Field Instructors

Lauren Agrella
Program Director

Lauren grew up moving all over the country with her family and is glad to be in Brevard, where she has spent the last several years. She has spent much of her life outdoors as an athlete in track and field and as a rower, and loves connecting with the seasons and plants they reveal. Lauren graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and received her Masters in Education from the University of Virginia. She has nearly a decade of experience teaching upper elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as leading wilderness trips throughout the country. She’s excited to be working with Muddy Sneakers and can’t wait to see how students engage in the program.

Bill Agrella
Instructor

Bill was a career meteorologist with the US Air Force and has lots of experience working with kids in his decade-plus as Head Coach for the Asheville Lightning Track and Field Junior Olympic team. He has worked closely with teenagers through year-long coming-of-age programs organized by his church. Being outdoors while leading and mentoring children is something Bill has enjoyed since the late 1980′s. 

Elsa Bledsoe
Instructor

Elsa, now living in Asheville, is excited to join Muddy Sneakers as a field instructor. She has a degree in biology from UNC-Chapel Hill which sent her to Costa Rica for a semester to study tropical field ecology. After college she worked on a backcountry trail crew in wilderness areas all over California. She then moved to western North Carolina to work with the National Park Service on various ecological monitoring projects along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Last summer she led teenagers on educational wilderness expeditions throughout the area for an environmental camp. Elsa enjoys getting dirt under her fingernails, birding, and the endless discovery nature has to offer.  

Rich Bowerman
Instructor

Rich grew up in Iowa and still claims that state is the center of the known universe!  A youth filled with hiking grew into a 20-year career with the Boy Scouts of America working in Nebraska and Georgia.  Working for the Boy Scouts meant lots of summers at summer camp.  In 2005, Rich went back to school to earn his Masters in Education at Georgia State University.  Since then he has been immersed in outdoor education and earned his NC Environmental Educators certification in 2009.  A resident of Hendersonville, Rich works mostly with the Mountain Trail Outdoor School but also with Inside Out and Muddy Sneakers.  He loves the opportunity to share his love of teaching and of nature!

Carlton Burke
Instructor

Naturalist and educator Carlton Burke lives in Mills River, NC where he operates an educational service called “Carolina Mountain Naturalists” which specializes in presenting live animal and nature programs and displays for area schools, summer camps, and many other organizations. Carlton was also on staff for over 25 years as the Curator of Exhibits at the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville, NC. He is also a state and federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator and can be heard each Saturday morning co-hosting NATURE NEWS, a local, hour-long radio program, featuring news from the natural world around the western NC region.

Molly Dullanty
Instructor

Environmental educator Molly Dullanty spends her winters in the Blue Ridge Mountains and her summers in Alaska’s mountains.  Two Springs and two Autumns allows for plenty of time to  wildflower hunt, bird watch, hike, canoe, fish, garden and watch wildlife.  A naturalist and outdoor enthusiast, Molly loves wild places and fresh air.  When she is not hiking students through the woods, you’ll find her guiding folks in the remote Alaskan wilderness, picking blueberries, or warming up by a campfire. 

Fred Roane
Instructor

Fred was born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but never really saw them in his youth. After retirement he returned to western North Carolina to both enjoy its beauty but also to give back to the local communities the appreciation he has for ‘God’s country’. After receiving the Blue Ridge Naturalist Certificate from UNC-Asheville, he has led hundreds of people on nature walks in the hills, along the rivers and trails. Fred relates that Muddy Sneakers gives him the opportunity to further his humble goal of sharing his love of this place with local children.

Sarah Chesnutt
Instructor

Sarah Chesnutt hails from Hendersonville, North Carolina and is excited to join Muddy Sneakers as an instructor. While earning her masters degree in Parks and Recreation Management at UNC Greensboro, Sarah worked with the university’s outdoor and experiential education programs. She has also worked for Outward Bound in the North Cascade and Puget Sound areas and is currently an instructor for the North Carolina Outward Bound School here in the Appalachian Mountains. Sarah enjoys watching young people discover their connection with the natural world around them.

Steve O’Neil
Instructor

Steve spent his early years chasing snakes, lizards and salamanders all over the mountains of North Carolina. Steve holds an AAS in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and a BS in Recreation Management/Outdoor Experiential Education.  He works full time for Earthshine Mountain Lodge in Lake Toxaway, NC as staff naturalist and outdoor education facilatator and part-time for Muddy Sneakers.  Steve was greatly inspired to follow his dream of working with wildlife in his early years first by his parents Catherine and Clayton O’Neil who gave him a love for all things natural and real. Steve has coordinated several wildlife conservation projects, his most recent being an Eastern box turtle habitat use and movement study in the forests surrounding Earthshine Mountain Lodge.  Check out information on Steve’s turtle tracking project here: www.earthshinenature.com