Ben Kamm - Lead Instructor

Raised in the DMV, Ben spent his summers camping and hiking all over the east coast, even to Canada. He developed skills in plant ID and tracking, on these trips, and continued to draw inspiration from his childhood experiences as he was mentored by Ancestral Knowledge Staff. During this mentor-ship, Ben honed his skills around fire making and carving, with a strong focus on friction fire (Bow Drill method).

Ben is passionate about History and the way that ancient people lived, he strives to share the ways that our ancestors used to thrive and survive. As a home schooler and one of seven, Ben has experience with mentoring younger children and working in a group!

Always an active person, Ben enjoys weight lifting and exploring his local landscape.

Eden Cornelius - Lead Instructor

Growing up homeschooled, Eden first found the primitive skills community in upstate NY through enrollment in a program called Primitive Pursuits at age seven. From that time until her teen years, she participated in Ancestral Knowledges Homeschool program for many years and attended primitive skills gatherings. In her teens, her time was spent hiking, camping, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and filling her journal with detailed sketches and facts about the wildlife around her.

All of her free time was spent outdoors, building debris huts, making cordage, and adventuring in the forest. Schooled by her fiber artist and aspiring naturalist mother, her love of the natural world was fueled by a rich curriculum with a focus on hands-on learning and her intense interest in insects and plants.

Now, Eden is a multimedia artist and painter who continues to share and learn skills, with a particular passion for pottery, wet felting techniques, needle felting, and natural pigments. With a background in youth leadership, she enjoys working with groups and fostering a creative connection with the earth.

Laura Rose - Field Instructor

Laura spent her childhood summers camping and hiking in the old forests of Minong, Wisconsin where pine trees grow as far and tall as the eyes can see.  These childhood summers nurtured her love for the outdoors and connection to nature.  Her education and cultivated background in Yoga, herbal medicine and natural wellness,  led her to study and obtain a Masters degree and license in Chinese Medicine, which is entirely based on the laws, cycles, and rhythms of Nature.

Coming back into balance with Nature, Laura has always found equals greater health and happiness.  A life-long learner, her passion for a deeper nature connection led her to the Wilderness Awareness School  in Duvall, WA where she was taught among other things, Coyote Mentoring which is the same philosophy followed at Ancestral Knowledge.  Laura is so happy to share her mentoring and nature based skill set to help foster that wild, playful, and intrinsically connected nature within us all through the programs at AK.   Initiating deep nature connection and fostering respect, confidence and knowledge in the wild that surrounds us and is a part of us is a great passion for Laura and she loves to share this sacred part of existence with humans of all ages.