Who We Are

Zach Brown, Co-Executive Director. Zach grew up surrounded by the wilderness of Southeast Alaska. With parents in the National Park Service, Zach had ample opportunity as a boy to explore the mountains and fjords of this region, experiences that gave him a lasting love of the natural world. Attending college in Southern California, Zach studied chemistry and biology. When the opportunity came to travel to the Arctic, his life changed forever. Zach spent a field season in the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, observing how seabirds are responding to a changing climate. This unforgettable experience led Zach to pursue a PhD at Stanford University, where he continued to study how changing sea ice affects the marine biological communities of the polar regions, especially the phytoplankton that form the first link of the food chain. During his time at Stanford, Zach was thrilled to undertake multiple research expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. Completing his PhD studies in spring 2014, Zach set off on a 4-month, 2300-mile solo trek, hiking and paddling from Stanford to his Alaskan homeland, to spread the word about creating Tidelines Institute.

zach@tidelinesinstitute.org

Laura Marcus, Co-Executive Director. Laura is committed to a vision of education that integrates the active life with the life of the mind. As co-executive director of Tidelines Institute, she has worked with her students to create experiential and liberal educational programs that prepare students to be thoughtful stewards of the world around them. Prior to founding Tidelines Institute, Laura worked at Deep Springs College and as a ranger with the National Park Service. Laura has her B.A. from Yale University, her M.Phil from the University of Cambridge, and is a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. In her spare time, she is an avid backpacker, reader, and cook.

laura@tidelinesinstitute.org

Tanner Horst, Good River Campus Director. Tanner is an educator who has worked at a variety of experiential and community-based schools as a teacher of manual skills, a maintenance person, and administrator. He is a graduate of Deep Springs College in California and Bowdoin College in Maine. He believes that learning to care for the physical world is more a feat of imagination than some type of knack, and that learning this care can help us to reimagine our habits, futures, and communities.

tanner@tidelinesinstitute.org

Bella Kirchgessner, Local Foods Educator. Bella is driven by a deep passion for reshaping our food systems towards justice and sustainability. A graduate of Kalamazoo College, where she studied Anthropology, Bella spent her time in university working in outdoor and garden experiential education, engaging in independent research around the world, and strengthening local community building around food justice topics. Bella is passionate about good food (and continuously learning to grow it), the Great Lakes, vibey music, foraging for mushrooms, and long walks on the beach searching through tide pools. She hopes to live a life that will resonate with as many generations forward as she can imagine and continuously learn to be in good relationship with herself, her communities, and the land.

Kira Elliot, Garden Educator. Kira Elliott is a recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College with a BA in Political Science. Originally from Oregon, Kira loves everything to do with being outside. She is a deep believer in the interconnectedness of all beings and all issues, prioritizing intersectional understandings of the world in her thought and actions. She is also a lover of horses, restorative justice, running half marathons, and reading!

Larry Landry, Maintenance Educator, Good River Campus. Larry and his wife Jen live a subsistence oriented life in Gustavus and operate a market garden from which they sell vegetables, berry preserves and herbal products to the community.

Seth & Katie Michie, Inian Islands Campus caretakers. The Michie family are an outdoor-loving Alaskan bunch. Seth and Katie are new to Southeast, but have spent the last several decades exploring, studying, gardening, and harvesting in interior Alaska. Their two young kids, Brooke (4) and Oliver (2), are growing up as wild as possible. They all love walking the beach, harvesting wild food, and teaching folks about the peace that comes with the homestead lifestyle.

Celia Silver, Teaching Fellow / Kitchen Manager. Celia is an alumna of the 2021 Glacier Bay Program and a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she studied History & Literature. She believes strongly in the power of a liberal arts education, especially in the humanities, to help us grapple with how to live good and meaningful lives. She has previously worked at Tidelines as the program assistant. This year, as the local foods educator, she hopes to think with students about how our eating practices can transform our relationships with ourselves, our communities, and the land. In her spare time, she likes to read novels, read poetry, write poetry, and hike.

Deja Jarvis, Bookkeeper/Administrative Assistant. Deja spent her childhood near the very backyard of Alaskan wilderness that Tidelines Institute now resides. She is familiar with the Alaskan way of life and grew up on a float house. Her interest in nature, conservation, world peace, and education are what drew her to work for Tidelines Institute. She is a proud mother of two and her husband is a commercial fisherman. Deja can also be found in the early childhood classroom teaching Pre-K level children at the local school. Deja enjoys reading, learning, the arts, humor, kids, science, the outdoors, and adventure! When she is not busy working towards one of her goals Deja likes to spend time with family and friends. Deja is currently pacing towards her Associates Degree in Accounting/Business. She aspires to use her education to help nonprofits such as Tidelines be successful and hopes to help make the world a better place through this dedication and passion!

Jessica Lindmark, President. Jessica began volunteering for Tidelines Institute in 2013, a year before the organization received its 501c3 designation. Back then she was helping to coordinate speaking events, launch social media presence and edit written communications. She later joined the founding Board of Directors, dedicating her focus to fostering the organization’s relationship with the Hoonah Indian Association and Huna Tlingit culture bearers. A mother of two daughters, she has worked and volunteered variously as an editor, writing tutor (for both native speakers and English Language Learners), social media coordinator, and as a communications intern with Sightline Institute in Seattle, WA. With her snatches of creative time she teaches yoga, gardens, and dreams up the next adventure with her family. To all those from the Huna Káawu and the communities of Icy Strait who have taken the time to teach her, Gunalchéesh and Thank You. It is an honor to work and learn together.

David Neidorf, Vice President. David was President of Deep Springs College from 2008-2020. Before he served as President, David served as Dean and as Vice-President of Operations from 2005 to 2007. Previously he taught at Middlebury College, the Integral Program at Saint Mary’s College, Shimer College and Prescott College. He has served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, and Director of Educational Programs at Bioethics-in-Action. David began his teaching career in Outward Bound; he worked seasonally for twenty-five years as an Instructor and Course Director at the Southwest, Colorado, and Hurricane Island Outward Bound Schools and similar programs.

Jerry Dzugan, Treasurer. Jerry moved to Sitka, Alaska in 1979 with only his BMW motorcycle and a backpack, after teaching history in inner city Chicago high schools for 8 years. Soon thereafter, he rebuilt an abandoned home on an island and lived off the grid for 16 years while working as a commercial fisherman, land surveyor and wilderness/sailing guide between Sitka and Glacier Bay. He received his graduate degree in marine education at World Maritime University in Sweden. He has served on a dozen Alaska humanity Boards. Experiencing the high rate of marine fatalities in Alaska, he became one of the founding members of the Alaska Marine Safety Education Assn. (AMSEA) and served as its Executive Director for 36 years and continues to work as a trainer. Jerry believes in the importance of lifelong experiential hands-on training in tandem with developing a connection to the land and sea.

Shubhra Murarka, Secretary. Shubhra is an alumna of the Arete Project’s 2016 Blue Ridge Session. She has stayed involved with the Arete Project and Tidelines Institute with faculty hiring and alumnx advising. She has continually been drawn to Nunnian education because of her belief that community should be a central part of education.  Shubhra has worked as a teacher both in the U.S. and abroad and has worked in education and public health. Shubhra has her B.A. from the University of Chicago, M.Phil from the University of Oxford, and is currently a doctoral student in Biological Anthropology at the University of California- San Diego. Her past and current research projects have focused on Indigenous education, critical race studies, and Indigenous health. 

Utsa Seth, Student Representative. Utsa was a member of the 2025 Glacier Bay Semester cohort and an international student at Berea College where she is studying Environmental Science. From studying in a rural boarding school in South India between ages 11 – 18 to spending a semester in Alaska, she has had many experiences that have facilitated a deep connection between her, the natural world, and tight-knit communities. These are the defining sources of joy in her life and inspire her to study and advocate for the future of our shared humanity and beloved planet. In her free time, she is a collector of hobbies (bird watching, foraging, poetry, singing, dancing, crafting, crocheting, etc.) and loves to share these passions with everyone.  

Norman Cohen has worked to improve rural economies and natural resource conservation in Alaska for over 50 years. Most recently, prior to retirement at the end of 2016, he served as the Program Director for the The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) in Southeast Alaska. Mr. Cohen also was a founder of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, a network of organizations throughout Southeast that aims to support vibrant communities. Previously, he served as the executive director of a community development quota (CDQ) group in western Alaska; as well as being the Director of the Habitat Division and Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Mr. Cohen graduated with a history degree from Dartmouth College and received his JD degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Mr. Cohen resides in Juneau.

Rebekah Contreras works as the Administrative Assistant for the Huna Heritage Foundation. She is of Yupik and Caucasian descent and has been adopted into the Tlingit culture as a member of the Shungukeidí Clan, Eagle/Thunderbird. Rebekah also works in various capacities with youth including a position with the City of Hoonah as a gym and youth center attendant and Middle School girls’ basketball coach. She enjoys volunteering on local and national levels and serves as the secretary/treasurer for the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 12. Rebekah also is a member of the Tongass Womens Earth Climate Action Network, and an Administrative Assistant at Huna Heritage Foundation. In addition to her passion for community service, she enjoys creating art and playing basketball in her free time.