the University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station. Following the completion of his degree, Tom dove headfirst into the world of environmental education, informing students of all ages about the wonders of our freshwater ecosystems and the threats they face. Tom was a full-time instructor for WRFI for five years (2000-2004), during which time he also taught in Glacier National Park for the Glacier Institute, led educational rafting trips in Utah for the Canyonlands Field Institute, and guided whitewater rivers in Montana and Idaho. Tom has returned to the realm of river research and is now a part-time WRFI Instructor. He is currently a research scientist at the Flathead Lake Biological Station and serves as the research coordinator for the British Columbia component of a large international research project called the Salmon Rivers Observatory Network, which focuses on large in-tact salmon rivers of the Pacific. This position keeps him busy, but facilitates his love of exploring the wild and remote rivers of the world. Tom has regularly taught Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures, Alaskan Rainforest: Ecology and Policy of the Tongass, and Montana Afoot & Afloat.

Patrick Burke

Pat Burke began instructing for WRFI in the summer of 2007 and brings a unique combination of education and experience to each course he teaches.  Pat began his education with a B.A. in Philosophy from UC-San Diego, and continued with a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Montana.  He then attained an M.S. in Forest Ecology at the University of Montana and is currently working towards an M.A. in Philosophy, also at UM.  He has worked as a restoration ecologist on projects around the west including superfund sites, mine reclamation sites, national park natural disaster sites, and highway revegetation projects.  He is also the author and co-author of numerous publications.  Pat’s ability to review science while maintaining an ethical awareness allows him to fulfill WRFI’s mission of teaching critical thinking about social and environmental issues.  Pat teaches Restoration Ecology in Greater Yellowstone, Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons and Cultures, and Montana Afoot and Afloat: Human/Land Relations.     

Clint Carroll

Adam French

Adam was born and raised in the Ozarks of Arkansas but currently calls the Montana Rockies home. He received his B.A. in natural history/Latin American studies from Carleton College and his M.S. in environmental studies from the University of Montana. His work and research interests include international conservation, environmental media, place-based education, and mountain geography. He has traveled extensively in the U.S. and Latin America and has worked as an environmental educator and climbing/trekking guide in the Mojave Desert, the California Redwoods, the central Andes, and throughout the Rocky Mountains. Adam spends as much time as he can outdoors, whether it’s for teaching or research, rock or ice climbing, biking, surfing, or just catching new views. For WRFI, he has taught Montana Afoot and Afloat and Baja California: Coastal Ecology & Culture. He can be reached at barbaroja13@hotmail.com.

Lenny Gannes

Lenny has a passion for birds of all kinds, including pigeons, blackcaps, warblers, and Old World migrating songbirds. He has both an M.A. and a Ph. D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton University and a B.S. in environmental biology from the University of California, Davis. Lenny has taught environmental studies at Prescott College; has served as a lecturer, assistant instructor, and outdoor instructor at Princeton University; and is currently an assistant professor at the College of Santa Fe.  He has traveled extensively, speaks fluent Hebrew, and enjoys rock climbing and SCUBA diving. Lenny has instructed Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures, Continental Divide, and Montana Afoot and Afloat.

Brandt Geyerman

Brandt has instructed on WRFI's Montana Afoot & Afloat, Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures and Boundary Waters: Wilderness Land & Lakes. Raised in Minnesota and the high country of Colorado, Brandt devoted many years to competitive alpine skiing before pursuing his passion for philosophy. He earned a B.A. in philosophy in 1994, a J.D. in 1999, and expects an M.A. in philosophy/teaching ethics from the University of Montana in December 2006. He has taught philosophy and political science courses in Breckenridge since 1999, coordinated non-profit educational organizations in Telluride, and currently teaches Introduction to Philosophy on-line for Colorado Mountain College while living in Moab, Utah. Brandt's philosophic interests include teaching classical, environmental and feminist ethics in the backcountry. He has traveled in over 20 countries and enjoys freeskiing, mountain biking, climbing and canoeing.

Dave Havlick

Dave has taught more than twenty courses for WRFI since 1994 in Montana, Alaska, Utah, Texas, Washington & Mexico. During the past decade he's also worked for a number of conservation and non-profit organizations, including Predator Conservation Alliance, Wildlands CPR, and the Forest History Society, and written a book on public land roads, No Place Distant (Island Press, 2002). He gets outside as much as possible, whether for a run, ski, bike ride, or to garden, kayak, or teach. With degrees in English from Dartmouth College and environmental studies from the University of Montana, he is currently completing a Ph.D. in geography (focusing on environmental politics and federal lands) at the University of North Carolina.

Steve Kem

Steve works as an environmental scientist with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Northwest Montana. His work centers on biological monitoring of lakes and streams as well as further development of water quality standards for tribal waters. As a self-proclaimed water rat, he has extensive river expedition experience, including the Green, Colorado and Salmon, as well as a lot of portaging in the North Woods of Maine. Extended sea kayak ventures include trips in southeast Alaska, coastal Maine, and New Zealand. Other outdoor experiences includes instructing with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, leading trail crews with the Vermont Conservation Corps, ski patrolling, and leading bike tours throughout New England. Steve earned an M.S. in watershed science from the University of Montana's College of Forestry & Conservation, and he believes that teaching WRFI courses provides a valuable opportunity for continued personal and academic growth. He feels fortunate to share a home in the Mission Valley with his partner and two wonder dogs. Steve has taught WRFI's Restoration Ecology in Greater Yellowstone, Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Action, Montana Afoot and Afloat, and Baja Peninsula: Coastal Ecology & Culture.

Neil Kessler

Neil teaches Alaskan Rain Forest: Ecology and Policy of the Tongass and Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures. Neil started out as a WRFI student on the Alaska course and fell in love with both southeast Alaska and the educational experience that WRFI offers. When Neil is not in Alaska, he spends time chasing birds and learning ancient hand skills and history in the desert Southwest. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Lehigh University and earned his master's degree at the University of Vermont. His interest in ecology and natural sciences is multi-sourced, including the WRFI Alaska experience, wilderness survival courses, three years in rural Vermont, and a stint at the New England Wildlife Center (NEWC), a wildlife rehabilitation hospital in Hingham, Massachusetts. Neil also works as a blacksmith/knifemaker and writer, with some of his recent nature-based adventure stories being published in Catalyst Magazine in Salt Lake City, and one upcoming in The Herb Companion.

Kathy Marieb

Kathy has her B.S. in biology from Tufts University and her M.S. in environmental studies from the University of Montana. After moving to the west in 1997, she has alternated her time between playing hard outdoors and being in the outdoors to study carnivores. Kathy has fallen in love with the places she has lived in Alaska, Washington, and Montana, but somehow most of her work is focused on Latin America. Currently, she is working with biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Jaguar Conservation Program to determine the most effective means for conserving jaguars from Mexico to Argentina. In her spare time, you will find her scaling rocks, running mountains, or writing prose. Kathy has taught Montana Afoot & Afloat, Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures and Baja Peninsula: Coastal Ecology & Culture.

Malena Marvin

Though work and travel have lured her all over our blue planet, Malena is a proud resident of Salmon Nation, having lived in Alaska, British Columbia, California and Oregon. In keeping with her inexplicable obsession with wild fish, Malena has followed the historical and scientific stories of Pacific salmon with a BA in History from Reed College and MS in Environmental Education from Southern Oregon University. Most recently Malena worked with the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the Southeast Alaska Watershed Council Association to develop programs supporting native and commercial fishermen and with the Nature Conservancy of Alaska as a conservation action planner. 

When not teaching Alaskan Rainforest:Ecology and Policy of the Tongass for WRFI, Malena is now trying to undam the Klamath River as Director of Outreach and Development for Klamath Riverkeeper, an organization that works closely with Native tribes, fishermen and others to protect water quality along the California/Oregon border.  Malena loves chopping firewood and then writing poems about it, touching fish, paddling kayaks, surfing, and allowing herself to be herded by Keeja the dog.

Bart Miller

Bart lives in Boulder, Colorado. His day job is as an attorney and water program director at Western Resource Advocates, where he works to protect stream flows and fish in rivers throughout the southwest. From 1995 to 2000, Bart lived in Washington D.C., fighting D.C. traffic on his bike commute and working as an attorney for several agencies inside the Department of the Interior. He earned his law degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and an undergraduate degree in English from Dartmouth. In 1990, he hiked the Continental Divide from Mexico to Canada and runs, hikes, bikes, and skis whenever possible. He has instructed for WRFI for two to four weeks each year for many years, including Montana's Continental Divide, Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures and Montana Afoot & Afloat.

Angie Moline

Angie grew up camping in a VW bus and felt sorry for people who had to sleep in tents on the ground.  During high school she discovered the wonders of backpacking and now teaches lightweight backpacking as a metaphor for how to live lightly on the earth.  In addition to metaphor, Angie draws from a variety of teaching techniques on WRFI courses including storytelling, mind mapping, and a unique backcountry version of the game Cranium.  She lives in Colorado where she enjoys making art, telemark skiing, practicing yoga, and sharing meals with friends.  Angie has also taught field courses for Outward Bound Wilderness and the Audubon Expedition Institute.  She received her doctorate from Colorado State University where she studied the interaction between benthic invertebrates and riparian vegetation in small streams of the Colorado Plateau.  She also holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame, the University of Minnesota, and Northern Arizona University.  Angie teaches Restoration Ecology, Baja Peninsula: Coastal Ecology & Culture, and Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures for WRFI.  To contact Angie, send an email to angiemoline@wildmail.com.

Dave Morris

Dave is a WRFI board member and a long-time WRFI instructor. He has taught Alaskan Rainforest, Coastal Culture and Ecology of Baja, Conservation & Community in the Yellowstone to Yukon Region, Continental Divide, Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures, and Montana Afoot and Afloat, and he developed our new Cycle the Rockies:Energy and Climate Change in Montana.

Dave graduated from Evergreen State College with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. He earned his Masters of Science in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. Dave has instructed for the Yosemite Institute, Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, two Outward Bound Schools, and several other outdoor education programs. He has traveled extensively in Canada, South America, and Asia. Dave has a great sense of humor, loves teaching at the college level, and offers WRFI students a wealth of knowledge about resource issues and ecology. He hopes to teach many more WRFI courses in the future.

Nicky Phear

Nicky Phear coordinates and teaches for the Wilderness and Civilization Program, which is a two-semester field and campus program for undergraduates at the University of Montana. Nicky has long been dedicated to WRFI. She was the organization's first director and has taught a range of field courses for WRFI as well as Prescott College and the Colorado Outward Bound School. She is currently active in climate change education. In the fall of 2007 she cycled 1000 miles with the Ride for Climate giving public presentations about global warming and the need for action. She serves on the city of Missoula’s Mayor’s Climate Change Advisory Board and is helping the University of Montana develop an innovative minor in climate change. She received her Master of Science in environmental studies at the University of Montana. Nicky is one of the founding instructors of Cycle the Rockies:Energy and Climate Change in Montana. She can be reached at nicky.phear@umontana.edu.

Sarah Pohl

Sarah is a former WRFI executive director but has since returned full-time to teaching.  She recently completed her MA/T in Philosophy as well as her teaching certificate in secondary education from the University of Montana. She is now a 10th grade English teacher in Missoula.  When not absorbed in the works of Aristotle and Kant, Sarah can be found in the garden, at the hockey rink, or jogging around town with her dog Colter ("the Bolter"). Prior to working for WRFI, much of her experience has been instructing in the backcountry, and has included working with the Voyageur Outward Bound School in Montana, the Minnesota-based Wilderness Inquiry, and Alternative Youth Adventures in Utah and Montana. Other work has included working with the Forest Service, with the University of Montana, and with Montana Conservation Corps. Sarah received her B.A. in Philosophy from Colby College and her M.S. in Wilderness Recreation Management from the University of Montana in 1998, where she focused her thesis work on women and wilderness. Sarah teaches one of the backpacking sections of our Montana Afoot and Afloat course. She can be reached at: pohlwoman@blackfoot.net.

Mari Rice

Mari developed a passion for wilderness as a child, climbing trees in the soggy forests of the Pacific Northwest. Her interest in environmental stewardship was further kindled through seven years work as an environmental educator, naturalist, and farm apprentice across the United States and abroad. She is in love with the Rocky Mountains and Latin America, and has traveled to nearly 40 countries around the world. Mari has a B.A. in Spanish and international studies from the University of Oregon, an M.S. in environmental studies from the University of Montana, and a certificate in ecological horticulture from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Presently a nomadic organic farmer and outdoor educator, Mari is interested in the intersection between agriculture and wilderness, and is also passionate about helping youth develop a sense of place. Currently, Mari works with tribal youth and their families through her job as an advisor for the Upward Bound program for the Four Corners region.  In her free time, Mari can be found hiking or skiing in the mountains, writing, or planting seeds in the garden. Mari teaches Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Action.

Dan Spencer

Dan teaches in the Environmental Studies program at the University of Montana where he focuses on issues of globalization, Latin America, community participation in ecological restoration, and environmental ethics and theology.  Dan’s undergraduate degree is in geology from Carleton College, which also included three summers teaching geology field camp in the Tobacco Root Mountains of southwest Montana, and three summers working and climbing in Glacier Park. He has graduate degrees in theology and ethics from Union Theological Seminary in New York, and spent 10 years teaching in a Religion and Philosophy Program at Drake University in Iowa before moving to Montana just in time for the fires of 2000. Dan grew up on the West Coast and in Colorado, and spent most of his adult life trying to find a way to get back to the West from Minnesota, New York and Iowa.  He’s been teaching at the University of Montana since 2002, and now that he’s back in Montana, he hopes to never move again. He lives with his partner, Pat Burke, and Pat’s two kids, in Missoula.

Craig Stafford

Bethany Swanson

Having grown up in Portland, Oregon, Bethany's love of the outdoors was fostered by all the Northwest has to offer. She graduated from Colorado College in 2000 with a degree in environmental history, and completed her Master's degree from the University of Montana's environmental studies program in May 2005. Her emphasis in environmental education is specifically focused on place-based education and critical pedagogy. A job guiding sea kayaking trips for a small outfitter in southeast Alaska took Bethany up to Ketchikan in 2000. After three summers of paddling the pristine waters around Ketchikan, the hook was set. Although she calls the Rocky Mountain West home, Alaska calls to her and she returns whenever she can. She has studied and taught natural history and ecology from southeast Alaska to the Rocky Mountain West and in Central and South America. In her free time, Bethany loves to ski, run, backpack, read, travel and make salads from her garden. She's thrilled to instruct Alaskan Rainforest: Ecology and Policy of the Tongass, Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures and Montana Afoot & Afloat.

Anna Tuttle

Anna Tuttle, WRFI's Program Manager, looks after student relations and communication, instructor support, course oversight, advertising and recruiting, and even some office administration. Anna came to WRFI after completing her M.S. in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana.  Prior to that she was a Liberal Arts major at Colorado State University, where a class similar to a WRFI semester course inspired her to change her life’s direction. Anna has taught in the outdoors all over the west and in Alaska for various organizations, but she currently lives in Missoula where she was the youth development coordinator for the Flagship Program at Willard Alternative High School before coming to work for WRFI full time in May 2007. Anna has instructed Colorado Plateau: Desert Canyons & Cultures and Montana Afoot and Afloat: Human/Land Relations . She feels honored to work for an organization as empowering and relevant as WRFI. To contact Anna, send an email to: anna@wri.net.

John Tuxill

John earned his Ph.D. at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the New York Botanical Garden, with a research focus on the conservation of biodiversity in traditional agricultural landscapes and sustainable development and forest resource use in Latin America. He has spent many years in rural Yucatan, Mexico, conducting dissertation fieldwork on Yucatec Maya farming systems and agrarian change. He has lived in Panama, where he researched and wrote about biodiversity conservation for the Worldwatch Institute, and has extensive field and backcountry experience in Costa Rica, Peru, Venezuela, Dominica, and northern Mexico. He holds a B.A. in biology and environmental studies from Williams College (1990) and an M.S. in conservation biology and sustainable development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994). For students interested in his Yucatan Cultural Ecology course, you're in good hands: John speaks Yucatec Maya, Spanish, and if necessary, French, Portuguese, and even a bit of English.

Kim Wilkinson

Kim has a B.A. in anthropology and human & natural ecology from Emory University, and a Master's degree in environmental management from Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.  Her master's work at Yale focused on traditional ecological knowledge in conservation efforts. She brings over a decade of experience in traditional resource management and agroforestry systems to the course, and is the author of three books on these subjects. She formerly made her living as a farmer/native plant grower in Hawaii. Her studies have taken her to Fiji, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Ireland, and Mexico. She loves to help students cultivate a more intimate understanding of agriculture, nature, and culture. For WRFI, Kim teaches Yucatan Cultural Ecology.

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