Meet Alex M. Petersen — an interdisciplinary artist, educator and designer currently studying Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota. He is passionate about cultivating ecological and culturally regenerative-based practices via gardening, community workshops, and hyperlocal regionalism. Drawing with graphite on paper is his biggest passion (although he has many!) and he shares these skills with anyone and everyone as often as he can. He grew up on a sheep farm in rural Iowa and has since lived in the Pacific Northwest, Central America, and Europe before establishing his home in the St. Croix River Valley of Western Wisconsin.

Alex holds a BFA in Drawing + Painting from the University of Northern Iowa (2011), and an MFA in Drawing, Painting + Printmaking from the University of Minnesota (2017).

Meet Amy Mester — a maker of many things and an avid learner of the natural world. Her curiosity continues to fuel her endeavors, be it bookbinding, canvas bag construction, watercolor illustration, or bread making! As a professional naturalist, Amy finds ways to incorporate her art practice into outdoor education and in turn, celebrate nature’s textures, patterns, and color stories through visual art. When she’s not knee-deep in projects, she is with her partner Alex either birdwatching, bike packing, or cooking over an open fire at a yurt.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has interpretive and teaching experience through parks systems, historical societies, art museums, and natural resource departments.

Meet Carrie Katzenmeyer - an Anishinaabe/Norwegian artist who lives in Marine on Saint Croix with her family and rescue dog. She is passionate about encouraging others to express themselves through art. In her free time, Carrie enjoys hiking, learning more about her Indigenous heritage, painting, sewing, and spending time with loved ones.

She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in art and has taught at Marine Mills Folk School as well as through Reuse Minnesota.

Meet Colleen Corrigan — a conservation biologist and artist of many disciplines (painting, woodworking, sketching, mixed media, needlework, etc!). She taught high school biology in Belize before working with Acadia National Park, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, and the United Nations. During her career, she has studied several species including migratory birds, coral reef fish, bottlenose dolphins, and desert tortoises.  Her work included projects in 40+ countries, and her latest adventure includes advising corporations on how to reduce their impacts on nature and contribute to protection of the planet in partnership with non-profits and native communities.

Colleen attained two masters’ degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison—one in Conservation Biology and the other in Art Education. She completed her PhD research at the University of Queensland in Brisbane with aboriginal elders in Australia's Great Barrier Reef region. She is a keen advocate of empowering people and instilling awareness of the natural world by teaching others simple art skills like sketching and collaging. She brings her sketchbook wherever she goes.

Meet David Aichinger - the Chief Adventure Officer at Paddlefish Adventures in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. He is a lifelong adventurer with extensive experience in leading various outdoor activities. David has orchestrated numerous high-adventure trips, including a nine-day wilderness hike, week-long excursions in the Boundary Waters and on rivers, and a week-long scuba diving trip focused on cleaning coral reefs in the Caribbean.

David holds several certifications, including:

Youth Protection Training, BSA Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat Training, Hazardous Weather Training, Red Cross Wilderness First Aid, Red Cross CPR/AED, Red Cross

Meet Heather Nuber — an interdisciplinary artist/instructor with a focus in contemporary jewelry, textiles, and installation art, and a strong background in painting, drawing and printmaking. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, taught at various craft schools, art centers, and universities in various mediums, and participated in several residencies. Heather’s work focuses on the dynamics of personal relationships and social interactions. Heather lives and works in the Twin Cities, MN, along with her partner Addie and cat Tucker. She has a great love for being out in nature; put her near or in water or woods and throw in some dappled sunlight and she is her absolute happiest.

Meet Jaime DeSmit - an herbalist and creative living in St. Croix Falls. Jaime cares greatly about strengthening one's connection to the natural world and gently encouraging folks to do that in a way that feels right for them. Her creative practice involves graphic design, linocut printing, garden design and handcrafting herbal medicine.

Jaime earned her BFA in Graphic Communications from Northern Michigan University’s School of Art & Design. She is also a 200-hour certified yoga instructor and also trained with Terra Firma to focus on trauma-informed yoga. She holds a Permaculture Design Certificate from Starhawk’s Earth Activist Training & completed 1700+ hrs in a Master of Herbalism program through Green Wisdom School of Botanical Medicine.

Meet Jane Ramseyer Miller (she/her) — a conductor, composer, activist/organizer, and community song leader who is most happy making music in water, with water, and near water. Jane has walked local rivers and lakes with Indigenous Water Walkers including the Red River, the Wisconsin River, and 1,340 miles around Lake Superior. 

Jane has conducted multiple choirs, serving as Artistic Director of One Voice Mixed (LGBTQA) Chorus for 27 years  and as GALA Choruses’ Artistic Director. She especially enjoys creative community collaborations utilizing music as a tool for social change.

She holds a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Minnesota, but credits her best musical training to growing up in a Mennonite community surrounded by four-part a cappella singing.

Meet Jen Anderson — a Minnesota based, an eco-somatic Artist, Poet and Practitioner whose work emerges from a deep reverence for the living world and a 20+ year career in somatic-based healing practices.  

Jen's creative practice is rooted in a philosophy of living materials and a belief that pigments, flowers, and fibers carry the stories and energy of the places they come from. Each piece of her work is created slowly and intentionally, guided by intuition, ritual, and the subtle relationships between body, land, and spirit. Jen’s process is as much about tending as it is about making: tending the soil, tending the self, and tending the unseen threads that connect us to nature.

As a teacher, Jen offers spacious, grounded guidance that centers presence over production. Her classes invite students to reconnect with their own creative rhythms, explore natural materials with curiosity, and experience art-making as a form of healing, devotion, and communion with the land.

Meet Jessica Turtle — an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and Master Naturalist who founded Treehaus Studio. Her work spans two- and three-dimensional forms, with a focus on community engagement. She explores water as life, symbiotic and queer relationships in nature, and the effects of the Anthropocene. Through art and teaching, she urges us to value curiosity, beauty, and complexity in nature, inviting a deeper understanding of our place within it.

Building on this interdisciplinary ethos, Jessica earned a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Wisconsin. She further developed her focus on object-based learning with the N.W. Harris Learning Collection in Chicago and at the Bell Museum in Minnesota, and completed the Wisconsin Master Naturalist Program.

Meet Kim Cao Pfeffer–a Vietnamese visual art educator and graphic designer based in Mankato, Minnesota. 

Kim’s work focuses on cultural preservation, non-verbal communication, and the connections between fine art, handicraft, and design. She explores how ancient societies observed and adapted to nature and living beings, using materials, process, and deliverables as tools for storytelling.

Kim holds an MA in Graphic Design from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and is currently pursuing her MFA at the University of Minnesota, where she also teaches as a graduate instructor.

Meet Leonard, also known as "Leo," - a German Shepherd and Husky mix who is a dedicated and enthusiastic adventurer. He is infinitely loyalty to anyone who hugs him and he has excellent social skills when greeting clients and colleagues. He has a natural ability to reduce anxiety or stress and will charm you out of snacks with his sweet side-eye and playful demeanor.

Leo is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, specializing in stress and anxiety reduction.

Mr. Fisch is the newest adventure guide at Paddlefish Adventures and serves as a studio assistant at Treehaus Studio. After traveling the Gateway Trail solo for several months, joining the adventure team has been a dream come true for him. As an adventure guide, Fisch is dedicated to ensuring that you have an enjoyable experience. However, if you're distracted, he might just swipe your sandwich. He means well, but being a die-hard foodie, he can't help himself! In his free time, he enjoys chasing grasshoppers, running really fast, wrestling, and riding shotgun.

Meet Sandy Spieler - a versatile artist who works as a sculptor, performer, teacher, and director. Her diverse body of work includes small puppet shows presented from a suitcase, collaborative performances and installations, theater productions, permanent public art commissions, and educational initiatives in community settings and universities. Spieler founded In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, where she served as Artistic Director for 45 years. Additionally, she has directed ritual performances in South Korea, Los Angeles, and the Dominican Republic.

Sandy holds a Master's degree in Cultural Performance from Bristol University. She studied Puppetry Arts at the Bread and Puppet Theatre and learned Balinese Masked Dance at New York University.

Meet Sarah Weeks — an artist working from her attic studio in Minneapolis, near the banks of the Mississippi River. Sarah makes paintings and illustrations that evoke both place and story, drawing inspiration from everyday moments and the quiet beauty of the natural world. She approaches each piece as an act of storytelling, layering watercolor, gouache, pastel, and colored pencil to capture a sense of wonder that emerges when we slow down and really look. Sarah especially loves making art while immersed in nature — one of her favorite experiences was traveling to Australia and New Zealand to teach drawing and printmaking with students from Carleton College. She loves witnessing the moment students discover something new.

Sarah has taught design drawing at the University of Minnesota, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture; she also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from Carleton College. When she’s not in her studio or garden, you might find her biking, swimming, practicing yoga, knitting, playing Ultimate Frisbee, or hanging out with her family and cat.

Meet Tanner Barnharst - a teacher of scientific subjects for over 15 years who enjoys the art of passing on knowledge. Tanner has been leading mushroom and lichen walks for nine years and recently published the Minnesota Lichen Guide. Tanner enjoys reading science-fiction, practicing photography, and being outdoors as much as possible.

Tanner holds a BS in Microbiology and an MS in Environmental Engineering.

Zoë Fay-Stindt is a queer, land-based poet and essayist living on unceded Cherokee land (Asheville, NC), and raised by the Tar and Hérault rivers. Their work has been Pushcart, Best of the Net, and Best New Poets nominated, featured or forthcoming in places such as Southern Humanities, Ninth Letter, VIDA, Muzzle, Terrain, Center for Humans and Nature, and Poet Lore, and gathered into a chapbook, Bird Body, winner of Cordella Press’ inaugural Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize. They are a student and teacher of belonging and embodied relationship to land who believes in slowness, reciprocal relationship with place and people, and queer, kincentric futures.