Our Team
Meet the people working to bring place-based, experiential outdoor education to students across northern BC and beyond.
Not-for-Profit Directors
Our board provides governance and strategic direction for the organization.
TBA
Chair
TBA
Secretary
TBA
Treasurer
Executive Director
Leadership for our day-to-day programs and long-term vision.
Cornelia Thomi
Executive Director / Program Manager / Visionary
Cornelia is a Registered Professional Forester (RPF) in BC with over 20 years experience working in timber development, operational harvesting, planning, and silviculture. She has extensive experience working directly with Indigenous people and collaborating with skilled professionals for a variety of work. Her vision is to ensure more students in the north gain access to quality place-based experiential learning with a northern ecology focus. She is currently working towards her Bachelor of Education and has found that learning happens best outside when you can physically see, smell, and touch the environment. Her passion is to connect people to their intuition through being present in nature, play, and exploration. She enjoys writing, teaching, and speaking to many different people to inspire them to trust themselves, to dream big, and to take aligned action to accomplish their visions. On her off time, Cornelia can be found kayaking, hiking, traveling the world, reading, and spending time in nature.
Team Members
The educators, coordinators, and contributors making it happen on the ground.
Janie Dubman
Virtual Creator
Janie is a terrestrial ecologist drawn to projects that make a real-world difference to flora and fauna. She holds an MSc and BSc in Biological Sciences from Simon Fraser University and has worked in tropical, temperate and northern ecosystems on species ranging from songbirds to moose. After volunteering on an orangutan conservation project in Borneo, Janie overcame her fear of public speaking to deliver talks about these amazing apes and their imperiled jungle to audiences all over Vancouver. This endeavour sparked a great enthusiasm for environmental outreach that saw Janie bringing hundreds of K-12 students into the forests of northern BC to connect kids with the land around them. Her three kids are her test audience for new modules, and she's most likely to be found digging in her backyard 'food forest' and native plant garden after work.
Sierra Jamieson
Local Coordinator, Peace Country, BC
Sierra comes with over 7 years of hybrid non-profit/research and industry-lead biology work, generally focused in birds, wetlands and vegetation. Most of this in Western Canada with a few projects abroad in different cultural, ecological and practical context. She revels in knowledge sharing and acquisition as well as fostering a healthy value in curiosity. Sierra hopes to facilitate teachings in biology with a safe space for learning for the program.
Jarrod Blaney
Mackenzie Local Assistant & Coordinator
Coming from 12 years of industry experience in harvesting operations, road construction and bridge building. Jarrod's experience in field operation allows for a balance between the needs of forestry practices and protecting the environment. He has extensive knowledge of forestry operations. As an avid outdoorsman he also brings knowledge about fish and wildlife. He is constantly expanding his outdoor expertise.
Joann Dobish
Alberta & BC Peace Local Assistant & Coordinator
Joann has an Oil and Gas contracts background. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Cell Biology and Genetics and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Health. Her academic background supports the collective's commitment to evidence-informed, place-based learning. Outside of the program, Joann embraces the outdoor lifestyle as an active hunter, championing the gifts of the great outdoors for men and women and their families alike.