SUE FORD, MS, OTR/L, CEIM, is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist/ Infant Massage Educator/ Reiki Master and owner of Coorie Wellness located in Kittery, Maine. Sue has worked with children and families promoting health and wellness for more than twenty years. Working as a pediatric occupational therapist has offered Sue experience and exposure in many settings and environments including private practice, outdoor education, early intervention, school-based, and community and school-based education and consultation. Drawing from her prior work experience as an outdoor educator, and passion for nature-based education, Sue has worked with a variety of schools to help support teachers and students in incorporating natural spaces and creative movement for increasing adaptability, emotional regulation and confidence with all students. Sue is passionate about helping families and children feel empowered and confident to navigate life with a full “toolbox” of strategies for communication, connection, mind-body health and confidence, and resiliency to thrive in all areas of life. Sue loves facilitating workshops for teachers and school communities, including being a presenter at Antioch University’s In Bloom in Maine Nature-based Early Childhood Conference where she first met Anne in 2016.

Sue teaches the Sensory Regulation and Nature Connection workshops for therapists (OT, PT, Speech) and educators and facilitates Sensory Regulation and Nature Connection workshops at schools and programs with Anne.

MARIE ROBINSON, Ph. D., superintendent of Bangor Schools (and former superintendent of Katahdin Schools), lives and works in northern Maine. She has been in the field of education for nearly thirty years and has witnessed the negative impact that high stakes testing has had on learning. Marie feels a sense of urgency to shift the focus to the whole child. She has a wide range of educational experiences which include teaching children of toddler age through high school. Previous roles that Marie has also held include instructional coaching, and a PK-12 building principal. As a school superintendent, Marie is leading her district through a journey of change. She supports and encourages teachers to facilitate lessons outdoors in order to enhance the learning process and support wellbeing. Through the implementation of outdoor learning, teachers in her district have recognized the benefits of time outdoors for themselves and their students. Marie is passionate about utilizing the restorative aspects of nature and she strives to positively impact the educational system so that it supports the physical, cognitive and social emotional wellbeing of all children. Marie and Anne have worked closely together on professional projects for the past eight years; in 2022, they traveled to Atlanta, GA to present together at the Children and Nature Network’s International conference.

Marie teaches the Leading with Nature I: Leadership and Nature Connection summer workshop for school/program leaders and presents at conferences with Anne.

KATE CASS, M.S.Ed. has been a primary grades teacher in Maine for the past 20 years in public, charter, and independent school settings. She is currently a Multiage Grades 1-2 Lead Teacher at Friends School of Portland. Over the course of her career she developed passions for teaching with nature, and integrated learning including art. Kate uses art as an integral part of learning across disciplines. She works with both process and product art projects to deepen naturalist studies and connections to nature throughout the seasons. In her life outside of school, Kate spends time on her own art and craft projects including knitting, sewing, and natural dyeing with cultivated and wild plants. 

Kate teaches Arts Integration and Nature Connection with Anne, an educator workshop focused on utilizing visual arts and nature connected studies across the curriculum.

SEAL ROSSIGNOL, M.S.Ed, has been an experiential educator for over 25 years. She has worked with at-risk youth in wilderness settings, facilitated experiences for outdoor leaders-in-training, taught in independent and public school systems, as well as co-founded the only grassroots, climate non profit organization in western Maine. The natural world has been the consistent thread that stitches her career together and she utilizes the lens of sustainability in her work, a skill she continues to cultivate. She strives to integrate land-based learning into traditional school curriculum to foster a sense of place and stewardship within her students. Seal loves all things outdoors and feels most alive among the mountains and rivers of Maine, though a patch of forest and a little brook feel just as grandiose to her on most days. She lives in Otisfield with her husband and two daughters, her favorite people for outdoor adventures, as well as two cats and her best dog, without whom life would be much less joyful.

Seal teaches the Introduction to Outdoor Learning and Nature Connection workshops for educators and facilitates Outdoor Learning and Nature Connection workshops at schools and programs with Anne.

KATE ZIMINSKY, M.Ed, holds graduate certificates in Environmental Education and Ecology, Health Science Education and Social Emotional Learning, Brain-Based Curriculum Development, Culturally Responsive Practice: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and Responsive Classroom. As poet Mary Oliver so thoughtfully acknowledges and assures, “Attention is the beginning of devotion;” Kate’s life and career choices have been rooted in and grounded by the natural world. As a devoted, lifelong learner and certified Environmental Educator, Early Childhood-12th grade teacher, registered Maine Guide, Wilderness First Responder and state Wildlife Rehabilitator, she has spent much of her career teaching and facilitating experiences in the “Field”. Presently, she works for Waynflete School, an EC-12 Independent School, located in Portland, Maine, coordinating the Health and Wellness (H&W) department, writing the 6th-12th grade H&W curriculum, teaching 8th grade H&W, as well as coaching teachers in Culturally Responsive S.E.L, DEIB and Responsive Classroom practices. Kate’s work also includes running Wave of the Day Wellness Education & Health Consulting. Dovetailing nicely with her passion for ecological study is her commitment to holistic health and wellness. As a certified Health Coach and the owner of Wave of the Day Wellness, Kate develops and facilitates workshops for those interested in culturally responsive, nature-based S.E.L., ecology and environmental education, woods and waters immersion experiences, as well as teach surfing lessons, mindfulness, fitness classes and promote healthy eating with Tower Gardens and whole food nutrition. More at home at sea than on terra firma, you can find her floating, birding and following sea creatures from my paddle board.

Kate teaches the Social Emotional Learning and Nature Connection workshops for educators and counselors and facilitates Social Emotional Learning and Nature Connection workshops at schools and programs with Anne.

ANNE STIRES, M.Ed. is committed to educational systemic change through community, school, and early childhood initiatives. Over the years, she has taught graduate level courses for Antioch University's Nature-based Early Childhood master’s degree and certificate programs as a Senior Lecturer – such as, Natural History for Early Childhood: Teaching in Winter, Nature-based Leadership, and Risk Management for Nature-based Early Childhood. Anne holds a Master's degree in Education from Antioch University and is pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Educational Leadership at the University of Southern Maine, focusing on educator wellbeing in community schools that feature outdoor learning and nature connection initiatives. Founder of Juniper Hill School for Place-Based Education in Alna, Maine, she is now an independent educational consultant working with schools and programs throughout Maine and beyond to support equitable outdoor learning and nature connection. She is a featured speaker at nature-based and early childhood education conferences and serves as an advisor to Inside-Outside: Nature-based Educators’ Network. Anne wrote the first chapter for David Sobel’s book, Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning (2015) and co-authored the NAEEE/Natural Start Alliance’s Nature-Based Preschool Professional Practices Guidebook (2019). She also serves on the Board of Directors for Tanglewood-Blueberry Cove 4-H Camps & Learning Centers and served for the past four years on the Maine GearShare Board. She currently consults with Maine Early Childhood Outdoors (MeECO), working primarily on state licensing for outdoor, nature-based child care programs. With colleagues, she co-facilitates nature-based wellness retreats for educators and co-creates media about nature-based education. She loves to go on outdoor adventures with her son and partner.