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Our Team

COEO’s diverse and dynamic board - working together for you and for outdoor environmental education!

President: Peggy Cheng

(she/her)

Peggy’s original career plan was not in education but through her work in community stream restoration, the role of connecting people to nature ignited the spark for her to pursue outdoor education. This landed her at Queen’s University in the Outdoor and Experiential Education program where she was introduced to and attended her first COEO conference in 2014.

  • She is well versed in the outdoor education world having worked at OE day and overnight centres and canoe tripped with youth through Trails Youth Initiatives. She currently works as a Community Outreach and Education Coordinator with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and enjoys fall camping and snowy winters so she can travel through forests on cross country skis! She is privileged to be an immigrant settler who lives, works, and plays on the territories of the Anishinabek, Mississaugas of the Credit, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat peoples and is continuing to learn from our Indigenous neighbours to live out truth and reconciliation.

    Peggy is honoured to lead and support the work of COEO and her fellow board members. She is passionate about supporting all types of educators and wants more people to know about COEO through open dialogue connections between membership, advocacy for OEE, diversity and inclusion, and board governance.

Vice President : Devin Mutic

(he/him)

Devin is a philosopher, educator, landscape photographer, and wilderness traveller. With an aim toward environmental praxis, his philosophical investigations wind the intersecting rivers of nature philosophy and education, finding paths toward a world of ecocommunal care and flourishing for individuals and communities, human and nonhuman alike.

  • With a master’s degree focused on environmental philosophy and education, Devin has worked, played, and thought with numerous schools, outdoor education organizations, and environmental learning centres throughout Canada. Devin is the Director of the Headwaters Wilderness Program. Centred around enabling entwined relationships with nature and with community, Headwaters utilizes intentional wilderness travel as an ideal medium for a wild, flourishing education. Honoured to be part of COEO’s board, Devin could not be more excited to support the work of COEO and its members. As an organization, COEO reminds us that, whatever else may come, the moon still rises to brighten the night and the wind still blows to dance with the leaves. Much like winter – that most wonderful of seasons – which calls upon us to live deliberately and, in the process, reveals a life fully lived, Devin finds the value of COEO to be in maintaining the spark of that joyous enmeshment of life, kindling an educational community such that it will never go out. 

Past President: Hilary Coburn

(she/her)

Hil is excited to be working alongside this hard working group of COEO leaders as she transitions to Past-President. When she was in OEE at Queen’s in 2011, Hil attended her first Fall Conference and officially fell in love with COEO. Over many summers spent canoe tripping and camp counselling at Camp Tanamakoon in Algonquin Park, Hil’s love of the outdoors grew strong.

  • Working at Project Canoe, Outward Bound, Me to We, and a couple of seasons at the Outdoor Centre at Camp Wanakita continued to empower Hil to immerse her students in nature and community based programs. Two years of working with amazing students, staff and Elders at the Bronte Creek Project enforced Hil’s belief in the positive power of integrated outdoor education. She loved teaching and learning on Selkirk First Nation lands in Pelly Crossing, Yukon for two years; where her and her husband Arthur could be found cross country skiing, taking out trapping/canoeing field trips, and beading with community members. Hil is currently working as Professional Development Manager with the Gakino’amaage: Teach For Canada team. As a classroom teacher with the Bluewater District Schooll Board Hilary started Hil a tall-small outdoor environmental learning program where her Grade 7’s worked with local high school students and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Environment Office to deliver curriculum connecting, outdoor environmental programs to Grades 1-4. After founding the Grey-Bruce Youth Climate Action Conference, she serves as a volunteer on this growing community collaborative annual event. 

    Hil is passionate and committed to building and continuing important relationships with local knowledge keepers, Elders and indigenous community members. She will continue to support COEO’s forward movement with being a part of positive reconciliation and working to make COEO conferences and membership accessible to all.

    When not teaching or COEO’ing, Hil can be found hiking, paddling and skiing with her two littles and Arthur. Hil can’t wait to see you all at Make Peace with Winter in January!

Secretary: Kim Squires

(she/her)

Kim is looking forward to supporting on COEO’s Board of Directors again this year! She was first introduced to COEO while completing her Bachelor of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2012 and has loved it ever since. She is an early childhood educator and teacher and now works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph.

  • Kim has the privilege of working with many pre-service early childhood educators and aims to help students understand the critical importance of outdoor play and learning opportunities for children and adults. Her research program focuses on early childhood education and care, with a particular focus on outdoor play.  Among many things, she is curious about how we design outdoor learning environments, how these spaces are accessible to a variety of learners, and how this impacts children’s (and adults’) play, learning, and development. In her own outdoor play, Kim loves backcountry camping, jogging, and exploring waterfalls, mountains, and glacier lakes.

Treasurer: Valerie Freemantle

(she/her)

Val grew up in the suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area. She is grateful for the adults in her life who brought her outside as a tween and young adult. She remembers the magic that the outdoors had to help her become a more confident, calmer, and fuller version of herself in those key formative years.

  • The first chance she got to work in outdoor education was as in 2012 undergrad co-op student at the Scarborough Outdoor Education School (Kearney, ON) run by the Toronto District School Board. She knew she had found something special and after a couple of detours she was able to return to outdoor education.

    After completing her M.Sc. at Queen’s researching changes in plant cover in Canada’s arctic, she enrolled in the OEE program at Queen’s. Since graduating in 2020, she has been working as an outdoor educator at Foley Mountain Conservation Area (Rideau Valley Conservation Authority) and supply teaching in both traditional schools and outdoor education spaces across eastern and southern Ontario. In Spring 2023, she completed Outward Bound’s Training Academy. In addition to the technical skills, this program was the encouraging nudge Val needed to start her own business in outdoor education. As a mixed race person and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she wants to use her work and role in COEO as a way to make outdoor education more accessible to newcomers to Canada as well as those who may not feel welcomed in traditional outdoor education spaces. Val joined the board in fall 2023 after co-chairing the 2023 fall COEO conference “Opening Doors to the Outdoors”. As a board member, she co-chaired the 2024 Make Peace With Winter “Weaving Warmth” conference and supported several other board initiatives. After serving two years as a board member at large, Valerie is honoured to be elected to the board as treasurer for this term.

Volunteer Coordinator: Angel Suarez Esquivel

(he/him). Nature name: Hummingbird

Angel is an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) who specializes in outdoor pedagogy. Along with his Early Childhood Education and Teaching diploma from Humber College, Angel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability.

  • He works at the Humber Arboretum and Centre for Urban Ecology in Toronto as a Student and Community Engagement Specialist, coordinating the ECE field placement for outdoor education and the Learning by Leading program for Humber College and University of Guelph-Humber students. Finally, as a part of the Arb’s educational team, he continues to work with college students along with the general community and children of all ages.

    Angel has a special connection to nature as it is the place he feels most comfortable, and he knows that nature always has something new to teach him. Originally from Mexico, he advocates for Latine communities to have fair access to outdoor spaces and recreation. He is passionate about removing barriers to nature and his goal is to connect more people to the outdoors.

Director at Large: Rayanna Santiago

(she/her)

Ray is grateful and excited to collaborate with COEO’s Board of Directors for her second year as Director at Large! This year she hopes to connect northwestern Ontario educators, universities, and organizations with the COEO community.

  • Ray is a secondary school teacher, outdoor educator, and retired Muay Thai coach, and she’s currently a graduate student in the Master of Education program specializing in Environmental and Sustainability Education at Lakehead University. Her current academic interests are on how place-based, post-secondary education supports students in developing an environmental ethic of care and meaningful relationships with our non-human kin. In her spare time, Ray can be found somewhere in the woods, whether it be on a canoe in a backcountry lake, in a tent under fall foliage, or attempting to snowboard and cross country ski through snowy terrain. Ray is always eager to further her abilities as an outdoor educator and loves finding opportunities to learn from and with our non-human kin.

Director at Large: Lilla Scott

(she/her)

Lilla is excited to join COEO’s Board of Directors for the first time this year. She has been an educator within Indigenous Communities for 15 years and shares her passion for the outdoors through her land-based teaching approach. She is currently working for Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation as a kindergarten teacher.

  • She piloted an outdoor program which has completely shifted her philosophy towards learning and the importance of building a relationship with nature in the early years. 

    “Outdoor play is at the core of my philosophy for learning. The natural world is a place of wonder and discovery. It provides opportunities to build relationships with all of Creation and opens a window of endless learning possibilities. As educators, we can push to provide this kind of environment for our students so that they can learn from the land, as children have throughout history. Nature is our greatest teacher. Children get the experience to discover and extend their thinking beyond the four walls of a classroom. I love allowing them to take the lead as they explore the outdoors. Using nature as their playground gives them a chance to ask questions, create new thoughts and spark a new inquiry. Outdoor learning is critical for developing their executive functioning skills which will help them succeed as they grow.

Director at Large: Brad Squarek

(he/him)

Brad Squarek is a bilingual outdoor educator, scientist and naturalist with a passion for all things nature. His interest in the outdoors comes from summers spent at his family cottage in Rawdon, Quebec, and as a camper and counsellor at YMCA Camp Queen Elizabeth in Honey Harbour, Ontario. He fondly remembers a full-circle moment when he got to discuss environmental stewardship with campers from his old camp, now representing the Georgian Bay Land Trust as a research student! Brad holds an MSc in Biology …

  • …from the University of McMaster where he compared environmental-DNA to traditional survey methods for the Blanding’s turtles, a beautiful, smiley, endangered turtle species found in Ontario and across eastern North America. He is currently the Bilingual School Programs Officer at Royal Botanical Gardens Canada in Hamilton/Burlington, Ontario, where he developed his passion for helping students make deep, meaningful and personal connections to the land.

    Born in Montreal, Brad is a proud francophone (and Habs fan!). He wants to help COEO become more accessible to francophone outdoor educators across Ontario! You can find him birding/butterflying on trails at RBG, bouldering, volunteering at a bird banding station or weeding in his native plant garden at home.

Director at Large: Marleine Gélineau

(she/her)

Marleine Gélineau is a PhD student, bilingual educator, and outdoor enthusiast based in Northwestern Ontario. She has taught learners from JK through post-secondary and developed a deep appreciation for natural and cultural interpretation through many years working in parks and nature centres. Marleine's doctoral research explores…

  • … how insect-focused education can be meaningfully integrated into classrooms through feminist and critical animal pedagogies, with the goals of inspiring diverse people to pursue entomology and contribute to insect conservation. She also holds an MEd in Environmental and Sustainability Education, a BEd in Outdoor, Environmental, and Experiential Education, and a BSc in Psychology and Biology.

    Outside of work and school, Marleine is an avid rock and ice climber with almost 20 years of climbing experience. She is passionate about helping people feel welcome, confident, and empowered in outdoor spaces and adventure sports. When she's not climbing, you'll likely find her paddling, exploring fire towers, or foraging for mushrooms with her golden retriever, Nova.

Membership Secretary: Lee McArthur

(she/her)

I am happy to be here with COEO where outdoor educators, environmentalists, and all those who seek to strengthen our relationships with the natural world gather to share, learn, forge alliances, connect and rejuvenate! I have been an outdoors enthusiast all my life, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, gardening and just being outside, where I find my greatest solace and deepest sense of belonging.

  • Like many of you, I feel the urgency of the work done by COEO and its members. We have a vital and urgent calling to reforge and strengthen connections between our children, youth and young adults and the natural world that sustains all of us.

    To this work I bring a long history of work as an educator and school administrator in the public system with all grades from K to 12. I have also taught at forest schools. Currently I am privileged to be a specialist teacher at Kikendaasogamig School, working with the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. As an educator I consult with and forge alliances with local organizations and Indigenous land stewards. Together we get children and youth outdoors and connected with nature.

    Concurrently, I am working on a PhD at Trent University in environmental education,  specifically pedagogies which foster relationship and eco-connection with the more-than-human-world.  I have presented workshops at EECOM, Take Me Outside, Wild Pedagogies in Sweden and Greece and COEO’s Fall and OWLS conferences.

    I am thrilled to be on the board and committed to supporting the important work of COEO and COEO’s Pathways journal. I look forward to working with the amazing COEO team and membership to further these goals, supporting and building the organization.

Meet our 2026-2027 Student Representatives

OISE, Noah Spitzer

(he/him)

I grew up in Ottawa before moving to Toronto in 2008 to attend the Theatre: Performance Acting program at Toronto Metropolitan University. During my studies, I worked for Brightspark as a tour leader for over 4 years, taking students and their teachers on overnight educational trips to various cities in North America.

  • After graduating, I worked as a professional actor and resident artist-educator at Young People’s Theatre, where I taught drama workshops in schools and performed in plays including To Kill a Mockingbird and Hana’s Suitcase. Since 2019, I’ve worked for the world’s largest active travel company, Backroads, leading cycling, hiking, and multi-adventure tours all over the world (including in Normandy, the Pyrenees, Belize, Costa Rica, and the Canadian Rockies). I’ve achieved my Professional Interpreter designation with the Interpretive Guides’ Association, the only Parks Canada-affiliated organization permitting hiking guides to lead commercial groups in Banff National Park. In addition to trip leading, I hire, train, and mentor new trip leaders.

    I’m currently in my first year of the Master of Teaching program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto (U of T). I found COEO when I requested a practicum placement in Outdoor Education and was lucky enough to be placed at the Toronto Urban Studies Centre (TUSC), part of the Toronto Outdoor Education Schools (TOES), housed in the TDSB (that’s a lot of acronyms)! I’m focusing my research on risk perceptions among outdoor educators, which has been a fascinating subject. I’m looking forward to increasing awareness of COEO at U of T and inviting more future educators to incorporate outdoor ed into their teaching practice.

Trent University, Anissah Rajpatee

(she/her)

Anissah is currently a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Indigenous & Canadian Studies at Trent University in Peterborough. With an undergraduate degree in Indigenous Studies and Teacher Education and now with a thesis in the works, Anissah has embarked on a journey of research involving environmental education, pedagogy, and land-based learning while residing as a settler on Michi Saggiig Nishnaabeg territory which is part of the William Treaties territory.

  • From an early age she has always been fascinated by the natural world. She has spent nearly every summer ofher entire life camping in Parry Sound with her family where she was able to nurture her visceral love for the land through fishing and canoeing. Since the age of 6, Anissah has spent several weeks throughout summer at an all-girls summer camp where she continued to grow interconnectedly with the land and waters of Georgian Bay (Mnidoo Gamii). Anissah spent some time on the beautiful salty shores of the Pacific Ocean in Átl’ka7tsem (Howe Sound) in British Columbia where she was fortunate to be part of the Sea to Sky Outdoor School team for a season. She got a glimpse into the world of outdoor education and fell in love with calling the cedar forest and rocky beaches her classroom.

    These experiences have inspired Anissah to seek out ways in which these land-based relationships can be sparked with students of all ages. Her current research is focused on reimagining environmental education through a lens of reciprocity and respect with the goal of fostering the curation of land-based relationships for students. Looking at the current environmental education policy framework and engaging with educators and other researchers, Anissah hopes to begin addressing the immediate need to consider the significance of Indigenous land-based pedagogy and land-based relationships when teaching outdoor education. Fostering a sense of courage and hope for students of all ages in relation to the state of climate change is a goal for Anissah. She is excited to become part of the web of relationships that COEO has created and hopes to foster meaningful relationships, discussions, and learning among fellow student members.

University of Ottawa, Ethan Brown

(he/him)

Hi! My name is Ethan Brown, and I am the COEO Student Representative for the University of Ottawa. I am in my first year of the Bachelor of Education program, and I have a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Growing up, I did not take advantage of the beautiful scenery surrounding my hometown of Calgary, and it was only when I turned 18 that I began to explore the various parks of Alberta.

  • From then on, getting outside was a priority, and I spent any time I could to get out and enjoy natural spaces. Upon completion of my engineering degree at Carleton, I took time off to grow and develop my outdoor skills and experiences. I bounced from Ottawa (Algonquin/Anishinaabeg Territory) to Canmore (Treaty 7 Territory) to Haines Junction (Champagne Aishihik), before returning to Canmore and now Ottawa. During this time, being immersed in such beautiful wilderness, I found myself developing a deeper appreciation of the natural world.

    Coming from a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) background, my goal is to develop outdoor curricula that connects these concepts to the natural world. When I am out exploring, I find myself examining the world through a scientific lens, which only further develops my curiosity. This curiosity drives me to learn as much as I can about the natural processes in our environment, and I believe that engaging students in a similar manner will allow them to form a connection with nature and their surroundings.

    Through COEO I hope to engage with other outdoor educators to learn, grow, and pursue a career in Outdoor Education and Advocacy!

Interested in joining the COEO team? 

Many volunteer opportunities from one-day commitments to full year board positions!

Board of Directors

Consider submitting yourself as a nominee for a position! Nominations open in late May and close in July. Elections take place at our annual fall conference.

Student Representative

Are you currently at a post-secondary institution? 

Consider becoming a COEO Student Rep!
Students are an important component of our community. Many long-time COEO members attended their first COEO conference as a student. Our Student Reps work with COEO’s board members to support and develop student membership.

Volunteer

If you’re interested in volunteering in any capacity or want to learn more about being a COEO board member, please email us at info@coeo.org.