Anjolene (she/her) was born and raised in the prairies, where the unobscured skies performed wildly colored sunsets and epic thunderstorms, and the stark climate invoked a strong connection to seasonal cycles. Her life journey has been deeply rooted and interwoven with nature, starting with a childhood spent wandering the willow-lined shores of Lake Winnipeg, swimming the murky waters, and watching the pelicans and herons fly over, always with a canine companion by her side.

Her desire to spend time with, understand, and protect the creatures and places around her led to a decade-long career in wildlife ecology and conservation (including aM.Sc. at the University of Alberta), taking her across prairies and forests and deserts,stealthily following and learning from the winged ones and the vast diversity of life forms. This experience has allowed her to bring an ecological lens to her mentoring practice: providing inspiring stories, animal observation and embodiment skills, field guide and journaling practices, and guided activities that promote interconnection and awareness of one’s impact and socio-ecological niche.

Recognizing that scientific facts alone are not enough to broach the human-nature disconnect at the heart of many global and individual crises, Anjolene has leaned into her passions for practicing and facilitating nature-based expressive arts and inner tracking. Using nature-inspired music, art, riddles, and nature as mirror and metaphor to tap into our emotions and deep care, she hopes to build ecological literacy, reciprocity, and a conservation ethic, while providing a regulating and grounding experience for learners.

Anjolene found her way to TRWS through her intersecting passions of eco-psychology and expressive arts, and a desire to be part of the human-nature reconnection movement. She completed the Tend the Fire Apprenticeship program, where she learned 8 Shields and Coyote Mentoring facilitation skills, and further developed her own sensitivity and intuitive attunement to support kids on their nature connection journey. She continues to immerse herself in the Wild and Alive adult program, building true community and delving into her gifts and edges. Anjolene is so grateful to continue the transformative and hopeful experience of witnessing children’s developing relationship to the land and each other, and watching them come into their own gifts and niches within our ecosystem.

Anjolene is a settler of Celtic-Norse ancestry, raised withinTreaty One Territory, the home and traditional lands of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Ininew (Cree), and Dakota peoples, and in the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. She is grateful to now reside and work in the spectacular coastal forests on the unceded territories of the Lekwungen, Sc'ianew, and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples.