Field Workshop CoordinatorDorothy Lagana

Dorothy (who did, actually have a dog named Toto) is a self-proclaimed generalist and free spirit who believes that the world is the quintessential classroom. In an effort to satiate curiosity, experience the world, and feed her passion for adventure, Dorothy has been on many a peregrination.

After completing her undergraduate education, earning a BA in environmental geography from Clark University, she filled her station wagon with essentials and made North America her classroom. For a year she explored the Sonoran desert and immigration issues in southern Arizona; humpback whales, invasive species and SCUBA in Hawaii; the neighborhoods and redwoods of California; and finally, found a job on a 150ft salmon tender out of Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Her next adventure was to the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest where she worked as a naturalist on an Orca whale search boat, educating travelers young and old about the whales, wildlife and natural history of the area. On her days off she worked on an organic farm, and acted in the community theater.

Happy to return to the East Coast and her beloved Long Island Sound, Dorothy taught 4th grade for a year, and finally learned to see some beauty in math. Her favorite part of being in the classroom was the close relationships with her students. Together they cried, and laughed to the point of tears. Her students always made her want to be a better person.

Internationally, Honduras was the country where Dorothy first learned about the disparity in the distribution of monetary wealth in the world. The people and the land fascinated her. Later, wanting to experience more of Latin America, she traveled to Ecuador to volunteer for the Jatun Sacha Foundation in the western coastal rainforest, and then was lucky enough (and still can’t believe it!) to walk in the footsteps of Charles Darwin on a tour of the Galapagos Islands.

Dorothy’s most memorable experience abroad was in Costa Rica. She went in search of experiencing life in another culture and found a country of people welcoming and beautiful. She taught and developed curriculum for the Centro de Education Creativa, a small school in the cloud forest of Monteverde.

Right now she works as facilitator and naturalist at the Clearpool Outdoor Education center, introducing teens from New York City to the woods. She also works for a small non-profit called Bridges to Community, organizing groups for travel to Nicaragua to participate in community development projects.

All of these experiences have filled her with extreme gratitude to those who support her peripatetic lifestyle, those who join her on the journey; her various tour guides abroad, and mother earth. She is humbled by the humility of humanity, overflowing with excitement of the adventure.

Dorothy loves to kayak, hike and play Pictionary. She firmly believes she knows, has befriended, and continues to meet the most incredible people ever!