Ambassadors
We are so honored to have this group of dedicated volunteers working to share the love and mission of Red Oaks. Take some time to learn more about them!
Amy Richardson
Amy was born and raised Eastern Kentucky. She grew up running through the hills of the Daniel Boone National Forest with cousins and walking barefoot through her parents’ garden, letting her imagination run wild. Her love of stories led her to earn a bachelor’s in English from Morehead State University and Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Spalding University. She has worked for many years as a college-level English instructor, but her heart keeps pulling her back into the forest. She didn’t realize how valuable her childhood spent in the woods and creeks near her home really was until she had children of her own.
After living in Oklahoma for several years, Amy and her husband moved back home to Kentucky in 2014 to his family farm in Carter County to raise their children on the land, and begin their venture with organic farming and agroforestry. It is very important to them that their children connect with the land and appreciate where their food comes from, and what better way than to grow up on a farm? She found Red Oaks when looking for other families who shared her love of nature and wished to inspire future generations through time spent in creative pursuits outdoors. She has completed teacher-training programs through Project WILD, Project Learning Tree, and Focus on Forests, and she is elated for the opportunity to share her passion with others and to continue learning as she farms, forages, writes, and homeschools.
Rachael Dupree
Rachael grew up in Ohio and came to Kentucky in 2009 to pursue a career in magazine journalism. She fell in love with the Bluegrass State while exploring the trails of the Red River Gorge and has grown deeper in appreciation for the natural world and the way it fosters a wholeness of being through her studies in herbalism. She, her husband and her two small children live on 50 forested acres in Stamping Ground, where they spend lots of time foraging for wild plants and mushrooms, bird watching, exploring the newts and frogs in their pond, and chasing the occasional raccoon off their front porch.
Becoming a mother has given Rachael a newfound appreciation for the outdoors, often causing her to take it slower and explore a small piece of earth more thoroughly than her previous hiking expeditions allowed her. She is dedicated to giving her children the opportunities to know the plants, mosses and creatures of the forest more intimately than her childhood in the suburbs afforded. It’s her passion to create opportunities for their community join in in exploring the natural world.
Kaitlin bullock
Kaitlin grew up in a very small town named Waco, Kentucky. She spent her days as a child outside walking barefoot, learning about and admiring her mother’s flower garden, eating garden grown food from her grandmother, frolicking through farms, and going with her dad on fishing adventures. She enjoyed playing explorers, Little House On The Prairie, nature wilderness survival, and more out in the open fields of her home. As an adult once she had children of her own she found herself being called back to the ways of her childhood, which lead her to rediscover gardening and the peace of walking through the grass barefoot. She also took interest in self sustainability and conservation.
This led to more time in nature and when she was out there she found the kind of peace she had been missing and seeking for years as she slowed down enough to connect with her true self. She continued to expose herself to these practices and loves to spread the word of how healing being out in nature can be.Kaitlin is a certified yoga teacher who spends most of her time teaching yoga, meditation, and breathwork to veterans and others who want a trauma-informed yoga experience. Her biggest passion in life is helping others find peace, balance, and relief from stress. She also homeschools her two children and enjoys teaching them about birds, conservation, the importance of the earth, and how to respect it.
Jordan Byrnes
Jordan was born and raised in Kentucky and he’s only ever lived in Kentucky. Growing up he planned on moving to Hawaii the day after high school graduation. Fortunately, he fell in love with Kentucky while he was waiting and decided to stay. A big reason why he loves Kentucky is its access to amazing plants, critters, and adventures. He loves sharing nature and adventures with people! Jordan thinks outdoor time is far more than just recreation. It can inspire people to care more about the environment.
Jordan has been living at Red River Gorge off and on for the last 8 years. He drove back and forth from the gorge to Berea College for years to obtain his Bachelor's Degree in Public Health Education. He loves Kentucky so much, he thru hiked the Sheltowee Trace twice! He brings a rich variety of experience in experiential education to Red Oaks including: wilderness therapy, teaching mindfulness, as a choir director, managing ropes courses, managing a climbing program at a summer camp, guiding paddle adventures, leading geology hikes, and more! He is looking forward to get young people excited about nature and adventures!
Megan Crawford
Megan grew up in Illinois, just outside Chicago, and one of her earliest and favorite memories were the trips she took with her two cousins and their grandparents to the Mississippi Palisades. Every summer they’d spend a couple weeks camping in an RV, spending virtually all of the time outdoors, climbing around in creeks and the woods. They learned to navigate the forest on their own and trust themselves and their bodies. To her, five words that describe Red Oaks are: peaceful, awakening, freedom, challenging, alive.
Megan is a homeschooling mom to her two children and runs a small side business as a Style Scout selling pre-loved clothing on Kidizen for local parents. She loves giving outgrown clothes a second life! Megan is also a Kentucky Master Naturalist. In her spare time, she enjoys learning hand-lettering techniques, creating tinker kits for her kids, and enthusiastically researching new homeschool resources. In the past, Megan helped start the first indoor public market in Pittsburgh and ran the only all-organic farmers market there. She also spent some years working on an organic farm! She brings valuable organizational skills to Red Oaks.
Curtis Rogers
Curtis has always stood in awe of creeks, trees, snakes, and box turtles. He was born and raised in Kentucky and has been hiking and camping in The Red River Gorge since he was a child.
After graduating high school, Curtis moved to Haiti for a year where he worked for a non-profit in the rural Northwest of the country. After college, Curtis and his wife moved to Haiti full time, where they lived and worked for three and a half years. In 2011, Curtis moved back to Kentucky from Haiti and earned an MA in International Development from The University of Kentucky’s Patterson School. His daughter Eva was born in 2012 and he and his wife Danielle immediately began taking her camping, hiking, fishing, and paddling. While in graduate school Curtis worked with The Carter Center, a non-profit in Atlanta led by former President Jimmy Carter, where he had the opportunity to travel to Mozambique to observe presidential elections and promote free and fair elections. Though he ultimately left the non-profit world, he continues to look for ways to engage with his community. In 2018 his son, Benjamin, was born and in 2021 Curtis graduated with an MBA from The University of Kentucky. He currently works for a large electrical contractor in Lexington where he is spearheading electric vehicle charging infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
Curtis volunteers with The Woodhill Community Center in Lexington as a mentor to a young man and the leader of a program focusing on getting children outdoors. He is also on the Education, DEI, and Outreach committee of The Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition. Curtis is driven by the understanding that his upbringing was one of privilege and that many children, whether in Haiti or Kentucky, don’t get the chances that he had to spend time in the natural world with adults who believe in and support them.
He is most at peace when he is hiking, camping, climbing, biking, reading, or canoeing with his family.
*Photo credit Lila Callie
Russ turpin
Reflecting on his early years, Russ appreciates his “free-range childhood” with access to play in nature, time to explore greenways, and neighborhood kids running in packs. Adventure was only a short bike ride away. While growing up inspired by the beauty and wonder of East Tennessee, Russ also learned to recognize the health and safety warnings along creeks and waterways. Russ knew from an early age that his life would have to address some of the legacy issues his parents, grandparents, and hometown community had a role in creating.
For the past 19 years, Russ has been involved with Lexington ecological projects through conception, design, installation, stewardship, and community engagement. As an ISA Certified Arborist and licensed Commercial Pesticide Operator and Applicator,he develops native planting plans as well as oversees post-construction and invasive species management programs. As a graduate from the Kentucky Professional Environmental Educator Certification Course, Russ conducts educational programs and stakeholder participation events to engage the community with his projects. Russ helped establish a local branch of Wild Ones (a nation-wide education and advocacy organization supporting native plants and ecological landscaping) and served as the Lexington chapter’s first president. With a personal commitment to local water quality and community sustainability initiatives, he offers technical assistance and voluntary service for community food forests, stream buffers, rain gardens, and other “green” stormwater practices. Russ has been appointed to serve as a representative on the LFUCG Stormwater Stakeholder Advisory Committee and the LFUCG Greenspace Commission to advise local government on environmental initiatives.
Stephanie Fritz
Stephanie spent many childhood hours playing in the woods, pretending she was Sam from My Side of the Mountain or Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins. Through most of her life, she has returned to nature to reconnect and find peace.
After teaching in both Nashville and New York City, she now teaches her own children. While working to help her son meet his needs, she found her family spending more and more hours immersed in nature. Days spent outside, hiking, foraging, or just playing, were days full of a quiet joy not found in more traditional settings.
This led to family backpacking trips, exploring the Appalachian Trail and other trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Their highest daily mileage was 12 miles with her then 3, 5, and 7 year olds. They’ve hiked and explored 18 national parks. In winter, they spend time as a family snowboarding and skiing as yet another way to spend hours outside. Stephanie’s most recent pursuit, rock climbing, means if you need to find her, she’s probably somewhere deep in the Red River Gorge.
Gaby Guzman
Gaby was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where she spent her childhood exploring crystalline waters, incredible coral reefs and majestic mountain valleys. As a child, she wrote stories and songs dedicated to the trees and the oceans. She gained an enormous love for nature which has permeated her entire life. She moved to Berea two years ago and she fell in love with the serenity of the woods. She loves seeing the wonder in children’s eyes as they discover and harness the healing energy of the forest. She loves teaching children how to live in a sacred way through nature, music, healthy food, and kindness.
Gaby has raised her two small children immersed in nature and music. She believes music and nature activates the brain in unique ways and that it has the power to heal. She has seen children learn so much by being in the presence of the peace of the wild things. She is also a gifted plant based chef, mastering the art of gluten and sugar-free baking. She believes in the power of living foods to heal the body, and that all children should have access to non-processed foods. She is a singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has a background in music production. She loves to use her voice to provide offerings for the earth. She believes that singing is a powerful way to honor the elements. She loves exploring the forests of the Red River Gorge and singing songs of gratitude and appreciation to the trees.
Become a Red Oaks Ambassador!
What does a Red Oaks Ambassador do?
Ambassadors are our boots on the ground and our eyes and ears in our community. Our mission is to encourage exploration and wonder, and empower everyone, by reimagining education and building community around shared experiences in nature. By adding your voice to the conversations, we are better equipped to reach more people and helping us be accessible to all.
Some things we invite Ambassadors to do include:
Join in on monthly in-person and zoom meetings to discuss what is happening in Red Oaks and where we are going!
Share your voice in our Strategic Planning process.
Volunteer at fundraisers, informational booths in the community, assist with free programming, clean up days, and other opportunities to spread the word about our work.
Share your experiences on social media
What do Ambassadors receive for their service?
Dive deeper into our work and learn more about non-profit operations
Gain tools for helping to advance Red Oaks’ mission
Sneak peeks into Red Oaks’ goals and upcoming projects
Insider tours of future programming locations
Contribute your thoughts, experiences, and ideas to help make this organization even better.
Exclusive access to special thank you events!
The feel good of knowing you are helping to grow unique nature-immersive opportunities for all
Priority invitations to join the Board
Featured bio on our Ambassador’s page to demonstrate your commitment and other highlighted service features on social media
Plus you get a shirt of your choice to help get those conversations started!
We want to hear your ideas and we would love to have you help us spread the word about the work we are doing. Will you join us? Email us at info@redoaksforestschool.org to get more involved today!