Camp administration team
Click on a staff member’s photo or name to learn more about each person.
After being born and raised in the concrete flatlands of suburban Chicago, Ed was ready for some place different. It began with attending the University of the South, where he studied ecology and fell in love with camping and trail running amongst pristine old-growth deciduous forests. After graduating in 2016, he passed on that love of nature by teaching biology and environmental science at a boarding school in western Maryland. But as his summer trips to Bolivia, Patagonia, Tanzania, Japan, and Alaska compelled him to lead backpacking and canoeing trips at residential camps in Maine, he realized his passion for the outdoors came from experiencing it for oneself. Thus, he moved west to earn a Master degree in outdoor adventure and expedition leadership from Southern Oregon University, where he gained a foundational understanding of experiential education through research, planning, leading, and teaching in the field. In 2022, he found his way back to southern Appalachia, joining the Eagle’s Nest community as the Hante Adventures and Outdoor Program Manager. He is excited to facilitate new experiences for participants so that they can learn and grow from the challenges they encounter.
Lia graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in Computer Science. She has been a part of the Eagle’s Nest community since 2010, beginning as a camper. Since then, Lia has served as a Junior Counselor, an intern in the garden and kitchen, and a camp counselor for several years. Lia has also been a member of the Peer Leadership Team, functioning as the Assistant Program Manager and the Outdoor Logistics Coordinator. Working at Eagle’s Nest has given Lia a passion for helping children connect to the natural world and discover their own passions. Lia is excited to join the full-time Camp staff and create magic for children of all ages.
Isa is a Camp, Outdoor Academy, and Hante alum from Asheville, NC. She has previously worked in the camp kitchen and will now be heading up our kitchen full time as our Whole Foods Program Manager. As someone who grew up attending Eagle’s Nest programming and living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, she was super excited to be able to join the full time team. She has worked in kitchens previously and is excited to work with Eagle’s Nest and bring whole foods and local vendors into our menus. Outside of Eagle’s Nest you can find Isa hanging out with her cat, hiking, playing with computers, and eating lots of good food!
Foundation Staff supporting camp
Click on a Foundation staff member’s photo to learn more about each person.
Beth Venable is the Executive Director of the Eagle’s Nest Foundation. Though new to the organization, the ENF mission resonates deeply with both her professional goals and personal values. She believes strongly there are no better resources for children than those offering real connection and experiences, the natural world, and a chance to know and be known in community.
Though she did not know to call it experiential education in the early 90’s, being an “arts kid” in an outdoor oriented family had a profoundly positive impact on how Beth would orient herself in adulthood. This began with an undergraduate degree in Theater from Florida State University, and was followed by arts in education programming in the late 90s before expanding with addition of outdoor programming. Wanting to better understand child development and families, Beth found her way back to school to study adventure based psychotherapy at Prescott College where she earned an MS in Counseling with a specialization in couples and families.
Beth, her husband Drake, and their daughter Laurel have a strong sense of place on the trails and rivers of Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. As longtime residents of the “golden corner” of SC, they frequently made their way up the winding road to ride in Pisgah and Dupont, to paddle the Tuckaseegee and Nantalala Rivers, and sink deep into the rhythms and culture of local music festivals.
Alex is originally from Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand and immigrated to the North Carolina at a young age. He is an experienced photographer in western North Carolina with a background in creative media. Alex joined Eagle’s Nest Foundation in 2022 as the Marketing Coordinator. He is fluent in Thai, loves to play music, and spends lots of time with his family and friends. Alex works closely with The Outdoor Academy, Eagle’s Nest Camp, and Hante Adventures; photographing the authentic experiences of the day to day life of these programs.
Summer 2025 Staff
Eagle’s Nest counselors are passionate about bringing joy to our campers and filling their summer with meaningful fun! Our counselors are creative, skilled, thoughtful and caring. They enjoy the outdoors and have a love for working with children and youth. Most importantly, they are attentive to the physical and emotional needs of children and to keeping them healthy and well.
Eagle’s Nest takes pride in the quality of our camp staff. Eagle’s Nest has one staff member to every four campers, and all staff members must be at least 18 years old and have a year of college or equivalent experience. We maintain a careful selection process to hiring highly skilled and educated counselors and teachers. We carefully choose counselors who are creative, mature, engaging and fun-loving.