2026 Summer Instructors

Maddie joined the ARC year-round staff in 2022. Prior to joining ARC’s team, she worked as an environmental educator in programs for youth in North Carolina and Colorado. She has a Bachelor’s in sociology and anthropology from St. Olaf College and a Master’s in nonprofit management from Regis University, and has been a Wilderness First Responder since 2019. In her free time, Maddie loves to connect with nature through trail running, hiking, backpacking, and identifying plants; enjoys sewing, water coloring cards, photography, and pie-baking; and keeps her commitment to lifelong learning by reading (especially nonfiction!) and conversing with friends, colleagues, and students. Wendell Berry’s poetry has been particularly influential in her connection with nature.

Gilian (sounds like fish “gill” ) has taught a variety of subjects in nature-based K-8 schools, completed high alpine trail construction in the western Rocky Mountains, and led a youth conservation crew on projects in and around Plumas National Forest. Gilian holds a Bachelors of Science in Society and Environment from the University of California – Berkeley, and is a certified NOLS Wilderness First Responder. Gilian loves to sing, cook and throw long, lazy dinner parties with friends and family. Favorite poems of hers include Kobayashi Issa’s “Cherry Blossoms” and “i thank you god for most this amazing…” by e.e. cummings. This is Gilian’s third summer at ARC.

Melany first joined ARC as a student in the 2016 Tahoe summer course, where they discovered the vastness held within nature and the self. Since 2020, Melany has been working closely in the Central Valley, building connections with the community and the youth. They graduated in Spring 2025 with a BA in Animation, hoping to blend their love of storytelling, nature, people, and connection into a continued pursuit of happiness and joy with the community. In their free time, Melany loves to play video games, draw, listen to music, dance, sing, and read. Their current reading recommendation is “I Who Have Never Known Men” by Jacqueline Harpman. Melany has been a certified Wilderness First Responder since 2023.

Laurel has worked all over California as an outdoor educator and wilderness guide, sharing her passion for the natural world with youth and adults. She earned a B.A. in Public Health and Spanish at Pitzer College, and has since applied both her preventative health lens and Spanish language skills to her work in the outdoor field. Laurel joined ARC in 2025 as a summer instructor, and now lives full-time in Truckee working as ARC’s Program Facilitator. She is thrilled to continue learning and leading students in the dynamic and magical Sierra Nevada. When she is not playing in the mountains, Laurel enjoys live music, cooking, and reading– especially historical fiction. Laurel earned her Wilderness First Responder certification in 2018 through Wilderness Medical Associates.

Vivianna brings experience supporting diverse college students as both a Latino/e Student Mentor and an Outdoor Orientation Adventure Leader, where she taught outdoors skills and facilitated ice-breakers to help foster positive outdoor and college-transition experiences. She currently works as a Case Manager at a family resource center, supporting diverse rural families in accessing vital resources and care. Vivianna holds a B.A. in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College and is currently obtaining her Masters in Social Work from Cal Poly Humboldt. She will also become a Wilderness First Responder in Summer 2026. In her spare time, Vivianna enjoys reading works from liberatory authors as well as farming and building community with Aquilli Metzli, a new seed-to-table masa cooperative in Humboldt County promoting Latino/e and Indigenous food sovereignty..

Mike has been in education or environmental education for the past six years.  Currently he teaches high school science in Oregon.  Prior to his education career, Mike was a wildlife biologist, working in locations across the country.  Mike has extensive backcountry living and travel experience through various outdoor pursuits.  When not working, he can be found indulging his outdoor hobbies – all disciplines of climbing, trail running, and skiing.  His start for all of the above began at The University of Maine, where he studied wildlife ecology.  He went on to get a dual masters at Southern Oregon University in Environmental Education and Secondary Science Education.  Mike has held a Wilderness First Responder certification since 2016.