Instructor

Dave grew up hunting and fishing in Washington State. Now he’s a full-time student at the University of Montana and on track to graduate with honors, holding a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology.

While Dave spends a lot of his time studying the hard sciences, his true passion lies with more ancient knowledge. He’s fascinated with the Earth-based skills and philosophy that have been passed down for thousands of generations. He began practicing these skills in high school and has committed to a lifelong journey of expanding his awareness.

Dave has instructed students from age 3 to 70+ in primitive living skills through Coyote Trails School of Nature since 2009. He also volunteers his time to pass on these teachings. Dave especially loves working with young people and has volunteered at kid’s camps for TrackersNW and has taught an after-school wilderness survival club for middle schoolers. For his part-time job, he works with kids three to seven years old at a child care center and he recently started a university club to expose more people to these primitive living skills.

He’s taken classes from the Montana Natural History Center and was certified as a Master Naturalist in 2011. He’s also taken multiple classes from Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracker School and through the Coyote Trails advanced instructor training mentorship program. Through Dave’s eyes, life is just one big adventure.

Instructor

Jesse, aka the Frisbee Ninja, has been immersing himself into the Coyote world as much as possible since 2004. He began as a student then returned to volunteer. Jesse has persevered and is now instructor who is always learning. He grew up in Costa Rica and is bilingual. While in Costa Rica he ran tours on horseback, kayak, mountain bike and on foot through amazing, dense, bio-diverse rain forests. He is really excited to be learning as much and more about the Rogue Valley's (USA's 2nd most bio-diverse) ecosystem as he knows about Costa Rica's. His other passions are stone masonry and yoga. One of his great pleasures is finding balance; with rocks, poses, nature and sharing skills with other people.

Instructor

Homegrown in the woods around Ashland Oregon, Michele is a natural-world adventurer and full-time mom of two daughters. Currently a full-time student at Southern Oregon University graduating June 2011 with a degree in Early Childhood Development, a minor in Outdoor Adventure Leadership while receiving a certificate in Native American Studies.

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Instructor

Special Needs

Kim is an avid outdoor enthusiast and graduate of the Southern Oregon University Masters of Education program. Kim's passion is to connect children with the outdoors and community based learning opportunities that are relevant and inspiring. 

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Intern

Ariana is passionate about spending time in nature and teaching. She has been practicing primitive living and survival skills since the age of nine. She has been born and raised in Ashland, Oregon. Ariana first began working for Coyote Trails in the summer of 2009 as an intern. Enthusiastic about what nature has to offer for everyone, she is always happy to share what she has learned with others. She believes that the teachings one can gain from being outdoors will positively affect them for the rest of their lives. Ariana also enjoys hiking, running, biking, camping, and drawing.

Instructor

Special Needs

Mary Ann is originally from central California and currently resides in Ashland, OR. She graduated from Humboldt State University in 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation and from Southern Oregon University in 2009 with a Masters in Education and an endorsement in Special Education. She is a licensed special educator and is "highly-qualified" in the state of Oregon.

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