Meet Our Team

Are you Ready for Adventure?

Our instructors are rigorously committed to delivering a comprehensive, fantastic learning experience. They do this through vivid story-telling, engaging lectures, and experiential education with a good dose of humor and charisma.

You can expect the most accessible, current, well-organized, useful, and painless CPR and First Aid Training available so you’ll feel ready for anything.

We've Got Dirt Time!

And most important, our instructors have extensive dirt time. This means they have logged significant hours in the field where prevention, critical thinking, and emergency response were required. They’ve got stories, and they’ve got your back.

Nicole Roma Thurrell
CEO, Director of Education

Recipient of the Massachusetts Award for Excellence in Science Education, Nicole is a passionate educator who loves turning people on to strategies for caring more skillfully for their fellow human beings.

She has degrees in Psychology and Recreation Therapy from the University of North Carolina and has been a Wilderness EMT since 2001.

Nicole has decades of experience working in many aspects of wilderness therapy, including expedition leader, health director, and director of admissions.

Whether it was leading adventures on the water, on land, or in the air, Nicole has done it all. She has been an adventure racer, a raft guide, high ropes facilitator, a clinician for kids with Autism, a Waldorf high school teacher, and a mom.

Molly Kitchen,
Director of Operations + Instructor

Molly discovered Wild Med as a new parent, aiming to feel more confident taking her own little wildling on adventures. Shortly after taking the online CPR + First Aid Course, she came on board to support Wild Med’s growth and organization, eventually becoming Director of Operations.

As a young adult, Molly backpacked through Australia, Europe, Central and South America, making the most of every study abroad program she could. Now as a parent, she loves to hike and swim with her partner, kiddo, and two dogs throughout western Mass and New England.

Molly is the founder of a yoga school that highlights the connections between contemplative practice and social change. She also has a background in herbalism and farming and spent years working on farms in New England and the Big Island of Hawaii.

As someone who values preparedness in its many forms, Molly loves keeping the behind-the-scenes of Wild Med running smoothly. She still moonlights as an Instructor seasonally and loves teaching in the field when she can.

Oliver Reitz, Instructor + Project Manager

Oliver has a long-held interest in bodies and healing. He got his start in health care as a teenager, working as a Certified Nursing Assistant and tutoring students in Anatomy and Physiology. He currently holds a Bachelor's Degree in Health Education and Promotion and is a certified Wilderness First Responder, EMT, and Funeral Director.

Oliver's interest in the outdoors came later in life, when he moved to Massachusetts in 2014. He discovered a love for the mountains and waterfalls of New England, and still can't get enough. Oliver's personal favorite adventure activities include hiking, backpacking, climbing, swimming, and snowboarding.

Through his work with The Venture Out Project, Oliver has been leading hikes and backcountry trips with the LGBTQ+ community for almost a decade. This work has been essential in his understanding of the outdoors and who belongs there. Oliver believes in increasing access to the outdoors to all people through education, representation, and dissolving barriers to entry.

Julia Fox, Instructor

Julia grew up attending and working at Wilderness Experiences Unlimited’s summer camp and leadership program, where she was trained in Wilderness First Aid and Lifeguarding for many years. She had the opportunity to learn and teach outdoor adventure sports to children and teens including rock climbing, scuba diving, kayaking, and more.

Julia is a graduate of UMass Amherst with bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science and Political Science and a Master’s in Public Policy. Her passion for outdoor adventuring was channeled through the UMass Outing Club, where she enjoyed leading students on hikes in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Dawn Cogliser, Instructor

Dawn is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with advanced certification in addiction nursing - advanced practice (CARN-AP), and recognized as a Fellow of the International Academy of Addictions Nursing. She is also a certified Forest Therapy Guide, and EcoNIDRA teacher. As the Founder of EcoRECOVERY, Dawn integrates evidence-based, trauma informed approaches with immersive experiences in the natural world blending her clinical expertise with nature.

Based in Southern Oregon, Dawn spends much of her time in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest, where her passion for wilderness and wellness comes to life. She believes that nature is for "every BODY" and strives to increase accessibility in outdoor spaces.

Since 2022, she has trained extensively with the Institute for Wild Med combining her medical training with her love for the backcountry. Dawn is truly honored and delighted to now be part of the Wild Med team!