THE INSTRUCTOR TEAM
Mia Andler: Founder, Executive Director, Instructor
Originally from Finland, Mia has studied the regenerative practices of earth based cultures around the world and has been teaching children and adults for over 20 years. She directed and co-founded the Bay Area branch of Trackers Earth, managed several outdoor education programs, and taught nature education in many California schools. She is author of “The Bay Area Forager” and Sierra Forager, guide books to edible wild plants. She has served on the board of many non-profits including Sustainable Fairfax and CircleCenter and been an elected member of the Fairfax Open Space Committee. She currently sits on the board of Friends of Tahoe Truckee Waldorf. Mia’s deep knowledge of the local environment stems from hands-on experience outdoors. She has spent countless hours studying the flora, fauna and ecology of California.
Mia brings a rich background of life-skills to her classes and has taught a variety of topics including animal tracking, nature awareness, survival skills, bird language, art, music, english as a second language, special education and conflict resolution to name just a few. Mia has been a featured expert in articles and films including Time Magazine, the documentary Play Again and the Travel Channel’s “Wild Within”.
Mia lives in Truckee with her two children and is passionate about meeting our basic needs of food, water, shelter and connection in a balanced way with our environment. You can read more about Mia on her website www.miaandler.com.
Noelle Marquis: Director of Programs
Noelle was born and raised in the Bay Area. Her time playing and wandering the hills and oak woodlands around her hometown birthed a deep love of the plants, animals, and land here. Her first job out of college was teaching environmental education on an organic farm and wilderness preserve, and she has never looked back from sharing nature with children. She has worked for many public and private schools as a gardening teacher and naturalist, helped co-found and co-run a local nature-connection day care, and has studied permaculture, nature awareness, and mentoring nature connection in the Regenerative Design and Nature Awareness program.
Noelle lives with her husband and daughter in their hand-restored home in Woodacre, and loves to grow beautiful gardens and good food, dance, and do yoga in her spare time.
Spencer Nielsen: Instructor
Spencer Nielsen grew up exploring the wild lands of Marin County and northern California. After studying Ecology (B.S.) at UCSD, and Environmental Education at UCSC, Spencer has since been a naturalist teaching, guiding, and mentoring youth ages 4-18 throughout California since 2005. He has been leading youth nature connection programs in Marin County since 2008. Spencer completed a Master’s Degree in Integrative Eco-Social Design through Gaia University, exploring the role of rites of passage in a healthy culture. Spencer has led wilderness-based rites of passage for Summerfield Waldorf School, Credo High School, Marin Academy, Stepping Stones Project, Vilda Nature, Elemental Nature, and Back to Earth, guiding hundreds of teens in ceremony.
As an ethnobotanist who has traveled through Latin America and Asia, Spencer is always seeking to deepen his relationship with plants and traditional uses of plants. Spencer is certified as a Planetary Herbalist with Michael Tierra’s East West School of Herbs, integrating European, Ayurvedic, and Chinese herbs into a TCM diagnosis. Spencer has also been a landscaper, organic farmer, gardener & permaculture designer/educator since 2000, creating abundant gardens at home and for clients. He teaches Permaculture Design Courses at Sivananda Yoga Farm and Natura Institute for Ecology & Medicine.
Spencer has taught hatha yoga and qigong in high schools and as part of various adult programs. He is an ongoing student of Traditional Chinese Medicine, weaving Medical Qigong and Neigong with Acupressure and Bodywork (Tui Na). Spencer is a Hatha Yoga Teacher and Ayurvedic Wellness Consultant, while still a perennial student of Vedic sciences such as Jyotish and Vastu. He has recently begun studies in Traditional Tibetan Medicine.
Spencer is also trained as a Wilderness First Responder. When he’s not in the field with youth or adults, you can find him in his garden, walking in the hills, playing music, or experimenting in his kitchen. And drinking tea, lots of tea. You can learn more about him and his offerings at ElementalNature.org
Emma grew up in Tsuut’ina / Blackfoot / Stoney territory in the city of Calgary, Alberta. She loved adventuring in the mountains and plains as a child, and has been lucky to explore many new ecologies since then. She studied ecology and French at the University of Minnesota, and later completed a master’s degree in environmental education from Antioch University of New England. In between, she lived and worked in Tennessee, France, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington, and met wonderful mentors along the way. They inspired her love of nudibranchs, wildlife tracking, and hunting for wild orchids.
Emma loves to learn about what makes each life form special, and her mission in her work is to increase awareness, build connections, and act in loving relationship with our human and more-than-human community. Along the way, she has been an outdoor preschool teacher, community garden coordinator, canoe/backpacking guide, and beaver ecology instructor. She is happy to be bringing together what she has learned from all this to continue playing, learning, and building community with Vilda. In her free time, Emma can be found keeping turkeys out of her garden, learning to surf, and skating with the local roller derby league.
Tiana Cicco is the Lead Instructor for Vilda's early childhood programs. She is a nurturing teacher who loves to help children cultivate deep and mutually healing relationships with the lands we call home. Tiana has guided children and adults in nature for over fifteen years, and this is her sixth year leading groups of kindergarten-age children with Vilda. Previously, Tiana served as a Park Interpreter with CA State Parks for eight years and led her own nature-connection programs with children through her organization, True Nature Marin. A Marin native, she combines her intimate knowledge of the local lands with a master’s degree and certificate in eco-psychology to facilitate transformative experiences with the natural world. As a musician, creative writer, dancer, and performing artist, Tiana inspires children and adults to explore and express their wild nature within.
Nick's connection with nature dates back to his earliest years. His grandfather introduced him to the wonders of fishing along the Chesapeake Bay and local ponds during his childhood. His passion for the outdoors deepened during his time at 'Camp Sonshine,' a summer camp in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he engaged in activities like archery, kayaking, and various forest games. Nick even earned badges in the Cub Scouts before relocating to the Bay Area.
In Marin County, Nick enrolled in the 'TEAM' outdoor education program. There, he explored the wilderness through hikes on Mount Tamalpais and backpacking adventures across California. In his senior year of high school, he co-led a 12-day camping expedition to Joshua Tree with fellow TEAM students.
In addition to pursuing various interests like science, creative writing, filmmaking, music, and acting, Nick has taken college courses in Soil Ecology, Field Biology, and Parks and Open Space Management. His green thumb, inherited from his grandmother, led him to volunteer at the Richmond non-profit organization, Urban Tilth, which strives to inspire, employ, and train local residents in agriculture while fostering a sustainable food system and a healthier community.
Nick is also an experienced whitewater riverboarder and is passionate about facilitating nature connection as a way to protect the environment. He joined Vilda in the fall of 2022 and, prior to that, gained valuable experience as a camp counselor and assistant instructor at 'Kid's Choice Summer Camp' and 'Kid's Carpentry with Nat Davis' in Marin.
Amanda has been bridging both fine arts and nature connection for 8 years. She’s taught at universities, schools and museums.
As a child, she grew up next to a small grove of oaks and a creek. There she found an endless adventure, full of crayfish, snakes and bugs to collect. She bought her first wild food guide when she was 10, and the whole neighborhood became her foraging ground. She honed her skills as a squirrel, gathering acorns and also as a deer, eating the grass and dandelions.
Pulled by the lore of the Pacific Northwest, Amanda moved to Seattle, met a group of artists, forests of mushrooms, and an amazing new landscape. She worked as a sculptor and her work earned her a scholarship to Stanford University, an MFA and two research fellowships to the Galapagos Islands to study bird breeding adaptations and eco-tourism.
Her passions include community and creating art, wild food creations and elixirs with groups of friends. She loves to bicycle to camp and attends the Buckeye Gathering with her two sons. Amanda is CPR and First Aid Certified.
Nick grew up in the land of blue hills known as Massachusetts. At an early age he was building forts/igloos, biking, and wandering with his dog in the woods. His father taught him how to ski, fish, and get “lost” in the wild. Nick has camped and backpacked all over the world, from the Appalachians and Sierras to the distant jungles of Central/South America. He's fallen in love with nature from foraging with Romanian gypsies, working on organic farms, and kayaking the Amazon rivers. He's as comfortable as can be outdoors.
Nick studied Media Arts and philosophy at the University of Arizona, receiving his Bachelor of Arts. He spent time his time in the desert hiking, riding horses, and learning about Native American history. Since then he has been on a quest to study with many different elders, participating in sweat lodges and traditional ceremonies. When he’s not traveling the world you can find Nick exploring with his dog searching for medicinal plants around Mt. Tamalpais. Nick is Wilderness First Aid and CPR certified.
Meet Jared Rivera: father, farmer, nature mentor, and former tech innovator turned advocate for living in harmony with nature. From tending to his homestead at sunrise to teaching in the wilderness, Jared's days are filled with gratitude, intentionality, and barefoot living. With a background in food & tech and the recipient of multiple media accolades, he traded boardrooms for goat milking, finding purpose in nature mentoring. At Vilda, he shares his passion for cultivating children's wonder and resilience through connection with the natural world.
Jared trains, and coaches, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and soccer. He runs a skills center at his homestead where he teaches farming, cooking, baking, fermenting, cheese making, animal husbandry and natural building to children and adults.
“My childlike curiosity had lead me to amass a great deal of knowledge resulting in a life full of peace, abundance and reciprocity. It’s my purpose and pleasure to share this knowledge with our children and our students.”
THE ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
Joe Fox: Director of Marketing & Finance
Joe spent his youth in rural Mendocino County, hiking, camping and swimming in the Eel River. There he gained a true love for nature and wildlife that has (and never will) let go of him. He's studied design, music, psychology and biology and has been working in graphic, web and sound design since 1995. While work often keeps him in front of a computer and in an office, the call of the wild is never far behind and he's out hiking, backpacking and kayaking every chance he gets.
At Vilda, Joe works primarily behind the scenes, handling marketing, money, and all things admin.
A woman of many trades, Odessa brings with her a diverse background of skills. In addition to her proficiency and experience with office organization and management, she is an avid nature lover, hiker and gardener. She has also previously been a preschool teacher and a naturalist at the Point Reyes National Seashore, so working with Vilda is a great fit!
