Cathy Shrady - Director/ Faculty
315 229-5015

Course: Knowing Nature

Cathy Shrady is an associate professor and recent chair of Geology. She received her BA, MS, PhD in geology from Colgate University, Syracuse University, and U Mass. Amherst respectively. A member of the group of faculty who founded the Outdoor Studies/ Outdoor Program, she expresses her enthusiasm for the outdoors through her academic pursuits and recreation. She particularly enjoys kayaking, hiking and cross country skiing. A student of the martial arts and Buddism, she is co-creator of the North Country Japanese Garden on the SLU campus. Cathy lives outside of Canton with her husband (also a geologist) and her daughter (equine enthusiast).

Emma Carlson - Assistant Director/Instructor
315 229-5027

Course: Capstone Internship

Emma Carlson is an alumnus of Colby College, where she wrote an independent major entitled Environmental Education. In order to fully engage this course of study Emma sought many opportunities outside of the traditional classroom. Her interest in organic farming and permaculture led her to New Zealand and Mexico. It was during a semester at Prescott College in Arizona where Emma was formally introduced to experiential education. Following that was her participation in the Adirondack Semester, by far the most profound educational experience of her life thus far. Emma strongly believes in cultivating a sense of place, intentional living and community building foster transformational education. Most recently Emma has worked as a wilderness trip leader and program administrator at the Chewonki Foundation in Maine.

David Durant - Assistant Director/Instructor
315 229-5024

Course: Capstone Internship

A graduate of Montreal's McGill University, where he received an Honors degree in Modern European Intellectual History, Dave has been exploring the Adirondack mountains on foot and by canoe since he was nine years old. He is an enthusiastic climber and mountaineer. Academically, his interests run the gamut from Philosophy to Politics and Economics. A former Ambulance Squad member, he enjoys teaching Wilderness First Aid. In the Adirondacks, he has worked as a Summer Camp Administrator, Director of an Outdoor Education Center, and a carpenter. In addition to his work for the Adirondack Semester, he is currently a professional Ski Instructor and National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Instructor. He is Adirondack 46-r #4095.

Natalia Rachel Singer - Faculty

Course: Creative Expressions of Nature

Natalia Rachel Singer teaches courses on creative writing, literature, and the environment at St. Lawrence University. A long-time advocate of hands-on experiential learning, she has been known to take students outside of the classroom, whether it be to Lampson Falls or Azure Mountain to complete a nature-writing assignment, to a local farm to write about sustainable agriculture, or to Quebec, Rouen, Senegal, Paris, or India, where her recent students have completed projects in travel writing and environmental journalism. Singer is the author of the memoir Scraping by in the Big Eighties, is co-editor of Living North Country: Essays on Life and Landscapes in Northern New York, has just completed a novel set in France, The Inventions of Love, and is currently working on a collection of travel essays set in France, India, and the North Country. She loves to hike with her dog, Zoe.

Brad Baldwin - Faculty

Course: Natural History and Ecology of the Adirondacks

An Associate Professor in the St. Lawrence University Biology Department, Brad teaches field ecology and biodiversity classes and conducts research with students on exotic species, environmental contaminants, and coral reef ecology. He received a BS in Zoology from Southern Illinois University and Ph.D. in Marine Ecology from the University of Maryland. He loves sports and travel, tries to play guitar, makes his own maple syrup, loves his 4 dogs, and is a lifelong hiker, paddler, diver, and outdoor enthusiast. He lives in Canton with his musical daughter and enjoys watching his son launch his own career in marine biology.