Brigitte grew up in New Hampshire and traveled around the west before landing in Bellingham, WA in 2017. She is a student at Western Washington University’s School of the Environment and, when not in school, can be found exploring the forests, wetlands, and shorelines looking for birds and other creatures.

Brigitte’s coursework at WWU include field studies in ornithology, including an extensive study on migratory warbler behavior. She has volunteered with the humane society’s wildlife rehab center and is a member of North Cascades Audubon Society.

Brigitte has organized and led community birding outings in and around Whatcom County and enjoys sharing her passion with others. A strong believer that birding is for everyone, and the more we care about birds the better our future will be.

Specific areas of interest include migratory bird behavior, acoustics, mapping changes in bird populations, and the use of citizen science tools such as eBird.

Favorite bird: Wilson’s warbler

Favorite bird song: Hermit thrush

Brigitte and Jazmen worked together at an Environmental Consulting Company and bonded over their love for the natural world. They remained friends after leaving the company. They go birding together whenever they can.

Erin was born and raised on Apsáalooke land in Montana with a rich mix of her Lakota and Nordic culture. Since her first whitetail kill and lesson in processing game at 8 years of age, Erin has marveled at the natural order of things and had a fascination with both science and spirit.

Her family kept her immersed in the outdoors and their traditions. As a young girl, she introduced herself to witchcraft through an astute connection she perceived between herself and Nature. Being drawn to the similarities between the natural world and magickal practices, Erin has been incorporating traditions and her own forms of witchcraft into her daily life since she discovered its remarkable value.

After graduating high school in Montana in 2001, she moved to the Pacific Northwest and fell in love with all that the mountains have to offer. Her love for the outdoors led her to become an Alpinist in 2009. Erin has summitted numerous 14k+ peaks in Washington, Oregon, Montana, and the Himalayas.  She currently lives off-grid in a tiny house with her husband and dog, where they practice homesteading, witchcraft, and survival skills.

Erin is one of Jazmen’s best friends.

Lauren Ré lives in Bellingham, WA and serves as an expert mushroom identifier and educator for the Northwest Mushroomers Association. She graduated with a B.S from the Evergreen State College where she studied ecology and cryptogamic organisms such as fungi, lichens, and bryophytes.

For several years, she played an active role in the South Sound Mushroom Club, becoming the Program Chair & Chief Mycologist while developing an approachable, introductory curriculum for those interested in mycology.

Lauren is passionate about Community Science, Waxy Caps (Hygrophoraceae) and bringing greater awareness and understanding of fungal diversity.

Lauren leads special fungi-focused outings with Northwest Natura. If you want to schedule an outing or suggest a class with her, please visit our Custom Courses page and select “mycology”, or “cryptogams” as one of your choices!

Jack Johnson is a mycologist local to the region with a background in cellular and molecular biology. He currently serves as President of the Northwest Mushroomers Association in Bellingham, as well as Pacific Northwest conservation coordinator for the Fungal Diversity Survey. He is especially interested in fungal ecology, conservation, and fundamentals of fungal biology. During the last year, he has focused his taxonomic studies on the polypores, crust and club fungi.

Jack leads special fungi-focused outings with Northwest Natura. If you want to schedule an outing or suggest a class with Jack, please visit our Custom Courses page and select “mycology” as one of your choices!

Jack and Jazmen met in 2014 as classmates at Whatcom Community College (Ethnobotany of the Pacific Northwest Coast with instructor Abe Lloyd). Later, in 2017, they were classmates again at WWU in Mycology453 taught by instructor Dr. Eric DeChaine where they became closer friends and continued to stay in touch.

Abe has a passion for nature that traces back deep into his childhood. His early aspirations as a botanist led him to Northland College on the south shore of Lake Superior, where he completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resource Management.

Abe completed a Master’s Degree in Ethnoecology at the University of Victoria under the Northwest Coast ethnobotanist, Dr. Nancy J. Turner from 2007-2011. During this time he began what would become a decade long apprenticeship with the late Kwakwaka’wakw elder Kwaxsistalla (Clan Chief Adam Dick) who guided and informed Abe’s study of traditional stewardship practices. In 2012 Abe moved back to his home town of Bellingham and began teaching as an Adjunct Professor at WWU’s Huxley and Fairhaven colleges. He volunteers extensively with the Washington Native Plant Society, the Shuksan Conservancy, and the Lake Whatcom Advisory Board and spends his free time foraging for wild edibles and documenting the regional flora, fauna, and fungi. His teaching is typically field based and often integrates themes of natural history, ethnobotany, and environmental sustainability with the goal of instilling a deeper sense of place in his students.

Mr. Lloyd was Jazmen’s ethnobotany professor at Whatcom Community College (WCC) in 2014 and 2015. His teachings changed the trajectory of Jazmen’s educational goals by introducing her to place-based knowledge on plants used by the first peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Abe continues to teach Ethnobotany at WCC and related classes such as PNW Natural History, Wetland Plant ID, and Mycology (among others) at WWU