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Back for year number three on the road as Traveling Trainers, Dusty and Amy Allison hail from the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina where weaving together educational design and outdoor recreation were top priorities in their lives.
As former classroom teachers and experienced wilderness guides, they developed an innovative outdoor leadership program for a K-8 charter school near Asheville, NC. Together, they have backpacked, camped, caved, paddled, and explored the trails of 48 states. When they are not pushing deep into the woods, waters, and deserts of our nation's public lands, they enjoy investigating the big cities, back roads and small towns that they pass through daily. From farmers markets and bookstores to diners and street fairs, this charismatic couple enjoys listening and talking with everyone they encounter to further explore the human relationship with the natural world. These two experienced educators are committed to inspiring others to enjoy and protect the vitality of our natural lands. Their combined experience and passion for education, wilderness, and sustainability make them a dynamic team.
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Amy Allison grew up in Louisiana spending her weekends on her family farm catching crawfish, running through pastures, picking blackberries, and learning all that she could about the natural world. She left the lowlands of Louisiana after high school to live and study in the coastal city of Charleston, South Carolina. While the coastal scene kept her busy in the spring and fall, summertime would find her fleeing to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina where she worked as a camp counselor. For five seasons, she worked at the camp as a rock climbing instructor, ropes course facilitator, and assistant program director. She eventually moved full-time to the mountains and became the off-season wilderness director of the camp. In this role, she organized and led school groups on backpacking and climbing trips. She later left the camp to become a teacher for an experiential education company which allowed her to teach and work in various regions ranging from the Southern Appalachians to Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Working with groups ranging from elementary students to corporate executives, Amy has instructed thousands of individuals through outdoor expeditions, team building, and natural history. Her passion for the Earth inspired her to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies at Brevard College. After graduation, she accepted a teaching position at a charter school outside of Pisgah National Forest. On the school’s forested 200 acre campus she had the opportunity to share her love of the natural world with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders on a daily basis. The mountains provide Amy with the perfect backdrop to spend her leisure time hiking, paddling, and pursuing her love of nature photography.
Dusty Allison was raised in the rugged Southern Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina. As a young boy, he immersed himself in the beauty of the wild by fishing, paddling, and exploring the cold waters of the Nantahala River. This experience inspired him to work as a seasonal whitewater guide on Southeastern rivers while he studied as a North Carolina Teaching Fellow at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. During his college years, Dusty had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live and study abroad at Cambridge University in England. This experience provided him with plenty of time to fill his head with Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats while he scaled the highlands and roamed the moors of England and Scotland. He graduated from UNCA in 1997 with a degree in English and a concentration in Environmental Literature and Nature Writing.
Dusty’s dual passion for education and landscape propelled him to work tirelessly on the Board of Directors for a non-profit environmental organization as well as serve as the North Carolina editor for Green Teacher, an international environmental education magazine. As a founding faculty member, Dusty helped launch an innovative charter school and for six years taught environmental science to middle school students. At the school, Dusty founded and developed JOURNEYS, an innovative and interdisciplinary outdoor leadership and adventure program which exposed 8th grade students to the diverse array of outdoor sports and ecosystems of the Southeastern U.S. When not researching and writing about place-based learning and experiential education, Dusty spends his time hiking, trail running, caving, sea kayaking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and reading.
