Staff

Joni Jahnia Mitchell has been a lover of nature since the time she was small, and has always found a sense of self being while immersed in the natural world.  She discovered a new way of connecting with nature after she was inspired by reading the book, The Tracker, by Tom Brown Jr, and shortly afterwards started attending the Tracker School in New Jersey in 2009.  In 2009 she lived there as a caretaker with her partner Matthew (more about him below), having the opportunity to become fully immersed in wilderness living for a year.  After living at the Tracker School and being forever transformed, she wanted to share her experience and knowledge with others, and felt called to work with children especially.  That autumn she completed the teacher Certification Program through The Children Of The Earth Foundation in 2010 and became an instructor for their summer camp. She continued teaching when she moved back out west, including working with Trackers NW in Portland, Oregon, and at Four Earth Elements Education in Nevada City.  In 2013 Jahnia and her partner Matthew decided to start up something in their own town, and Earthbound Skills was born.  Jahnia is also a certified herbalist from the California School of Herbal Studies and has also taught at multiple ancestral skills gatherings since 2014.  She is also the co-creator of Earthbound Skills along with her partner Matthew, as well as sharing all the roles and responsibilities it takes to run a nature school. When she is not outside with the kids, creating new curriculum, or doing administrative work, she can often be found somewhere in Bidwell Park, running or exploring, foraging wild edibles, making herbal medicines, or gathering utilitarian plants for ancestral arts such as basket weaving. She is also a proud mother of an adorable young (and very active) daughter, who enjoys nature as much as her parents do.

Matthew Knight has been drawn to nature all his life. Matthew was a student at The Tom Brown Jr. Tracker School where he has been studying survival skills and wilderness therapy since 2008. He became a caretaker along with Jahnia at The Tracker School, where they lived for a year in their own hand built primitive structure known as a mandan. This proved to be a life-changing event, and after their year living together close to nature while studying survival living skills, they decided that they had found a new path to pursue in life. When they returned to the west coast, they sought out various opportunities to continue this new learning path while honing their teaching skills. In the beginning years of Earthbound Skills Matthew was a nature skills mentor at Four Earth Elements Education in Nevada City while also teaching at various ancestral skills gatherings. Now he puts most of his time and passion into creating exciting new curriculum as the co-head instructor/administrator at Earthbound Skills. He is always pushing the edge of the student’s survival skills and nature awareness through the countless games he has innovated as well as more advanced skills, such as bow and arrow making, stone tools, coal burned bowls and spoons, and so much more. When he isn’t busy creating new curriculum and projects for classes, he is often found creating various forms of ancestral art, such as brain tanning buckskin, working on different forms of fire-by-friction, making various stone tools, and countless other art creations. He is also an avid musician, a DIY enthusiast, and a devoted new father to his young daughter.

She has experience working as an environmental consultant, a park ranger, a wilderness trail crew member, a prescribed fire practitioner, and a land steward at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve. Her lists of interests is ever-growing, but some include mountain biking, backpacking, writing, cooking, and climbing trees. Heather knows first hand that the Earth has so much to offer and teach about the world and oneself. She believes that everyone is a gift to the world and hopes to facilitate the journey that young people go on to find their niche and excel in it, laughing, dancing, and exploring along the way.

Also an avid hiker, he has completed two long distance solo thru-hikes: the southern third of the Appalachian Trail (Georgia through Virginia) and the Florida Trail (1,100 miles of alligator-infested cypress swamps, inland forests, and highway walks). These journeys further inspired his love for nature.

Noah moved to Chico with his partner in late August and couldn’t be more excited to be part of the EBS community!