Staff Bios

The FITaos Team

This small but mighty crew manages to engage kids year round – through hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and other outdoor adventures – while always keeping it fun! From our beloved founder, Susie, to very new Executive Director, Elizabeth, to Sean’s cool head and Sparrow’s glitter heart and Alastair’s organizational skills – our team wouldn’t work without everyone on it!

Sean Cassily
Head Bike Coach

Sean Cassily grew up in the rural mountains of northern New Hampshire where he developed a love for everything outdoors. He has worked for FIT since 2002 and has coached alpine skiing since 2003. In both jobs. Sean enjoys connecting youth to our natural world by engaging in outdoor adventure! As our Head Bike Coach, Sean’s job runs from bike repair to mentorship to lead driver and everything in between. Sean has a degree from St. Michael’s College in Vermont and is a certified Wilderness First Responder.

Susie Fiore
Founder, Bike Program Director

Susie founded FIT in 1996 with a vision of blending a strong connection with the natural world with experiential education in natural sciences, outdoor skills, and working with children. Susie’s curious mind, adventurous soul, field science background, and sense of pure, playful fun have been at the center of FIT since day one. Susie first made the move to Taos in 1988; after several years splitting her years with seasonal jobs working as an archeologist for the U.S. Forest Service and a supervisor in the children’s ski school at Taos Ski Valley, the dream of Field Institute of Taos became a reality and a new, exciting journey began.

When she isn’t out riding bikes with kids or working behind the scenes up on bike program and event planning, Susie spends time skiing, camping, mountain biking, traveling, and going on as many adventures as possible (both big and small) with her husband, Sean, and son, Col. Susie has a degree from Colorado College and is a certified Wilderness First Responder.

Loren Bell
Mountain Bike Coach 

Loren’s love of riding bikes borders on obsession. When he’s not spending long hours in the saddle exploring the trails and two-track of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, he’s thinking about the next big adventure. Whether he’s on mile 70 of an epic endurance race, or day 7 of riding the Continental Divide, Loren is most at peace during what he calls, “spinning meditation.” He is stoked to be sharing this passion with the next generation – adding to a long history of inspiring kids to get outside. Previously, he has taught outdoor education to inner-city fifth graders and coaxed high school crews into building wilderness bridges with only hand tools and willpower. When the snow gets too deep to ride, Loren serves as a Pro Ski Patroller at Taos Ski Valley, and fills his remaining free time with journalism and occasionally writing guidebooks.

Andy Greif
Bike Coach and Program Facilitator 

Since 1988, Andy has been in the service of the developmental needs of children and youth, through experiential and wilderness activities. In 2005, he founded a program in Biddeford, Maine somewhat similar to the Field Institute of Taos called the Community Bicycle Center (now Apex Youth Connection).  He focuses on youth development experiences and mentoring through activities including: bike repair instruction, job readiness skill building, mountain and tandem bicycling, and civic engagement experiences. Andy moved to Taos in 2015 with his wife to live in a co-housing community – Valverde Commons. During his retirement he has volunteered for youth serving organizations including: Field Institute of Taos, Twirl, Youth Heartline, the Nurturing Center at Enos Garcia Elementary School, and the Taos Milagro Rotary Club Interact Club at Taos High School. FIT has nudged him out of retirement to facilitate the Building Bikes, Building Futures program at the Taos Pueblo Day School.

Alastair Keith (She/Her)
Program Director and Lead Instructor  

Alastair grew up in the mountains of Utah and Colorado going camping with her family every few weeks. Since she was a young girl, one of Alastair’s dreams was to travel around the world. In 2013-14 she was able to made it happen, packing a daypack and setting off solo to 22 countries. While on this 15-month journey, she volunteered and worked in hostels, guided backpacking expeditions, taught English, and developed an Outdoor Education program for a high school in India. Alastair also trekked over 600 miles in Chile, Tanzania, India, Nepal, and New Zealand. More recently, Alastair was a Lead Instructor for Outward Bound where she facilitated life-changing experiences for teens and adults on 30-day wilderness canoeing and backpacking expeditions as well as dog sledding. When she is not getting local youth outside, Alastair can be found hiking, camping, snowboarding and skiing, traveling, in her art studio, working with her retired avalanche dog Izzy, or mushing her retired Sled Dog, Weezer.

Alastair has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Experiential Education from the University of Utah and is a  certified Wilderness First Responder.

Elizabeth LeBlanc (She/Her)
Executive Director

Elizabeth LeBlanc is a passionate and innovative educator living and working at high altitude. She comes to Field Institute of Taos with a deep love of the outdoors and commitment to the children of our community, and brings experience from education, nonprofit, and business. Elizabeth is the founder of the Taos Education Collaborative, a community-led education initiative that supports increased equity of access to educational opportunities for learners of all ages. Formerly, Elizabeth served as co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Teaching and Leading (i4tl) as well as on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Center for Research and Innovation. Elizabeth has over 20 years in K-12 education, most recently as principal atTaos Academy Charter School. She has volunteered with Little Ripples as an Expert Teacher Adviser, helping cultivate refugee-led preK education, and is a doctoral candidate with the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education’s Global Executive Program. Some of Elizabeth’s best memories from growing up in South Carolina were family backpacking trips on the Appalachian Trail; she has hiked, climbed, trekked, and rafted on five continents and is looking forward to new adventures with FIT!

Emma Patterson
Mountain Bike Coach and Lead Instructor

Born and raised on the Taos Mesa, Emma grew up playing in the many wild landscapes of New Mexico, many of those years with the FIT crew as a camper! With a passion for fresh air and long hours spent in the sun, rain, mud, and snow there aren’t many days you’ll find her inside. Chronically a kid, the little (and big) joys of the outdoors aren’t often overlooked. For Emma, there’s nothing like sharing that passion for the natural world with others, and later seeing that passion grow and flourish.

As an avid (and arguably rabid) competitive skier, runner, and mountain biker, she finds immense joy in both the hard work and the serenity of being a mountain athlete. After graduating the University of Utah with a MS degree in biomedical engineering and a BS degree in mathematics education, she loves bringing physiological and biomechanical understanding into performance on the trails and on the mountain.

Emma is a Wilderness First Responder who will complete her Wilderness EMT requirements this August.

Jennifer Porter
Lead Instructor 

Jennifer was raised in the Allegheny National Forest of northwest Pennsylvania and grew up playing in the ‘crick’ (as folks call it there), hiking with her parents, and learning the names of plants. She is an elementary school teacher with 14 years of experience and a passion for sharing the joy of learning. She was able to marry her love of the outdoors with teaching while working at the Environmental Charter School, located in a large wooded park in Pittsburgh, PA. In this role, she learned that playing with kids outdoors is good for the soul of both the teacher and the children! Since moving to Taos she has been enjoying getting to know this region by hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and skiing. When in the outdoors expect to find her identifying wildflowers and smelling ponderosa bark.

Sparrow Skywalker
Admin Jedi, Lead Instructor, and Events Coordinator

Some say she is part Jedi and part mountain princess, Sparrow Skywalker (yes, that is her real given name) was born and raised in Taos, New Mexico. Sparrow is passionate about skiing, mountain biking, flying, hiking, and fly fishing. Growing up in the FIT community gave her the knowledge and skills to have outdoor adventures and bring her into a role of sharing her passion and knowledge of the great outdoors. She worked as a Counselor In Training and Junior Counselor with FIT before becoming a bike coach, summer instructor, and now core member of the team. Sparrow loves working with children and helping them find a love for themselves, as well as a love for the outdoors. When she is not working with FIT, Sparrow is a ski coach with Taos Winter Sports Team in the winter and has had jobs that involve being in the sky, such as working for plane charters in Alaska and hot air ballooning in Taos.

AimeeLynn Stearns
Lead Instructor 

Aimee Lynn was born and raised in Taos, NM and has been a part of FIT since she was a young camper. She worked as a CIT and Junior Counselor for FIT for several summers. She loves to share in the magic of curiosity with young people while out playing and learning in the mountains. Aimee Lynn has a passion for nurturing awareness, sense of wonder and engagement and knows how important this is for the health of our families, friends, and communities.

Being a part of FIT has allowed Aimee Lynn to cultivate her interest in human development, experiential learning, and mentorship. Growing up in the mountains has helped her develop a spirit of adventure and appreciation of beauty and excellence. She is also interested in literature, art and culture, and well-being studies and loves to read, write, paint, ski and hike. Aimee Lynn has a BA in Psychology and English from the University of New Mexico and is certified in Wilderness Advanced First Aid and CPR.

Stephanie Vigil
Director of FIT Neighborhood Camp

Stephanie grew up living everywhere from Kentucky, Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, and a few more in between. She graduated with honors in 2001 from Taos High and put down roots here. Taos always felt like home to her and was the place her family always came back to.

Many of her moves were due to her families art gallery business and summer volunteer work with the Forest Service doing archeology. Stephanie participated in various projects and helped on archeological digs in Northern California and Montana. With her love for the outdoors and kids, Stephanie joined Rocky Mountain Youth Corp to tutor and mentor youth, emphasizing teamwork and homework skills. She also worked on a forest trail maintenance crew. She loved working outside and benefited from the team building and leadership skills she developed.

After graduating Stephanie was a nanny for several families. During this time she also started a home-based playgroup for infants and toddlers, which she ran for 10 + years. For the past 13 years, Stephanie has been very happy as the head of the after school program and a substitute teacher at Anansi Charter School. She loves the challenge, creativity, and rewarding work this job allows her.

As a mother to her daughter Hailey, Stephanie has a whole new appreciation and perspective on life and for her work. She understands the trust people place in her to take care of their most precious parts of their life and is so humbled by that. Stephanie is constantly amazed by her daughter and the wonderful kids she works with. She loves the way they view the world, make her laugh, and always end up teaching her something new everyday!

Liana Sonne
Consultant

As a young’un, Liana grew up camping in the deserts and mountains of the Southwest US, living some years in a pop-up camper or truck travelling the country with her family. Liana fell in love with everything from ocean animals to desert plants to heritage seeds. They began working at fifteen with wildlife in need of rehabilitation, soon thereafter working with tigers at a Conservation Facility. She ventured into the fields of Environmental Education and Food System Justice. Liana has generated lessons and curricula that have made for an abundance of experiential learning opportunities to youth across the regions.

Liana’s work experience is extensive, her depth and breadth of knowledge is astounding, and her energy level is high. Past work has included many organizations emphasizing social and environmental justice such as…Nature’s Classroom Institute, Lorax Urban Farm, EarthCare, Community Against Violence, MoGro, Public Allies, and Cho Ku Rei Ranch. These organizations are in addition to many outdoor education programs.

Having studied ecology and environmental education at the masters and undergraduate level, Liana persists in investigating every subject from lichens to pegacorns to sociobiology. Fun facts: derby daredevil, avid cyclist who prefers a bike over a car, huge fan of exploration, loves rock scrambling rocks and rio frolicking, growing food, feeding friends human and wild, dance parties, and many, many things OUTSIDE.

Having studied ecology and environmental education at masters and undergraduate level, Liana persists in investigating every subject from lichens to pegacorns to sociobiology. Fun facts: derby daredevil, avid cyclist who prefers a bike over a vehicle, huge fan of exploration, loves scrambling rocks and rio frolicking, growing food, feeding friends human and wild, dance parties, bikepacking and many, many things OUTSIDE.

Upon spending 12 fabulous years working as the School, EdVenture, and Community Outreach Coordinator as well as a Lead Instructor, Liana is further pursuing justice work for and on behalf of marginalized community. She leaves FIT in a much better position directly as a result of her tireless, creative, determined work with a focus on making a difference for all youth in our community. While we miss her energy and expertise greatly, we are lucky to have her work with us as a contractor on special projects.

Germaine Bartlett-Graff – Forever on our Team
Community Programs and Lead Instructor 

As a Taos native, Germaine’s love for the mountains, rivers and cultures that depend on them, began early in life. She began her work as an outdoor and experiential educator in 2007 leading outdoor and environmental education programs with the Field Institute of Taos, Naturalists at Large and was the Nepal Course Director for experiential study abroad programs with Where There Be Dragons seasonally.

When not working in the mountains, Germaine spent her free playing in them, skiing, rafting, hiking and forever learning from the wonders of the natural world. From the mountains and rivers of the southwestern United States to the Nepal and Indian Himalayas, Germaine was always inspired by the natural environment.

With a passion for teaching young people and playing in the mountains with them, Germaine provided many students with the opportunity to learn about the natural world and environmental issues with greater depth and understanding, which in turn enabled them to cultivate a greater awareness of themselves and the world in which they live.

Germaine earned a BA in Religious Studies and Psychology from the University of Colorado in Boulder and was Wilderness First Responder. She earned her Masters in Social Work in 2020.