Staff & Instructors
2025
Chris Grataski
As a naturalist, wilderness guide, farmer, and grassroots educator, Chris Grataski has spent nearly two decades working at the intersection of social and ecological issues. Rooted in a reverence for the mystery and complexity of the living earth, and with an enduring commitment to justice and decolonial futures, his work revolves around sowing seeds for a world beyond crisis and collapse. As a guide and educator, and as the founding director of SRI, he is passionate about weaving connections between ecology and embodied practice that help folks discover their innate kinship with the wild. He and his 12-year old son live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where they can often be found looking for animal tracks, swimming in local rivers, or hanging out at the skatepark.
Justin Goines
As a fourth generation resident of Nelson County, VA, Justin was raised in a family and community of hunters, anglers, farmers, and foragers. His love of whitetail deer, smallmouth bass, morel mushrooms and the countless wonders of the Appalachian foothills has bound his heart to this region, where he’s worked extensively as a farmer and tradesman alongside some of the best and most innovative gardeners, stockpersons, and land tenders in this part of the world. As a core member of the Stone River instructor cadre, Justin teaches in multiple classes and programs and works as a guide on expeditions, bringing knowledge, experience, and an infectious smile that makes even the most challenging learning environments just a little bit easier. (Justin is also a dedicated leader of most SRI “safety meetings.”)
Jacks Genega
After first building a career as a full-time film editor, Jacks Genega’s passion for helping people discover and deepen their own resilience and connection to the wild has led her in recent years to make the dramatic shift of becoming a full-time wilderness guide and instructor. Several experiences with unpredictable and life threatening scenarios in Europe’s backcountry were instrumental in helping her see the importance of traditional skills, situational awareness, and a holistic preparedness mentality. As a result, she’s rooted her work in a commitment to weaving an adaptive and trauma-informed approach to wilderness survival, ecological literacy, and the pursuit of a life marked by adventure and aliveness. She’s had the privilege of training under and working alongside some of the foremost experts and elders in the bushcraft community, and now teaches extensively across North America through her company, Wildcard Wilderness, which offers multiple programs and wilderness expeditions, including programs specifically tailored to women. Convinced that the technical aspects of wilderness skills cannot be separated from the personal stories that bring us to them, Jacks strives to offer high quality skills training that draws on her own experience and invites others to explore how wild landscapes and traditional skills can help us heal, making us not only more competent with our hands, but transforming head and heart as well.
Amos Rodriguez
Amos Rodriguez is an artist, hunter, homesteader, craftsman, wilderness guide and survival instructor with a passion for tending the world in ways that might serve the flourishing of the next seven generations. Growing up in El Salvador in the context of a civil war that was provoked and financed by the United States, Amos’ family was subjected to severe violence and repression, making it an absolute necessity to learn the skills required for urban and rural survival, community security, and self defense. Following the war, he spent time working in support of various communities devastated and dispossessed by more than twelve years of violence. His immersion in the mountains and volcanoes of Central America, combined with his first-hand experience of extreme socio-political turbulence, laid the foundation for the holistic approach he’s taken as a practitioner of ancestral skills. Connecting the dots between social and ecological crises has solidified his sense of vocation, as he teaches traditional skills which braid together the work of personal, social, and ecological transformation and healing. Passionate about the need to build secure and regenerative communities, especially among those most vulnerable, he works across North America and around the world as a mentor, teacher, and guide. As an accomplished hunter and survivalist, he was featured on the History Channel’s Alone, Season 7, as well as other well known television shows, in which he’s consistently demonstrated a calm and grounded presence that has made him a sought after guide by many. At Stone River, he teaches multiple classes and is one of our primary Expedition Guides.
Daniel Hansche
A wildlife tracker & mentor with over 25 years of field experience, Daniel’s work in conservation & education has taken them to wolf dens, elk herds, rhino encounters, & lion trails. They are a Track & Sign Evaluator with Tracker Certification North America and are certified in Eurasia & Africa as well. Daniel has intensively mentored well over 100 wildlife trackers and taught many hundreds through workshops & trainings. Brimming with creativity, their approach to mentoring is unlike any other. Everyone has unique gifts, needs, & styles. One of Daniel’s virtues is in learning, respecting, and serving each student’s needs while tending to a group’s cohesion.
Marcia Karr
As a naturalist, permaculture practitioner, and wildlife tracking professional, Marcia Karr has been a leader in helping others foster deeper connections with the landscape for over 15 years. Originally from Western Washington, Marcia moved to Austin, Texas in 2009 where she’s been involved in a variety of educational and community initiatives as a gardener, permaculture organizer, and as a Texas Master Naturalist. For the last eight years Marcia has been involved in the annual 8-month wildlife tracking intensive at Earth Native Wilderness School, a program for which she now serves as a lead instructor. She is currently certified as a Track and Sign Specialist through the Cybertracker Conservation evaluation system, which is the international standard for assessing and enhancing knowledge of wildlife behavior tracking skill. She is one of only four in Texas and 39th in North America to attain this level of certification.
Matt Nelson
Matt Nelson is a Track & Sign Evaluator and Senior Tracker with CyberTracker Conservation, specializing in developing wildlife tracking and field skills. With a deep-rooted passion for the earth, he trains biologists, students, and employees from state, federal, and tribal agencies, as well as the general public, to accurately interpret wildlife sign and behavior. His work has spanned a wide range of conservation and research projects, including mountain lion studies in North America, carnivore tracking programs in Wisconsin, and efforts with the Saola Foundation to train trackers in the mountains of Laos to locate rare species. In addition, Matt has been a sought out contributor to numerous environmental initiatives, such as steelhead and salmon surveys with the Gualala River Watershed Council, hog removal efforts for UC Berkeley, and forestry projects aimed at identifying wildlife host trees. Known for his practical expertise and dedication to field-based learning, Matt is widely regarded as an expert on wolves, mountain lions, and numerous other animals and ecosystem dynamics. As a lifetime hunter and woodsman, Matt is committed to helping others connect to the landscape by honing their skills in tracking and ensuring a future for wildlife through conservation and holistic management. Whether in search and rescue, research, or ecological restoration, Matt’s diverse experience and expertise has made him one of the most widely respected leaders in the field of wildlife tracking.
Weylin Olive
Weylin is a husband, father of two, and a full time bowyer and teacher through his company, Swiftwood Bows. His passion for the art of bowmaking, traditional archery and bow hunting are evident in his craftsmanship, which consistently leads to high-performance hunting bows that we consider unrivaled in their aesthetic quality. We are honored to have him as a bow making instructor not only because his work demonstrates such a reverence for the craft and attention to detail, but because we’ve repeatedly found his teaching style to be generous, enthusiastic, inclusive and clear, which is of utmost importance when it comes to a complex skill of this kind.
Talcon Quinn
Talcon Quinn is an Appalachian folk artist who has been weaving, teaching and studying basketry for more than 20 years. She is deeply dedicated to sharing traditional arts that utilize sustainably harvested materials and which are presented in ways that are respectful to all. In addition to basketry, she is an accomplished cross-disciplinary artist who makes a diverse array of ethically and sustainably crafted earrings, necklaces, herbal products, buckskin clothing and bags, rosaries, bolos and more. We are pleased to have her as a visiting instructor at SRI for many reasons, but one of the most significant is her reverence for and commitment to the Appalachian region and its culture. She considers her artistic path to be an avenue of connection with her own Appalachian ancestry, and in turn strives to let her work be a window into a more just, diverse, and inspiring vision of Appalachia than what has often been portrayed in popular media. In 2025, Talcon will be teaching multiple courses for Stone River, including Willow Basketry, Vine Baskets, Hide Tanning, and Buckskin Sewing.
Zach Chrisinger
Zach is a woodworker specializing in greenwood spoons and bowls made with traditional, low-tech methods and homemade tools. His work is animated by a love for making simple, beautiful, and functional items that require little more than human-power and sharp tools, and is rooted in an ethical posture toward the environmental cost of the material excess of today’s world. He takes great pride in crafting products in a slow, mindful manner that are meant to last a lifetime. SRI is proud to have Zach as a visiting instructor, as he’s developed a reputation for being a gentle and clear guide on the pole lathe, creating an inclusive environment for all participants, and models a true reverence for the earth and for wild materials.
Kelly Walsh
With nearly 15 years of experience as a farmer, naturalist, and woodswoman, Kelly Walsh teaches in a variety of courses for Stone River and works as a guide on expeditions. In addition to her diverse experience in restoration agriculture, traditional skills, herbal medicine, and restorative forestry, she brings a passion for helping others explore what it means to live in right relationship with land and community as well as a deep commitment to justice and social transformation. She currently lives amidst 23 acres of fields and woodlands, where she can often be found tending her draft horses, foraging for mushrooms, or swimming in the river.
Mark Angelini
Rooted in Sedalia, VA, Mark helps run Mountain Run Permaculture, a design and consulting service that draws on his diverse background, which includes more than 15 years experience in the world of organic farming, regenerative agriculture, homesteading, ecological & permaculture design, holistic management, agroforestry, herbalism, and more. Since 2011, he’s also been an avid practitioner of the Sloyd tradition of woodcraft, with a focus on spoon carving, spring-pole lathe turning and diverse array of related handcrafts. With a passion that resides at the intersection of food, ecology, and craft, Mark has developed a solid reputation as an instructor and guide for living in in connection with the earth, with the work of the hands, and the pursuit of an abundant and fulfilling life. Learn more about his work at mountainrunpermaculture.com and sedaliasloyd.com.
Virginia Organizing
Stone River Institute operates under a Joint Plan of Work with Virginia Organizing, a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. Virginia Organizing especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with individuals and groups throughout the state, Virginia Organizing strives to get them to work together, democratically and non-violently, for change.
As a 501(c)3, and as part of our Joint Plan of Work agreement, Virginia Organizing accepts tax-deductible financial contributions on our behalf, helping us make educational programs and other community services accessible to as many people as possible.
Virginia Organizing is officially registered with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23209. You can write to this Department for all relevant financial statements and procedures regarding the solicitation of contributions. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Join Us
Join our email list and get access to specials deals exclusive to our subscribers.