Our Story
Water Wanderings was founded in 2017 by Sonya Buglion-Gluck. Inspired by participating in Kroka Expedition's Ecuador Semester, serving as an Assistant Instructor for the Ala Archa Ecological Leadership Project in Kyrgyzstan, and taking her neighbor's daughters camping at Green River Reservoir, she decided to start Water Wanderings as a way to share her love for the outdoors and environmental justice. With her mother, Gerette Buglion, as a co-instructor, Sonya lead the first session in the summer of 2017. Four incredible young women participated and set the stage for the continuation and expansion of the program in the following summers.
In 2020, Water Wanderings became a non-profit and an inspiring group of individuals generously volunteered to serve as the inaugural Board of Directors. The board met for the first time on June 6th, 2020 and established communication and decision-making guidelines, adopted the bylaws, and refined Water Wanderings’ mission and vision to better align with our aspirations and grounding philosophies. Since then, Water Wanderings has continued to grow and mature, bringing more campers on memorable adventures, hiring new counselors, and bringing on new board members.
Water Wanderings is dedicated to the long, hard work of building anti-racist, regenerative communities through our camps and within our organization. We will continue to deepen our environmental justice curriculum, strengthen our outreach, and work towards building coalitions with other organizations to ensure that Water Wanderings serves racially and socioeconomically diverse communities. We do not have all the answers, but we do know that we must take an active stance against racism in our curriculum and operations and we are committed to sustaining this aspect of our program over the long-haul.
In 2020, Water Wanderings became a non-profit and an inspiring group of individuals generously volunteered to serve as the inaugural Board of Directors. The board met for the first time on June 6th, 2020 and established communication and decision-making guidelines, adopted the bylaws, and refined Water Wanderings’ mission and vision to better align with our aspirations and grounding philosophies. Since then, Water Wanderings has continued to grow and mature, bringing more campers on memorable adventures, hiring new counselors, and bringing on new board members.
Water Wanderings is dedicated to the long, hard work of building anti-racist, regenerative communities through our camps and within our organization. We will continue to deepen our environmental justice curriculum, strengthen our outreach, and work towards building coalitions with other organizations to ensure that Water Wanderings serves racially and socioeconomically diverse communities. We do not have all the answers, but we do know that we must take an active stance against racism in our curriculum and operations and we are committed to sustaining this aspect of our program over the long-haul.
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Meet the Staff
Sonya's love for paddling on the reservoir begins circa 1998
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Sonya Buglion-Gluck
Founder and Executive Director Sonya (she/her) is a Restorative Practices Specialist at Burlington High School. Sonya graduated from the University of Vermont in 2018. Her undergraduate career focused on environmental education and the intersection of racial and environmental justice. Sonya also participated in Kroka Expedition's Ecuador Semester and helped to create the Ala Archa Ecological Leadership Program in Kyrgyzstan with Nathan Fry. She founded Water Wanderings in 2017.
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Sabina Hansen
2022 Food Manager and Family Camp Counselor Sabina works as a dietitian at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury and comes with a wealth of wilderness knowledge. She has lead multiple 30 day wilderness canoe trips on rivers in northern Maine, such as the Allagash and the St. Croix. Recently, she has worked with River of Life Camp in Irasburg as the Horse Camp Director. Her passion is sharing her knowledge to others and helping empower them in achieving resilience and true grit. She lives in Lowell and enjoys her time off hiking with her dogs, riding her ponies and tending to her small farm. She teaches sustainability, conservation, nutrition and respect to all living creatures and plants. Sabina will be our “pack out” manager and will plan nourishing, well balanced home made meals to be cooked over the fire pit each day. No freeze dried packaged foods here!
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Kwang-Rei Baek
2020 and 2021 Camp Counselor Rei (they/them) was a member of the US Olympic Luge team in high school and later worked as a Certified Nurse’s Assistant at the Rudolf Steiner Fellowship Community in New York State. Rei’s experiences with Kroka, Wildearth, and Red Fox Friends as a child have inspired them to study Outdoor Education at Sterling College in Craftsbury, VT. They are two semesters away from completing their degree where they will focus on environmental and social change that cultivates inclusion and diversity. Rei strives to create learning environments where youth from all backgrounds and identities can feel safe, respected, and empowered; where we can embrace and love the diversity that gives us strength. Rei's thoughtful and creative leadership were an essential component of the 2020 and 2021 camp seasons.
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Erica Oliver
2021 Camp Counselor Erica works as a Special Education Classroom Assistant in Chicago, IL. She graduated from Warren Wilson college in 2016 with a degree in Outdoor Leadership. She has also worked as a camp counselor at Alford Lake Camp leading backpacking and canoeing trips and worked at Kroka Expeditions leading school trips as well as assistant teaching Kroka’s winter semester in 2017. Erica will be joining Water Wanderings for her first summer in 2021.
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Precious Jagun
2021 Camp Counselor Precious, who hails from Nigeria and has lived in Vermont for the last seven years, is a Mechanical Engineer by trade and training (both undergrad and graduate) who loves kids and the outdoors and spent much of his childhood canoeing with his family. His joy, enthusiasm and maturity were a wonderful addition to 2021 camps.
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Meet the Advisory Council
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Gerette Buglion
Gerette is a cult awareness educator, Reiki practitioner and writer who has many years of experience working with students and leading hiking trips. She worked as a Waldorf teacher for many years, and lead Vermont Hiking Holidays, in addition to Sense of Place, Sense of Self, and environmental education program. Gerette served as a Water Wanderings instructor for the first three summers and is now on the Advisory Council for the Board.
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Lindsey Carlson
Lindsey graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology where she researched spatial and temporal distribution of cyanophage in Lake George. During her undergraduate career she was able to circumnavigate the world by ship, stopping in 15 different countries along the way. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Vermont. Her research focuses on the impacts of forest succession and habitat heterogeneity on stream microbial biodiversity and function. In addition to her research, she is the aquatic field assistant for the Lake Champlain Committee. Lindsey is an avid hiker, snowboarder, and camper.
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Meet the Board of Directors
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Nadèje Alexandre
Nadèje Alexandre is Assistant Dean for Student Success at the University of North Dakota. Her professional discipline focuses on student development, emotional intelligence and communication. She obtained her Masters and Doctorate at Seattle University in Higher Ed Administration and Advising, while overseeing advising in the Albers School of Business and Economics. She relocated to the University of Vermont where she was Senior Advisor and Experiential Learning Coordinator at the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources. She enjoys creating programs to support student success and is passionate about empowering students through intuitive guidance and empathy. She has a deep awareness and appreciation of cross-cultural understanding with a history of promoting diverse and inclusive communities. She claims that mindful meditation and Bikram yoga keep her grounded. Outside of professional interests, she is a dedicated swimmer, outdoors-woman, artist, pianist, and avid cyclist. And is currently learning to play the cello.
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Luke Buglion-Gluck
Luke believes Water Wanderings provides a valuable opportunity for kids to experience living in a different way, without costing thousands of dollars. Because of this, Luke joined the board to support the camp’s mission by providing administrative assistance. He also grew up on the reservoir and believes spending time in nature is important for everybody. His background is in business.
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Adam Stewart
As a young scholar from the University at Albany and receiving his Bachelor's in Environmental science, Adam mentors urban youth and uses the power of nature to transform them into environmental stewards. Adam has focused his efforts on giving back to his community and creating many opportunities for youth to expand their knowledge by using educational adventures or service learning projects. Adam works with various organizations and boards for example: JOHN BROWN LIVES, ADI, the YENN and the DEC to bring education to urban neighborhoods. Adam loves all things outdoors: Fishing, hiking, kayaking, camping and bird watching, just to name a few. He is currently living in Albany, NY and will soon be moving to Syracuse to receive his SPED degree through NYU. When Adam isn't outside playing, he’s teaching science and math at the Doane Stuart School in Rensselaer, NY.
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Ingrid Nuse
Ingrid’s love of languages and other cultures spurred her wanderlust from a young age. She spent a high school year in Norway to learn the language, found her social circle in her college outing club, worked her way to Europe on an edible oil tanker, and milked goats on a Norwegian island before pursuing her master’s in teaching English to students of other languages. Teaching at an American school in Switzerland included taking kids on weekend trips into the mountains, on safari to Kenya, and by houseboat along the canals in southern France, but eventually returned to Vermont. Public school teaching led Ingrid to Waldorf education and administrative roles in various settings, including Heartbeet Lifesharing Camphill Community. For the last five years, she has happily come full circle back to her languages as a freelance translator and copy editor specializing in Norwegian, German and English. Ingrid is an avid cross-country skier, hunter, hiker and canoeist and lives in Johnson, Vermont, where she is often found playing outdoors with her grandchildren.
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Heidi Wilson
Secretary Heidi Wilson is a singer-song-catcher with a passion for strengthening connection with one another and Mystery through music. Heidi loves to share songs that celebrate the seasons, bring groups together, offer thanks, muster courage, and make room for grieving and healing. She is drawn to the potent and surprising journey of deep-listening and collaborative emergent music making. Heidi has been leading community singing groups in Vermont for the last 14 years including work with the Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture, Village Harmony, Burlington Integrated Arts Academy, Unitarian Church of Montpelier, Interfaith Partners of St Johnsbury, and Sterling College. Some of Heidi’s recent musical influences and trainings include Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs, Rhiannon’s Vocal River work, and Ysaye Barnwell’s Building A Vocal Community.
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Marie Vea
Marie's brother, Michael, often jokes that Marie never left college. Indeed, Marie has worked in higher education for 25 years in the areas of admissions, career counseling, advising, and diversity & inclusion. Marie is currently the Assistant Dean for Student Services and Staff Development in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont, overseeing the processes and initiatives that ensure each student thrives. Marie is a proud Filipina mom celebrating over 20 years of living in the Green Mountain State with a passion for inclusive education, multiple ways of knowing, dialogue across difference, joy, cross-country skiing and the family cat, Taco.
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