Our Team

Founder/Executive Director

I am an educator and mentor in earth-based skills and ancestral ways. My family has been in the land that we now call Canada for five generations and I am grateful to be a settler, held in the arms of rivers, mountains, oceans, and deserts. I am a lover of wild places and my life is nourished by sharing in community, food, song, and story. 

As an ongoing student of Martin Prechtel’s, I am fascinated with the beauty and complexity of myth and it’s existence in the unfolding of our daily lives. I have had the honour of studying with the Animas Valley Institute, The Haven Institute, The Tracker School, and with my mentors Annie Bloom, Jade Sherer, and Florence Dedame. I have learned a tremendous amount about the natural world and human culture while being a Senior Instructor and Director at nature schools across Western Canada. The kids, families, and adults that I have worked with have touched my heart and each one leaves a lasting imprint that enriches the tapestry of my life. 

I am currently passionate about wildlife tracking and following the signs of animals across the land. To know that my feet are treading on ground where wolves, mountain lions, grizzly bears, and many more have tread, fills my whole being with awe. I believe in the wild animal and wild soul that lives in all of us. It is a life practice to follow the trail of that being in such a manner that one day, we might be so lucky as to catch a glimpse of their magnificent form. 

Managing Director, Instructor, Seedlings & Tadpoles

I grew up on the traditional territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone/Costanoan peoples, what is colonially known as the San Francisco Bay Area. I left California after high school to study at UBC on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory where I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Conservation in 2011. I went back to UBC in 2018 to get my diploma in Early Childhood Education and Development and I am now a certified ECE.  

Currently, I am a settler on Gabriola Island, the Hul'q'umin'um' speaking Snuneymuxw First Nation's land, where my partner and I steward a small farm. I am forever a student and am grateful for the many mentors who have indulged my incessant curiosity along the way. If I don't have a book in my hands I love to knit, take photos, and cook elaborate vegan meals. 

Instructor, Seedlings

I grew up on the gulf island of Hornby,  traditional land of the K'ómoks peoples. Embraced by the ocean and nestled under the cedars, I was as much raised by the land as I was by my family. From childhood through adulthood the wilderness has always been a place of serenity, wonder, adventure, possibilities, connection, and magic. Growing up in such a creative community also instilled in me an understanding of the importance of play as foundational for learning & growth - intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically - that I carried through my Education Degree at UBC. Before moving to Gabriola, I had the experience of once again learning from the land and natural rythms of nature living in an off grid community in Northern Yukon. A great reminder of the importance of connection to place, self, and one another.

I love being a part of and seeing children's curiosity & wonder catch fire as their connections to place, self, and one another grow - and there is no greater landscape to do so than outside our walls. I am honoured to help facilitate those relationships through Fianna Wilderness School.

When not wandering the forests of Gabriola, I can be found deep into a good book, diving into ancestral magicks, making jewellery, sewing, singing, gardening, or wild foraging for medicinal teas, salves, or supper.

Instructor, Wayfinders

I moved to Gabriola, the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nations in 1992, when I was 7 years old.  I'm a first generation Canadian with a British father and an American mother who raised me on the ocean, fishing, sailing, and camping. This connection to the land and ocean inspired me to seek out a career getting people out into nature, being a Naturalist Interpretive Guide. I was motivated to get people into wild and remote locations to connect with the natural elements, being self propelled and self sufficient. My goal was getting people close to awe inspiring charismatic megafauna such as whales because these are the most life changing kind of experiences a person can have, so that they advocate for the importance of marine concervation. I received all my wilderness guiding certifications in a month long program from Hooksum Outdoor School in northern Clayoquot Sound at the age of 17. Right away I was hired as a kayak guide with Gabriola Cycle and Kayak, guiding multiday expeditions on the west coast of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. I went to school to get an associates degree from Langara College in Environmental Studies & Indigenous Studies which included a field work semester on Haida Gwaii. At 21 years old my brother and I took over the Baja portion of Gabriola Cycle and Kayak's business, running expeditions in the Sea of Cortes all winter. A few years later I started Silva Bay Kayak Adventure Tours running kids outdoor leadership camps, field trips, and day trips with tourist and locals alike each summer. Being self employed for over 15 years, both the winter and summer family businesses evolved and changed over time. 2019 was my final season with both companies, and since then I have had a change of pace working Landscaping and Gardening, while building an off-grid homestead farm here on Gabriola. 

Instructor, Wayfinders

River (Paula) Brophy Brent, is a lover of wetlands, fresh water bodies, and birds. When she's not with Fianna, she's a student of spiritually-integrated psychotherapy & art therapy and a creative advisor with a local non-profit on Gabriola Island. Her life is rooted in deep connection with our web of relations through nature-based rituals, land-based spirituality, and ancestral skill revitalization. She recently attended a 9-month immersion program with Wisdom of the Earth Wilderness School on Salt Spring Island and has enjoyed 15 summers in Algonquin Park as a camper, counsellor, and canoe tripping guide. She's excited to practice the art of mentoring with young ones on Gabriola and to be in curiosity, wonder, and connection together with the more-than-human world.