CedarRoot

Ramzy Berbawy — Lead Instructor for School-year and Summer Youth Programs

Ramzy began his naturalist journey stargazing in a football field while wondering if he could ever live somewhere the air didn’t smell like fast food. Since quitting his banking job in 2015, he has worked on several small farms around the Olympic Peninsula and the Methow Valley. He is currently  wrapping up his second year as a nature studies instructor with CedarRoot.

Scott Brinton — Lead Instructor for School-year Youth Programs

Scott has over two decades of nature education experience.  He has mentored hundreds of students in practical wilderness skills and nature awareness.  He co-founded the Riekes Nature Studies Department in California, has taught Environmental Science for Peninsula College, and taught Islandwood’s graduate students in the Natural History and Ecology program. Most recently, Scott founded CedarRoot to help continue natural history and rural skills education. 

Michelle Fox — Lead Instructor for Sapling Program

Michelle Fox's heartwork has been with children since she was in college, culminating in the recent completion of four decades as an educator. After obtaining a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Spanish at the University of California at Davis, she earned an Elementary School Teaching Credential from the Multi-cultural/Bilingual Program at Sacramento State University. She has had teaching experiences in bilingual (Spanish/English) Elementary classrooms, Spanish immersion Kindergarten, Pre-school, and Elementary school Art.

Summer Sondey — Lead Summer Camp Instructor

Summer was born and raised in the farmlands and forests of Southeast Michigan where the magic of a childhood immersed in the natural world gave her a deep passion and commitment for life lived close to the earth. After graduating from 14 years spent at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, she took the leap far away from her home and found herself landed and in love with the Northwest.  Alderleaf Wilderness College was a great introduction to the diverse ecosystems of this area and after completing their year long wilderness immersion course, Summer chose the Olympic Peninsula and began to set roots.

Aliina Lahti — Lead Instructor for Nature Art Youth Summer Camp

Aliina has a Bachelors in Science, a dual degree in Sculpture Art/Art History & Biology. She recently completed a social justice based, Masters in Teaching Program at Western Washington University AND had a beautiful baby boy all in the same year!!

Her professional background is filled with a variety of non-profit and government work ranging from wildlife biology, habitat restoration, botany, teaching big kids and little kids about all the above, while squeezing in visual art creation.

Aliina loves teaching art and science. She finds the experience of seeing people light up when they learn something new about how life works so rewarding!

Chloe Lampert — Summer Camp Instructor

Chloe has been a part of the CedarRoot community for over a decade, evolving from student to instructor! She is honored to have worked with local naturalists and organizations including the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, Jefferson Land Trust, and Youth Environmental Stewards. She is a certified level 3 CyberTracker.

Chloe goes to school at Pitzer College in Southern California, where she studies Environmental Science and Indigenous Studies, engages in social activism, gardens, and basks in the sun. She spends her summers home, foraging for woodland trinkets and wild food, confessing secrets to slugs, chasing the tides, rolling in mud puddles, and dancing under the stars. Chloe expresses her creativity through a variety of arts, crafts, and media. Whatever she can get her paws on! 

She is grateful for the profound impact CedarRoot School made in her upbringing & worldview. She believes in fostering love, curiosity, and reciprocity as mechanisms to bridge the cultural divide between “nature” and “human”.