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Meet our Team

Are you Ready for Adventure?

Our instructors are rigorously committed to delivering a comprehensive, fantastic learning experience. They do this through vivid story-telling, engaging lectures, and experiential education with a good dose of humor and charisma.

You can expect the most accessible, current, well-organized, useful, and painless CPR and First Aid Training available so you’ll feel ready for anything.

We've Got Dirt Time!

And most important, our instructors have extensive “dirt time.” This means they have logged significant hours in the field where prevention, critical thinking, and emergency response were required. They’ve got stories, and they’ve got your back.

Nicole Roma Thurrell
CEO, Director of Education

Recipient of the Massachusetts Award for Excellence in Science Education, Nicole is a passionate educator who loves turning people on to strategies for caring more skillfully for their fellow human beings.

She has degrees in Psychology and Recreation Therapy from the University of North Carolina and has been a Wilderness EMT since 2001.

Nicole has decades of experience working in many aspects of wilderness therapy, including expedition leader, health director, and director of admissions.

Whether it was leading adventures on the water, on land, or in the air, Nicole has done it all. She has been an adventure racer, a raft guide, high ropes facilitator, a clinician for kids with Autism, a Waldorf high school teacher, and a mom.

Julie Fox,
Instructor

Julia grew up attending and working at Wilderness Experiences Unlimited’s summer camp and leadership program, where she was trained in Wilderness First Aid and Lifeguarding for many years. She had the opportunity to learn and teach outdoor adventure sports to children and teens including rock climbing, scuba diving, kayaking, and more.

Julia is a graduate of UMass Amherst with bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science and Political Science and a Master’s in Public Policy. Her passion for outdoor adventuring was channeled through the UMass Outing Club, where she enjoyed leading students on hikes in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts and the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

Adrienne Phelps, 
Instructor

Adrienne holds a degree in nursing and a Wilderness First Responder certification. She loves practicing medicine and being in nature, so working at Wild Med is her dream job.

She is certified to teach rock climbing, backpacking, and white-water canoeing. She has worked on ropes courses and led via ferrata trips (I had to Google that one!).

In her work at All Out Adventures here in western Massachusetts, Adrienne seeks to promote health, community, and independence for people with disabilities and their families through outdoor recreation. She believes the Outdoors can be for everyone regardless of ability.

In her work at the North Carolina Outward Bound School, she teaches outdoor leadership and expedition skills to various populations including at-risk youth and as well as adults gaining experience to enter the outdoor education field.

Molly Kitchen, 
Office Manager

Molly discovered Wild Med as a new parent, hoping to feel more confident taking her own little wildling on adventures. Shortly after taking the online CPR + First Aid Course, she came on board to support Wild Med’s growth and organization as Office Manager (and occasional Instructor).

As a young adult, Molly backpacked through Europe, Central and South America. Now as a parent, she loves to hike and swim with her partner, kiddo, and miniature Schnauzer throughout western Mass and New England.

Molly is the founder of a yoga school that highlights the connections between contemplative practice and social change. She also has a background in herbalism and farming and is thrilled to bring her nerdy organizational skills to the Wild Med office.

Oliver Reitz, 
Instructor

Oliver has a long-held interest in bodies and healing. He got his start in health care as a teenager, working as a Certified Nursing Assistant and tutoring students in Anatomy and Physiology. He currently holds a Bachelor's Degree in Health Education and Promotion and is a certified Wilderness First Responder, EMT, and Funeral Director.

Oliver's interest in the outdoors came later in life, when he moved to Massachusetts in 2014. He discovered a love for the mountains and waterfalls of New England, and still can't get enough. Oliver's personal favorite adventure activities include hiking, backpacking, climbing, swimming, and snowboarding. 

Through his work with The Venture Out Project, Oliver has been leading hikes and backcountry trips with the LGBTQ+ community for almost a decade. This work has been essential in his understanding of the outdoors and who belongs there. Oliver believes in increasing access to the outdoors to all people through education, representation, and dissolving barriers to entry.

Molly Kitchen, Office Manager

Molly discovered Wild Med as a new parent, looking to feel more confident taking her own little wildling on adventures. Shortly after taking the online CPR + First Aid Course, she came on board to support Wild Med’s growth and organization as Office Manager (and occasional Instructor).

As a young adult, Molly backpacked through Europe, Central and South America, and even ended up on a lettuce farm in Hawaii for a few years. She moved to New England in 2009 and quickly fell in love with the rivers and woods of western Mass. 

Molly is passionate about community care, finding beauty in every day life, and helping us all be as prepared as we can be in this changing world. She is the founder of a yoga school that highlights the connections between contemplative practice and social change. She also has a background in herbalism and farming and is thrilled to bring her nerdy organizational skills to the Wild Med office.

Adrienne Phelps, Instructor

Adrienne holds a degree in nursing and a Wilderness First Responder certification. She loves practicing medicine and being in nature, so working at Wild Med is her dream job.

She is certified to teach rock climbing, backpacking, and white-water canoeing. She has worked on ropes courses and led via ferrata trips.

In her work at All Out Adventures here in western Massachusetts, Adrienne seeks to promote health, community, and independence for people with disabilities and their families through outdoor recreation. She believes the Outdoors can be for everyone regardless of ability.

In her work at the North Carolina Outward Bound School, she teaches outdoor leadership and expedition skills to various populations including at-risk youth as well as adults gaining experience to enter the outdoor education field.

Julia Fox, Instructor

Julia grew up attending and working at Wilderness Experiences Unlimited’s summer camp and leadership program, where she was trained in Wilderness First Aid and Lifeguarding for many years. She had the opportunity to learn and teach outdoor adventure sports to children and teens including rock climbing, scuba diving, kayaking, and more.

Julia is a graduate of UMass Amherst with bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science and Political Science and a Master’s in Public Policy. Her passion for outdoor adventuring was channeled through the UMass Outing Club, where she enjoyed leading students on hikes in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Oliver Reitz, Instructor

Oliver has a long-held interest in bodies and healing. He got his start in health care as a teenager, working as a Certified Nursing Assistant and tutoring students in Anatomy and Physiology. He currently holds a Bachelor's Degree in Health Education and Promotion and is a certified Wilderness First Responder, EMT, and Funeral Director.

Oliver's interest in the outdoors came later in life, when he moved to Massachusetts in 2014. He discovered a love for the mountains and waterfalls of New England, and still can't get enough. Oliver's personal favorite adventure activities include hiking, backpacking, climbing, swimming, and snowboarding. 

Through his work with The Venture Out Project, Oliver has been leading hikes and backcountry trips with the LGBTQ+ community for almost a decade. This work has been essential in his understanding of the outdoors and who belongs there. Oliver believes in increasing access to the outdoors to all people through education, representation, and dissolving barriers to entry.