Executive Board Members
President: Julie Ann Biedrzycki
Julie is a former teacher, currently raising and homeschooling her 3 young children. As a student of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Maryland College Park, Julie ran educational support programs in local public elementary schools, which inspired her to stay involved with youth and her community ever since. In the education field for 17 years, she has taught ages 3-adult in all variety of programs and venues, from public to private schools, from classrooms to National Parks. Julie specializes in conservation and environmental awareness, and is passionate about gardening, wild foraging, herbalism, and reducing waste through sustainable living. She currently lives in MD, as caretaker to a beautiful historic forest and the century-old homes there, where she enjoys making and selling herbal products and wildcrafts from her home. Julie brings both experience and enthusiasm as a board member for Ancestral Knowledge, focusing on fundraising and community outreach.
Vice President: Amy Beam
Amy has been teaching preschool and school-aged children for more than forty years. For three dozen years she has taught at the schools of Metro Montessori in Washington DC and Maryland. She is the owner of Camp Shady Grove and Kid’s Love Nature! summer programs and is the founder of the Beyond The Walls Nature Program which teaches children, their parents, and teachers throughout the year. She regularly leads nature awareness workshops and retreats for staff development which award required continuing education credits. She has also served on staff at Montgomery Montessori Institute and Metro Teacher Training Institute, The Art of Mentoring at the Vermont Wilderness School, and Coyote Mentoring at The Living Earth School. Amy has presented at the American Montessori Society’s International Conference, Irvine Nature Preschool Conference, NOVA Outside (keynote speaker) and Building Strong Naturalist Communities. She has appeared in The Washington Post, NAEYC’s book The Great Outdoors, Families Only Magazine, Montessori Life, and local Gazette newspapers. She is featured in the documentary Mother Nature’s Child and can be seen on YouTube in Mother Nature’s Child Trailer. She is a founder and Board of Directors member of the Eastern Region Association of Forest and Nature Schools (ERAFANS).
Amy passionately supports Ancestral Knowledge’s mission to serve the young community.
Treasurer: Patrick Cornelius
Board Members
Emmy Fritz-Krockow
Emmy traveled the world as a young person, and has always been enamored with the natural world. This love led her to the MAPS meet. Her desire to immerse her son and other children in wild nature with has been a driving force in her teaching career as a certified Montessori Teacher. She joined the board in 2015 to support the mission and engage further in the community. Her deep bonds within the community are so valuable that she continues to join us annually despite a cross-country move to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Heather Cornelius
Laural Imlay
Laurel Imlay is the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter Coordinator with a Biochemistry degree from the University of Maryland. She runs the Sierra Club’s internship program, supports the Outdoors program, assists with acquiring resources and manages emails. Raised by an artist mother and an invertebrate biologist father (specializing in freshwater mussels and land snails), and a descendant of a paleontologist grandfather (on the Smithsonian Geological Survey team who discovered oil in Mexico and Alaska), Laurel spent a childhood digging in the mud and appreciating nature. She continues this legacy with her two sons, one who has attended Ancestral Knowledge’s summer camps and enjoyed the freedom and sense of stewardship of the land. Laurel has scaled part of Mt Everest and sailed the Pacific Ocean from California to the Marquesas Islands. She taught English and yoga in Cambodia. She enjoys gardening, swimming, boating, dancing and reading.
Laurel deeply supports Ancestral Knowledge’s mission to get people outdoors to learn skills, build community, and connect with, protect and enjoy nature.
Rebecca Wadler
Previous Board Members
Dan Devries
Johnathan Murray
David Friedman
Evan Bergwall
Kim Katzenbarger
Kevin Haney
Jamey Hueston
Rick Hueston
N. Roderick McCracken, Jr.
John McLaren
Mark Seaver