About Ekaterini Vlamis, MS
Owner & Director’s Biography:

Ekaterini Vlamis has been described as "the quintessential experiential educator."  She is a permanently certified science teacher in New York State with classroom experience and is a seasoned outdoor and experiential educator, facilitator, and trainer. Ekaterini holds a MS degree in Kinesiology from the University of New Hampshire’s Outdoor Education Program and a BA degree in Biology from Hartwick College.

Ekaterini has a passion for studying and appreciating the natural environment.  As an undergrad, Ekaterini interned with Paul C. Huth, Director of the Daniel Smiley Research Center at the Mohonk Preserve.  She also worked as a summer field assistant to ornithologist, Dr. Michael T. Murphy studying the behavior of Eastern Kingbirds and Tree Swallows. Her undergraduate thesis was entitled "Cost of Reproduction in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)" and was published in
The Auk in October 2000. 

Immediately out of college Ekaterini took a job as the Ropes Course Director for the Fresh Air Fund’s Sharpe Reservation where she led a staff of 5 facilitators.  At the close of the season, Ekaterini took a full-time job as a middle school science teacher (grades 7 & 8 with the Warwick Central School District.  During the summer months, Ekaterini worked as the Team Leader and Trainer for Wilderness Way Experiential Learning Program, Inc.  Ekaterini loved teaching middle school, especially grade 7 life science, however her desire to earn her Master’s degree grew strong and she found clarity with regards to what course of study she wished to pursue with the hope to one day run her own business.  So, despite being invited to teach for a third year, Ekaterini moved on and accepted an assistantship within the Kinesiology Department at the University of New Hampshire.

Ekaterini completed two year-long graduate assistantships.  She worked for one year for a counseling service in Kittery, Maine where she worked with children and families considered to be at-risk and used outdoor education activities as a way to offer learning experiences and respite opportunities to them.   For her second year, Ekaterini worked under Pam McPhee the Executive Director for the Browne Center for Innovative Learning, a teambuilding center affiliated with UNH that has gained a high reputation as a teambuilding facility that works with a variety of populations, including corporate and persons with disabilities.

Ekaterini was very positively influenced by her experience as a first year student participant in Hartwick College’s Awakening Adventure Orientation Program and her years as an Awakening staff member. Equally as much, she was strongly influenced by her years working as a student facilitator and co-trainer for Hartwick’s Challenge Education department led by Sarah Root, a wonderfully gifted facilitator. As such, Ekaterini’s graduate research interest focused on college student development and adventure orientation programs. Her MS thesis (Sept. 2002) was entitled “The Effects of a College Adventure Orientation Program on Incoming First Year Students”. Along with two colleagues, Ekaterini submitted a shortened version of her MS thesis for publication. The paper entitled "Effects of a College Adventure Orientation Program on Student Development Behaviors" was published in the Journal of Experiential Education, October 2011 issue, Volume 34, Number 2. A PDF file of this paper can be downloaded here.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover."

- Mark Twain

Ekaterini with her dog KCee at the Mohonk Preserve
(photo by G. Vlamis)

Ekaterini believes firmly in her ability to act as an agent of change to help people learn and grow through meaningful, intentionally designed, educational experiences. Ekaterini is a current member of the Association for Experiential Education and has led regional and international conference workshops. Ekaterini has facilitated hundreds of teambuilding programs for several organizations including the Browne Center for Innovative Learning, Hartwick College, Outward Bound Professional and Project Adventure. She has worked with a variety of populations including youth, youth at risk, college students and faculty, adults, persons with disabilities, and corporate groups.

Since graduating from UNH, Ekaterini has held a few great jobs in the field of experiential education. She worked as the Schools Outdoor Education Program Director for a very large YMCA camp where she trained and supervised 18 educators and served as the main contact for school and college teachers and administrators.  Ekaterini worked for two years as the Co-Director of Adventure-Based Retreat Programs and the Service-Learning Coordinator for a large private high school.  One summer, Ekaterini returned to Hartwick College and worked as the Trek Manager for the college’s Awakening orientation program that took students backpacking for four days and three nights.

Ekaterini is a certified Wilderness First Responder and licensed Hiking and Camping Guide with New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation.  To earn these credentials, Ekaterini completed a water safety course and keeps current certification in CPR. Ekaterini is also Level 2 Challenge Course Practitioner Certified, which demonstrates she has extensive work experience, technical skills, and knowledge around how to safely managing low and high challenge or ropes courses.

As an outdoor enthusiast, Ekaterini likes to play in the woods!  Ekaterini especially likes to hike, bike, snowshoe, and cross-country ski at the Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska State Park in her spare time.  She has also hiked in the Catskill Mountains, Rocky Mountains, and has ascended a number of peaks in New Hampshire, including Mount Washington.  Ekaterini also does a good deal of community service – currently she is a recruiter and fundraiser for the annual CROP Walk for Hunger in New Paltz and a volunteer mediator with the Dispute Resolution Center in Ulster County, New York.  Ekaterini resides in New Paltz with her dog KCee.

In 2009 Ekaterini founded Edgewood Consulting & Services to follow her dream!