Meet our Nature Explorers staff team for Summer 2025:
Program Director:
Kristina Weeks joined BEEC in 2012. She loves exploring with youth of all ages to discover together the wonders of nature. She enjoys tracking in the sand mud and snow, playing games becoming animals, and creating nature arts and crafts. Kristina grew up in Papua New Guinea and Botswana with parents who loved adventure, which instilled in her a great love of the natural world. At Antioch University New England, she earned her M.S. in Environmental Education, with a focus on a continuum of outdoor and place-based education through the elementary and middle grades. Kristina has always had a connection with cats, so one of her favorite local mammals is the bobcat. One of her favorite plants is the dandelion for their brilliant color and that the whole plant is edible; and their name, for their jagged leaves, is derived from French “dent-de-lion” meaning ‘tooth of the lion’ – oh, another cat connection. (Co-instructor for all weeks of camp)
Program Educators: & stay tuned for more!
Jill DeVito loves to connect people of all ages with their own curiosity about science and nature. Before moving to Vermont to spend more time in the woods, she lived in many other states – including Texas, where she taught biology for fifteen years at the University of Texas at Arlington. During that time she moonlighted as an informal educator, first at the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, and later at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. She once wrote a dissertation about how toad tadpoles behave around garter snakes, which is appropriate because many of her favorite animals are creepy and crawly. (AmeriCorps Member and Float Support for all weeks of camp)
Kate Weeks is beyond thrilled to be back at BEEC again this summer. She grew up in the immediate area and was even a camper at BEEC every summer for many years. She loves working with kids and has worked in child care for more than ten years. Kate has always loved watching a child’s curiosity and wonder for the world around them. A favorite activity when she’s with kids is exploring outside and she’s a huge fan of puddle jumping after a big rain storm. She works during the school year as a para educator at Vernon Elementary. When she’s not working she loves spending time with her husband and young son, as well as their bear of a dog named Sully. Her favorite plant is the daffodil for their smell and their determination to grow back every year, even in the rocky soil of Southern Vermont. (Co-instructor for all weeks of camp)
Lily McGillion is originally from Brooklyn, New York, but has lived most of her life in Dummerston with three cats, a dog, and a small flock of chickens. Lily attended a Waldorf-inspired pre-school and participated in various nature-based programs and summer camps. She also grew up skiing and biking with her dad. Lily is passionate about working with kids and was fortunate enough to take a college-level course on early childhood education and a community-based learning class during her high school career, both of which included internships at an Early Childhood Education Center. Lily is very excited to join the Nature Explorers team this summer! (Co-instructor for all weeks of camp)
Siri Harrison has lived most of her life between Vermont and New Hampshire, exploring the forests by her homes. She loves taking long walks in both the sun and the rain, and is especially drawn to bluebirds, cedar wax wings, and wildflowers of all types. She developed an appreciation for the natural world at a young age, climbing trees, frequenting swimming holes, and mushroom scavenging with her dad. Growing up with one parent a science teacher and the other a primary school teacher, she learned by example how to interact with and care for children and the environment in turn. (Co-instructor for the weeks of June 30, July 7, July 14)
Kelsy Allan lives in an off-grid tiny house in the woods. She enjoys hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, and any excuse to be outside. Kelsy has a background in land stewardship and nontraditional outdoor education. She received a Bachelor’s degrees in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Science, and has had opportunities to play and work in the woods with kids of all ages through various positions with BEEC, nature museums, schools, and land trusts across New England. Kelsy particularly loves getting excited with folks about finding small creatures and eating wild foods. (Co-instructor for the weeks of July 21, July 28, August 4)
Kelsy is also the BEEC Naturalist Educator for the Nature Photo Explorers: Mountains to Moss program, along with Michael Zuhorski, Photography Educator from the In-Sight Photography Project.