Where are they now?

Aaron Rich has been lucky to work and play with kids in the outdoors in the forests of Western Michigan, the canyons of the Colorado Plateau, and under the redwoods in Santa Cruz. He currently works at the beach as the Education Manager for the Headlands Institute in Sausalito.

Aaron is excited to be part of AEOE because of the incredible people who are involved in the organization and the amazing work AEOE members do to change the world.

What is he up to now? Aaron is still at Headlands, still helps out with AEOE in an advisory capacity, and recently got married!

Brett Tillman has been working at Camp Highland Outdoor Science School, in Cherry Valley, for about 5 years – first as an Instructor and currently as the Program Director since 2003. He loves working with the students who come here and his vibrant, fun loving personally comes out as soon as you meet him. If you come to Camp Highland you may see Brett dressed like Wade Fantastic, or showing a group his favorite kind of snake. You can also find Brett out rock climbing or hiking in the southern California desert. Brett has been passionate about volunteering for years and you can often find him in line at the local blood bank, ready to give more of his life to charity.  Kidding.
 
Brett has been attending AEOE conferences for the past 5 years, presenting several workshops on subjects ranging from Photosynthesis and Invertebrates to Drama in EE.  

AEOE is an amazing and dedicated organization full of amazing and dedicated people through which I have been able to learn so much which I can apply to my own teaching and pass on to my staff at Camp Highland.  I have been newsletter editor since the Fall 2006 issue and look forward to getting the word out.  If you have anything you want to say, !

Esther P. Rice served on the board shortly after coming to California from 1960 until 1964 receiving the Howard Bell Award during this time. From 1960 to 1997 she taught at Cal State, Hayward, now CSU East Bay. Some Board members who served with her were Bill Hammerman, Richard Brians, Carl Mieske and Jane Westenberger. In the 70's she and her late husband, Ed Railton, traveled through California and across the United States to visit outdoor schools in order to set up the Master's Program at CSU, Hayward. They used one of the first Winnebagos on the road, which could go any place a school bus could go. Since retirement, she and her husband Bob, a former NSTA president, enjoy the outdoors and do some writing.

Heather Butler: Hi! My outdoor ed background includes growing up in Redlands, southern California where I spent most of my time gardening, playing with our pet chickens, going to school (both my parents were teachers and yes, both of them had me in class) and hanging out with my family. I moved to Northern California to go to Stanford University and graduated in 1991 with a double-major degree in Comparative Literature and Human Biology. Since I started working, I experienced a variety of fields before finding a niche in environmental/outdoor education. From selling lingerie, to making sandwiches, to city planning, to selling concert tickets and doing botanical field work, environmental education has proven to be the best job possible and the one I chose to stay with. I love it!

In 1993, A friend of mine recommended that I look at teaching environmental ed, a job I never even knew existed. She sang me lots of funny songs about slugs and dirt. I thought she was crazy, but within a month I started teaching at Walden West Outdoor School, Santa Clara County's outdoor education program. With some spring sessions spent at Santa Cruz County Outdoor Science School, I spent the next 5 years as a Naturalist/EE Specialist for these two programs, doing summer camp in between. I then moved on to work at the Life Lab Science Program, located at UCSC in Santa Cruz, helping teachers learn to use gardens as outdoor classrooms in their schools. And in 1998, I started working at the Web of Life Field (WOLF) School. A year later, I was hired as the School Director and I have been here ever since. I like to talk about my work because it makes me happy!

I have been attending AEOE events since I have been a naturalist, but just recently wanted to get more involved-partly to give back and help out with the conferences that I have enjoyed so much over the years, partly because I believe that the field of education needs folks to step up and be leaders. And, because it's fun. I have met neat people, traveled to far-away places, learned skills on the computer, new songs and lots of things that will make me a better director and teacher. And, I'm always looking for people to involve in WOLF School and AEOE, so please contact me if you'd like to talk about what you can do with your skills! Always lots to do around here!

Where is she now? "I am still busy working at the WOLF School, recently got married and have just had my first kid, Mander.  He is great.  Hopefully I’ll never be too far from AEOE, 'cause I like working in an advisory kind of position."  

Heather amid blooms at work

Jason Westfall recently moved to Northern California (Sonora) from Angelus Oaks, where he ran the Orange County Department of Education Outdoor Science School site in Barton Flats (San Bernardino Mountains). He spent over 10 years working in EE, which he knew he’d be involved with ever since that fateful Earth Science class in 9th grade. He is now teaching High School Science in Sonora, up in the Sierra Foothills. He loves working with people in the mountains, including presenting workshops at AEOE conferences. He started with the outdoor school program in 1992, and eventually worked his way to Program Manager in 1999. He holds a B.A. in Earth Science from UC Berkeley, a multiple subject teaching credential from the University of Redlands, and a supplemental credential in science from U of R. He loves to mountain bike all over the San Bernardino Mountains, climb fourteen thousand foot peaks in California and Colorado, attend bluegrass festivals, and he is a voracious reader. Highlights in his life so far include building his own mandolin, playing in the bluegrass band Mill Creek Expedition, solo ski trips into the mountains, and leading backcountry trips in the Tetons of Wyoming. He hopes to build his own sea kayak and test it out as he paddles to Cabo San Lucas.

What's he up to now? Jason recently moved to Northern California (Sonora). He is now teaching High School Science in Sonora, up in the Sierra Foothills.

Julie Lancaster, (formerly Julie Faulkner) was past southern chair, when she co-led the great 2000 Vision Session at Hi Hill with Dan Allison, and the originator of the first Annual Colorado River Canoe Cruise, is currently living in Flagstaff - from her position as OE Director of Pathfinder Ranch, where she worked when she was on the board, she moved to Santa Cruz in 2003, obtained her credential, taught in local elementary schools, implementing a school gardening program, then moved to Flagstaff with her husband Mark, and had a son, Miles.

She writes, "I live in Flagstaff, AZ with my husband Mark and son Miles (2 1/6th years old).  I am now the Dean of Education at College America and I try and incorporate all the interactive teaching methods I learned in the outdoor ed world .  After I was on the AEOE board while directing the Pathfinder Ranch Outdoor Education Program near Idyllwild, I moved to Santa Cruz, CA and got my Masters in Education and teaching credential.  AEOE will always be a part of me!"

Julie Lancaster
2923 E. Lewis  Dr.  Flagstaff, AZ 86004
(928)526-4355       

I've been involved in AEOE for awhile now, attending my first conference as an intern in 1993. The Fall conference is a blast; Yosemite, burritos, old friends and co-workers, new friends and connections, interesting workshops. A great way to get back into the school year. The AEOE board is a great way to get involved. I originally joined the board as the northern treasurer for 2 years (1999-2001) and helped out with planning the statewide conference 2001. And now I'm back for another whirl! Yee-haw, come join the fun.

"Talk nerdy to me!"

Hi! I'm Maggie Wolfe I've been an AEOE member since 1994, when I became a naturalist at Green Meadows Outdoor School, and I've been doing environmental education in one form or another since 1976. I became southern California AEOE's newsletter editor in Fall of 1998 when I moved south to work as a naturalist at LA County Outdoor Science School in Wrightwood, where I worked through December of 2004. During this time I also was a park ranger in Yosemite in the summers, where it was my privilege to lead 7-day trips through the high Sierra back country for the Park Service. In 2005, I left the mountains and started a new career as a classroom teacher, teaching 7th and 8th grade math and science at Sierra Madre Middle School. The next phase of life is a little crazy, but sometime early in 2007, I will be travelling for about a year, living in an RV (cue Dana Lyons music here), exploring Baja to Alaska! You can read about our experiences here, if you like. After that, life is wide open.

I took over as AEOE webmaster in September 2003 and really enjoyed representing AEOE on the web. I handed over the website to a new webmaster and assistant in January of 2007. Now that my life is on the road and Julie and Paola have taken over the site, I look forward to watching the website continue to evolve into an even more effective tool for our members in the future! I still plan to be involved with the website as a webmaster consultant.

Being on the AEOE board has been more than just fun - it has been a way to improve my skills in many areas. When I first got involved, I didn't know how to create a newsletter, run a meeting, plan a conference, or maintain a website - I have learned so much from my involvement - and it all goes on my resume as valuable experience. And, it really is fun, especially helping with conferences - seeing a dream become a reality in making a conference happen is a blast! I also like publications, such as the newsletter and the website, because you have a product at the end of your efforts. I would recommend getting involved on the AEOE board to anyone interested in increasing your skills and experience, in making your visions into reality, and in helping make AEOE work for you.

Pete Devine grew up near Boston, and finished a biology degree in Colorado. He’s worked as a river guide, an NPS ranger, an archeologist, and an outdoor/environmental educator in Chile, Cape Cod, Colorado, and in Yosemite, where he’s worked for about 15 years. He likes birding and bicycling, and he likes the strong mix of people that AEOE brings together.

Savannah Brown Boiano (aka "Mrs. Bee")  has recently left Green Meadows Outdoor School in Fish Camp, California, to start a new life in Three Rivers with her new husband, Danny. She is now the Education Director for the Sequoia Natural History Association. She has worked in a variety of environmental education programs for many years. Currently she is Treasurer of Northern AEOE and serves as an active member of the Northern Section Board. For the past many years, when she was not at Green Meadows, she has been a ranger-naturalist at White Wolf and Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. Savannah was co-chair of the hugely successful 1997 Fall Yosemite Conference. She has presented numerous conference workshops and is noted for her high quality staff development training at her site and for the AEOE membership at large. During her tenure on the AEOE Board she has seen the organization triple in size. Savannah enjoys traveling to her mother's place in New Mexico, skiing, backpacking and running.

In 2001, Savannah was selected as the AEOE Northern Environmental Educator of the Year.

Tamara Kathleen Palmer Her outdoor education adventure began as a cabin leader volunteer during her last three years of high school and has been going off and on ever since. She has taught at various outdoor sites throughout the state, from the south to the north, and found a home for herself somewhere in the middle (as a Field Teacher at CCOSS (Camp Campbell Outdoor Science School) near Boulder Creek, in the Santa Cruz Mountains). After five years teaching in an indoor classroom, she went back to her roots of OE, and found AEOE at the same time.

While in Humboldt Co., she discovered a love of rafting and climbing through LEAP, another volunteer organization. There are very few raftable rivers in the South Bay area, but there is a fantastic local rock gym, Pacific Edge. Tamara works there on the weekends, keeping in touch (no pun intended) with another life love. In the summer season, she takes that knowledge (and love) and shares it with the climbing campers and high ropes enthusiasts who enroll in the Camp Campbell Resident Summer Camp. Her "normal person" interests include: backpacking, hiking, reading, road-trips, climbing, rafting, knitting, art of all kinds, children's literature, storytelling, dance, music, and hanging out with her kitten, Baxt Mau.

She is a strong advocate for AEE and AEOE, believing that her two favorite organizations have a lot to offer each other. Curious how? Just ask!

What's Tamara up to now? (2007 update)

Following yet another of her passions, Tamara entered graduate school at SJSU in the Fall of 2005.  She is about half way through the MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Science) program there, working her way to becoming a Children's or YA Librarian at either a public library or a Library Media Specialist/Teacher for an elementary/middle/high school.  She continues to work at Pacific Edge, which supplements students loans and keeps her active climbing the walls.  Until recently, that is, when climbing was put on hold due to orthoscopic shoulder surgery.  Still in Boulder Creek, CA, she and her partner Michael live in a snug cottage on the creek with Baxt Mau. Tamara looks forward to finishing school,  getting a real library job, being able to climb again, and someday getting back to her roots in AEOE and AEE!

Tamara on belay at the climbing gym

Tami "Polaris" Dickinson I started attending conferences within my first couple months of being a Naturalist-Intern at Green Meadows Outdoor School. Five years later, I found myself a permanent Nat at Green Meadows and haven't missed a single conference. I planned the entertainment for the 2005 state conference and generally help out whereever I'm needed. Thoughout the past couple years I've also worked at Santa Cruz County Outdoor Science School, and spent some summers leading trips for Adventures Cross Country, which took me to Alaska, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Before moving to California, I received my B.S. in Biology from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE, which is also my home state. I also spent time working as a ranger/backpacking guide for the Boy Scouts, at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. California has definitely become "home"  because of the amazing opportunities for adventure, learning, and playing with friends. I especially enjoy hiking, skiing, playing and listening to music, reading, cooking, making beer, traveling, camping, laughing, singing, running, and spending time with amazing people in amazing places. I 'm looking forward to more discoveries in this field, and learning from all of the other inspiring teachers and naturalists that make up this dedicated group of volunteers on the Council. Thank you!

Where is she now? Tami moved to Oregon