Meet the Staff

 


 		 Pam Ivie
Director

Pam has been working at Foothill Horizons since 1979, and has been director since 1984.  She spent 9 years teaching as a naturalist, first at Woodleaf and then at Foothill.  Her undergraduate degrees are in Biological Sciences and in Natural Sciences; her Masters is in Educational Administration, and she holds an Administrative Services Credential.  It is rewarding to her to welcome new sixth grade teachers to the outdoor education program who actually attended here as sixth graders themselves!
Maureen Kelley
Administrative Assistant

 Maureen came to Foothill Horizons in 1993 from a multi-faceted background-adventure travel agent, bed and breakfast innkeeper, and white water raft guide.  Her love of the outdoors and nature gives her a keen appreciation for all that Foothill Horizons gives to its students.  Best of all, she works with an incredibly WONDERFUL staff and has the best view from her office window. 
 
Cameron
Student Dorm Assistant
 

Ever since I was a kid the outdoors has been a place that I absolutely loved. From camping trips with family and friends, to days just sitting back fishing along the river, I loved it all. As a kid I attended Foothill Horizons and then returned years later as a counselor. Now being employed with Foothill I get to not only to work in the outdoors but continue working with kids. I love working with kids and have been everything from a Recreation Leader with The City of Turlock to a simple babysitter. I also love archery, hunting, fishing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, rock climbing, and many other amazing sports. Being in the outdoors is definitely the place to be.
 
Jessica Hewitt
Naturalist

 Jess started her career as an outdoor educator at the age of eight.  That year was the first year Jess attended a Massachusetts Audubon camp.  Her fond memories of pond mucking, field exploration and forest games led her to get a degree in Environmental Studies and Biology from Bowdoin College in Maine.  Through college she accepted many seasonal roles as an environmental educator and even returned to an Audubon summer camp.  At Foothill Horizons she combines her two loves-the outdoors and children. 
 

Korena
Naturalist

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love being outside.  My parents and I spent lots of time exploring nature, hiking and camping.  My mother always gardened and as I grew I enjoyed more and more helping her plant and care for all of the plants in and around the house.  In school I loved science most of all.  Learning explanations for the things I had observed in the natural world fascinated me. 

When I chose to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz I knew even before I started classes that I wanted to major in Biology.  There were two experiences during college that really stared me down the path to becoming a naturalist.  The first was studying Tropical Biology for a quarter in Costa Rica.  We had classes six days a week, but part of every day was spent doing hands-on field study with the teaming life of the cloud forest!  I knew then that experiential learning was what got me the most excited academically.  The second experience that really influenced me was a quarter long field study program through Sierra Institute.  The program was titled “Natural History of the Mountains of California.”  Led by an amazing naturalist, twelve other college students and I spent eight weeks backpacking and learning about our surroundings in different parts of the Coast Range, the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains.  I took my last final exam of college in Yosemite Valley!

During the 2001-2002 academic year I was an intern at Foothill Horizons.  For the first time I got the opportunity to be an educator rather than a student.  For the following two years I was a substitute at Foothill Horizons, a snowboarding instructor and a teacher at Envirohouse.  I am very excited to be a full time naturalist working with the amazing staff (both humans and other animals) of Foothill Horizons!