Residential Program

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Student Profiles

Andy Fyfe, Saratoga Springs, NY

"The Wilderness Awareness School curriculum is the most comprehensive and unbelievably layered bundle of knowledge I’ve ever known, continuing to educate me and facilitate my teaching of others on a daily basis.

I felt called to bring this bundle back to my community in upstate NY, with the goal of applying the six shields model to work within the field of traditional environmental education. I immediately found a paid internship with the Department of Environmental Conservation and later with the Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation. Subsequently hired by Saratoga Spa State Park, as an environmental educator I lead hikes, classes and demonstrations incorporating the skills and perspectives taught at the Residential Program.

I also work as a visiting scientist through the co-operative education course in my county and lead walks for the local open space organization and the City of Saratoga Springs. Additionally, I write a "nature fitness" column for Adirondack Sports and Fitness magazine. Through all of these activities, I try to invoke passion in children, adults and myself. One of my goals is to keep adding layers to my naturalist knowledge. Towards that end, I continue with Kamana activities and am also working on a Masters in Environmental Studies."

Daniel Be, Grand Junction, Colorado

"After completing the Residential Program, I returned to my home state of Colorado to try my hand at mentoring children and teens in many of the skills that I learned at Wilderness Awareness School. I did this through a series of wilderness campouts that have been a great success. I have seen several 'afraid to be in the woods' kids become true naturalists over the course of a summer.

In addition to the campouts, I have been mentoring a number of students individually on a weekly basis in skills of tracking, wilderness survival, bird language and awareness.

Currently, I am making preparations to attend Clark University in Massachusetts with plans to eventually become a professional psychologist in counseling. I have truly appreciated the sincerity with which the Wilderness Awareness School instructors have shared their knowledge with me, and I continually use and appreciate the skills I gained through this course."

Alexia Stevens, Woodinville, Washington

"Completing the Residential Program gave me the confidence to comtemplate a world of options. Should I expand my summer field biology job to a fulltime gig? Maybe I could do an extended survival trip in the Southwest with some classmates or go to graduate school. As life would have it, I married Jeff, my Tracker school sweetheart, and started to work for Wilderness Awareness School. My mentor in college had once looked at my Kamana Naturalist Training Program work and said, 'Someday you're going to work as an instructor for this place.' I didn't think it could ever happen, but here I am working at Wilderness Awareness School.

I'm thrilled to be with an organization I love so much, and to now be teaching as a core instructor at the Residential Program, and as a guest instructor on Bird Language at our other adult courses. Having that year to focus completely on the natural world was vital to what I do now, and to what I'll do in the future.

The learning never stops, and I'm still learning from lessons I got in my residential year!"

Rob LaBuda, Prescott, Arizona

"After graduating from the Wilderness Awareness Residential Program, I went on to continue my education at Prescott College, where I am completing a degree in Conservation Biology. My experience at Wilderness Awareness School has proven extremely helpful in my college classes.

The foundation of knowledge I built through the Residential Program and the Kamana Naturalist Training Program has helped me to excel in all of my classes, especially in the natural sciences and education.

I was also hired last summer as a field assistant with the Nez Perce Tribe's wolf recovery project in Idaho, largely due to my experience with animal tracking. Through this job, I am helping to research characteristics of wolf den sites and their surrounding habitat. When completed, this research will allow wildlife managers to know what factors influence wolf den site selection, allowing for habitat conservation to better facilitate wolf recovery.

My experience at Wilderness Awareness School studying animal tracking, bird language, and botany have all been valuable for this study."

Sarah Wheeless, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

"I am pursuing my Masters degree in Biological Science with a focus on Ornithology at the University of Southern Mississippi. I am part of the Migratory Bird Research Group, studying the stop-over ecology of migratory passerines. You can visit the web page concerning my research by clicking on my photo at left. Upon finishing my Masters degree, I am going to continue toward a Doctorate inScience and Mathematics Education.

I am working to combine my knowledge as a scientist with the skills I learned at Wilderness Awareness School and during The Residential Program. My goal is to integrate mentoring techniques into mainstream education, using courses based on fostering an understanding of one's environment and community through a personal connection with nature and place."

Gabe Spence, Twisp, Washington

"After completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology, working in the field some, and attending several of Tom Brown's courses, Wilderness Awareness School's Residential Program gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in the study of animal tracking, bird language, and wilderness survival. Since then I have applied many of those skills in different professional settings.

During the year after I graduated the Residential Program, I managed a carnivore monitoring project for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and served as a lead instructor for Wilderness Awareness School's tracking Club.

Since then I have worked with Jon Young, founder of Wilderness Awareness School and Mark Elbroch, renowned author, in shaping the Shikari Tracker Training Program, as well as working as a team leader on their Idaho Tracking Expedition.

Most recently, I worked as a wildlife tracker for an environmental consulting company, and have started my own consulting business, Common Ground Tracking Company.

Nicole Morgan, San Gregorio, California

"Before I went to the Wilderness Awareness School's Residential Program I had studied film and video production, and had completed a few documentary projects of my own.

After a year of practicing wilderness survival, animal tracking, bird language and many other skills at the Residential Program, I realized that the combination of these new skills with my skills as a visual artist could be combined to make powerful videos that inspire people to reconnect with the land.

After graduating from the Residential Program and taking some time to travel, I was hired to work on production of a number of video projects about mentoring and tracking for Owlink Media, a publishing company started by Wilderness Awareness School founder, Jon Young.

The Residential Program was an opportunity for to really dive into my own growth in tracking and awareness and other wilderness skills. This gave me a foundation of learning that has carried on with me as I continue on my path.

I now have the opportunity to give back to people and the earth, and continue my personal growth as a human being on the planet. I am thankful to all of the people at Wilderness Awareness School who make the Residential Program possible, and to all of the students in my class for all that I learned from them, and the experiences that we shared."