​Vivian Valentin, Phd

Camp Co-Director

My wild adventure into the layers of biology took me from molecules through neurons to brain networks. This led me to become a computational cognitive neuroscientist, building neural network models of behavior that combine dynamics from biochemical pathways, single neuron firing, and whole-brain activity. In addition to my science endeavors, I practiced mindfulness and yoga for 25 years, and became a mindfulness facilitator and yoga instructor, specializing in teaching for pregnancy, family, and children. Weaving of these two worlds, it was natural for me to begin researching about the impact of mindfulness on the brain as a staff scientist at UCSB. My passions has led me to teach mindfulness in schools where I continue to witness the developing brains of children blossom into their full potential with mindfulness practice. In addition to teaching, I co-developed and co-manage a school wide (K-8) mindfulness initiative called Kind Mind.

Anne-Marie Charest, Phd

Camp Co-Director

My name is Sanna, which means the Eskimo tradition, the goddess of the sea, and she is the one who lives deep at the bottom of our deepest oceans. This said, most students know me as Mrs. Mermaid. Over the last 10 years, my passion as a therapist, educator, and environmentalist has led me to teach mindfulness in schools using a nature-based curriculums I developed called innerU. These nature-based mindfulness programs were developed with educational, social and emotional, physical, psychological, and ecological considerations. As a doctor in Transpersonal Psychology and a Marriage & Family Therapist specialized in Somatic Psychology, my passion for the lived expression of wellbeing and nature-centric practices, have led me to solicit the reintroduction and revival of ancient contemplative practices in Western culture. Today, I continue to express these passions in collaboration with Kind Mind and their commitment to teach mindfulness in schools.