Dave is passionate about spending time with young people in wild places. Before coming to Kroka in 2020, he accumulated more than 150 weeks in the field as a Senior Staff Course Leader for the National Outdoor Leadership School, teaching Rock Climbing, Canyoneering, Backpacking, and Backcountry Skiing. He has taught 100 courses for the Wilderness Medicine Institute, and has coordinated semester long wilderness programs for both NOLS and St. Lawrence University. Dave was the Executive Director of Pok-O-MacCready Camps from 2022 until 2024, and is a past President of the NOLS Instructor Association.

Liz grew up exploring the woods and waters behind her house in the D.C. suburbs, rehabilitating injured animals, and donating all of her allowance to conservation groups. In college she dove into outdoor education and began leading trips and managing gear for VCU’s outdoor program. After college, Liz worked for the Student Conservation Association as an Americorps volunteer in the Adirondacks then as a trail crew leader. She led a variety of wilderness and service trips in California, Washington, Alaska and all around the East coast. Liz worked at North Country School for over a decade as a farm intern, science and English teacher, houseparent, coach, trip leader, 9th grade team leader, secondary school placement coordinator, and reading specialist. She earned her MA in Applied Educational Psychology as a Reading Specialist from Columbia University, and received her teaching certifications for English and as Reading Specialist. Liz has managed a high altitude farm and goat cheese cooperative in Telluride, Colorado, ridden her bike 1500 miles across the West, and was a field researcher for a loon conservation program in the ADKs. She lives in Westminster West, Vermont with her husband and two kids where she tends to her two very wily goats and her beloved 3-legged dog.

Whitewater specialist and boathouse gear-manager Emily embodies the unrefined playful spirit of a river otter. A seasoned Kroka teacher and second-grade classroom assistant, Emily’s areas of expertise also include giant ice-castle building, carpentry, and floral artistry.

Emily came to Kroka at the age of 11, then completed Kroka's first semester program in 2004, and has been a devoted Kroka-ite ever since. In between Kroka programs and her own far flung adventures she has taught high school, where she firmly believes in learning beyond the classroom walls. These days, she lives down the road from Kroka on a small farm with her two young children and husband Jacob.

A New England native, Ezra grew up in an intentional community in Amherst, Massachusetts. Highlights from his childhood include a semester abroad in the Basque country in northern Spain, making maple syrup, and building forts in the woods. Ezra attended Kroka’s Ecuador Semester as a high-school student and studied sustainable food systems at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, VT. He completed an MA in Regenerative Economics at Schumacher College (UK) in 2021. Since 2016 Ezra has worn many hats at Kroka including expedition leader, summer program registrar, basecamp manager, and Managing Director.

Our chief carpenter, Hugh is a venerable master of precision and a man of few words.

Originally from Bakersville, California, Jacob is a lifelong student of biodynamic farming, a father, and an educator of outstanding patience. In addition to the cows, goats, pigs, chickens, greenhouses, garden beds, and compost systems of the Kroka farm, Jacob also manages Roger’s Road farm alongside his wife Emily.

Born in Indiana and a longtime resident of Peterborough, New Hampshire, Jennifer makes sure that the hundreds of Kroka students and staff have food in their bellies and food on their plates. From ordering and inventorying the expedition pantry, to preparing on-campus meals every day, to pulling out all stops for formal dinners, festive feasts, and weekly burrito night, Jennifer will somehow always remember to make something special for a staff member’s birthday.

Jessie has lived in the Monadnock region with her five children since 2017. A native to Southern OH, Jessie spent her undergraduate years in Flagstaff AZ studying theatre arts before moving to Austin Texas to raise her children. She is a trained Waldorf educator and a former class teacher. Her bliss moments in life include romping in the woods with her children and dogs, enjoying the company of friends and loved ones, and being with children of all ages.

Raised in Long Island, NY, and a longtime Marlow resident, Linda manages the daunting jurisdiction that encompasses all of Kroka’s non-living nouns. From the camp store, to machinery and vehicles, to hardware and lumber, to tools and all the non-digestible things that eventually run out, Linda keeps on top of this nearly-interminable laundry list. When not at Kroka, Linda can be found on archeological expeditions and local digs.

With a love for nature and the outdoors, I have enjoyed living in several states in the US. Most notably, living Alaska for 7 years. I have been able to see the wonders of the Northern Lights to having moose in my yard. Along with my love of animals is my love for children and seeing them learn and explore new things that will broaden their view.

Nathan has enjoyed a variety of roles at Kroka during the past 14 years, including Summer Director, Capital Campaign Coordinator, Cartographer, and Managing Director. Prior to coming to Kroka, he had served as a communications officer in the US Navy, taught English for a year in Nicaragua, and worked as a 4th grade classroom teacher in rural New Hampshire. He is the proud parent of two Kroka semester program alumni, and partner of long-time expedition leader and educator Hanah LaBarre. He is thrilled to be returning to full time work at Kroka at this unique moment of transition in the organization.

Rebecca hails from Seattle, Washington and has explored her home state up and down, from Mount Rainier's frosty summit to the Hoh rainforest. With a background in both outdoor education and classroom teaching, Rebecca now coordinates and leads Kroka’s Winter Semester Program. Always curious and always active, both Rebecca’s cognition and physical endurance seem to know no bounds.

Anna first came to Kroka as a summer student in 2014. Since then she has participated in or led more than 15 expeditions, including Paddlers' Journey Up North (twice) and Canadian Expedition (also twice). Anna is a graduate of Kroka's Fall Semester in the Southwest, and loves sharing her passion for white water paddling, and solo canoeing in particular, with Kroka students.

A father, a rambling rock climber and a builder, Davicho originates from Colombia, but has lived and raised his beautiful daughter, Violeta, in Ecuador for the last decade. At the age of twelve, he earned enough money selling hot dogs on the street to buy his first pair of climbing shoes. He has gone on to become a professional mountaineering guide as a member of the IFMGA International Federation of Mountain guides Association. In Ecuador, he works as a high-altitude mountaineering guide for Nahual Expediciones. Around Kroka, Davicho can be found collecting poison ivy, while exploring new heights and terrain.

Proudly born and raised in Chicago’s South Loop, Elijah has been working at Kroka since the spring of 2023, leading wilderness trips for both school programs and summer students. He excels at connecting with some of our younger participants, who find his enthusiasm for the rivers and forest of New England infectious.

Emma is originally from a small town in Wisconsin, but is currently a student at Warren Wilson College in Asheville North Carolina - where she studies outdoor leadership and environmental science. When not studying, Emma enjoys circus arts, rock climbing, paddling, and music. In 2024 Emma chose to come north as a first-year instructor inspired by Kroka’s mission and values of holistic outdoor education. We are thrilled to have her in our community!

Emma holds the one-of-a-kind claim of being the eleven-thousand-one-hundred-and-eleventh person to be named “Emma Smith”. A two-time Kroka semester alumni and recent graduate in psychology and outdoor leadership from Warren Wilson College, Emma returns from the Blue Ridge Mountains to her home state of New Hampshire to share her expedition expertise and love for community living.

Orlando Geovani “Geova” Guatemal hails from the Indigenous community of San Clemente, in the highlands of Ecuador. Both hardworking and easygoing, Geova’s mastery in mountain biking is surpassed only by his mastery of making beautiful stone and wood carvings. A lifelong student of the air, earth, water, and fire that composes our world, Geova helps us learn how los naturales can be our wisest teachers.

Born in Porto Alegre Brazil and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Giovanna “Gia” Bialoglowka’s sanguine enthusiasm brightens the Kroka campus year-round. A whitewater kayaker and scholar of the 2023-24 BOLD Women’s Fellowship, Gia’s sunny temperament is highlighted by her (classic Capricorn) resolute will-force.

Gracie comes to us from the land of towering redwoods and foggy seaside grottos, where she recently graduated from University of California Santa Cruz. Born and raised in the Golden State, she enjoys sea kayaking, backpacking. At Kroka, Gracie loves leading wood carving crafts, knitting for fun, making music, and always brings the sunshine of “like, such Cali vibes, you know?”

Grant has been both a Semester Student and Apprentice, and returns now to lead programs in his own right. He grew up in Southern Maine with his four siblings building forts and crafting in his backyard. As a young homeschooler he began studying with Chris and Ashirah Knapp at Koviashuvik Local Living School, where he apprenticed and worked, furthering his wilderness and crafting skills.He enjoyed three years of summer trips at Kroka as a camper before becoming an apprentice and completing the Winter Semester. He has a strong belief that everything he uses should be beautiful as well as functional and strives to apply this philosophy to all of his pursuits. Grant enjoys canoeing down quiet rivers, carving wood, tanning hides, blacksmithing, and singing songs. He can often be found wandering the wild woods, a handmade knife on his belt and an axe in hand, throwing a song to the wind. A masterful craftsman, he infuses every project with a reverence and wonder which are felt by all around him.

Originally from Ilhaebela, Brazil, this year-round Kroka leader brings a steady clearsightedness amid the rollicking Kroka summer. With an educational background in geology, Jack also brings a fervent stoke for linguistics and mountain biking. In the fall season, Jack leads Kroka’s Ecuador semester.

Jamie has worked at Kroka since the year 2000. He also has Waldorf class teacher certification from Antioch University, is a capoeira angola teacher (Afro-Brazilian dance/fight/game), and a yoga teacher trained at the Himalayan Institute for Yoga Science and Philosophy. He has worked on small organic farms in Vermont, on wheat farms in Oklahoma, and did inspection work for the Northeast Organic Farming Association. He has worked with 'at risk' youth in residential settings, school settings and outdoors. He has been a restaurant manager, waiter, and cook in Greenwich Village, NYC, and went to cooking school. As a teenager he went to Interlochen Arts Academy, a fine and performing arts high school and has performed in many plays. Originally from Minneapolis, he now lives in Hawaii!

From the accordioned valley-and-ridge country of east Tennessee, Joseph now brings his love of outdoor education to the woods of New Hampshire. He is a bard of the banjo, can-jo, and harmonica, and makes the campfires of Kroka ring with the foot-stomping melodies of southern Appalachia.

Jo grew up skiing in the woods of Maine, paddling the lakes and rivers of Northern Ontario, and living under the trees on a retired salt-marsh farm on the coast. She has spent the past fourteen summers in a canoe, typically guiding sixteen-year-olds on summer-long whitewater canoe trips through the Canadian bush to Hudson Bay, and recently with Kroka in the lakes of Maine. After studying ancient languages, linguistics, and poetry at Amherst College, Jo returned to the forest as a wilderness therapy guide with True North Wilderness Programs, skiing nooks and crannies in the snowy mountains when not on shift and beginning a life of year-round outdoor living. Jo has a great love for the transformative powers of extended travel through wild spaces, and is often found skiing the trails around campus, singing in circle, and writing.

Marga comes to us all the way from Cuenca, Ecuador to share with us her amazing talents on the cliff face and in the kitchen. She is one of the top climbers in South America, and is always looking to share her knowledge.

Patricia, better known as “Pati”, brings the warmth and spirit of her coastal Brazilian homeland to the mountains of New Hampshire for her third year this summer. Whether steering a voyageur canoe on the Maine coast, hauling the mainsail on the wooden tall ship Shenandoah, or snorkeling at her native beaches of Sao Paulo, Pati loves to share her admiration and fascination with the sea.

Veritable stone-master Ulises “Carnalito” Fierro has rock-climbed mountains and cliffs across the western hemisphere, and now brings his climbing talents to the granite crags of New England. Ulises comes to us from Mexico City, Mexico, and joins Kroka's ever growing Spanish speaking staff community.