Lorrie Byrom
Lorrie Byrom is a life-long educator and learner. Born in Proctor, Vermont and raised in Middlebury/Pittsford, she was born into two family summer camp businesses, Camp Sangamon and Camp Betsey Cox, both in Pittsford. She majored in History at the College of Wooster in Ohio where she also completed a Masters’ Degree in Education. She taught first grade for two years in Coal Run, Pennsylvania before moving on to teach and administrate at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, Mass. While working at NMH, she became the owner/Director of Camp Betsey Cox where she continues to this day. She has been a 4Winds volunteer at Neshobe and Lothrop schools in Central Vermont. She thrives in the out-of-doors and enjoys bringing the outdoors into the lives of children.
Dana Hudson
Dana is a fun-loving adventurer who spends her days wrangling kids, chickens, dogs, and volunteers. She works for Shelburne Farms as an educator and program coordinator. She has strong roots in farming and food education, as well as network building and environmental education. She is always hatching up a new way to do things, or trying to understand other perspectives. You can find her on top of her desk, up a tree, in the garden, or exploring with students.
Edwin (“Win”) Johnson
Win Johnson graduated with a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Between Dartmouth and Wharton, he entered in the US Army, serving part of that time in Vietnam. His previous professional experience includes working as: Executive Director of the Southern Windsor Regional Planning Commission (Springfield, VT); Controller of Valley Regional Hospital (Claremont, NH); Director of Financial Services and later Vice President and Treasurer of Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH); as CFO of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (Woodstock, VT), and as CFO of the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (Hanover, NH). He is now retired and busy serving his community and beyond. His wife, Rita, was the Associate Director of Development for Dartmouth College, and they have one daughter who resides with her husband and their three children in LA.
Simon Jorgenson
Simon Jorgenson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Vermont. Previously, he worked as a classroom teacher and Instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Currently, he teaches courses in social studies and science education and serves as a field supervisor for pre-service teachers. As a researcher, he is interested in the convergence between STEM and environmental education—the ‘greening’ of STEM.
Emily Pals
Emily grew up with a love of nature and outdoor adventure, which led her to study biology and outdoor leadership in Western Colorado. While earning her degree, she led outdoor adventures and service learning trips for high school students in the Sierra and Rocky Mountains, the southwest canyons, the Kenai Peninsula, and the Great Barrier Reef. After graduating from college, Emily relocated to Southern Illinois where she worked as an Environmental Educator and Naturalist for Touch of Nature Environmental Center. For three years, she guided children and families on canoe expeditions, camping trips, naturalist hikes, pond explorations, and campfires. After earning her Masters degree, Emily joined the teaching and residential faculty at The Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont where she taught writing classes for nine years. Emily earned a B.A in Environmental Biology and Ecology from the University of Western Colorado and a M.S. in Environmental Studies with Science Teaching Certification from Antioch University New England.
Rachel Valcour
Rachel currently teaches high school science at Otter Valley Union High School and before that was the middle school science teacher at Barstow Memorial School in Chittenden, VT. She finds every opportunity she can to get her students outside to learn and explore. She enjoys connecting school and community in her instruction – like the integrated unit she taught on the local watershed with students researching the Flood of ’47 and then Hurricane Irene’s impact, OR the unit she and the middle school team led on Forest Ecology. Rachel and her family spend lots of time in their garden, in their kayaks, and playing in the brook in their own backyard.
Todd Walker
Todd is a Financial Advisor with Greenvest in Vermont, an investment firm that specializes in socially and environmentally responsible investing. Before this he was an independent financial writer for the investment, insurance and banking industries for more than 25 years. Todd is married to Cathy, a Barbara Brennan Healing Science Practitioner, and has two sons, Craig & Keith. Cathy and Todd are avid organic gardeners and environmentalists/conservationists who see Four Winds as a natural extension of their belief that nature is the best teacher.