Homeschool Director, Young Stewards Director

Jenna Collins

A South Jersey local, Jenna has a combination of book smarts from Rowan University and natural knowledge from a life in the outdoors. Graduated with a B.A. in Health and Exercise Science, certified to teach K-12, Health and Physical Education in New Jersey as well as certified in Adventure and Experiential Learning. She is the future of the education field combining her classroom teaching experience with her love for the outdoors. She has grown up in a family that excels in the outdoors, from skiing and hiking Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains to fishing and exploring the Jersey Pine Barrens. Jenna wishes to educate and share the experience of hands-on environmental education with as many children as she can.

Saplings Director

Lauren Flesher

Lauren is a huge nature lover with a robust background in ecology and environmental education. She uses her own playfulness and enthusiasm to spark wonder and the love of learning in her Saplings students. She got her start in nature-based teaching while a student at Cornell University, where she led nature hikes for all ages and worked in the Lab of Ornithology’s Education department. After earning her degree in sustainable agriculture in 2016, she spent several years travelling the country as a field ecologist. She monitored woodland plant populations in the Missouri Ozarks, radiotracked quail on the tallgrass prairie, researched bird damage in blueberry orchards, and worked to restore habitat and control invasive species. She spent a summer as a farmhand in Pennsylvania, and she assisted research in Costa Rica and in the Dominican Republic.

By 2020, Lauren was ready to return to environmental education full-time. She joined Fernbrook in the fall of 2020 and co-established the Saplings program. After receiving her Level 1 and Level 2 Certifications in nature-based teaching, she took over as director in the summer of 2022. Her favorite things to do outside are birdwatching and insect catching. In her free time, Lauren enjoys cooking, contradance, and relaxing at home with her cat, Max.

Educator/Animal Barn Manager

Lydia Francis

Born in Morocco as the daughter of a Navy veteran, Lydia came to New Jersey as a toddler. She spent her childhood raising animals and riding horses in Cream Ridge, NJ. After attending Ocean County College, Lydia accepted a position in the banking industry where she managed Money Markets and Certificates for over 14 years.

As an officer in the Pinellas County Homeschool Association, she assisted in the selection of curriculum, the teaching of children from grades K – 7, and the managing of finance for that association.

For the past 23 years, she has been active in various county 4H programs to include:

• Pinellas County Cooperative Extension
• Burlington County Farm Fair Volunteer Recruiter
• Burlington County Sheep Club
• Burlington County Goat Club
• Hunderton County Sheep Club
• Hunderton County Veterinary Club

Lydia maintains a volunteer leadership position with the Burlington County 4-H program, where she holds a seat on the Leaders Council as Treasurer, provides out of school educational experiences for Burlington County youth in grades K through 13, teaching members to learn life skills, explore their world, and learn more about themselves.   Thus, becoming competent, caring, and contributing citizens.

She came to Fernbrook Farms 13 years ago as a Shepherd to the animals. In addition to caring for each of their diverse needs, Lydia also attends to the animal’s varied and individual health requirements, including diet, threat of disease, animal handling, and human – animal contact on a daily basis.

Lydia, also tends the Children’s Garden, assists in educating in the garden and simply enjoys being part of the Fernbrook family.

Educator

Patty Gurgul

Miss Patty has been teaching environmental education for the last 20 years.  In addition to Fernbrook Farms, she has worked at Cedar Run Wildlife Center and Paws Farm Nature Center.   She is a certified teacher in special education and early childhood education.  Miss Patty has recently finished her masters degree as a Teacher of Biological Sciences.

While pursuing that degree, she was able to study and participate in conservation efforts in Baja, Thailand and Borneo.  During those trips, she swam with whale sharks and sea lions, studied coastal, desert and rainforest ecology, planted trees in a disturbed rainforest, went scorpion hunting in the desert, participated in studies of orangutans and proboscis monkeys, slow loris and frogs in Borneo, and planted an organic rice paddy in Thailand.

Patty has also participated in an Earthwatch Project in Ecuador studying tropical birds in the cloud forest and using a mist net to catch and tag them for future population studies. During another educational trip to the Amazon, she visited remote villages where she studied the rainforest, saw pink dolphins and poison arrow frogs, went piranha fishing, learned about plant and herbal remedies from the local shaman and tried a blow gun used by native tribes.

Her love of animals and nature also found Miss Patty on an African safari where she observed and learned about a whole array of animals on the African plains in Kenya and Tanzania.  She has a hard time naming her favorite animal which might be a giraffe one week and cheetah the next.

Miss Patty came to Fernbrook Farms in 2013 and has been teaching field trips, homeschool classes and the occasional summer camp week.  She currently is the lead upper level (ages 12 to 14) homeschool teacher.

Business Administrator

Yvonne Itchmoney

Yvonne Itchmoney joined Fernbrook Farms in 2015 and handles many of the day-to-day administrative and financial aspects of operating each of the farms’ businesses.

Yvonne’s background is in journalism. She spent many years in the print journalism industry before taking time off to be with her family. Upon going back to work, Yvonne channeled her management skills into business administration. Yvonne discovered Fernbrook Farms in 2013, when her son began attending the Education Center’s Fiddlehead summer camp program. When an opportunity to become part of Fernbrook Farms presented itself, Yvonne didn’t waste any time! The farm has since become her home away from home.

When she’s not at the farm, Yvonne enjoys spending time with her family. In addition to her coworkers, Yvonne adores her husband, son and Batman. Yvonne’s hobbies include discovering new movies and music, nagging her kid to do his homework and/or chores, macro and nature photography, reading anything and everything, hiking with her dogs, taking long bike rides, celebrating all things Halloween, and caring for her own flock of assorted critters.

Education Director, Summer Camp Director

Brian Kuser

–

Brian Kuser, son of Larry ‘Farmer Q’ & Susie Kuser, has been involved in outdoor education since 1996. During his years at Bates College in Maine, Brian spent his summers working at Keewaydin Camps in Vermont where his love of experiential environmental education was founded.

After graduating Bates with a degree in mathematics, Brian started teaching at New England boarding schools while continuing to spend his summers at camp in Vermont. Brian took a couple winters off from the indoor classroom and spent several seasons teaching in the outdoor classroom at Keewaydin Environmental Education Center and Hulbert Outdoor Center where he focused on environmental education and teambuilding activities. He then married Tracy and they moved to Thailand to teach at an international school.

Brian and Tracy returned to the US in 2007 where they began teaching at the Montclair Kimberley Academy. Brian spent 6 years teaching high school math at MKA while spending his summers as the Summer Camp Director at Fernbrook Farms. In 2013, Brian left the indoor classroom for good and joined the year-round staff at Fernbrook as the Director of Education. He truly enjoys being able to share his love of his childhood backyard with the kids as they get to experience the joys of the outdoor classroom at Fernbrook Farms.

Brian and Tracy moved to the farm in 2015 and have introduced two more Kusers to the farm, Mikala (born 2008) and Gemma (born 2011) who can both be seen around campus during camp, after school programs, and more!

Owners

Larry “Farmer Q” & Susie Kuser

Larry ‘Farmer Q’ & Susie Kuser moved to the farm in 1974 and have been actively running the farm since 1982. They have been married for over 40 years, have three grown children and eight grandchildren. Their vocation and avocation are the same: to live close to the earth and share the farm with as many people as possible.

Prior to farming, Farmer Q was a high school math and science teacher and coach. From 1976-1981 he served as Dean of Students for Princeton Day School in Princeton, NJ. Farmer Q has never given up his love of teaching or his involvement in the community. He has been an adjunct teacher at Mercer County Community College, Rutgers University School of Continuing Education and the New York Botanical Gardens. He has given lectures for the Master Gardeners programs and the New Jersey Association of Landscape Architects. In 2014, he was inducted into the NJ Nursery & Landscape Association’s Hall of Fame.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Community Forestry Council, a past member of the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association Board, the Burlington County Board of Agriculture, and past president of the Chesterfield Township Environmental Commission. Farmer Q is a graduate of Cornell University and has a Masters degree in Education from Fordham University.

Prior to running The Inn, Susie ran Wit & Whimsy, a boutique gift store in Bordentown, NJ from 1983-1987 and Princeton, NJ from 1988-1994. Her love, passion, and gift for hospitality have transformed The Inn from ‘Farmer Q’s’ boyhood home into a beautiful place for family and friends to come together to celebrate special occasions.

School Programs Director

Stacy LaMell

Stacy hasn’t always been a nature lover. According to her mom, her first response to the outdoors was to cry. She quickly moved from tears to mud pies, plant mash concoctions, and roaming the ravines and forest preserves.

Stacy spent hours reading the “Little House” Books, fascinated with the history of the first people to live on this land. She always wanted to live on a farm, close to nature in a simple way, and sought out the opportunity to live and work on a sheep farm in Olympia, WA caring for a small flock of sheep, chickens, turkeys, a small fruit orchard, and a prolific garden.

It was there that Stacy began to make the oft-lost connection between farms and food, and spent many hours trying recipes and herbal teas reminiscent of her childhood concoctions. Nowadays Stacy is known at Fernbrook for her famous “Tea Parties” and “Pesto Eggs” as many summer campers can attest!

After five years of farm life, two years with AmeriCorps Youth in Service, and a year of internships in NYC, Stacy graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

After taking time after graduation to live abroad teaching English in Chengdu, China, Stacy returned to the USA. Country life beckoned, and in early 2006 she found a new opportunity as “Farm Educator” at Pennypack Farm in Horsham, PA. Connecting her experience in classroom teaching with her knowledge of farming, love of the outdoors, and an unquenchable thirst for interdisciplinary intersection, a career path was born. So was her son, Diego, who spent many days bundled on her back while she led field trips, camper visits, and community classes on the farm.

Following a field trip from a Montessori School near Pennypack, Stacy became intrigued by the Montessori philosophy and methods of teaching. Becoming a Montessori Guide in 2008 brought new inspiration for creating lessons and activities that borrow their educational themes from farming and the natural cycles of life. During this time, she noticed that today’s young children are often full of stress, anxiety and disconnection from the natural world,. Stacy started bringing yoga into her classroom to help combat the effects of modern life stress on children and their families.

Stacy became a certified 200RYT Yoga teacher in 2014, offers a variety of yoga based summer and school break camp activities.  Certified to teach both floor yoga as well as aerial yoga, campers benefit from these stress busting moves with her much loved “Hammock Hangout” and “Nature Yoga Scavenger Hunt” all over Fernbrook’s grounds are a camper favorite! Yoga not only helps children cope with stress and social anxiety, but it also lends itself to our work as nature educators by offering a perspective centered in compassion extending to all living things.

Educator

Noah Myers

Noah is a NJ native, and grew up exploring all that New Jersey has to offer. It is where his passion for the outdoors grew from a young age. He traveled to the Midwest for his Bachelor’s degree in Biology which he received at Saint Mary’s in Indiana. That passion for the outdoors continued through college. He learned about the wildlife in Indiana while hiking and exploring. Noah has a special affinity for owls whose sounds he can mimic.

School wasn’t easy for Noah with his ADHD, but he learned to cope with it, by being outside in nature. The great outdoors helped him learn focus, how to slow down, and how to appreciate the world around him. He hopes to bring that knowledge, understanding, and adaptability to the children he teaches here at Fernbrook Farms along with the fun adventures, games, and science experiments he’s picked up through his years of working with kids and his own education.

Saplings Lead Teacher

Tracy Patton

Tracy grew up in Indiana as a country girl spending much of her summers playing in the woods and doing 4-H projects. While in the midwest, she got a BS in Biology from Purdue University, where she met her husband. After they moved to the east coast and raised their two kids, she taught preschool at the Princeton Waldorf School where she learned the art of nature-based education. From there, she moved on to Princeton Friends School where she taught gardening classes and established a partnership with the local food bank to donate the bounty of produce that they harvested each week.

Tracy joined Fernbrook in 2022. Her happy place is the peace and calm she gets tending to her vegetable garden, or reading or sketching on a quiet afternoon surrounded by flowers. She looks forward to bringing her passion for teaching young students the love of gardening, healthy food, and nature to Fernbrook.

Saplings Teacher

Jess Raub

Saplings Teacher

Christine Zielinski

Christine “Chris” has always been a book worm, reading tales of magic and mystery even as a child. She read these books in the comfort of the outdoors, sitting on a tree by a river, leaning against a rock on a mountain, or even lying in the grass with the clouds overhead. Between the pages, she noticed how the world around her was as mysterious and magical as what she was reading. She began to explore the outdoors, finding little pieces of nature that inspired her imagination like her books did. These magical moments elicited excitement and adventure in her heart which she carried into adulthood.

Chris studied creative writing at Ramapo College in the Mountains, hiking and writing her days away. She focused her studies in child and young adult fiction where she learned how to engage children with reading. Christine graduated with her BA in 2019 and decided to continue her education.  In June 2021, Chris finished her MA in Creative writing for MacQuarie University in Australia where she did an online accelerated program.

Chris joined Fernbrook Farms in 2021. She hopes to elicit the same magical wonder she felt as a child when she was outside in the Sapling she works with. She hopes to cultivate their adventurous spirit through exploring the farm and its magical moments, and the children’s own stories about what they see, hear, and experience while adventuring across the farm.

Saplings Lead Teacher

Leigh Zink

Leigh has been in the education field in a variety of iterations over that past 30+ years. Originally from the mountains of Maryland, Leigh came to New Jersey for college, graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in Political Science. Upon realizing that she’d rather be spending her days with children, she returned to college and received her teacher certification in Early Childhood Education – Preschool through Grade 6. Her journey in education began as a second grade teacher in Brooklyn, NY. Leigh says it’s one of the hardest and most rewarding jobs she’s ever had! She then moved on to teaching and eventually running several preschools over the years. To get a taste of working with the “big kids” again, Leigh transitioned to managing after school programs and educationally-focused summer camp programs among other youth activities.

As a lover of the outdoors, Leigh has had a longstanding love of outdoor education. Although, she never thought she’d see it in action. After finding the movement growing, she decided it was time to chase the dream of combining her love of the outdoors with her love of education. This is what brought her to Fernbrook! Leigh is very excited to spur the children’s love and wonderment of nature and see what blossoms.

In her spare time, Leigh loves spending time with her husband and daughters. She can also usually be found kayaking (usually in the Pine Barrens) or hiking in the Adirondacks.