Four Winds Nature Institute Staff
Rob Anderegg
Rob Anderegg was trained as a chemist, earning a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD from MIT. He taught Chemistry at the University of Maine at Orono for ten years before moving to North Carolina to work in drug discovery at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals (now Glaxo SmithKline). His research centered on protein structure and the development of new analytical methods; and he has co-authored over 60 publications in scientific journals. In 1997 he became the head of the department of Research Analytical Chemistry. After taking three years off to be home with his children, Rob wanted to pursue his lifelong interest in the natural world. He joined the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and was Program Coordinator for the Environmental Learning for the Future (ELF) program for four years. He is now working fulltime with Four Winds as the Associate Director and a Naturalist/Educator.
Mike Clough
Born in Windsor, VT, Michael Clough has spent his entire life enjoying and exploring the wild places of New England. He attended Long Island University's Southampton College and in 1994 received a B.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in biology. Since then, Mike has worked with some of the Northeast's premier Conservation and Environmental Education groups with live animal experience ranging from wolves, to birds of prey, to frogs and pythons.
In 2005 Mike and his wife Christina returned to VT to establish Rockhopper Outdoor Education. As a Four Winds Naturalist/Educator, Mike leads Nature Program and Knee High Nature workshops in many towns in southern Vermont. He also continues to present live animal programs for schools and other community groups through Rockhopper.
Elizabeth Cooper
Elizabeth Cooper has an educational background in Forestry, Conservation, and Environmental Education and a passion for nature study. She has been teaching and leading groups of adults and children outdoors for over twenty-five years. Elizabeth has, in the past, held the position of Education Director for Merck Forest and Farmland Center and worked for 11 years as an educator and ELF program trainer for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. She participates as a citizen scientist in the Vermont Butterfly Atlasing Project and in New England Wildflower Society's Plant Conservation Program.
Kris Kristensen
Kris Kristensen has been presenting natural science programs to adults and children for two decades. She is a certified teacher and has been involved in schools as a volunteer, an educator and a board member. Krissy coordinated the Environmental Learning for the Future (ELF) program in Pawlet, Vermont for ten years and was an ELF trainer for four years. Now, as Naturalist/Educator with Four Winds, she leads Nature Program and Knee High Nature workshops in the Northeast Kingdom and the Upper Valley. She is also an artist, leading workshops on creating natural ornaments and making felt hats and wearables.
Karen Murphy
Karen has been exploring the natural world since childhood. She spent many hours looking at wildflowers and stream habitats with her father. She was a biology major in college and was delighted to become a volunteer and then trainer for the ELF program. Karen leads Nature Program workshops for volunteers in schools across southern Vermont. She is an avid gardener. Karen particularly likes exploring plant life and insects, listening to and trying to identify birdsongs, and water exploration of any kind.
Deb Parrella
Deb Parrella has been teaching natural history to children and adults for more than 20 years. She leads Nature Program and Knee High Nature workshops throughout Vermont, adding activities, skits and games to the program from her deep bag of teaching ideas. Deb worked with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science's ELF program for many years and was a lead author of the second edition of Hands-On Nature. As Director of School Programs for Shelburne Farms, she coordinated programs for K-6 students and their teachers. She is the author of the much beloved text, Project Seasons, a hands-on elementary science activity guide for teachers. Deb has been on the board of the New England Environmental Education Alliance and VT SWEEP. Deb received her Master's degree from Michigan State University and a B.A. at the University of Vermont.
Lisa Purcell
Lisa Purcell has been leading community-based environmental education programs with adults and children for nearly 20 years. She believes people of all ages need a connection with the great outdoors, and she loves her work -- watching individuals look at the world around them with new eyes. Now Director of Four Winds, Lisa was the Associate Director at Smokey House Center in Danby, VT and spent many years as ELF Program Director at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Lisa is on the boards of the New England Environmental Education Alliance (NEEEA), Vermont's Statewide Environmental Education Programs (SWEEP), and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE). Over the years, Lisa has held a variety of education-related positions: coordinating adventure-based team building and staff professional development programs, developing a college service learning program, assisting in a preschool, working in public and school libraries. She edited the second edition of Hands-On Nature, a natural science curriculum guide. In an earlier lifetime, Lisa owned and operated a utility field engineering company. Lisa earned a Master's degree in environmental administration from Antioch New England Graduate School and a B.A. in Geography from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Chris Runcie
Chris Runcie was an Environmental Studies major at Middlebury College where
she did research on frequency-dependent selection in fruit flies. Later
she attended graduate school and received an MA and PhD in Zoology for
her research on chemical trail-laying in a termite species. Returning
to Vermont, Chris spent many years as a full-time mother of three, but
found the time to pursue her delight and interest in nature through the
Forest & Field Club, the Lewis Creek Association, and as a volunteer with the Environmental Learning for the Future (ELF) program. She became an ELF trainer at VINS in 1997 and taught the program for 9 years. Chris was a lead author of the second edition of Hands-On Nature. Chris leads Nature Program workshops in northern and central Vermont and New York. In 2008, she was a visiting faculty member of Middlebury College, leading a winter term course with 30 students entitled "Community-based Environmental Education." Chris is keenly interested in birdsong, in insect
behavior, in plant and animal relationships, and in engaging people of
all ages in learning about nature.
Susan Sawyer
Susan Sawyer is an artist-naturalist from South Woodbury. Susan has been a freelance artist and teacher for over thirty years, and since 1996 has been a member of the faculty of the Adult Degree Program of Vermont College, where she advises studies in art and natural science. She also worked for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science for thirteen years as an educator, naturalist, and illustrator. She was one of the lead authors of the second edition of Hands-On Nature. Her particular interests include plants, insects, and all kinds of wet places – vernal pools, fens, bogs, and beaver meadows – and making art that reflects her love of nature. She's insatiably curious, loves a puzzle, thinks observation and imagination are the beginning of both science and art, and believes in having lots of fun while learning about the natural world. Susan earned a BA in graphics and natural history from New College, Sarasota, Florida and a Master of Fine Arts in visual art from Vermont College.