The Staff for Trackers Earth Portland

Molly Deis

Position: Founder

Guild: Wilders

Started with Trackers: 2004

A native Oregonian, Molly received her Bachelors degree in German from Davidson College in North Carolina and spent a year in Germany, also traveling throughout much of Western Europe. She spends her time between Portland and Sandy, where she and her husband (Tony) live with their three children. She keeps busy herding goats, wrangling chickens, planning gardens and wandering the woods with babes in tow. Molly is also an avid cellist and plays in the Willamette Falls Symphony. As one of the "voices of Trackers", you have probably spoken with her regarding any of our myriad programs. Molly and Tony have three children - Robin, Annie and Maxine.

Tony Deis

Position: Founder

Guild: Rangers

Started with Trackers: 2004

Tony Deis, founder of Trackers Earth, rose-out* of high school at 14 years old. Fancying himself an autodidact, he went on to explore forest-craft, primitive skills, and tracking. Somehow he also learned how to start a business because his community needed him to. Tony believes the values and practice of a foraging family and community naturally encourage kids to be far more capable than the modern world allows.

He runs Trackers as though it were an extension of his large Italian family. Every member is responsible for creating a way of living that remembers our connection to village, the more-than-human-world (that's nature), and many generations beyond our lifetime. His hobbies include the art of animal tracking, with which he frequently invades the private lives of local American Black Bears. Plus, he appreciates hanging out with his own kids, well-known douglas fir trees, and all the abundant sword ferns of the Pacific Northwest.

*often called dropped-out from the other side of the looking glass.

David Jacobson

Position: President / Gardener

Guild: Wilders

I am David. I work for Trackers.

Kelsey Pops

Position: Forest School Principal

Kelsey is from Bakersfield, California, but don’t hold that against her. After graduating from U of O, she lived abroad for four years, including leading outdoor camps in Thailand before settling in Oregon and finding Trackers.

She received her Masters degree and teaching credential in Outdoor and Environmental Education in Australia. Deciding she fit better with an informal model of education, she sought to find a place just like Trackers. Once here, she made sure to be good and pushy and make herself useful so they’d have no choice but to keep her around.

Through Trackers, Kelsey wants kids and adults to find a comfort with the natural world that has been lost in recent generations. Trackers provides this opportunity to folks who may not otherwise have it, while creating a strong community that pushes everyone to always do it better. These are just a few of the myriad reasons Kelsey spends many of her waking hours with her Trackers family.

June Jacobson

Position: Overnight Site Supervisor & Outdoor Educator

Guild: Wilders

June grew up roaming the mosquitoey wetlands and farm fields around her family's Michigan homestead. In the summer, her Mother and Grandfather wrangled the family into the gardens to harvest and preserve veggies for the cold midwestern winters. Her stomach still growls when she thinks of her Dad's fruit orchard and Mom's fat gooseberry bushes.

She moved to the Northwest in 1997, after receiving her Bachelors in Education from Michigan State. Her deep appreciation for Oregon's wild lands, and for the people who care for them, began during her long tenure with MESD Outdoor School. She led kids along the banks and forests of the Sandy River for seven seasons before going back to school. During graduate school in 2005, she met Trackers, including her husband David, and started instructing overnight camps.

In 2010, June stepped into a full time coordinating position for Trackers and is now in charge of overnight programs. This opportunity has allowed her to help facilitate experiences where youth and adults use their whole bodies, minds and more to better understand the land and themselves. All this while sometimes evading Orcs or bringing back dragon magic!

At Trackers, June is able to see her ideals in education and lifestyle come alive. Her Mac computer may be close by most days, but her wild foods, home grown fibers and fresh bobcat tracks through the Marmot Valley duff are even closer. She is grateful to be connected to a village of people who want to create beauty and health in the world around them every day.

Jackie Ostrowski

Position: Hiring Manager

Guild: Wilders

Chris Codino

Position: Administrative Director

Started with Trackers: 2012

Chris joined Trackers full time as our Administrative Director in 2012 after 17 years in the credit union world. She has been involved with Trackers off and on from the beginning and is thrilled to be part of the community full time.

When she isn't processing registrations or assisting parents and staff, she enjoys camping, baking, cooking and hanging out with friends and family. She is actively involved in her daughter’s school and a strong supporter of her husband’s ultra marathon running.

Daniel “Otis” Brophy

Position: Chief Fun Officer

Guild: Artisans

With a mind for story and an imagination that won’t quit, Otis found a home in our story camps. Utilizing his background in driving he manages our fleet, drivers and safety training. Due to Otis’ mind forged of chaos and randomness he has become adept at rolling with any flow Trackers goes and maintaining his cool when he does.

Otis’ mission is to provide everyone with tools for choice. Life is full of choices and he wants them to be made from a base of knowledge. When we stop pursuing knowledge is when we have given up.

I wear costumes and
Quest through worlds with children and
MacGyver drives bus

Libby Strand

Position: Bookkeeper

Jacob McCoola

Position: Regional Assistant Director

Guild: Rangers

Started with Trackers: 2018

Tom Brown III

Position: Land Steward and Adult Educator

Guild: Rangers

Tom, otherwise known as “T3”, has been a practitioner and teacher of primitive living skills, wilderness survival, tracking, and nature observation since an early age. Growing up in New jersey at the Tracker School he was raised with a deep reverence and respect for wild places and the skills our ancestors used to live close to the land. After graduating high school he spent a few years wandering the country, practicing the skills he learned as a child in both urban and wilderness environments. He eventually returned to Tracker school and after a few years became head instructor and director of operations. In 2009 he left Tracker school to start the Primitive Arts Collective, an outdoor education program that sought to teach people in small groups in many different states across the country. In 2014 Tom moved to Virginia where he helped to found Earth Village Education, a non-profit organization based on a 100 acre farm near Shenandoah National Park.

Tom’s role at Tracker’s Earth involves being both the land steward and an adult educator. His unique insight and first-hand knowledge about how large groups of people interact with the landscape help him and the Tracker’s team ensure healthy land management practices that will not only benefit the students, but also the wild things that are the centerpiece of these rural locations. Tom loves all things wild and free. During his down time you can find him on a river somewhere fly-fishing for steelhead with his spey rod and learning all the wonderful things the PNW has to offer.

Ethan Jewett

Position: Marketing Director

Guild: Rangers

Started with Trackers: 2018

Chris Van Pelt

Position: Creative Director

Guild: Rangers

David Kacena

Position: Developer

Guild: Artisans

Jamie Taffel

Position: Digital Media Manager

Devin Clancy

Position: Outreach and Events Coordinator

Guild: Artisans

Jamie Denue

Position: Registrar

Guild: Rangers

Lisa Porter

Position: Muralist

Mike Rassmussan

Position: Beekeeper

Guild: Mariners

Joshua Hood-Marvin

Position: Archery Coordinator

Guild: Rangers

Josh started with Trackers Earth when he was 17 years old as a Leader in Training in 2008. Over the years he grew into one of our best instructors and a coordinator of the archery program. He also has been a personal trainer, fitness instructor and is a Level 2 USA certified archery instructor.

Through his Modoc family traditions, Josh has a direct lineage in the power of community and mentoring. He appreciates helping students and staff grow through adventure and challenges.

Josh teaches wilderness survival skills and archery to a wide spectrum of age groups. This allows him to collaborate new ideas and practices with students to keep activities fresh and meaningful.

“If the skills and activities I teach have no practical application to living in the forest or create healthy relationships, then I refuse to let ‘em waste everybody’s time.”

Elaine Kinchen

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Guild: Artisans

Elaine grew up in California suburbs riding her bike way further than her parents were probably aware. She spent her formative years both attending Star Trek conventions and living with a radical primitive skills community in the woods. Elaine eventually received her degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Elaine came to Trackers after working for A Curious Summer in San Francisco where she first got to teach kids making and tinkering skills. She is the co-owner of a doll and art business, and spent the last decade at farmers markets learning how to grow, sell and use seasonal produce. At some point Elaine learned the mystical art of quickbooks and now divides her time between office camp, teaching, and raising two wonderful children.

She loves teaching archery and cooking with kids, anything that brings on the moment when kids realize their own competency. Watching returning campers grow in ability and self confidence has been one of the best parts of being with Trackers. She is excited to be part of a program that connects people to the earth through hands-on crafts and experiences.

Elaine has a passion for making things: food, art, tools, bows. She will happily spend a weekend covered in clay, molding pots. She adores carving, giant puppets, sewing costumes, cooking homemade ravioli, exploring the Portland library system with her children, and cheering for the end of civilization.

Tyler Doyle

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Megan Mattson

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Sarah Fillis

Position: Outdoor Educator & Site Supervisor

Sam Bisnett

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Megs Hein

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

David Friedmann

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Guild: Rangers

David originally hails from the land of Santa Cruz, California. He started his journey As a Naturalist and Wilderness Survivalist at the age of 14. He has been mentoring youth and adults since the age of 18 After Graduating high school early, he went on to study Outdoor Leadership and Wilderness Survival at Headwaters Outdoor School for 5 years, and studied Nature Connection and Mentoring for 2 years at Wilderness Awareness School, where he received his Naturalist Certification. He also studied for one year at Tom Brown's Tracker School in New Jersey, and completed a 9 month internship with them afterward. David has always found the most fulfillment from connecting people back with nature, and helping them find a context to fit nature connection into their modern lives. He works at Trackers because He feels he can bring nature into the lives of thousands of children and adults in the Portland Area annually, and that's what David wants to do. He also loves sticks and Trackers has many sticks.

Emily Rigby

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Brenton Spratlen

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Guild: Rangers

Started with Trackers: 2016

Spending his early years in the dry river beds east of Paso Robles, CA, Brenton evoked his natural passion of the outdoors at 5 years old, while tracking and hunting Jack rabbits on horseback. At age 7, his family moved to the mountains of Colorado where he spent every available moment of his next 10 years exploring the 40 acres of land he lived on. The countless forts and fires he built, mixed with trails and his own wild imagination, accounted for his deep desire to become proficient in the arts of wilderness survival, primitive living and bushcraft. Brenton has spent many of his adult years following this path, and being self-taught in these types of primitive arts has lead to a great amount of self awareness and loads of information to share with all who will listen. He believes nothing is greater than the connection we have with nature and strives to teach this and other primitive skills to all. The self-discipline, drive and attention to detail Brenton obtained from his days in the US Navy's Presidential Guard, including the experiences of traveling abroad and learning different cultures, reflects in his teachings. While not at Trackers Earth, Brenton can be found with his face in a book or teaching his daughter the world of nature, with their favorite activity being fire challenges in every way imaginable.

Mary McKeever

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Greg Barnett

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Ross Heymans

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Casey Allen

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Rashelle Hams

Position: Blacksmithing Coordinator

Guild: Artisans

Started with Trackers: 2015

Originally from the Pacific NW, Rashelle kept herself out of trouble as a youth by running around outdoors and fishing. She worked in military law enforcement as a dog handler with 11 years experience in the criminal justice system. She bounced around operating heavy equipment then worked for an industrial cleaning company. Always interested in crafting things, she eventually found blacksmithing and promptly started taking classes and volunteering at Fort Vancouver and other forges, mentoring others as she herself learned. After becoming a board member for the NW Blacksmith Association, Rashelle found Trackers Earth and made it a goal to teach others there.

Nathan "Keith"

Position: Outdoor Educator & Coordinator

Nico Spadafora

Position: Outdoor Educator

Josh Roberts

Position: Outdoor Educator

Ryan Johnson

Position: Outdoor Educator

Amanda Killen

Position: Outdoor Educator

Sarah Kessler

Position: Outdoor Educator

Houston "Biscuit" Oldland

Position: Outdoor Educator