Staff & Advisors | Freeflow Institute

Zoey Greenberg

Communications Wizard + Facilitator

Originally from Bellingham, Washington, Zoey migrates between island archipelagos and works at sea the rest of the time. She holds a B.A in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic and an M.S in Environmental Writing from the University of Montana. At the latter, she was a writing tutor and senior editor for the literary magazine Camas: Nature of the West. Zoey’s past professional roles include vulture trainer, hawk watcher, science writer, sailing deckhand, and whale watching guide. She is a naturalist with Lindblad Expeditions and writes about bald eagle breeding behavior as the Raptor Ecology Specialist for HDOnTap. She is a volunteer compiler for the IUCN’s biannual newsletter on global vulture research and conservation and holds a shameless love for all things scavenger. When she’s not following animals, Zoey enjoys volleyball, ultimate frisbee, dance, relentless reading, and the color turquoise.

Nathan Herring

Logistics + Programs Consultant

Nathan is a graduate of Prescott College, where he studied Outdoor Education and GIS. He earned his BSN from Montana State University and now works as a nurse in Missoula, Montana. As a climbing, river, and backpacking guide, as well as a kayak instructor, EMT, and outdoor educator, Nathan accumulated years of experience in the recreational, experiential, and wilderness education spheres. He works with Freeflow in myriad capacities – generally for little compensation beyond hugs and pizza.

Cameron Willingham

Northern Latitudes Consult

Cameron has spent nine years as a serial entrepreneur, co-creating three revolutionary new Alaskan companies: Vertical Harvest Hydroponics, Lantern Sound Design, and Phyten Hydroponics. He has worked for 17 years in the horticulture and agriculture technology sectors, and was named the 2017 US Farm Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year. Cameron and his team installed the first vertical farms above the Arctic Circle. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where he builds boutique speakers, makes magic with plants, volunteers at a non-profit radio station, and enjoys long meanders through the snow on the skis he spray-painted gold.

Katelyn Hepburn

Legal + Policy Advisor

Katelyn is a Pacific Northwesterner, former river guide, and attorney currently living and practicing law in Missoula, Montana. She holds a J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law with an emphasis in environmental and natural resource law and a B.S. in Environmental Science, Policy and Sustainability from Southern Oregon University. During and after college, she spent her summers working and playing on rivers and in wild places throughout the northwest. Although she spends much of her time at a desk these days, she remains passionate about and dedicated to facilitating the kind of outdoor-centered, community-oriented educational opportunities that have profoundly enhanced her life and career. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time on rivers, trails, bikes, and boats with her husband, Jim, and their border collie, Sawyer.

Dave Gardner

Media + Marketing Advisor

After spending a decade chasing rivers in his kayak, Dave landed in Missoula, Montana, fascinated by the surrounding wilderness and multi-day river trips the west has to offer. While guiding, he witnessed first hand the value of adventures in wild places as a driver for transformative experiences and creative growth. He believes that combining these experiences with art, writing, and storytelling can become a powerful vehicle for conservation in today’s media-driven society. Now as an adventure photographer and filmmaker, Dave aims to create work that inspires people to get outside, to help them develop their own reverence for wild places, free flowing rivers, and public land. These days, he still spends as much time as he can outside, whether on the river, on the trails, in the snow, or in the mountains chasing elk and deer in his favorite landscape.

Carly Knudson

Logistics + Admin Support

Carly grew up in Salmon, Idaho with a family that taught her the love of the outdoors, small-town community, and creativity. With parents who were wildland firefighters and journalists, and close family friends that were river outfitters, Carly was privileged to grow up with the message of reverence and advocacy of wild places. She graduated from the University of Montana in 2019 with a degree in psychology, and now does the seasonal hustle of wilderness river guiding in the summer in Idaho, Montana and Alaska, and a conglomeration of ski instructing, health and psychology projects/ research, and content creation in the winters out of Bellingham. She thinks it’s important to protect wild spaces, help with greater access to these spaces, and to look after the people who are working in and around them.

Chandra Brown

Director + Instructor

Chandra is a writer, river guide, and educator, originally from the Matanuska Valley of Alaska. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Art Education and Spanish Education from Montana State University, and a Master’s of Science in Environmental Writing from the University of Montana. As an educator, Chandra spent many years in the public school system, designing curriculum and teaching the arts, Spanish, and English. She has worked within the realm of river conservation since her 2010 Fulbright grant to Ecuador, and she founded Freeflow Institute in 2017. Chandra worked as Senior Editor at Camas Magazine, and her writing has been featured in Adventure Journal, The Dirtbag Diaries, Patagonia, and Kayak Session Magazine, among others. Chandra, her sweetheart, Nate, and their handsome canine roommate are all happily home-based in Missoula, where they do a lot of skiing, kayaking, and pizza-eating together.

Kami Bakken

Acting Director of The Freeflow Foundation + Facilitator

In addition to guiding for Freeflow and being a generally magnificent unicorn, KAMI IS ALSO THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE FREEFLOW FOUNDATION. The Foundation is seeking funds to create a PERMANENT POSITION for Kami. Can you help?

Kami is an outdoor advocate, river lover and breakfast burrito connoisseur. Originally from Minnesota, Kami soon called the West her home. She holds a B.S. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University, where her passion for outdoor advocacy was born. Kami has guided in many forms and environments from the mountains to the desert to the ocean, with her most loved space being on the river in between canyons. Her time these days is dedicated to conserving Western Rivers, diversifying outdoor spaces, and playing outside in many forms. She believes in the power of connection to place that fosters admiration and stewardship for these wild landscapes and the creation of spaces that foster community, creativity and most importantly – giggles.

FIRE UP YOUR OWN PERSONAL FUNDRAISER FOR THE COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP FUND.

Raise money to support future Freeflow participants by creating your own fundraiser: Commit to Connecting to the Cold every day during the month of February!

Write up a short narrative on why you’re doing this: why connecting to the cold matters to you, your creative practice, and / or your relationship with wild places near you. Share it with your people, and invite them to celebrate your commitment (and to support Freeflow Scholars!) by pledging to your fundraiser.

Every $20 your fundraiser earns gets you another entry in the giveaway. And folks who lead in fundraising for The Freeflow Foundation will be eligible for our bonus prizes from Patagonia and FreeFlow Ponchos. Make your own fundraiser on any of these platforms:

step one | GET OUTSIDE

EACH WEEK WE’LL POST A NEW CHALLENGE.

The point is to to build a sustained connection to an outdoor space near you, to witness its dynamic beauty in winter, to feel your physical place within that space, regardless of the season. It’s also to share Freeflow a little more broadly, with people who may not yet know of our work and who may benefit from being part of our community.

Participate in our weekly cold-weather challenges, tag new folks in your posts, and help cultivate awareness of our work.

Help us connect with people who could benefit from a Freeflow course (or who might want to support others by donating to the Community Scholarship Fund).

EACH ENTRY GETS YOU CLOSER TO PRIZES FROM OUR PARTNERS:

Ozone kayak from Pyranha

Tundra 35 cooler from Yeti

Balaclava union suit + pogies from Immersion Research

32 oz MiiR water bottle + 100L Black Hole duffel from Patagonia

Poncho from FreeFlow Adventure Ponchos

💙

step two | CHALLENGE YOURSELF

EACH CHALLENGE IS MEANT TO FIRE UP YOUR CREATIVE CONFIDENCE + HELP YOU CONNECT TO YOUR WILD(ISH) PLACE IN THE WORLD.

You can enter to win (as many times as you want!) three different ways…

1. Contribute $20 to the Community Scholarship Fund. Every donation of $20 or more is an entry!

2. Participate in our awareness campaign by doing the challenges. You can earn up to three entries in our giveaway each week.

ONE ENTRY = Post your challenge to social media + tag @freeflowinstitute and @freeflowfoundation + link to our fundraising page
ONE MORE ENTRY = Do the above, plus tag three friends whom you think would love Freeflow.
YET ANOTHER ENTRY = Share a piece of your personal Freeflow story on social media, tag @freeflowinstitute and @freeflowfoundation and link to our fundraising page. If you’ve not been on a Freeflow course yet, you can share why the Freeflow values matter to you (one post per week) – and tag us!

Nick Triolo

Programs Director

Nick Triolo is a writer, editor, educator, and long-distance runner living in Missoula, Montana. He holds an M.S. Environmental Studies (Creative Nonfiction), where he was editor-in-chief of Camas. Triolo has held various editorial roles, including digital strategist for Orion and senior editor at Outside Online/Trail Runner. His writing and films have been featured in Outside Online, Orion, The Dark Mountain Project, Best American Poetry Blog, Patagonia’s Dirtbag Diaries, Wild and Scenic Film Festival, Terrain.org, Juxtapose, and others. In Spring 2025, he will be publishing a book with Milkweed Editions about walking circles. More at nicholastriolo.net.

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