Our year-round staff of professional educators provides the nucleus of Chewonki’s leadership. We are particularly proud of the level of maturity and experience possessed by our trip leaders. Many return to Chewonki year after year, and their dedication provides a continuity that enriches the experience for everyone. Staff members are hired not only for their skills, but on the basis of their interest in young people, and they are dedicated to the tremendous responsibilities they assume.

Wilderness expedition leaders are generally year-round Chewonki staff members who are skilled in the tools of their trade—the paddle, pole, map and compass. They hold certifications as Wilderness First Responders and Maine State Trip Leaders, and in CPR and First Aid. All are trained in the ethics and principles of Leave No Trace. Many are Registered Maine Guides, and all are focused on the safe enjoyment of the natural world. All trip leaders are assisted by a large support staff, as well as Chewonki’s senior staff. All wilderness expeditions are monitored and supervised by our Wilderness Programs Office.

Employment Opportunites

Greg Shute has been Chewonki’s Wilderness Programs director since 1991. Greg received his B.S. in Outdoor Recreation from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 1982. A Registered Maine Guide who serves on the board of the Maine Youth Camping Association, Greg is chairperson of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Trip Leader Program and a founding member and co-president of the Maine Wilderness Guides Organization. His wife, Lynne Flaccus, is Chewonki’s head naturalist.

Ryan Linehan is Chewonki’s Summer Wilderness Programs Director and provides logistical and management support for all of Chewonki’s wilderness trips. Ryan is a Registered Maine Guide, Serves on the board of the Maine Youth Camping Association, is a seasoned trip leader and an avid whitewater kayaker.

Chris Riley came to Chewonki as a participant in 1986 and has been on the Chewonki staff since 1997. Chris is a Registered Maine Guide and U.S. Coast Guard–licensed Captain. He is an avid outdoorsman and spends his winter weekends on ski patrol at Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley, Maine.

Alana Beard has been a trip leader for Chewonki since 2004. She was born and raised in Bar Harbor, ME and graduated from College of the Atlantic in 2003 with a degree in Human Ecology. She has taught various outdoor skills since 1998, with instructor training in both small-boat sailing and canoing. She is a registered Maine Guide and member of the Maine Wilderness Guides organization. In addition to leading trips for Chewonki, she puts time in as a nordic ski/dogsledding guide for Mahoosuc Guide Service during the winter and works as a personal chef during the summer and fall seasons on Mount Desert Island.

Jeff Bates is a “semi-native” Mainer (only fourth generation Mainers are true natives), and a former Chewonki camper, tripper, and counselor. These experiences have instilled in him a great appreciation for the great outdoors, the fine arts of waterborne travel, and living as a community. He has been lucky enough to return to Chewonki for 6 summers to cultivate these appreciations in his participants, and to play in the most beautiful rivers in Maine. Jeff is a recent graduate of Middlebury College, a whitewater Mecca, where he had the great fortune to get to know the rivers of Vermont and study a thing or two regarding environmental policy. He currently resides in Hanoi, Vietnam, where his main goal is trying to navigate the narrow streets and tumultuous traffic. He looks forward to returning to Chewonki to lead, teach, and play.

Megan Phillips came to Chewonki with years of outdoor experience ranging from backpacking deserts and mountains in the U.S. and Alaska to whitewater paddling. A Registered Maine Guide and an outdoor enthusiast in all seasons, Megan became an avid (and mildly obsessed) nordic skier while living in the interior of Alaska teaching environmental education. She has led trips for Wilderness Ventures, of Jackson, Wyoming, and the Audubon Expedition Institute at Lesley University, from which she received a Masters of Science in Environmental Education. A year-round Chewonki Outdoor Classroom teacher and wilderness trip leader, Megan has led the Umbagog Whitewater and the George River canoe trip, which she considers the highlight of her lifetime thus far.

Paul Arthur has been working at Chewonki since 1994, where he is currently professor of English and assistant head of school. He is a Registered Maine Guide, a guitar and mandolin player, and a motorcycle fanatic. Paul has led a number of extended wilderness trips for Chewonki, including sea kayaking, boatbuilding expedition, whitewater kayaking, and the George River trip. He has also paddled the Rupert River, and spent two weeks solo canoeing in Quetico in Ontario, Canada. Paul’s most extensive trip was a ten-week circumnavigation of New England in a sea kayak, in 1999.

Leah Titcomb is a registered Maine Guide and has been guiding professionally on the rivers of Maine since 2003. She is Wilderness First Responder and Lifeguard who enjoys guiding people of all ages, from all walks of life. She most recently taught a college course on women’s wilderness leadership. She has planned and led many hiking trips into the Grand Canyon and throughout the southwest as well as the northeast, along the Appalachian Trail. During expeditions Leah often likes to teach natural history and earth science. Leah began working at Chewonki in the summer of 2007 and she is currently on the staff of our Travelling Natural History Program.