Meet Your Staff

Our volunteer and paid staff are committed to sharing nature and history with kids and families in a meaningful and inspiring way, teaching through discovery and taking advantage of natural teaching opportunities. Our staff receive training and professional development opportunities, and lead staff have current first aid/CPR cards.

Learn more about us on our Facebook Page.

SCEC Non-discrimination policy

Executive Director – Karen Rainsong

Karen is the founding director of Singing Creek Educational Center, which started in 2007. She has a B.A. from Cal State University Northridge in Art, and a Certified Naturalist Certificate from the Siskiyou Field Institute in Oregon. She is passionate about history in general and Oregon history in particular. Karen is the Webmaster and Membership Coordinator for ALHFAM (the Association of Living History Farms and Museums.) She is also a mother and an active part of the community.

Karen has always loved nature and history interpretation. Throughout her 30+ years in Eugene she has taught children in both traditional school settings and non-formal outdoor settings. Some of her favorite jobs included teaching local history at Homesource home-schooling center, teaching children with Lane Arts Council, and teaching as an Audobon In the Schools instructor and at Whole Earth Nature School.

Karen has worked with Kalapuya tribal elders Esther Stutzman and Deitrich Peters, and has been a docent at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History (MNCH) at the University of Oregon campus. She regularly engages in professional development and learning from Native people through webinars, classes, conferences and demonstrations. Since 2021 she has been leading Kalapuya walks at Hendricks Park in Eugene. She works with Tribal members to implement indigenous educational programs across Western Oregon.

She was the Founder and Coordinator of the Alvord Farm and Museum from 2007- 2015, a forerunner to SCEC, until founding the Singing Creek Educational Center in 2015.

Karen’s passion for history and nature, and her strong leadership skills, make her a wonderful teacher and leader of SCEC.

Kevin Prier – Instructor

Kevin Prier has a BS in biology from the University of Oregon and a doctoral dissertation in neurobiology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. With an extensive background in the sciences and math and more than 10 years tutoring and teaching experience from grade school to college level, he tutors science, math, and German at the elementary through college level and also works as a medical interpreter in German and French. His own children have been entirely home schooled. He has been teaching them science and math along with children from other home-schooled families, and was potions master for Homeschool Hogwarts for four years, teaching chemistry as Professor Abraxas. Kevin also teaches urban homesteading classes for adults through community centers in Eugene and Springfield, with workshops on gardening and foraging; fermenting sauerkraut, kimchi, and other vegetables; cheese and sausage making; soap making; and more.

Willow Chester – Instructor

Willow Chester grew up in Eugene, Oregon, impassioned by the people, plants and wildlife around her. She has a background working with local foods, arboriculture, and volunteering at the Food for Lane County “Youth Farm”. Willow co-taught art classes and workshops through the non-profit “Viking Textile Maker’s Hub” and has worked and lead volunteer trips on native habitat restoration through Americorps and other organizations. Willow graduated top of her class at a school for the arts with honors in both dance and film. Willow loves biology, history, and art. She is now pursuing this with a full-ride scholarship at the University of Oregon by getting a B.S. in Education with a minor in Environmental Science and Special Education. Her love for learning and cultivation have paved a path towards her future career as an elementary school teacher and outdoor educator. Willow is learning to confront the policy around education and the land she lives on in hopes to promote the change she wants to see in the world, with a hands-on approach to support her community in the best way she knows how. She strives towards grassroots education (the leafy kind)!

Sam Johnson – Instructor

Sam has been teaching since 2013. She got her B.A.S at Quest University in Canada with a focus in microbiology and science education. During her time in university she served as project coordinator for Let’s Talk Science, a nonprofit organization getting university students to teach fun and engaging science workshops for local schools near campus. Her passion for sharing information and getting people excited to learn has lead to teaching workshops and classes through the years in many subjects and with many different ages. She has been working with SCEC since 2023.

When she isn’t teaching, she is a fairy working at renaissance festivals throughout the PNW selling her art and others collaborating with a fairy art collective. You can sometimes find her with her wares at the Saturday Market but her work has been sold across the country.

Sam reading a story to kids in the library Indigenous culture

Emma Russell – Instructor

Emma began her days with us as a camper herself. Starting out as a little girl on the Hunton Farm learning about life on the homestead, a love for living history started to bloom in her heart. Even after Emma graduated from being a participant, the love for the program stayed. She then spent 6 years as a volunteer, helping at Pioneer Homesteading camps, corn-doll-making booths and many other activities. As an official staff member starting in 2025, Emma has been involved in many events, including the Western Regional ALHFAM conference in 2025 (hosted by SCEC), homesteading camps, educational school events and more. Her love for the crafts, the incredible opportunity to educate students, and the complete flashback to the captivating experience that she had as a child are what encourage Emma to keep doing what she loves.

Emma is a full-time student at Lane Community College, heading toward a 4-year medical school, is deeply involved in animal rescue and rehabilitation, and strives to be involved in her community wherever she can.

Ana Bradley – Instructor

Ana Bradley is the co-founder of Whole Earth Nature School. She has dedicated her life to deepening her connection with the Earth through nature awareness and attunement, cultivating a deeper sense of self-awareness, and supporting others in awakening their natural awareness of the environment, the land, and themselves. Through experiential/psycho-education, nature-based therapeutic practices, and land-based lived experiences, Ana blends person-centered and trauma-informed care practices into her mentoring style. Ana has worked with people of all ages across the lifespan, from one-on-one mentoring to facilitating groups of varying sizes and multicultural backgrounds. Ana is a mother, Clinical Herbalist, musician, and will be receiving her Master’s in Counseling in May of 2026 to blend her skill sets into a nature and experiential-based licensed professional counselor.

Justin Baker – Instructor

Justin, a Father of three, Godfather of two, and Grandfather of one, began his instruction for Singing Creek Educational Center in early 2024. He teaches about the trappers that were in the Pacific Northwest during the late 1700’s. He also loves to bring smiles and laughter to his students! He taught at Creslane Elementary Pre-Covid. With a back-woods, mountain man personality, and a love of hands-on learning, he brings wonder and laughter to the children and parents alike.