Our Team
Our Team
As a biologist, nature guide and eco-health practitioner, Emily uses cross-sectoral approaches to rekindle our self-knowing as part of the living world. A founding director of EcoWild, working in health, spiritual ecology and community engagement, she is a facilitator of The Work That Reconnects, on the steering group of the Nature and Health Practice Network and part of the Nature and Health Strategy Group for West of England Nature PartnershipWENP. She offers consultancy on the development of Nature and Health services across regional partnerships.
Awareness of somatic holding and body intelligence inform her day-to-day practice with adult groups in woodlands and other living landscapes across Bath and North East Somerset. She introduces stillness and movement practices, nature immersion and reciprocity to support people all year round to build green care/ social prescribing / health and wellbeing services. She has a BSc Biology, is a qualified yoga teacher with 25 years personal practice and meditates daily, particularly finding death meditation core for living fully.
Emily sings with a long-standing group the Skylarks, plays a little guitar and piano, and enjoys time with her family. Before EcoWild she worked in HIV Community Support Services, in Project Coordination for Tropical Health Education, and in Conservation research and logistics in Madagascar. She has taught several Nature and Health courses including for 2 years on the Natural Academy’s Ecopsychology and Nature Based Practice Foundation Certificate.
Training: Biology BSc; Ecopsychology Cert., Outdoor & Mental Health First Aid; Yoga Teacher Training 200 hours. Member of Nature and Health Practice Network. CPD: Before We Were White 2024, Developmental Trauma CAMHS 2025
Nick is an ecologist/naturalist and nature-based practitioner using aspects of both these disciplines to connect people to each other, to nature, the land and the living world around us. Alongside a lifelong fascination with nature and his work as a professional ecologist for more than 20 years Nick has gained a broad understanding of the ecological world.
Trained as a nature-based practitioner Nick offers opportunity to create and develop closer, healthier and more beneficial relationships with nature, refreshing and reconsidering the ways we interact with and how we relate to it. Offering opportunities for others to explore their relationship with the natural world, recognising that each person is their own natural expert on what inspires and sustains them in nature and what they love about it.
Nick brings his experience of crafting and making into this work offering supported opportunities to discover and enjoy activities such as weaving, crafting with hand-tools and natural art-making.
Training: Foundations in Ecopsychology and Nature-based Practice, Natural Academy; Member of Nature and Health Practice network; Enhanced DBS; Child Protection Training – basic awareness course; Outdoor First Aid.
Becca is an Art Psychotherapist, Nature and Health Practitioner and Forest School Leader. She has worked with various outdoor community projects and forest schools in the Bristol and BANES areas and co-facilitates a nature-based practice and climate change special interest group for Art Therapists.
She is passionate about how our reciprocal relationship with the natural world can be mutually healing, and the therapeutic benefit of creativity, particularly traditional and green crafts practices. As a neurodivergent person, she is particularly interested in learning about supporting other neurodivergent people in exploring their own relationship with nature, creativity and themselves.
Becca has a background as a craftsperson and outdoor community events organiser and still enjoys curating the craft and wellbeing areas for a small grassroots music festival. Her love of nature and wild places is inspired by spending 8 years living nomadically around the UK, and experiencing her own health and wellbeing being deeply supported by the natural world. She is happiest when outdoors; walking, crafting or cooking on a fire.
Training: Art Psychotherapy MA (HCPC registered); Forest School Leader L3; Nature & Health Community Connector L2; Jewellery & Silversmithing BA; Safeguarding Children & Young People; DBS; Member of Nature & Health Practitioners Network, Climate Psychology Alliance and British Association of Therapists.
Helen grew up in a village on the outskirts of Bath, where her days were spent riding her pony and exploring the local countryside with her friends.
Helen has had many years experience working with children for Bath area Play project, Bath Community Play bus, working in a nursery and as a private Nanny. Helen has experience working with children of all ages including those with additional needs and is a qualified Early year educator and Playworker. As a Forest school practitioner Helen strives to help children engage with the great outdoors.
In her free time Helen enjoys spending time with her family, riding her pony Bea, and walking her border terrier Fudge.
Training: Forest school leader (Level 3); Paediatric First Aid; Banes Child Protection training; DBS.
Carmen is a qualified forest school practitioner, dancer and nature lover. After spending 25 years as a dance teacher/performer Carmen felt compelled to change her vocation out of concern for the natural world and its preservation. Growing up on a farm, as well as studying as a child at Steiner school and attending art college, were also all experiences that resonated and influenced her decision to train to be a forest school leader.
Through her work she wishes to encourage learners, whether young or old, not only to enjoy nature but to have a respectful and responsible relationship with it too. She especially enjoys working with children creatively, using arts, crafts and storytelling to explore nature’s cycles with an aim to encourage learners to gain a deeper nature connection.
She is also a founder member and trustee at the charity Climate Hub B&NES. She has 3 children, is an environmentalist, martial artist, forest bather and loves walking her dog.
Training: Level 3 Forest School Leader AIM; Art BTECH; Beauty Therapy CIBTAC; Aromatherapy; Kinesiology; Reiki; Indian Head Massage; First Aid– ITC level 3; Paediatric First Aid / ITC- Forest School Paediatric First Aid; Advanced Safeguarding Level 2; Prevent Awareness course; Level 2 Food Hygiene.
Amy is a qualified primary teaching assistant and play leader working with children aged 2-12 years old. She is also a forest school leader, experienced in running group and 1:1 sessions.
Passionate about fostering a love of the outdoors and nature within children, Amy enjoys creating nature based crafts and activities for her forest school practice to encourage engagement with the beauty of the natural world.
Beyond her work, Amy enjoys spending her time in the countryside, hiking, camping, gardening and tea drinking.
Training: Environmental Biology BSc; PGCE Biology; Level 3 Forest School leader; Level 2 Understanding children and young people’s mental health; Paediatric First Aid; Level 2 Counselling skills AIM (ongoing).
Sam is local to High Littleton and in addition to her passion for the outdoors and community engagement she works as a creative professional and illustrator.
Sam hopes to encourage creativity, playfulness and curiosity, using hands-on activities that engage all the senses to help participants feel grounded and connected to the woodland surroundings through her work.
In her spare time Sam loves trail running, wild swimming, mushroom foraging and hiking. Chatting around the fire with a cup of tea is also one of her much loved activities!
Training: Graphic Design & Communication BA; Art & Design AVCE
Jenny is an organisational consultant, creative catalyst trainer and coach with decades of experience in both public and corporate environments. Her work centres on training for leadership in a volatile, complex and ecologically stressed world, helping people to nurture and develop their creative interconnection in the face of challenges and joys.
Jenny’s aim is to play her part in healing disconnection, in unlocking creative flow and in helping reconnect divides between self and others, ourselves and the natural world, and between ourselves and deeper meaning and purpose.
Training: Organisational Development MSc; French Language & Literature MA; Theory U (Foundation Training & MOOC); Social Presencing Theater (Advanced Training); Training Adults (RSA Diploma); Integrative Psychology & Group Facilitation (Diploma IDHP); Supervision of Coaches, Consultants & Counsellors (Diploma)
Sarah is a freelance facilitator based in the Chew Valley. Her work is inspired by ecoliteracy, regenerative economics, seventh generation thinking, servant leadership, systems theory, ecopsychology and love.
A freedom of spirit and desire for societal change post economic crash, Sarah left the UK to follow a path of living more in harmony with the planet on a three year exploration of South America, unlearning and learning old and new ways of being whilst training and then working in teaching. Her offerings range from climate science and climate anxiety workshops to nature-based practices and ecotherapy, which is the ideal balance for her own mental health as well as others in these changing times.
Sarah also stewards land with regenerative, permaculture and agroforestry principles, is author of ‘Reclaim Your Sh*t!’ (a zine about our relationship to water and so-called ‘waste’) and mother to a four year old.
Training: Regenerative Economics MA; Economics BSc; Accreditation with the Natural Academy in Advanced Applied Ecopsychology and Nature-based Practice (Levels 3 & 4). Member of Nature & Health Practitioners Network and Climate Psychology Alliance.
Alexis has been a Forest School leader for 11 years, based mostly in Somerset first schools. This has included whole school provision, one-to-one and nurture groups. She has also run
after school clubs teaching art techniques and nature-based activities. In addition to her work at EcoWild, Alexis is an Educational Wellbeing Officer for Wiltshire Wildlife Trust delivering forest school as
an alternative provision.
Alexis was brought up on farms until the age of sixteen and studied general art and design at college. After having children, Alexis decided to go back to her roots and gain qualifications in subjects close to her heart. This included horticulture, environmental conservation and countryside management.
Personal interests include wildlife and allotment gardening; walking and exploring; star gazing; fossil hunting; being artistically messy. But mostly continuing to learn and be curious all of the time.
Training: BTEC National diploma in General Art and Design; Advanced Level 3 in Countryside Management; Level 2 Environmental Conservation; RHS Level 2 Horticulture; Level 3 Forest School Leader; Outdoor First Aid; Paediatric First Aid; Outdoor Food Safety; Level 2 Team Teach.
Freya is an explorer of the wild inner worlds and the wild outer worlds, the cycles and liminal spaces, the mystery and the magic, community and body. As a dancer and filmmaker Freya loves creating spaces for people to connect with the natural world and their own inner nature, with their relationship on earth and their place in it, and the wider interconnected nature of existence.
Freya brings her experience of working with young people to the EcoWild team, currently facilitating nature-based wellbeing and socio-environmental projects with teenagers in inner city Bristol, in addition to previous work as a Teaching Assistant one-to-one with children who have special educational needs.
Freya has wide experiences of cultures, landscapes, dance, music, nature connection, spirituality, and community life in South America, Guinea and India. She also practices Vipassana meditation and Open Awareness. She incorporates these ways of being, along with other ancient and modern practices like ‘Way of Council’ and the Four Shields Model of Nature-based Therapeutics’ throughout her work and her ongoing life journey.
Training: Force of Nature Facilitator for Youth Climate & Mental Health conversations; Wilderness Rites-of-Passage Guide with the School of Lost Borders (in progress); Transpersonal Coach (in progress).
A hiker, wild swimmer and nomad, Maggie has worked across various charities supporting young people experiencing challenges. With a degree in International Development, her approach to life is shaped by a drive to make positive change, through building community, connection and creativity.
Trained as a Level 2 Forest School Assistant and Forest Therapy Practitioner, Maggie is now delving into the healing power of the natural world and understanding how reconnection to our environment can shape happier and healthier futures. Maggie brings a deep empathy and compassion for others to her work, with a genuine care for the wellbeing of her fellow human.
In her spare time, Maggie runs a free women’s walking group to offer an accessible space for women to enjoy the outdoors and meet new people.
Training: BA International Development; Level 2 Forest School Assistant; Forest Therapy Practitioner; Outdoor First Aid; Paediatric First Aid; Child Protection; Adult Safeguarding.
Emma has a background in the creative industries, primarily working in product development and production & logistics management. Emma’s move into the third sector was driven by her desire to pursue a career that aligns with her environmental and social values.
Her appreciation for nature is particularly driven by her understanding of the resources the natural world provides for our survival and wellbeing. She is passionate about supporting work that encourages this awareness in others. Alongside her organisational, administrative and communication skills, Emma also brings her love for hiking, textile crafts, food growing and travel to the EcoWild team
Training: Sustainable Food & Natural Resources MSc; Textile Design & Design Management BSc
A Self-Care Coach working with over-scheduled busy women who forfeit their self-care in the pursuit of ‘doing’ for everyone else, often to the detriment of their health.
As a health advocate she blends a number of skills (qualified life-coaching, personal training, Nordic walking & nutrition coaching) to help individuals connect with nature and get to the top of their to do list, guilt-free and healthily! With over 35 years in & around the health & wellness industry, Yvonne is passionate about sharing the benefits of mental & physical wellbeing in the great outdoors.
Training: CMI Level 5 Coaching; Level 5 Weight Loss Practitioner; Level 3 Personal Trainer; British Nordic Walking/INWA Certified Nordic Walking Instructor; Precision Nutrition Level 1 Nutrition Coach.
Amma Jane is a beauty and holistic therapist. Her passions are people and nature where the roots for her therapies lie. Her aim is to assist an individual towards happiness and wellbeing through connection to the natural and simple things in life.
Training: International Institute of Health and Holistic Therapies & International Health and Beauty Council.
Philippa is a creative health leader and practitioner with over twenty years experience developing community wellbeing programmes and partnerships across the arts, education, health, and social care sectors. She is known for co-creating work shaped by lived experience, equity and trauma-informed practice, ensuring community voices inform strategy and decision-making. Philippa has also held senior roles as Interim Executive Director and Creative Wellbeing Programme Manager at Creativity Works, leading on strategy, commissioning, safeguarding, evaluation and practitioner training.
As an embodied relational therapist, in addition to being a practising artist, yoga and somatic movement teacher, Philippa brings an integrated practitioner lens to governance and is committed to supporting Ecowild’s sustainable growth and its mission to foster flourishing, resilient communities.
Outside of her professional work, Philippa enjoys walking and cycling in nature and expresses her creativity through painting, sewing, singing and making in many forms.
Training: Design Studies BA; Business, Finance & Media HND; Embodied Relational Therapy; British Wheel of Yoga 500hr Teaching Diploma; NatureWell Training; MECC Trainer, Connect 5 Trainer, Mental Health First Aid, Anti-Racism & EDI Training; Somatic Movement & Myofascial Anatomay (ongoing professional practice).
Marchelle Farrell is a writer and medical psychotherapist, whose work mainly explores the relationship between our external and internal landscapes, the patterns we re-enact in relation to the land, and how they might be changed.
Marchelle trained in medicine at Cambridge and Oxford before qualifying as a consultant psychiatrist and psychodynamic psychotherapist. As well as writing and speaking, she offers supervision to other therapists.
Her debut book ‘Uprooting’ won the Nan Shepherd Prize for nature writing and was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. Marchelle is also a keen amateur gardener and runs a gardening club for the children at her village primary school.
Laughter first became really interested in nature after moving from Nigeria to England for university in 2022. Before then, there wasn’t much opportunity to get outside or feel part of nature. In England, Laughter found city parks, public paths, and even swam in the sea for the first time. Being outside made him feel calmer and more at home.
One big moment was when Laughter joined a workshop in Bristol with Babbasa and Hip Hop Gardens, which involved walking to a park and spending time alone, just sitting in silence. He was really stressed that day but being surrounded by trees, birds, and wind helped him forget his worries. Noticing life all around it felt like nature noticed him too. This made Laughter want to pay more attention to nature and look after it.
Since then, Laughter has continued connecting with groups like Mafia Weekend, Birch Collective, CPRE, LANCE Trust, Bristol Tree Craft, and now Ecowild, planting and laying hedgerows, herding goats, tending to himself, to people around him, and to the natural world in Bristol. Now, he wants to keep finding ways to care for nature and help others do the same.
Lauren is a health tech founder and systems level thinker working to reshape how modern healthcare is built, governed, and experienced.
Her work sits at the intersection of clinical science, technology, and holistic wellbeing – driven by the belief that health cannot be meaningfully supported through fragmented interventions alone. Drawing on lived experience with chronic pain and long term health challenges, Lauren focuses on approaches that consider the body as an interconnected system, integrating movement, nutrition, mental wellbeing and lifestyle, alongside evidence-based care.
What defines Lauren’s approach is her ability to bridge worlds that rarely speak to each other – regulatory science and natural care, AI and intuition, systems governance and individual agency.
Lauren has been honoured with industry and ecosystem recognition including being named ‘The UK’s Most Influential Female Founder in Healthcare to Watch’, listed in the ‘London 100’, and recognised as a 40 Under 40 Europe awardee.
Owain Jones FGS is a Professor of Environmental Humanities. He has worked mainly in cultural geography and has published a number of peer-reviewed research articles in international geography and related social science journals.
He has two main areas of research and writing interests; geographies of nature-culture and children’s geographies. Within the former he focuses upon animal geographies,[1]place/landscape/dwelling,[2] and tidal geographies (and temporal rhythms of landscape).[3]
The Webmistress supports EcoWild with all things webby. Our main aim is to support our clients with digital difficulties and solutions, so they can be more available to help their clients blossom. We are therefore the perfect partner, and very much love supporting EcoWild, in our joint ethos of making the world a better place, through our re-connection with Nature.