ABOUT OUR STAFF
JIM LOWERY ~ Founder
Jim Lowery founded Earth Skills in 1987 as an extension of his longtime passion for wilderness adventure. After completing many specialized classes in tracking, wilderness survival and related subjects from Tom Brown, Jr.'s Tracker School in New Jersey, he put thousands of hours applying the skills, while he taught hundreds of beginning and advanced workshops for nearly 40 years. Among these have been special trainings for universities, naturalists, docents, teachers and wildlife biologists. He has been an expert tracking consultant for field studies of mammals, and has led annual trainings in mammal tracking for State of California DPR staff since 2008.
Jim is the author of The Tracker's Field Guide (Globe Pequot 2006, 2013 and 2022), based on 20 years of field research and photography as well as extensive study of mammal biology and behavior. Besides this field guide, Jim has written Walk with the Animal (2013), monographs about tracking, and 20 years’ worth of newsletters about outdoor skills, nature, tracking and traditional skills.
To read Jim Lowery’s tribute to Tom Brown, Jr. CLICK HERE.
MARY E. BROOKS ~ Co-Founder
Mary, Jim's wife, has taken numerous courses from Tom Brown's Tracker School and has 41 years of outdoors/wilderness experience. She has co-taught more than 350 of Earth Skills beginning and advanced workshops and has co-facilitated 27 solo spiritual quests. Mary’s areas of expertise include Earth Philosophy, Basketry and Native Plant Uses. Her Cooking with Native Plants classes are well known, and she is recognized as a highly accomplished tracker. In her full-time career, Mary was an internationally-known specialist in affordable housing policy and implementation.
TANYA JENKINS ~ Educator & Quest Facilitator
Tanya took her first Earth Skills Basic Tracking class in 2009 and was immediately captivated. She was drawn to the Solo Spiritual Quest and became part of the Quest staff in 2012. Tanya has taught Earth Skills’ Medicinal Plant classes, assisted with Wild Edible Plant cooking classes and Day Scout classes. As a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist, Tanya walks alongside clients as they learn the action-steps that help release the burdening parts of grief. She’s dedicated to creating an accepting and steady environment where people know they’re being listened to and supported, giving them the freedom to go deeper.
TINA NERY ~ Quest Facilitator
Tina's journey with Earth Skills began when she solo quested in 2018. Her experience grew through the Earth Philosophy series, and continues as a Quest Protector today. Tina deepened her path by becoming a certified trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness teacher, and dedicating six years to volunteer teaching at Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles, and at the California State Prison in Lancaster. A devoted student of indigenous cosmology, Tina uses her voice to illuminate the truth and cut away at the illusions of modern western living. She bridges two worlds - working in the production of branded content at a major global media company while also cultivating a deeply rooted spiritual practice. Through her connection to the spirit within and natural world without, Tina brings grounded perspective to her professional work, while infusing her spiritual path with creativity and collaboration.
DANIEL GRAY ~ Educator & Quest Facilitator
Daniel’s professional experience in education has ranged from teaching, to curriculum development, to administration. Whether leading teams, managing projects, or instructing, the throughline of his career has been interacting with and working with people, from corporate CEOs, to their children, and everyone in between. The community he strives for is a place where everyone is included and feels a sense of belonging; where everyone is healthy, and safe; a place where all voices are heard with empathy, compassion, and respect; a place where individuals know themselves and understand their relationship to the world in which they live. Daniel took his first Earth Skills class with Jim and Mary in December, 1993 and has been honing his skills ever since. He has a M. Ed. in Holistic and Integrative Education, a BA in Multimedia studies and coaching certificate in transformational recovery and psycho-spiritual integration.