Our Staff
Zach Fisher
Founder, Lead Educator, WFR certified, NY State Guide
I'm a Survival Skills Educator, Adventure Guide and Artist based in the Hudson Valley, NY. Originally from San Francisco, I got my start in the outdoors when my family would take camping trips up and down the California and Oregon coastlines, into the Redwood groves and up in the mountains of Lake Tahoe. We eventually moved to Sonoma County where I was able to roam freely along the creek in our backyard or across the fields to visit friends and explore the landscape.
As an artist and musician, I was inspired to move to New York City and at the behest of my younger brother, Geoff, began attending classes at the Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School. I quickly developed a deep connection within the natural world through the study and practice of Earth Skills. It was the type of education that I had always been searching for, infusing practical skills with art, physical health and deep spirituality.
Since then I have studied, taught and guided with many incredible teachers and organizations throughout the Northeast and beyond. In 2015, I helped co-found an outdoor education collective called Earth Living Skills which implemented Earth Skills classes throughout the tri-state area.
As a teacher I aim to create an inclusive learning environment that is equal parts challenging, empowering and fun for students of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. I know I’ve done my job when I send people home inspired, with dirty hands and a big smile.
Conrad Simas
Instructor
I have always been drawn to life in the outdoors. I was born and raised in Yreka, a small town in Northern California, homeschooled through high school by my mother, and introduced to the wilderness by my father, with whom I spent summers and falls backpacking and hunting throughout the Klamath and Cascade mountain ranges.
As a child, I dreamed of the Native American way of life and their deep, spiritual connection with the world around them. I read boyhood classics like My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and at age nine, I found Tom Brown, Jr’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival—from that moment, I was captivated. I ultimately lived out my childhood dream by working for Tom, spending five years in a debris shelter in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, though my quest for connection continues.
In recent years, I’ve learned how much I need others in my life and how much I have to learn from them, especially from children and their enthusiasm. Now, I’m here with excitement, seeking community and playfulness, and hoping to share in our collective curiosity for the natural world and the lessons that ancient skills hold.I've volunteered, interned, and taught at programs for 4eee and Earth Living Skills, working with kids ages 5-17. Apart from woodsy stuff, I also run classes in various random subjects for homeschoolers and babysit. I have a lot of fun teaching kids because they are always playing, and the best way to learn is through play.
Sarah Gela
Instructor
I started learning earth skills when I was 8 years old. I grew up near a park and spent a lot of my time exploring the trails and learning the names and uses of the plants. I took classes on and off through my childhood with various teachers and organizations (including Earth Living Skills, Roots, and 4eee), and some courses at Tom Brown Jr's Tracker School as an adult. I found a lot of security in learning survival skills; I loved knowing that I didn't need to depend on a long chain of other people and institutions for things like food and shelter, because if I learned enough and practiced enough, the Earth could provide for everything I need. For this reason, I think that the skills are a great way for people feel more of a connection to nature and gratitude for whatever they have. But apart from that, earth skills are also a way to feel more competent and confident in all environments, because they train you to ask questions and find answers by directly observing the world (rather than just googling it or asking someone else who has done the observation). Learning the skills has had an incredible positive impact on the trajectory of my life and the person I've aimed to become. I'm very greatful for the people who showed me how to make pine needle tea, weave baskets, and notice the bluejays in the trees, and I want to do the same for other people.
I've volunteered, interned, and taught at programs for 4eee and Earth Living Skills, working with kids ages 5-17. Apart from woodsy stuff, I also run classes in various random subjects for homeschoolers and babysit. I have a lot of fun teaching kids because they are always playing, and the best way to learn is through play.
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