Who We Are

Our Nature Learning Community Includes...

Rowena Conahan

Rowena is a founder of Nature Learning Community, where she teaches nature connection and outdoors skills for people of all ages, and consults with educators seeking to increase outdoors experience for their students. She’s an anthropologist and Montessori teacher, with background as a homeschool parent and assistant in a Waldorf-based forest kindergarten. She attended Tom Brown’s Tracker School in New Jersey and Wilderness Awareness School’s Art of Mentoring. She’s currently a student in the Kamana Naturalist Training program, and volunteers for the global 8 Shields movement. She’s also a founding member of Sunward Cohousing Community, where she’s lived and learned for 20 years.

Courtney Klick

Courtney is a re-wilding enthusiast with a passion for bringing nature connection, culture repair and the art of mentoring to our local community. Courtney is a homeschooling mother of three young children, a gardener, former Ayurvedic Practitioner and herbalist, and lover of sacred music. She loves wandering, encountering flora and fauna, and sharing those stories with others. Her daily goal is to spend as much time outdoors as possible, especially with children in the spirit of play and wonder.

Catherine Fritz

Catherine is a lifelong nature-enthusiast. She grew up playing and exploring in the sand dunes along Lake Michigan. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a dual degree in German and Arts and Ideas in the Humanities, she moved to Washington State where she worked for a number of years doing Youth Advocacy and Arts Education. There, she deepened her nature connection by learning the plants and animals of a new bioregion. She returned to Michigan to be nearer family and bring her magic back to the Midwest. In addition to teaching with Nature Learning Community, she's a Music Together Teacher, does youth theatre, and works with Ann Arbor Forest School. She's worked extensively with children and finds them to be an absolute delight.

Chuck Barbieri

Chuck Barbieri spent his childhood on Long Island, NY, very close to the ocean. Outside adventures in woods, swamps and ocean beaches were important daily aspect of his life as a child. As woods and nature areas were converted to parking lots and highways on Long Island he chose a college near abundant natural features. At Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, he majored in Environmental Studies and Biology. Chuck traveled extensively in the Pacific Northwest, took some Outward Bound classes, and went to graduate school at University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, majoring in Environmental Advocacy and Education. He enjoys “rock hounding” across the United States, doing nature art projects and simply sitting and walking in the woods, aimless and joyful. He's taught in many Waldorf schools as the kindergarten afternoon teacher and after-school director. He also directed many successful summer camps.

Miriam Dowd

Miriam is known for drawing us all into movement, laughter and play. Nurturing the body-mind-spirit with creative-expressive-restorative movement in the context of nature is one of her specialties. Miriam focused on Environmental Studies at Earlham College, and joined a 3-month Eco-Community Apprenticeship Program at the Hummingbird Ranch in New Mexico. She's also been a Children's Camp Counselor at NVC (nonviolent communication) Family Camp. She loves making food and medicine from the wild, and relishes a feeling of kinship with all things - the bugs, the trees, the campfire, the wind, and kids' laughter. And she super, super likes playing games where it's socially appropriate to lay flat out on the earth with a big smile on her face!

Mandy Ervin

Mandy really enjoys the simple complexity of nature; the balance between life and death and how everything she witnesses is a lesson and reflection to her of her. She's passionate about slowing down and observing the world around her and encouraging others, especially children to do the same. Her 12+ years spent with children as a nanny has kept her curious, adventurous and fearless. She enjoys creating things with her hands and is very excited to learn more about: identifying plants, creating shelters, pottery, tracking and so much more.

Petar Simic

Petar studied plant ecology in college and graduated with a degree in Biology. He's been in love with the natural world his whole life and would rather spend his days no other way than in the woods or watching the birds and the clouds. Petar was a head farmer at the Community Farm of Ann Arbor and loves the ability agriculture has to connect us with the natural world. He also taught at the Rudolf Steiner school and finds a lot of joy in educating and working with children.

Nichole Lorenz

As a social worker Nichole is passionate about nature connection, specifically because of its capacity for deep healing. The human central nervous system is inextricably linked with the primordial resonant frequencies emitted by the earth and Nichole is excited that recent research supports how our mental health is improved by our connection to this planet's deeply healing magnetic field.

The human need for "Rx outside" is so deeply ingrained in our spirits and Nichole is the first to talk about how it currently benefits her and her family and also how it contributed to the growth and healing of her 2 children during their 4 years as homeschoolers between 2013 and 2017. Nichole has over 14 years of experience with children; since 2002 throughout her training as a master's social worker, since 2005 as a licensed clinical social worker, and since 2007 as a mother. Nichole is ecstatic to support the mission of Nature Learning Community.