Our Nature Learning Community Includes...
Syndallas Baughman grew up on the water and in the forests of Michigan and Florida and earned a B.S. in Biology at University of Michigan and M.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. Along the way she’s camped and studied plants and pollinators in the Siskiyous in S.W. Oregon, swamps, forests and fields of Michigan, Kauai, coastal and desert California, and the California Sierra Nevada. She taught at El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative, learning from wise and loving mentors to step back and follow and support kids’ ideas. At Wildcat Community Free School she followed kids through creeks and forests, set up experiments, supervised the use of power tools, knives and fire, facilitated democratic decision making and mediated a lot of arguments about Pokemon Card trades. She’s planted native gardens with preschoolers to high school students, and camps all over the U.S.A. with her two now adult sons. She holds her secondary teaching certificate in biology and recently spent a service year with Americorps working in adult literacy and English learning with Washtenaw Literacy. Syndallas is a certified Michigan Naturalist. The beautiful wild world is the place Syndallas wants to be! She loves sharing nature connection with people and other living things and you!
Sacha Dansky
Sacha is passionate about the natural world and education. She has a B.A. in Economics with an Asian Specialization from Michigan State University. After graduation, she worked mainly for non-profits; The World Resources Institute, an Environmental Think Tank in Washington D.C., Consumers International Asia Pacific Office in Malaysia focusing on Consumer Education and Sustainability, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Business School. Her work brought her back to the west coast of the U.S. and while living in San Diego for the past 15 years, she designed elementary science curriculum for Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center. She was also a Naturalist/Field Guide for Mission Trails Regional Park, San Diego Audobon Society and other environmental and conservation organizations. She spent many happy hours with children exploring ecological reserves in and around San Diego. Sacha enjoys traveling, camping and exploring with her family. Having recently returned to Ann Arbor, she is excited to learn and explore Michigan's natural spaces and continuing to share her love of the outdoors with the community.
Jordan Wyant
Jordan Wyant comes to the Nature Learning Community with years of experience living and learning with young people outdoors. He has led conservation work projects for the Student Conservation Association in Detroit, the San Francisco Bay Area, Yosemite and North Cascades National Parks. Jordan has an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon as well as an M.A. in Educational Studies from the University of Michigan. He is excited to learn alongside all the members of the Forest Village, and he hopes to foster a mindful and caring approach to relating with the natural world.
Eva Leventer
Eva has been teaching camps, classes and after school programs for seventeen years. She graduated from the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor in 2001. She studied art at Earlham College and earned a visual arts teaching certification from Eastern Michigan University. She recently, finished a forest and nature school training for early childhood educators. And she is a parent to her son Yonah who is four.
Eva integrates children’s passions into the learning. She’s interested in cultivating mindful awareness of plants, animals and humans. She encourages children to be free spirits working in community. She seeks to bring the eight directions into her teaching creating rhythm and balance in her classes. She opens her heart to emotionally support each child and warmly hold the group.
Eva integrates children’s passions into the learning. She’s interested in cultivating mindful awareness of plants, animals and humans. She encourages children to be free spirits working in community. She seeks to bring the eight directions into her teaching creating rhythm and balance in her classes. She opens her heart to emotionally support each child and warmly hold the group.
Anne Erlewine
Anne Erlewine studied art and creative writing at the University of Michigan and Naropa University in Boulder, CO after her close mentorship in her youth with her artist Grandmother, Phyllis Anne Erlewine.
Anne taught art classes through Artworks in Big Rapids, Michigan, Earthwork Family Weekend, and has embarked on several community murals with young people. Anne has created and curated community art spaces for sharing art work, music, poetry and performance.
Presently, Anne lives in her home town of Ann Arbor with her husband Michael and her two young kids Emma and Josephine. She works at NLC and runs a small business as a fine artist and music performer. She is in the process of creating a studio space to teach art classes from her home.
Her artist statement is as follows:
Moving through life, holding space for creativity by practicing it and teaching it, creates sustainable reserves that allow one to close the loop between inner design and the outer reflection that affirms it. In a world receding in resources, the preservation of this aspect of human experience is vital.
My art is about keeping this aspect in me alive, encouraging others to do the same, and seeking to portray and preserve what inspires me, so that others may see it, feel it, and to consider the path in their reflection of it.
Anne taught art classes through Artworks in Big Rapids, Michigan, Earthwork Family Weekend, and has embarked on several community murals with young people. Anne has created and curated community art spaces for sharing art work, music, poetry and performance.
Presently, Anne lives in her home town of Ann Arbor with her husband Michael and her two young kids Emma and Josephine. She works at NLC and runs a small business as a fine artist and music performer. She is in the process of creating a studio space to teach art classes from her home.
Her artist statement is as follows:
Moving through life, holding space for creativity by practicing it and teaching it, creates sustainable reserves that allow one to close the loop between inner design and the outer reflection that affirms it. In a world receding in resources, the preservation of this aspect of human experience is vital.
My art is about keeping this aspect in me alive, encouraging others to do the same, and seeking to portray and preserve what inspires me, so that others may see it, feel it, and to consider the path in their reflection of it.
Seven Steiner
Seven (they/he) grew (and is growing!) up in Ann Arbor, where he currently attends both Community and Pioneer High schools. They play trumpet in Pioneer’s band, and have a love-hate relationship with the triangles in math. They like all his classes, but like being in nature more! Feeling the crisp winter wind beats sitting in a classroom any day. Over the summer, Seven goes to Northwaters and Langskib, a wilderness canoe tripping camp in Canada. There, he learned to appreciate that beauty is always all around us, and the mundane things we take for granted might just be more interesting than they seem at first glance. They like to learn and meet new people, and are fascinated by - and loves to listen to - stories, especially the true ones. In his free time, Seven likes to write, read (way too much, mostly fiction), draw, bike, explore, listen to and play music, and make plans for the future. They’re excited for this opportunity to share time outdoors with all you wonderful people!
Fonsea Bagchi
Fonsea (He/Him/His) grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He loves wandering in the woods, by the river, in the UP, by Lake Michigan, in the desert, and also canoe camping, getting lost in the mountains, checking dumpsters for racoons and possums. He basically loves being anywhere outdoors unless there are swarms of vicious bitey flies!
Fonsea studies Physics and Horn in college. He likes to create and share music and enjoys its connection to nature. He’s very excited to work as an assistant teacher at Nature Learning Community, he hopes to help kids find their own love and appreciation of nature. He’s been camping since he was very young. He loves nature and nature loves him!
Fonsea studies Physics and Horn in college. He likes to create and share music and enjoys its connection to nature. He’s very excited to work as an assistant teacher at Nature Learning Community, he hopes to help kids find their own love and appreciation of nature. He’s been camping since he was very young. He loves nature and nature loves him!