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SOLE Administrators & Faculty

SOLE Administrators & Faculty

SOLE is fortunate to have a team of individuals who possess significant professional experience in the fields of experiential education, outdoor education, traditional academia, special education, and counseling.  Our innovative approach to these fields doesn’t only include program design, it also involves how we facilitate each SOLE Experience SM.   We believe in providing a first rate experience for our stakeholders.  To do so, in addition to having the necessary formal education and training, we need to have to have an accurate assessment of the needs of our organization to include our personnel and those we serve. Therefore, those that drive and support SOLE’s mission volunteer countless hours and serve as consultants, board members, administrators, and Field Instructors to obtain an accurate pulse and support all the SOLE Experiences SM we offer. 

Administrators

Dennison Webb, MA

Founder | Executive Director | Field Instructor

Dennison has been in the field of Experiential Education for over 30 years. As a researcher and practitioner in this field, he has continued to build a foundation based on education and practical application. These experiences have also included the completion of various outdoor related certification courses, as well as, obtaining an advanced degree in this field from the University of Northern Colorado. Currently, Dennison serves as the Executive Director for Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education (SOLE). To meet the needs of the diverse populations that SOLE works with Dennison integrates education and experience with research-based evidence. His administrative and teaching experience has included both secondary and post secondary educational institutions, as well as, corporate agencies. The institutions have included Texas A&M University, Challenge Works, University of Northern Colorado, National Outdoor Leadership School, Second Nature Wilderness Program and most recently Monarch School. Being employed at each program has served to strengthen Dennison’s education through direct application of field-related methodologies, while supporting continued expansion. Specific strengths include his amazing ability to create dynamic experiential programming which transitions well beyond the classroom walls by integrating multiple disciplines, theories and philosophies. Students consistently comment how his teaching is dynamic, passionate and creative. Additionally, Dennison is exceptional at program assessment and development, including addressing risk management, curriculum, faculty and student related needs. Each program has benefited from his expertise in these previously mentioned areas, as has Dennison because he believes his glass is always half full! Dennison’s personal pursuits mesh well with his chosen field, so when he is not driving the SOLE vision you can find him pursuing academic research, in the backcountry of North Idaho or floating down a desert river corridor.

Credentials

Outdoor Education, MA; Outdoor Recreation, BS; Wilderness First Responder; American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) Level 1; American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) Level 2; American Canoe Association Whitewater Kayak Instructor Certification; American Canoe Association Whitewater Canoe Instructor Certification; Swiftwater Rescue I; Swiftwater Rescue II Click on the LinkedIn profile to learn more about his professional experience and formal education.

John Hastings

Field Instructor

John originally joined SOLE as a partner educator, often bringing his high school students to our course areas to conduct fieldwork. As a Field Instructor at SOLE, John bring a wealth of knowledge as he brings an educator’s perspective to his passion for teaching youth about our natural world. In addition to teaching, John brings experience to developing curriculum to include, but not limited to, constructing objectives and assessments for the State Department of Education in the field of Natural Resources Management. As an educator, John has engaged his students in many local and regional citizen science projects, including the Rare Forest Carnivore study completed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, riparian restoration projects in north Idaho on both the Pack River Delta and Clark Fork River Delta, and establishing a Monarch Butterfly habitat on the Sandpoint High School campus and at Round Lake State Park in partnership with SOLE. John was recognized as the Environmental Educator of the Year for Idaho in 2015. He considers the number of students taking up the cause of conservation in their professional or avocational lives his greatest success as an educator. John spent many years guiding canoe trips and dog sled trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in his home state of Minnesota, and has worked as a mountaineering instructor in Wyoming for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Still to this day, John continues to excite students to pursue outdoor adventures.

Joy Jansen, PhD

Education Advisor | Field Instructor

Dr. Jansen comes to SOLE with an extensive background in working with adolescents and adults with neuropsychological dysfunctions.  As SOLE's Education Advisor, Dr. Jansen provides professional consultation regarding program development, facilitation, and assessment to ensure that SOLE meets the individualized education needs of each participant.  In addition to actual program consultation and development this also includes providing professional development opportunities for our team to ensure that we continue to provide our participants with exceptional programming opportunities supported by evidence-based best practices and methodologies.  In both, in and out of the field, Dr. Jansen has helped to develop and facilitate curriculum and supporting programming which addresses and develops executive functioning and other life skills in our participants. Click on the LinkedIn icon below to learn more about her professional experience and formal education.

Daniel Hughes

Field Instructor