Due to high demand our Oct. Women's Backpack Trip is 
The evening includes dinner, 
Workshops, hikes, camping trips
Email us
Meet Our Staff
Program Staff
Support Staff | Food Service and Grounds/Facilities Staff
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont has assembled an excellent, experienced and enthusiastic team to carry out the mission of connecting people and nature. Here are some of the people you may come in contact with as you prepare for your visit to Tremont and as you enjoy your stay here.
Program Staff
Caleb Carlton – Teacher/Naturalist
A Michigan native, Caleb holds a degree in Environmental Studies from Michigan State University. Recently he was a naturalist with the "Inside the Outside" Outdoor Science School (Orange County Department of Education, California). He has also worked on an organic farm. An avid backpacker, he has hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest and John Muir Trails. He is a Wilderness First Responder.
Josh Davis – Citizen Science Coordinator
Though born in Ohio, Josh was raised in Michigan and claims it as home. Before moving to Tennessee, he taught at nature centers in both Michigan and Minnesota. A 2002 graduate of the University of Michigan, he holds a B.S. in Natural Resources and the Environment. Though interested in all areas of natural history, his favorites are botany and ornithology. His favorite outdoor activities are hiking, biking, canoeing, and snowshoeing, and his hobbies include birding and photography.
Dawn Dextraze – Teacher/Naturalist
Dawn was born in Vermont, raised in Florida and has been traveling around all her adult life. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Mars Hill College, just over the mountains in North Carolina, in 2002. Dawn has been working at residential education centers since that time. She has worked in Massachusetts, Washington, North Carolina, Maine, and New Hampshire. Dawn earned her M.A. in Environmental Education from the University of New Hampshire in 2009 and started working at Tremont in 2010. In her free time, she enjoys reading, gardening, sewing, crocheting, looking for wildflowers, listening to birds, and playing with her three nephews.
Adam Leiterman – Teacher/Naturalist
Adam was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He received his B.S. from the University of South Carolina in 2002, and his M.A. from the University of New Hampshire in 2005. Before coming to Tremont, Adam has worked at environmental education centers in Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Georgia. After spending several years on the coast, Adam is enjoying being in the mountains. In his free time he enjoys reading, biking, hiking, and cooking.
Jeremy Lloyd – Special Programs Coordinator
Jeremy began working at Tremont in 1996. Originally from Western
Pennsylvania, he received a B.A. from Calvin College in 1994, and, an M.F.A.
from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2001. He’s written for a
number of national publications including Gray’s Sporting Journal,
Sojourners, The Sun, and North Carolina Literary Review. He directs
Tremont’s summer camps, Road Scholar programs, college consortiums, and family
camps. He also coordinates the Southern Appalachian Naturalist Certification
Program. He is the author of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Pocket
Guide & Journal as well as A Home In Walker Valley: The Story of Tremont,
both published by Great Smoky Mountains Association. Additionally, he has
released several recordings of original music. Books, wilderness,
fly-fishing, hunting, good food and good conversation number among his many
loves. And of course his wife, Elan, who he married in 2006.
Christina McCoy – Teacher/Naturalist
Christina was born in Indiana but raised in the Cumberland Gap of Kentucky and Northwest Georgia. She spent her high school summers working in Michigan at Isle Royale National Park; where she rediscovered her enthusiasm for the environment. She graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. in environmental studies and a specialization in gender studies. She dedicated a year of service with AmeriCorps VISTA working at an environmental nonprofit in Detroit, MI. In Detroit, she planted trees, worked with the community and educated the youth about the natural world. She is excited to be teaching and living in the south again, exploring the mountainous terrain and learning new plants and wildflowers. Some of her favorite outdoor activities are hiking, kayaking, and berry picking. In her spare time she likes to read, meditate, and be creative with arts and crafts.
From Happy Valley Pennsylvania comes Tesha Omeis. With a degree in Environmental Education from Penn State University, she has always felt at home in the mountains. Her hobbies include reading, beading and hiking. Of all the parts of nature, she holds a special place for plants and their healing abilities. This year she looks forward to having seasons once more, since they were rather absent the past two years along the coast of Saint Simons Island, Georgia.
Mary Silver – Teacher/Naturalist
Mary was born and raised in Kingsport, Tennessee. Mary graduated from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin with a degree in Outdoor Education with an emphasis on Natural History, and a minor in Biology and Writing. She volunteered for a number of years at Warriors’ Path State Park, and has also worked as a counselor at Bays Mountain Day Camp. Mary is a Wilderness First Responder. Mary has spent three summers as a summer teacher naturalist at Tremont before coming on as full time staff.
Part/Time and Volunteer Teacher/Naturalists:
Robin Goddard
Jamie Matzko
Michael Matzko
Julie Brown - Registrar/Assistant Office Manager
Julie has been in love with the Smoky Mountains from the time she began visiting the National Park on camping trips. She’s lived in Indiana, Ohio, Florida and Asheville, North Carolina. Julie says, "There is something about these mountains that I can’t explain to people who don’t feel it. I feel at home in these mountains. And at peace." Julie says when it comes to learning about the flowers, trees, birds, and history of the Park, she can never get enough. She has a growing collection of old postcards, brochures, maps and books about the Smokies.
Sandra S. Byrd - Development/Public Relations Director (sandi@gsmit.org)
Sandi grew up in Memphis and has worked in development/public relations for over thirty years. Before coming to Tremont, Sandi served a number of non-profits, including Habitat for Humanity International, the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation at Callaway Gardens and the Devereux Foundation. She is pleased to be back in Tennessee and working inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a park that she and her husband have visited and enjoyed since childhood. Sandi is a music lover who also enjoys traveling with her husband, playing with her six grandchildren and two great grandchildren, and reading mystery and spy novels.
Heather Davis - Marketing Communications Specialist
The Smokies have always been a part of Heather's life since she grew up in nearby Knoxville, TN. She has spent the past 9 years in the middle part of the state where she received her B.S. in Mass Communications at MTSU and worked in marketing for a healthcare technology company.
Heather is excited to be back in this neck of the woods with her husband (Josh) and her pugs (Pandor and Butch). Heather is expecting her first child (Molly) in August and can't wait to get her outside with the Tremont crew.
John DiDiego - Education Director (john@gsmit.org)
John grew up catching snakes and turtles in the creeks of upstate South Carolina, and he has never lost his love of wild things and wild places. He holds a BA degree in English Literature from the University of Notre Dame and an MS in Natural Resources/Environmental Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He has always enjoyed international travel and served two stints in the Peace Corps in Morocco and Russia. In over 12 years experience in environmental education, he has worked in places as far-flung as New England, Yosemite NP, far eastern Russia, and Georgia; but there is no place he’d rather be than the southern Appalachians. He is looking forward to experiencing the changing seasons and the magic of changing students’ lives at Tremont. He and his wife Michele are settling into Maryville and enjoying spending time on the trails with their two young boys, Thomas and Mario. He enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking, turning over logs, and playing/singing folk tunes.
Mary Dresser - Program Specialist
Mary grew up in Wisconsin and has worked in environmental education and natural resources management in several states including Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Illinois. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh and a Master of Science degree in Wildland Recreation Management/Environmental Education from the University of Idaho, and is a member of the National Association for Interpretation and the Tennessee Environmental Education Association.
Mike Gross - Finance Manager
Although Mike has lived the last nineteen years in Charleston, SC, he is a long- time resident of Tennessee. Mike holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His main career has been the chief finance officer for two technical community colleges in higher education. Mike and his family have camped, hiked, and biked the Cades Cove area for over thirty years. He refers to the Smokies as a "little heaven on earth". After retirement from higher education, Mike and his wife, Helen, reside in Townsend, Tennessee.
Charlene Stewart -- Human Resources/Office Manager (charlene@gsmit.org)
Born and raised in the state of Florida, Charlene’s parents taught her to love the outdoors and appreciate animals in their natural environment. She has passed that love on to her own children as the family traded vacations between the ocean and Great Smoky Mountains for many years. Around 2001, Charlene and husband Doug made the decision to retire close to these beloved mountains and bought property in Walland, Tennessee to make that dream come true.
Her passion for people and nature have brought her to the Tremont team where she brings 30 years of extensive team building experience; hiring, developing, and motivating individuals to exceed expectations. She attended the University of Florida, with plans to work in elementary education before Sales and Service organizations took her career down a different path. Charlene’s interests are varied and include scuba diving, hiking, camping, photographing wildflowers and wildlife, as well as building birdhouses, quilting by hand, and growing herbs.
Ken Voorhis - Executive Director (ken@gsmit.org)
Ken has served as executive director of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont since 1984. He holds a B.S. from West Virginia University in Parks & Recreation with an emphasis in Nature Interpretation and a M.S. in Experiential Education, from Mankato State University in Minnesota. He has been involved in environmental education for over 25 years working in programs in Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. He lives at Tremont with his wife Jennifer and three children Bonnie Jo, Woody, and Robin, whom they have home schooled. His interests include, family, hiking, canoeing, birding, trees, storytelling music, Christianity, and exploring out of the way places in the Smokies.
Greeting you in our store and welcome center:
Gary Carpenter - Store Manager
Linda Vananda - Assistant Sales Manager
Food Service and Grounds/Facilities Staff
Steve Foster – Food Service Director
As a tenth generation member of the Walker family, Steve is right at home in the Smoky Mountains. He grew up in Blount County and spent countless hours at the river and on the trails. His career in cooking began in 1990 and his love for food shows not only in his food but in his physique. He has a wonderful wife, Rachel, and two handsome young boys, Miles and Eson. When not spending time with his family Steve can be found at the local disc golf courses, which he helps promote and maintain. He is also a self taught musician and enjoys playing blues and old time country on the guitar, mandolin and dobro. He also really likes hot sauce.
In the kitchen keeping participants well-fed and happy:
Mechelle Crowe - Team Leader
Linda Hatcher
Sherry McCollum
Lisa Russell
Emma Willison
Sam Crowe – Gounds and Facilities Manager
You may see Sam in any one of a number of places throughout the GSMIT campus. When he’s not working on the facilities to help keep the institute running like a well-oiled machine, he may be in the dining hall, helping the kitchen staff prepare and serve meals. Before hiring on with GSMIT, Sam spent 22 years as a professional musician, much of that time with very prominent Nashville based country bands. In 1998, he decided to get off the road and settle close to the mountains of east Tennessee. Sam enjoys hiking and camping and appropriately refers to the national park as "our blessed place."
Ron Hood - Maintenance Assistant
