Justin McGlamery is a visionary and creative thinker whose quest for lifelong learning fuels the many divergent passions he brings to his work and to his life. Justin teaches at Saint Joseph College using experiential/adventure education as a pedagogical approach with many different populations and for many different reasons. For the past 15 [...]
In the late 1970s, Mike Gessford was fortunate to have a quality challenge ropes course experience at Nauset Regional High School during PE class. Using that as a springboard, and pursuing further coursework in adventure education, he graduated from Plymouth State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. He earned a Master’s [...]
Greg Robinson is currently president of Challenge Quest, LLC in Pryor, Oklahoma. Previous to coming to Challenge Quest, Greg spent 5 years with Williams in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a managing organization development consultant. He also was the coordinator of experiential training at John Brown University. His professional career also included 10 years of youth ministry [...]
Mary Beth was an exceptional high school English teacher and ran an award winning journalism program before her work with Link Crew. Her involvement with the program began after she attended a Link Crew training and then ran the program at her high school for five years. She fell in love with Link Crew and [...]
Gary A. Stauffer has spent the past 30 years of professional social work practice working with children and youth. Those years have included a decade of clinical work in community mental health settings and the past 20 years as a school social worker, including 10 years in a day treatment program for youth with severe [...]
Jen Stanchfield, M.S. began her professional involvement in experiential education in 1989. In her years as an educator, recreational therapist, and challenge course facilitator she has worked with many different groups of all ages and backgrounds from elementary students, to patients in treatment programs, to corporate executives. Jen earned her undergraduate degree at the University [...]
Steven Simpson, PhD, is professor of Recreation Management and Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He is the former editor of the Journal of Experiential Education and has written over 50 articles on experiential education, outdoor recreation, and environmental ethics.
Books:
01. Leader Who Is Hardly Known: Self-less Teaching From the Chinese Tradition
02. The Processing Pinnacle: [...]
Mari Ruddy has been a professional speaker and seminar leader since 1998. She has worked with a variety of schools and organizations, such as comprehensive high schools, environmental organizations, community-based social service agencies, elementary schools, and the Girl Scouts. The services she provides are in the areas of team building, facilitation, leadership retreats, and youth [...]
Dan Miller is the vice president of the Institute for Experiential Education. In addition to leading workshops for IEE, he builds challenge courses and conducts challenge course trainings for ABEE. Dan is a senior instructor for Training Master Limited, a Hong experience-based training company in Hong Kong. He has worked in therapeutic recreation [...]
Rena Kornblum currently teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For the last 25 years, she has worked with children and families dealing with autism, learning disabilities, attachment disorders, and abuse as a dance/movement therapist. She developed the program for children and families at Hancock Center for Movement Arts & Therapies, Madison, WI.
Book: Disarming the Playground: [...]
D. Maurie Lung has always loved the out-of-doors and adventure. Her first work experiences were providing opportunities for outdoor adventure as a camp counselor. This led her to study environmental education and outdoor recreation and become a Camp Director. As youth and adults learned about the world around them and gained new skills, she saw [...]
For the past 15 years, Micah has been working with student leaders, schools, teachers, parents and administrators to create unparalleled success. Micah first started working with Link Crew in 1993 and led a team of middle school teachers to create the WEB in 1996. He was the lead trainer for the WEB program until 1999, [...]
After 15 years inspiring and transforming students as an English teacher and an Activities Director, Carolyn did what she never envisioned doing: she left the classroom. The impetus for this decision was her attendance at the very first Link Crew training in 1993. After implementing Link Crew at two different schools and seeing what the [...]
Saul Hewish is one of the UK’s leading practitioners in the use of drama and theater-related work with offenders and at-risk young people. He is the founder and director of Acting Out Company and executive codirector of Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation), an arts-based company specializing in drama, theater, and multiarts programs in the UK [...]
Jackie Gerstein has been an educator for over 20 years, working in a variety of settings—outdoor and experiential education programs, public and private K-12 schools, and state universities. Her own passions in education revolve around differentiating instruction, brain compatible learning, experiential education, use of kinesiology and art to teach content area skills, and multicultural education.
Book: [...]
Laurie Frank is a former public school teacher who has worked in the adventure and experiential education arenas for 25 years. She began her career as a special education teacher in emotional disabilities, working with students of all ages. Her path diverged upon the discovery of adventure education and experiential methodologies. The need to develop [...]
Larry Eckert has a BA in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Iowa and an MA in School Counseling from the University of Iowa. He has 17 years experience as an elementary school teacher and guidance counselor working with minority and at-risk students as well as the general population. Larry has worked with students [...]
Tim Dodds & Lisa Prosser-Dodds have been working with children, youth, and families for over 20 years as specialists in teambuilding. In 2001, Tim and Lisa formed Journeys Counseling & Consulting, providing direct counseling services, consulting, and training for educators, clergy, camping professional, and others.
Book: Games for Change: Group Activities With Creative Spiritual Concepts on [...]
Dr. Jack Christ earned a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and joined the faculty of Ripon College in 1970. In 1980, he founded the Leadership Studies Program at Ripon College, the world’s first undergraduate liberal-arts academic program offering a minor in Leadership Studies. In 1994, he wrote the report for a Wisconsin Governor’s Commission [...]
Bio coming soon…
Book: Are You More Like…?/What Would It Be Like…?: A Back-to-Back Book of Anytime Questions for Anysize Answers/co-author
Chris Cavert is a nationally known speaker and trainer in the area of adventure-based activity programming. He focuses on using experiential activities to develop pro-social community building skills within groups of all ages. Cavert has written 12 activity books, holds a master’s degree in Experiential Education, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Northern Arizona [...]
Carol Ruth Carlin is a career public school teacher who has always employed active learning techniques in her classroom. She began her career as an English/Social Studies teacher, progressed through speech and the graphic arts and into leadership development. Her journey included participation as an adult leadership trainer for both the state and national teacher’s [...]
Buzz Bocher is president of the Institute for Experiential Education and, with Dan Miller, the co-creator of Chiji Processing Cards. He is the instructor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the former director of the university’s ropes and challenge course.
Book: The Processing Pinnacle: An Educator’s Guide to Better Processing/co-author
Contact Information:
bocher.wayn@uwlax.edu
John Bergman is a master drama therapist who specializes in working with sexual and violent offenders. He is founder and director of The Geese Theater, which operates in the US and UK. He is an internationally renowned expert in training prison staff to interact humanely with inmates, setting up and delivering therapeutic programming, creating original [...]
Tony Alvarez lives on O`ahu in Hawaii and is a faculty member of the University of Hawaii School of Social Work. He trains, teaches, advises, counsels, coaches, consults, and supervises Masters level Social Work and Psychology students, Child Welfare workers, community-based human service providers and Mental Health workers.
A Social Worker for 40 years, Tony’s practice [...]
Jeff Albin is the son, grandson, and nephew of farmers, warriors, and proud matrons. He is proud of the fact that like many Americans his ancestors come from many parts of the globe. He takes much of his inspiration from the First Peoples of this continent and has spent the last fourteen years hanging out [...]