It takes a variety of skills, and a whole lotta love to bring something like The Outdoor Learning School & Store to life, and keep it breathing well. These are the beings that pour their heart, knowledge, skill, and energy into making this the reality it is. I hope one day you’ll meet them, they are all awesome.
Before we get to the team, we’d like to recognize the Indigenous Land and Nations, and by doing so we acknowledge a longer history and our place(s) in that history. We wish to acknowledge these lands and waters and their significance for the peoples who lived and continue to live in these regions, whose practices and spiritualities were and are tied to Land and Water, and those whose lives continue to enrich, develop and steward in relationship to Land, Waters and other inhabitants today.
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional homelands, since time immemorial, of Indigenous communities in the watershed of the Columbia Basin: Ktunaxa, Sinixt, Secwepmec, and Sylix, where many of our team call home, and on which The Outdoor Learning Store primarily operates from.
Outdoor Learning School Team
Jade Berrill
Director of Learning
From hosting workshops, trainings or gatherings to creating amazing podcasts, Jade wears many hats! She has a vivaciousness for life that ignites everyone around her. She uses this seemingly unending energy to enrich the lives of youth through environmental education, rock climbing, mountain biking and outdoor youth skills camps…weaving in cross-curricular magic as she goes.
Jade is a passionate educator and communicator of science. Building on a love for bringing people together as a mechanism for growth and forward thinking, this role encompasses organizing events to develop the best opportunities for professional development, networking and educational outreach – engaging students, teachers and decision makers alike.
Jade now spends most of her time training educators how to take their learning outside, growing the outdoor education community and providing support networks for teachers and educators.
Jenna Jasek
Director of Indigenous Learning
An Indigenous Advisor with us for many years, Jenna helped to launch The Outdoor Learning School & Store, and co-created the 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning initiative. She is a certified teacher of 20 years, and was previously the VP of Indigenous Learning and Equity for Rocky Mountain School District.
Jenna is on a learning expedition which involves her culture, traditional teachings, languages and Knowledge of nature. She believes Indigenous perspectives connect effortlessly with outdoor, hands-on and place-based learning. Her goal is to provide learners of all ages opportunities to explore, learn and immerse themselves in the outdoors and outdoor education alongside Indigenous perspectives and Knowledge.
Jenna lives at the headwaters of the Columbia River which runs through and is the unceded territories of her ancestors, the Secwépemc and Ktunaxa people.
Duncan Whittick
Executive Director
At the heart of The Outdoor Learning Store Duncan makes everything go round; it’s no wonder he was the recipient of the National Environmental Education ‘Outstanding Individual in an Organization’ Award in 2018.
His years of experience working with incredible organizations like CBEEN, C2C, KBEE, EECOM, KCP, Cypress Hills Inter-provincial Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park, the National Trust for Scotland, and the Jane Goodall Institute have allowed him to accentuate his innate ability to bring people together in something he is passionate about: Environmental Education.
He enjoys connecting the dots between people and organizations, looking for pathways to positive systemic change, and finding ways we can all work better, together.
Mia King
Program Manager
Mia lives in Revelstoke, on the traditional lands of the Sinixt, the Ktunaxa, the Secwepemc, and the Syilx.
Once Mia realized she could combine her passion for nature (developed while growing up on a farm, through environmental studies, and a lot of hiking/biking/camping), with her enjoyment of teaching (realized when she moved to Japan for a couple of years to teach English as a second language), she has since been involved with environmental education in many different forms. Whether creating informational signs on aquatic species at risk or leading a group of school-aged students through the forest on an interpretive hike, Mia enjoys helping people learn and connect with their local environment.
Alyson McMullen
Indigenous Learning Facilitator
Alyson (she/her) is of Mushkego (Swampy Cree), Irish and French ancestry. She is an educator (RECE, OCT) whose work is centered around decolonizing education through land centered inquiry based practice.
Alyson is a graduate of the Waaban Indigenous Teacher Education Program at York University. She has worked as a passionate educator in the public school system, committed to transformative education goals that re-centre the needs, stories and perspectives of the underserved and underrepresented.
She also works with our amazing partners at Natural Curiosity, and has been helping to facilitate and guide learning through the 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning course, as well as the Nêhiyawêwin (Cree) Language Course.
Alysse Kennedy
Publishing Manager
Alysse graduated from OISE with her PhD on environmental & sustainability education and climate justice. As a guest on Turtle Island she’s enthusiastic about Indigenous approaches to storying learning and learning from the Land.
Over the last seven years she’s had incredible experiences teaching in K-6 and post-secondary education and researching and organizing programming specific to environmental and sustainability education and climate action.
A bookworm at heart, prior to pursuing her career in education Alysse completed her Graduate Certificate in Publishing (Centennial College). She is excited to combine her passions for education, environment and books in this new role as Publishing Manager.
Outdoor Learning Store Team
Jennifer Swan
Outdoor Learning Store Manager
Jennifer has a BA in History from the University of Victoria and a Diploma in Environmental Planning from Selkirk College. Living, recreating, working, and raising a family in rural British Columbia has led to a deep appreciation for the natural world, and whilst she was self-employed for most of her career, working at the Outdoor Learning Store allows her to combine her skills in business operations with her belief that environmental education is central to creating healthy, sustainable communities.
While Jennifer has lived, studied. and worked in other regions of Canada, as well as in Europe and the United States, the Columbia Valley always felt like home, and in November 2022, she relocated back to Invermere.
Kate Atkinson
Outdoor Learning Orders Manager
Kate Atkinson is originally from Riverview, New Brunswick. She earned her degree in Outdoor Rec. at NBCC, St Andrews, and chose the Rocky Mountains as her home with skis in one hand a paintbrush in the other. While Kate’s career has taken her from snowy mountain tops and dropping cliffs to a position with less altitude, Kate’s love of the mountains and daily adventures with her two kids have inspired her art and continued love of the Columbia Valley, while still keeping her on her toes! She loves bringing her outdoor recreation background, combined with her creativity, to the Outdoor Learning Store, helping to inspire and support learners and educators alike.
Katy Scotland
Resource Supporter
Katy grew up in small-town Ontario, and spent summers in the Rocky Mountains between her years at Nipissing University, where she earned a BA in History. When she graduated from University, she decided to spend one more year exploring the magic of the mountains, and then decided that this place was truly home! In addition to supporting the Outdoor Learning Store, recently she started working at the Invermere Public Library. She has found it incredible to find a job where she learns something new every day! In her free time, you can find her on the water in the summer, kayaking, or camping somewhere at one of the many stunning lakes in the area. In the winter, she likes to spend time snowshoeing or curled up with a great book by the fire!
Strategy & Support Team
Katie Wells
CFO
Over the past 15+ years, Katie has found a niche using her multidisciplinary entrepreneurial skillset with her P.Eng. and her specialties in business, finance and systems to help entrepreneurs and non-profits move their goals and dreams forward. Her firm, Turning Point Business Advisory Services Inc., is based out of Invermere where Katie has lived for the past 27 years. She enjoys family, being outside and tiny house living.
Sarah Bennett
Creative Genius/Brand Strategy Development
Owner of Origin Brand Sarah’s creative force brings to life the core purpose and vision of the Outdoor Learning Store. Not just a creator on paper or digitally, She is mother to two beautiful children.
She specializes in the design and project-management of integrated multi-component marketing projects. Sarah advocates a creative, collaborative and conscious approach to all strategic design (and life!) endeavours. She gracefully combines art and technology.
Shawn Wernig
Digital Wizard/Web Master
Having a vision of an Outdoor Learning Store is one thing; it’s quite another to make it a digital reality that functions well and smoothly, consistently. That’s where Shawn comes in.
Shawn now lives in Cranbrook with his gorgeous partner, crazily cute fur-babies, and hundreds (literally, hundreds, seriously there’s oodles of them) of plant friends…and a really nice atrium.
More about Shawn: eggplantstudios.ca
CBEEN – our backbone
Todd Hebert
CBEEN – Chair
Todd lives and works in Cranbrook and is the Executive Director of Columbia Outdoor School & Blue Lake Camp. He has been involved in environmental education for many years through his work at Blue Lake, as a facilitator for HCTF and a community educator. He is also spearheading the restoration of Joseph Creek and connecting community to the creek and its importance to the area.
Janet Kuijt
CBEEN – Vice-Chair
Janet is grateful for a path that has allowed her to be involved in running Kootenay Mountain Adventures – summer nature camps, Backcountry Pursuits – summer & winter backcountry trips and School District 5 K-9 outdoor educational programming on the traditional homelands of the Ktunaxa. Being and learning in nature is a passion she is honoured to share by supporting the important connections between community, classrooms and the great outdoors. She is a Principal at a school in Fernie, BC.
Faye O'Neil
Indigenous Education Coordinator, Advisor, Educator and Board Member
Faye O’Neil was born on her homelands of ?ama?kis Ktunaxa at the beginning of the headwaters of the micqaqas akinmituk (Chickadee River/Columbia River) where she played in the water and on the land.
She is a community member of the ?aqam and resides in Cranbrook, BC. Faye is an Aboriginal Education Coordinator in School District #5 (Southeast Kootenay) and has been working in the public education sector for 21 years promoting and braiding Indigenous worldviews and perspectives into the classrooms.
When not volunteering sitting on committees and boards for ?aqam, the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network and the Ktunaxa Nation, you can find her out on the land exploring and following the footprints of her ancestors, kayaking the many lakes in the area and gathering plants and berries. Recently Faye was awarded an EE Award of Excellence from CBEEN.
Take Me Outside – Partners for Nature’s Life
Colin Harris
Take Me Outside Executive Director
Colin Harris is the Founder and ED of Take Me Outside. He initiated the organization by running 7,600 km across Canada over nine months, going into 80 schools across the country and engaging 20,000 students in the conversation of their time spent in front of screens compared to their time spent outside, being active and connecting to nature. Colin has been immersed in the field of outdoor and environmental education for over 15 years. He has been the director of outdoor education at an Ontario-based centre, he has instructed canoe trips for Outward Bound Canada and has worked with Indigenous students in the Western Arctic Leadership Program in NT. He has taught in Fort Smith and Toronto, completed a Master’s of Environmental Education and Communication through Royal Roads University and started his PhD in Educational Research in the fall of 2021. He currently lives in Banff, Alberta and enjoys trail running, writing and continuing to find ways to engage Canadian students in exploring this country’s incredible backyard.
Julie Read
Take Me Outside Program Manager
Julie is a land-based educator, elementary school teacher, Forest and Nature School practitioner and enthusiastic naturalist with over 15 years of leadership experience within non-profit organizations.
She loves helping people of all ages connect to nature and is deeply passionate about social justice, removing barriers and increasing equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility in outdoor learning.
She grew up in a house in a forest near London, Ontario. Her naturalist parents took her birding in Point Pelee, home of the Caldwell First Nation, every spring since she was a baby, so technically she started birding before she could even walk.
Julie created the Fanshawe Nature School while working as the Community Education Supervisor for the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority and has previously worked as Community Programs Coordinator at the High Park Nature Centre in Toronto and as Program Manager at The Guelph Outdoor School.
Julie lives on Dish with One Spoon and Between the Lakes Treaty 3 land in Guelph, Ontario with her partner Claire and cat Penny and loves camping, cooking, wild swimming, reading, crafting and music.
Rachel Cumpsty
Take Me Outside Education Outreach Coordinator
Rachel’s earliest memories are of her being outdoors. Her childhood was filled with family camping trips and exploring nature. This early love of the outdoors has contributed to Rachel’s passion for working with others to promote outdoor and land-based education. Rachel is an educator in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Treaty 1 Territory, and passionate about working with youth to connect them to the outdoors.
She currently is a high school educator in the Louis Riel School Division. Rachel’s background in Indigenous Studies has a large presence in her work as she strives to use Indigenous ways of knowing and land-based approaches to promote student wellbeing and reconciliation. Rachel has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Indigenous Studies and a Bachelor of Education both from the University of Manitoba.
She has previously worked for outdoor education programs such as landED Manitoba and been on teacher-led learning teams to support educators incorporating outdoor learning and Indigenous education into their classrooms. Outside of work, Rachel enjoys rock climbing, canoe trips, yoga, and spending time with her partner and their dog Sage.
Great Gratitude for those who have come before us…
We want to offer our great gratitude for those who have come before us to lay the foundation for our future success.
A HUGE thanks goes out to those who have put a full trip around the sun, or more, into making this social enterprise a reality:
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Ava MacLean
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Stephanie Korolyk
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Jennifer Roberts
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Chris O’Shaughnessy
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Natt Forrest
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Lili Paradi
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Jen Baker
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Farheen Kadwa
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Dee Conklin
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Cheryl Lenardon
