bear staff

Diane Olsen - Executive Director
diane.olsen@bearmt.org
Diane knows BEAR well, serving on the Board of Directors for 8 years before becoming part of the staff. She also taught environmental education in Redwood National Park, led backpacking trips for 3 years at a therapeutic wilderness program and spent 4 years as the Youth Services Coordinator at a program serving survivors of domestic violence. She loves the work of connecting resources to BEAR's programs so that youth can meet their potential and experience the clarity and solace that can come with being in the outdoors.

Meghan Weaver - Office and Communications Coordinator/Trip Leader meghan.weaver@bearmt.org
Meghan is a ball of energy! Originally stemming from Bellingham, WA, she and her handsome hubby Jeremy ventured out to the great state of Montana about 5 years ago and just love it to pieces. She has a degree in Recreation from Western Washington University and has always loved being outside as much as possible! Venturing into the great outdoors is one of Meghan's favorite activities, especially when it involves endless camp song singing, silly walking along the trail, sharing funny stories with friends around a warm, glowing campfire, or frolicking among the trees and wildflowers. She's a big kid at heart and is so pumped to get to know all the awesome youth in the BEAR Program. Meghan hopes to be an adventure light in the eyes of BEAR youth and help young folks connect to nature by way of laughter, song, friendship, strength, and family. She is also a huge fan of the popular 80's show (in her mind) The Golden Girls and enjoys eating pints of ice cream on a weekly, sometimes daily basis!

Katie DeFelice - Training and Outreach Coordinator
k.defelice@bearmt.org
Katie was born and raised in rural western New York, where summer vacations were spent camping and fishing with her family and heavy snow falls in the winter made for great igloo palaces. Her love of the outdoors has taken her all over the country, with some of her most epic trips in Canyonlands, Zion, and Glacier National Parks, and into Central and South America. Her love of community and interest in serving others led Katie to obtain a bachelor's degree in social work from SUNY Brockport, NY in 2005 and a master's degree in social work from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN in 2014. By 2016 Katie had fallen in the love with the mountains of Montana, like so many outdoor enthusiasts, and moved to the Bitterroot Valley. Since then she become an organic farmer, assisted in the development of an internship program for youth in farming, served as a residential counselor at the Linda Massa Youth Home and co-facilitated the Bitterroot Youth Crisis Diversion project. Starting with BEAR in 2018, Katie has mentored youth through our school-based programs and community clubs, led the building of the Ropes Challenge Course in Hieronymus Park, and now serves as our lead trainer for both the ropes course and our mentoring programs.

Caity Johnson - Venture OUT Coordinator
caity.johnson@bearmt.org
Caity was born and raised in the beautiful Blue Ridge of Virginia! She began her work in youth programs while studying childhood development and working in a Montessori classroom. Inspired by her love for the outdoors, she graduated from Ferrum College with a BA in Environmental Studies. During this time, she worked with her college outdoor recreation program and as a park ranger. Caity and her husband have been living/working in Idaho and Montana for several years and love to get out and explore as much as possible. They are happy to now be “settling down” in the Bitterroots with their pups!

Amanda MacArthur - Program Assistant
amanda.macarthur@bearmt.org
Amanda has a degree in Outdoor Leadership, is a certified Leave No Trace educator, and has experience working as a wilderness guide and counselor for the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and in the tourism industry. She's guided in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, around the glaciers in Alaska, and as a kayak guide in the New Orleans swamps. Outside of her professional life she's spent a month backpacking alone in Iceland, participated in a 2 month field studies program in Tasmania, and completed a month long survival challenge in the Sonora desert. The last few years she's worked as an EMT and Wildland Firefighter, allowing her to experience our natural places in a new light.