Jed Williamson
Jed is President Emeritus and now Adjunct Faculty – Sterling College in VT. He is co-author of the AEE Accreditation Standards for Adventure Programs, was editor of Accidents in North American Mountaineering for 40 years, and co-designer of the “Live, Learn, and Teach” graduate program in experiential education at UNH, where he was on faculty for ten years. He was an instructor, program director, and director at various Outward Bound Schools. Jed is one of the founders of the Wilderness Risk Managers Committee. He has conducted over 50 on site accident investigations and 20 accreditation reviews. He has served on several boards, including Kroka Expeditions, Central Asia Institute, NOLS, SCA, and AEE. He is currently the Chair of Kroka’s Risk Management Committee. His avocations include skiing and climbing, which he has done for decades. His climbing expeditions have taken him to the top of North America twice, to Mount Everest, and to mountain ranges worldwide. He was a WEMT for 20 years and is currently a certified Wilderness First Responder. Jed and his wife Perry reside in Hanover, NH. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Kevin Slater
An active guide for over 35 years, Kevin has traveled extensively in the north by canoe and dog team with Natives. This has provided him with a deep respect and understanding for the people and their culture. Kevin has done numerous canoe expeditions in Maine, Quebec, Labrador and a pioneer descent of the Grand Canyon. He is an excellent teacher and a certified instructor-trainer for the American Canoe Association. Kevin has been a registered Maine Master Guide since 1976. He is a former Program Director for Outward Bound and taught at the University of Maine where he received a Masters of Education degree in 1984. Kevin is a true craftsman who takes great pride in what he produces from his workshop. In his rare moments of free time, he enjoys listening to Celtic music and writing occasionally for Mushing magazine. Kevin and his wife Polly founded and run Mahoosuc Guide Service in Newry, ME.
Michelle Murphy
Michelle is a full-time firefighter for the city of Pawtucket, RI (the first and only female in the city’s history). She currently is an EMT-C, working for both the RI fire academy as a technical rescue instructor and the Barnstable County, MA fire academy. Michelle likes to keep busy and never stops craving new adventures and opportunities for learning. Over the past 20+ years she has been a USAR FEMA instructor, USAR K9 handler (deployments include the Atlanta Olympics, WTC, and Hurricane Katrina), wilderness SAR K9 team member, dive rescue team member and wildland firefighter. For fun she loves hiking, mountain biking, camping, kayaking, horseback riding, and traveling. Michelle lives on Cape Cod with the world’s greatest family: her awesome husband “Murph”, her daughter Scout, 5 dogs, 3 horses, and 1 pony (for Scout of course). Michelle also has a son Zach, who is a Captain for his fire department, chemistry major, and about to enter Marine OCS. Michelle has been teaching Wilderness Medicine at Kroka for many years.
Brian Kunz
Brian is a skilled outdoor educator and administrator with thirty-five years of experience working in the field of outdoor programs, primarily with university programs and Outward Bound schools, but also with corporate and international groups. He was the Deputy Director of Outdoor Programs at Dartmouth College from 2008 to 2018, where he supervised program and facility staff, advised clubs within the Dartmouth Outing Club, worked closely with the director, and oversaw outdoor educational and recreational programs. He has reviewed many outdoor programs for accreditations and safety reviews, and is a wonderful asset to our risk management committee.
Lindsay Putnam
Lindsay has worked in the field of adventure education and as a classroom teacher for over thirty years. Currently, Lindsay directs the environmental education program at the elementary school in Norwich, Vermont. In this position, she engages children in field based environmental science, stewardship, and community service experiences. A recent focus has been using adventure education in the context of social and emotional skill building. She worked at Dartmouth College for thirty years where she created team building adventure programs for college and professional groups, and was the head facilitator and trainer for new staff. Lindsay has worked with international corporations as well as groups of young adults from countries with political, economic, and social challenges. Lindsay has traveled to Nigeria, Uganda, and Ghana to help develop adventure education and teamwork techniques in a variety of programs. In addition, she has been an ongoing partner in the development of adventure education in Russia with the “Russia Project” since its inception in 1988. Lindsay has co-led students on mountaineering expedition in Ecuador, and has enjoyed wilderness expeditions climbing, ski mountaineering, and whitewater paddling in Peru, Canada, and the northeastern U.S.
Ann Bracken
Ann Bracken, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine and the Director of Clinical Medical Services at the Dartmouth Student Health Service at Dartmouth. Ann’s clinical interests include managing acute and chronic health issues; reproductive and sexual health; transgender care; mental health; travel medicine; sports injuries; nutrition wellness and eating disorders; alcohol and other drug concerns; and sleep problems.
Polly Mahoney
Polly is a Native Mainer. She co-founded Mahoosuc Guide Service with Kevin Slater in 1990. Prior to this Polly lived a semi subsistence lifestyle in the Yukon Territory for most of her 20’s where her Yukon huskies were essential to survival, hauling her wood, water and transportation in the winter. She has extensive canoe expedition experience into remote areas of the Yukon Territory and British Columbia as well as rivers in the “lower 48”. Polly’s soft-spoken manner and patient style go well with the wilderness she works in. She has training as a Wilderness First Responder and worked as an instructor for Outward Bound for 2 years before starting Mahoosuc Guide Service. In 2021 Polly was awarded by MaineBiz as one of the “Women to Watch”. She also received the Wiggie Robinson Legendary Maine Guide award from the Maine Department of Inland, Fisheries & Wildlife for 2021. Polly enjoys riding horses in remote areas of the world when going on “her holidays” away from the dog farm.
Anita Kostecki
Anita has been an enthusiastic Kroka parent and dedicated supporter of our organization for the past 12+ years. Various combinations of her three children, Jackson, Hannah, and Isaac Ennis, have been attending Kroka since 2008. Between them, they have over two decades of combined experience as staff, semester, and summer students. Anita is a family physician who focuses mainly on maternal-child health, and currently works delivering babies and caring for women and their families at Boston Medical Center, where she can put into practice her passion for serving vulnerable populations. Heading a multiracial family with her husband, Michael, she believes strongly in improving access to outdoor education and experience for children of color who have historically been left out of such opportunities. In her spare time, Anita enjoys yoga, biking, hiking with her dog Luna and taking naps with her cat Ama after night call.
Katie Colleran
Katie is the director of Outdoor Programs at Dartmouth College. A wilderness first responder and active member of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Colleran received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt., and earned a master’s in higher education administration from Boston College. She began her career with Americorps VISTA at the Center for Service and Civic Engagement at Champlain College in Burlington, VT. She went on to work as a graduate assistant at Harvard’s Center for Public Interest Careers and Public Service Network; a program coordinator for Brown University’s student activities and chaplain’s offices; a service-learning coordinator at Clark College in Vancouver before joining the staff at Duke; and was the assistant dean of students for student engagement and leadership at Harvard University. An avid hiker, Colleran also enjoys biking, climbing, skiing, and other outdoor activities.
