SUNSHINE & SNOWBIRDS:
A NEW YEAR RETREAT

Spencer Kessinger (she/her)

Early Childhood Program Coordinator at Robinson Nature Center

Spencer was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where she spent her childhood playing outside and developed a passion for teaching in and about nature. This passion led Spencer to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies, with minors in Education and Biology, from St. Mary's College of Maryland. Spencer joined Robinson Nature Center in 2021, first working with the Early Childhood Programming as an educator, and now as the Program Coordinator. The Early Childhood Programming at Robinson Nature Center is dedicated to harness the inquiry, excitement and desire to learn, found during early childhood through engaging nature-based learning experiences, activities, and outdoor, emergent-based play.

Bodhi Vasilopoulos (he/him)

Founder of Nature's Love & Wisdom

Bodhi Vasilopoulos is a passionate forest gardener, herbalist, forager, and educator. His teaching explores the intersection of foraging, agroforestry, and food systems with ecology, activism, and cultural transformation. He organizes immersive educational programs and collaborates with local universities and institutions such as Howard University, George Washington University, University of Maryland, Montgomery College, Montgomery County Parks, The US Botanic Garden and many others to spread this work. Bodhi also helps manage Forested, a regenerative food forest farm and education center working to expand forest agriculture in Washington, DC and Maryland. In addition, he is a sitting council member on the Montgomery County Food Council.

Lida Lawrence (she/her)

 Forest Kindergarten Teacher at The Waldorf School of Baltimore

Lida Lawrence is the Lead Forest Kindergarten Teacher and Board Member at the Waldorf School of Baltimore. She has 20 years of experience teaching in early childhood settings including home daycare, public school, summer camps and private schools. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Innovative Early Childhood Education at the University of Colorado. She loves being outside with young children, helping them positively connect with nature, their learning community and a love of learning.

Monica Wiedel-Lubinski (she/her)

Executive Director of ANBE

Founder/cofounder of three nature preschool programs in Maryland and consultant to countless others starting forest and nature schools in the U.S. and abroad, Monica brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help you jump-start your own nature-based program! She is the coauthor of award-winning Nature Play Workshop for Families (Quarto, 2020) and recently released Nature-Based Early Childhood Education (NAEYC, 2025). 

Monica earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art Educ. (K-12) and Master’s degree in Early Childhood Ed. from Towson University, Baltimore, MD and completed year-long graduate fellowship with UMBC/UMASS in 2024. Monica is deeply engaged in the Outdoor Preschool Licensing pilot, enacted in 2023 in Maryland as she advocates for more equitable access to nature-based education. She is a wife and mother of two and enjoys spending time in nature with her family.