Dennis Welsh Photography

Aaron Frederick, Executive Director, Co-Founder
Aaron Frederick, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Rippleffect, Inc, was raised in South Portland and graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a B.F.A. in Sculpture. He is fluent in Spanish and is an avid student of progressive theories in physics, evolution, art, and music. He has focused on unifying his diverse experiences under the Rippleffect umbrella and received the 2002 Gulf of Maine Visionary Award from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment.

Aaron has led adventure and environmental education expeditions from the Eastern U.S. Mountains to the heights of the Rockies and from the California Pacific to the jungles of Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Peru. In He is devoted to blending his humanitarian interests in education, art, music, and theatre with the subtle language and dynamics of the natural world.

Sasha Johnson, Special Events Czarina
Sasha Johnson came to Rippleffect in 2003 after studying printmaking and photography at Maine College of Art . Sasha's creative community partnerships leading up to her involvement with Rippleffect have been plentiful. She has worked with area youth from organizations and schools including: A Company of Girls, King Middle School, Cathedral School, and The Edge Program in Washington County. Sasha now coordinators our development efforts and is our resident Special Events Czarina.

When she isn't dreaming of new ways to generate opportunities for Maine youth to explore the coast, you can find her in the mountains climbing exposed faces, searching for fresh powder, seeking storm swell to ride, shooting black and white film, practicing French and Spanish as she explores the roads not traveled aboard or simply cuddle up with Guinness (the beloved Boston Terrier) indulging in a cup of dark roast and a great book.

Michael Lyle, Program Director
Michael Lyle has been working in the field of Adventure Education for over 25 years. The majority of that time was spent as the Lead Trainer for the nationally acclaimed Outdoor Leadership Program (OLP) at Greenfield Community College. The OLP is a 9 month intensive leadership training program. The accreditation committee of the Association for Experiential Education cited it as a program of distinction and noted the outstanding commitment among its staff members.

Michael is unusually versatile across both water-based and land-based programs with major climbing and paddling expeditions to Denali and the Brooks Range in Alaska, the Canadian Rockies, the Northwest Territories, the coast of Labrador, the Himalayas of Nepal and ascents of El Cap / Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. As the owner of Vertical Adventures, he custom built challenge courses and provided leadership educational trainings for institution through out North America. His work has lead to the development of over 30 experience-based programs. Michael latest passion is off shore sailing aboard his sloop Rhapsody, and in the summer of 2003 sailed across the North Atlantic in 24 days.

Kayli Lee, Communications Director
Kayli Lee joined Rippleffect in June of 2007 in the role of Conservation Corp Director. Prior to that Kayli was the co-owner of Pleasant Lake Farm in Harwich Massachusetts, a certified organic 12 acre farm, where she grew and sold vegetables for her farmstand, community farmers' markets and restaurants. She has been involved in experiential learning for the last 14 years, the last 10 years in planning, supporting and implementing Corporate Leadership Trainings worldwide.

Kayli decided to move to Maine in 2006 and she hasn't looked back – she loves the Portland area in all its seasons and is enjoying the many like-minded people and varied activities offered by being close to the mountains and the sea. A lover of water, she has spent her life enjoying the ocean from Labrador Canada to the Bahamas – sailing, kayaking, swimming and anything else she can find to do. Most recently she went to Costa Rica to learn to surf in Pavones. While world travel remains important to her, settling down in Maine with a good book adds a perfect balance to her busy life. One day she hopes to be a published author, for now, she is content with practicing yoga, writing, learning to play the piano and daydreaming.

Chris Mills, Lead Guide
Chris Mills, a program coordinator with Rippleffect was raised in the Midwest and has settled in Freeport, ME with his family. He graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio with a BA in English and a concentration in Biology. Chris has used his dual interests in Biology and English to teach and to pursue his interests as an amateur naturalist. He has most recently taught in the SAD 61 School District at the Learning Center, an adult education, dropout recovery program were he taught classes in History, English, Physics, Computer Applications and Geography. Prior teaching experience includes middle school Special Education at Westcott Jr. High in Westbrook, ME, as well as environmental education at Stone Environmental Schools NE, in East Madison, NH.

Chris has also served as the national coordinator and assistant director of education for the American Sportfishing Association were he taught and developed curriculum for the "hooked on fishing not on drugs" program. An enthusiastic participant in outdoor sports, Chris is a Registered Maine Guide in both Recreation and Sea Kayak classifications and is certified in Wilderness First Aid.

Emilia Dahlin, Duchess of Discovery for Fort Lyon
Six years ago, Emilia was present for the very first Cow Island clean up and battled the bittersweet jungle with machete in hand. She had just moved to Maine from MA to attend a graduate program in documentary photography at the Salt Institute. Since then she's served Rippleffect in just about every capacity: facilitator, cook, program developer, sherpa, and supporter. This year she was brought aboard to create and market seven theme weekends for Ripple's brand new programming chapter for adults; Fort Lyon.

Emilia balances her work at Ripple with a full-time music career and national touring schedule and has been voted Best Female Vocalist in Portland for the past three years, as well as garnering several national songwriting awards. After all the venues she's played throught the country, the Cow Island fire pit is still one of her favorites. Listen at emiliadahlin.com.

When not on Cow or the road, Emilia spends her time in her organic garden communing with worms, cooking up tasty meals, swimming, scaling granite walls, running along the shore, and learning to sail.

Marin Magat, Countess of Connections

Marin is the most recent addition to the Rippleffect team and is assisting with their development efforts by helping to build the structures and relationships that sustain the organization. She has worked with young people in wilderness programs, on tall ships, and in afterschool initiatives from coast-to-coast. In 2002, the last time she lived in Maine, she directed Teen Adventure, a program of Portland's Youth and Family Outreach.

Back in her home state of North Carolina, Marin went to graduate school to develop the skills to contribute to the management and sustainability of youth organizations. She has a Master of Public Policy and Certificates in Nonprofit Management and International Development. Marin's most recent work has been researching child labor and juvenile justice for UNICEF India and writing strategic and business plans as a nonprofit consultant.

Marin ocean swims year-round, skis to work when she can, and loves to be in proximity to bakeries. She and her husband, Ian, met at Bates College and, after many adventures, moved back to Maine in the Fall of 2007. She serves on the board of Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence (MCAHV) and teaches swim lessons at the 'Y.' Marin is thrilled to be aboard Rippleffect and enjoying 'the way life should be.'

Leah McDonald, Community Program Coordinator
Leah McDonald came to Rippleffect in 2006 as a lead guide for our social service programming. Her new role with the organization is as coordinator for our social service, grant funded and YLS programs. A Registered Maine Guide since 2003, she has committed her wilderness guiding work to underprivileged and "at-risk" adolescents. Before coming to Rippleffect, she worked with island youth as an Island Institute fellow on Chebeague Island and as a therapeutic guide at the adolescent wilderness therapy program Summit Achievement.

Born and raised in West Virginia, Leah's roots lie in the mountains and woods. She moved to Maine in 1998 to attend Bates College, and though she occasionally longs for the mountains of Appalachia, has since made this state her home. Leah has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Bates and a Masters of Social Work from the University of New England. She is committed to maintaining a symbiosis of community education, social justice and environmental responsibility through her work. Leah lives in an old farmhouse in New Gloucester with her husband, Ben, and chocolate lab, Cyrus. When not at Rippleffect, she can be found listening to NPR, on a long run, playing in the mountains, reading excellent writing or cooking.

Jorge Gonzales,Internship Maestro
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Guiness, El Heffe
Guiness, a Boston Terrier, came to Rippleffect four years ago. He manages the comings and goings of people and the other office dogs. He can go from 0 to 60 in 2.6 seconds and he loves to run and play (expecially on Cow).

He preferrs to have his rear scratched, rather than his ears, and you will absolutely make his day if you give him a carrot - his favorite!

On any given day, Guiness can be found surfing at Higgin's Beach, supervising climbs at Cathedral Ledge, or hiding under a comforter.

Scooter, Salutations Specialist (a.k.a "Scooty-Dooty")
Scooter has been with Rippleffect for the past five years and loves to welcome visitors to the office. Winter is his favorite time of year and he's widely recognized as the King of Snowball-Catching on East Cove St.

Don't be fooled by all the grey, he's young at heart and actively runs, hikes, climbs, swims, and practices yoga. Scooter's favorite food is oranges and he's almost 10 years old. If someone's playing an accordion or harmonica nearby, Scooty will throw back his head and sing along gleefully.

Shhhhh… don't tell Scooter that he's not actually a human.