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.
Rachel Rickard has an adventurous spirit and loves immersing herself in new experiences. She is a mother of 4, homesteader, fireside songstress and herbalist. Together as a family they have lived in a myriad of wild ways and explored wild places. From making daily fires in our teepee for cooking and living deep in the Trinity National Forest for three seasons, to homesteading, goat walking, and medicine making off the Feather River Canyon, to backpacking through South America! The newest adventure that she is back from is living in the beautiful cold white north of Alaska, where they had the honor of participating in salmon runs and picking lots of wild blueberries. Rachel is a certified herbalist through the Green Medicine Herb School in Grass Valley and has taught at many Ancestral Skills gatherings. She feels connection to nature and plant spirit is vital in the modern world to stay grounded and clear. There is so much to learn and stay curious about in nature! Rachel also enjoys cooking, swimming in the local lakes and creeks, taking road trips to explore hot springs as well as growing food and medicine for her family and friends. Rachel looks forward to sharing her love and passion for nature with your children.
Lydia Cooley has always been a wild child and a barefoot lover of life. Her and her family moved to Chico in 2012, from a quiet and snowy life in Spokane WA. Naturally, they grew a very deep connection to the magic that lies within this city of trees and creeks. She attended Parkview elementary and lived just across the street from it, spending much time at Little Chico Creek, The Nature Center, and Redwood Grove. As she grew and developed herself as a person, she realized the freedom and understanding that comes through spending time in nature. Her Grandmother Esther is her maternal link (after her beautiful mother LeAnn Cooley) to the Nor Rel Muk Wintu tribe of Shasta County. As she grew, she began learning more about her lineage, attending things like culture days and bear ceremonies, experiencing the ways of her people, therefore deepening her relationship to her roots, becoming embodied as a link to the ancient people who lived with the very land she ended up on.
As she heads heart-forward into her adulthood, Lydia is dedicated to caring for and nurturing this land and its people. She listens to the wisdom of her community and is in the process of developing skills and finding her ways of contribution. She has joined movements to protect what is left of our natural world. She believes wholeheartedly that nature education and ancestral knowledge being passed down to the strong-spirited youth will ensure the stability of a harmonious future.
Joey Kelly was raised by the foothills of Butte County, exploring every creek and investigating every canyon she could find. She’s always been deeply curious to uncover the beautiful mysteries and cycles of life on Earth. In adolescence she often involved herself in community efforts to learn and teach alongside nature, spending days and nights gathering outdoor experience in Chico as a girl scout and camp counselor in summer camps within Bidwell Park. Joey originally discovered her passion for teaching while studying at Butte College, where she spent to lucky years tutoring music students. She feels enormously fortunate to have found a program like Earthbound Skills, where both her love for nature and teaching can meet. If she’s not gazing outwards into the forests and waters of Chico, she can be found practicing new crafts, from weaving to knitting to candle-making. She has a deep reverence for this land she calls home, and finds great comfort in her mutual belonging with people, plants, animals, and abundant spirit in this corner of Earth.
Caira Hart is a wild mountain water child at heart and soul, raised on the riparian border of Little Chico Creek in Forest Ranch. She grew up with bare feet and the freedom of exploration on 40 acres of raw land. From the Bay and Black Oak to the Horsetail and the swallowtails, she has found her place in Chico to be best spent in the company of all things living, breathing, and growing. And like the Beaver’s build, her place in this world has been nurtured by family and community, environmental alchemy, attention to the flow, and loving dedication to her passions.
Before she worked as an Earthbound Skills instructor for 2.5 years from 2021-2023, she taught outdoor art education and theatre with the College of Embodied Arts and Unplugged Arts Performance for 10 years. Before that, she started a private painting practice for small groups and individuals looking to explore 2 dimensional art. At present, she is a Muralist and manager of her family’s rock and gem shop, Ital Imports. Above all, she is an avid student of all Art forms with special interest in Children’s Illustration and Literature.
With ancestral roots weaving down a strong line of Southern Chile Mapuches, Caira has found a deep connection with her familial line and reviving traditions through her art and Children’s books. Coming back to the earth and our elders in all their wisdom, and to our children with their curiosity and joy, has shaped her path at every turn. Outside of work, Caira can be found at play with her daughter Sahana (an Earthbound Skills Scout Graduate) or at Yoga with her Husband Odie. Her passions in life besides the arts include gardening, meditation, cooking, hiking, bodysurfing, all forms of movement from dance to weight training, laughing, and music above all.
Mona Hendriks has been part of the Earthbound Skills community for many years as a student, intern, and student instructor from ages 8 to 15. During this time, she developed strong outdoor skills and nature connection through hands-on field experiences, including identifying edible plants and potential hazards in the park, building fire using a bow drill, processing acorns, constructing natural shelters, and even spending a full night sleeping outdoors in a survival shelter she built herself.
She also brings four years of experience as a student assistant in a community choir program, where she developed strong communication skills and a calm, supportive presence working with children.
Mona enjoys spending time in nature at Upper Park and along the Sacramento River, where she hikes, swims, and watches sunsets with friends, and she often explores nearby areas such as Lassen Volcanic National Park and Plumas-Eureka State Park during the summer.
She is excited to continue working with Earthbound Skills campers this summer and to support children in building confidence, curiosity, and a deep connection with the natural world.
(No longer officially on staff, but does substitute with us from time to time).
Born in Chico, Ilani Welsh-Johnson has spent most of her youth and adult life weaving through the oak trees of lower bidwell park and deeply exploring upper park both on and off trail. Her love and connection to the surrounding land is rich and full of memories, and though she has left many times to pursue seasonal opportunities working and living in national parks, she has found it hard to stay away from the call of upper parks cool rushing waters and beautiful blue oaks. It means the world to her to be a part of a program like EBS where she can see the growth of children in a land that was once was, and still is, her own teacher.
When not seen meandering the wilds of Bidwell Park, she can be found around town playing music. Both the outdoors and music have a special place in her heart, and she believes that having a strong relationship with both will bring her a beautiful full experience of life. Ilani also gives guitar lessons to adults and children, in order to spread as much musical knowledge, joy, and connection she can amongst the community.