Testing 2026 Conference: Directory

Main Conference: Tuesday, September 30 - Thursday, October 2, 2025

Preconference: Monday September 29 - Tuesday, October 30, 2025

Emily Boyes

Emily comes from n’Daki Menan, the Indigenous name for the Temagami region in Ontario, where the Anishinaabe and Teme-Augama Anishnabai peoples live. Her childhood was filled with canoe trips across Ontario, western Quebec, and northern Manitoba, which sparked her deep love for water and the outdoors. She took her passion further by completing the Adventure Guide Program at Thompson Rivers University in 2014, where she gained a solid mix of hands-on and theoretical knowledge, especially in risk management for outdoor settings. Since then, Emily has worked all over—Ontario, Northwest Territories... Read more

Company Outward Bound Canada
Position National Risk and Safety Manager

Natasha Buffo

Natasha Buffo is a former business analyst for Google, Inc. turned outdoor adventurer, community mental health facilitator, and creative non-fiction writer. She’s been a Certified Adult Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) for nine years. Since becoming an MFHA Instructor in 2021, she’s taught 50 classes and certified nearly 500 participants, from guides of Adventures in Good Company to volunteers for The Mountaineers to supervisors for Kirkwood Mountain Resort, and many more. When not at her desk, you’ll find her trail running with her puppy, backpacking the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California... Read more

Company Dirt & Tears
Position Founder, MHFA Trainer, Writer
Location South Lake Tahoe, California

Moleek Busby

Moleek is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. A jack of all trades and master of some, he started his career in trail work with the California Conservation Corps. After college and some music projects in Chico, California, Moleek moved back to the SF Bay Area where he got back into conservation through the Student Conservation Association and worked for them for the past nine years, moving up the ranks. Through SCA, Moleek was able to follow his career and moved to Washington state, where he now resides in Tacoma. He loves hiking, backpacking, swimming, kayaking, car "glamping" and getting... Read more

Company Washington Trails Association
Position Field Operations Senior Manager
Location Seattle Washington

Tony Dixon

Juan Antonio (Tony) Dixon, MBA, has been working in the field of Behavioral Health and Therapeutic Adventure for twenty years and serves as the Executive Director for The Mountain Center (TMC) located in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he oversees and supports leadership, risk management, training, operations, and programs. Tony has been an accreditation site reviewer for the Association for Experiential Education’s (AEE) accreditation standards and is currently a member on the AEE Accreditation Council.

Company The Mountain Center
Position Executive Director

Paul Dreyer

A self-proclaimed “mercenary educator,” Paul has worked with numerous organizations (including Responder Alliance, NOLS, HMI, and various universities and colleges). Paul has worked throughout the world as a facilitator, presenter, coach, counselor, expeditionary leader, risk consultant, and remote medicine instructor. After leaving the CEO at Avid4 Adventure, Paul transitioned to a consultant role supporting multiple organizations, including Where There Be Dragons where he serves as Strategy Associate. In the past at Dragons, Paul led programs in Morocco, India, Nepal, and Indonesia...

Company Where There Be Dragons
Position Strategy Associate
Location Colorado

Annie Harold

Company Envoys
Position NY Partnerships Manager
Location Brooklyn, NY

Josie McKee

Over the past two decades, Josie’s career in the outdoor industry has included guiding and personal climbing expeditions around the globe, working on the Yosemite Search & Rescue team and teaching wilderness medicine. Stress exposure throughout this career gave her personal insight into the value of resilience training. Her experience sparked curiosity to learn more about the psychology and neuroscience of stress and to help others through similar experiences. She now works as Director of Operations & Communications at Responder Alliance, supporting responders and outdoor professionals through... Read more

Company Responder Alliance
Position Director of Operations & Communications
Location Lander, WY

Steve Smith

Steve Smith (he/him/his) is the founder of Experiential Consulting, LLC, specializing in risk management for outdoor programs and the lead author/editor of Beneficial Risks: The Evolution of Risk Management for Outdoor and Experiential Education Programs (2021). After taking a NOLS course in 1991, he has worked in the outdoor industry for over thirty years (in the field, in the office, and in the boardroom). His career has included leadership roles with national organizations including Outward Bound and The Student Conservation Association. Steve served as Chair of the Wilderness Risk Management Conference for three years (2014 - 2016). He has a master's degree in teaching English, along with four years teaching English at Washington State University, and earned a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification from the Society for Human Resources... Read more

Company Experiential Consulting, LLC
Position Consultant
Location Whidbey Island, Washington State

Christy Sommers

Christy Sommers works as the Training & Curriculum Director for Where There Be Dragons. Over the past 18 years, Christy has logged roughly 1400 field days instructing student programming in India, Nepal, Madagascar, Senegal, Guinea, Rwanda, Italy, and the American Southwest and has spent years supporting Dragons programming as an administrator. Christy has been a certified Wilderness First Responder since 2012. She speaks French, Italian, and Hindi, plus conversational Bengali and Spanish.

Company Where There Be Dragons
Position Training & Curriculum Director

Testing 2026 Conference

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