Ansley & Matt, Lake Sammamish Camp Directors
Ansley Roberts is originally from Georgia, and spent most of her life rock climbing, running rivers, cycling, and backpacking in Arizona and the surrounding four corners region. She studied forest ecology, sustainability, and anthropology at Northern Arizona University where she graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science. Her love for ecology fueled 3 seasons surveying native plants for national parks and monuments in the Southern Colorado Plateau including Mesa Verde, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon river corridor. Over the last 12 years, she worked in management within ecological restoration, horticulture, outdoor education, and marketing. After 20 years in the Southwest, she followed a spark of intuition fueled by a love of water, wilderness, and forests to move to Portland, OR in 2021 where she managed summer camps and forest homeschool programs for Trackers Earth until joining Wolf Camp in the summer of 2023. In addition to ecology and earth skills, Ansley is passionate about ethnobotany, and she trained in herbal medicine with The Forager’s Path in 2013, studied with a traditional Mayan elder from Guatemala in 2015, and completed a year-long program with The Herbal Academy in 2019. She is grateful for opportunities to apprentice with The House of Artemis in reiki and flower essence therapy from 2021-2023, as well as Ariella Daly as a natural beekeeper in 2022, and Cascadia Quest leading council and wilderness rites of passage in 2022-2023. Furthermore, Ansley is on her 4th WFR recertification with NOLS as of December 2022. She is a musician, songwriter, storyteller, poet, Reiki Level I healer, and Master Gardener. Her long list of hobbies includes (but isn’t limited to) typewriting, basketry, leatherwork, jewelry craft, rockhounding, yoga, and long motorcycle rides.
Matt Hale grew up exploring the mountains and forests of Washington’s Sky Valley. Since childhood, he dedicated his time to deeply knowing and understanding the flora, fauna, and fungi of the Pacific Northwest. He graduated from Alderleaf Wilderness College in 2015 where he earned a Permaculture Design Certificate in association with the Bullocks Permaculture Center, as well as a Cybertracker Track & Sign Level II certification. From 2016-19, Matt owned and operated a farm and foraging business in Skagit County while teaching earth skills for various schools in Washington. His work experience includes patient care in skilled nursing homes, and pared with is backcountry guiding experienced prepared him for work in wilderness therapy based in Bend, OR, after which he began managing outdoor education programs for Trackers Earth in Portland. Matt is a talented outdoor educator with a passion for human psychology, wilderness emergency medicine, natural building, and sustainable farming. When he’s not foraging for wild edibles or identifying mushrooms in the forest, you can find Matt dropping into half pipes on his skateboard, or crafting in the wood shop.