People

Our team of talented wilderness instructors works behind the scenes and all over the country to give you the best experience possible. Primitive Pursuits programming is brought to life by an eclectic mix of educators, community partners, students, parents and supporters. Read on to learn about our exceptional team.

Year-Round Staff

Jed Jordan

Founding Director
Aspiring tracker, devoted farmer, and fearless wrangler of details

Wren Anjali

Program Coordinator
Passionate connector of people, and lover of the earth

Monica Bosworth

Field Instructor
Home-schooling mom, gardner, nature lover

Sarah Chaffee

Lead Instructor
Kid whisperer, blogger, lover of wonder and magical photographer

Sean Cornell

Lead Instructor
Fire wizard, primitive bow hunter, wilderness chef, and keeper of legends

Sophia Hutnik

Field Instructor
Teacher, forager, herbalist, and student of life

Sky Minkoff

Registrar
Expert manager of details, adventurer and dedicated backyard farmer

Hillary Joy Pitoniak

Field Instructor
Co-creator, practicing herbalist and experiential educator

Megan Pugh

Director of Marketing
Graphic designer, strategist, vegan chef, and aspiring yogi

Danielle Prizzi

Lead Instructor
Heroic homesteader, humble herbalist, and wild food enthusiast

Aly Trombitas

Field Staff
Aly is excited to spend another summer working to help staff and campers have the best summer ever!

Angie Beeler

Field Instructor
Angie brings magic, singing, dancing, and gentle creative playfulness into the mix.

Anna Bundy

Field Instructor
“We are all connected. We are one with nature, not above it”

Ash Bailot

Photojournalist
Ash is a junior Documentary Production major at Ithaca College

Avital Abraham

Field Instructor
Avital loves to dabble in crafts of all kinds and one of her favorite things to do is to get a big group of people singing songs together.

Billy Streleckis

Photojournalist
Billy is heading into his senior year as a television and radio major at Ithaca College

Cindy Montross-Tipa

Field Instructor
Cindy believes deeply in the power of nature to heal hearts and inspire the child in all of us.

Daniel Korzukhin

Field Instructor
Daniel has been exploring the woods around 4-H Acres for his entire childhood.

Elias Mitchell

Field Instructor
Sharing his passions, curiosity, and excitement with youth lights his fire; keeping ancient art forms alive through teaching, adds purpose to his life.

Greg Fusco

Camp Coordinator InternGreg is often in the woods running the beautiful trails that Ithaca has to offer

Hannah Whelan

Field Instructor
Hannah believes that if we inspire the youth to connect with the environment, we can foster tremendous love and hope for each other, our communities, and our planet.

Heidi Nydam

Field Instructor
Heidi began her time at Primitive Pursuits as a camper more than 10 years ago.

Kaisa Mackay

Field Instructor
Wildcrafting and exploring forests and rivers are some of Kaisa’s favorite things to do.

Mira Vanek-Johnson

Field Instructor
Mira spent much of her childhood running around outside, playing pretend and making things

Nora Littell

Born and raised in Ithaca, Nora grew up exploring the woods and creeks by her house.

Ryley Rasmussen

Field Instructor
With a solid love for the outdoors Ryley spends his free time hiking and exploring looking for wilderness scenes to practice his photography.

Sierra Robinson

Field Instructor
Sierra loves to help children explore their innate connection to nature through all of life’s magic.

Toby Brisson

Field Instructor
Toby loves to travel, learn new skills, play guitar, and meet new people.

We just wanted to say a big thank you for the amazing job you all have done to get the kids back into the forest. Your thoughtful approach to addressing the health and safety concerns of families and staff and your creative ways of solving problems is a testament to how hard you have worked to make summer camp a success. Thank you for getting our kids safely back into the forest.

With Gratitude,

Vida, Doug, Roxana, and Ava