Staff

During his time away from PIC, Alex worked at Camp Uncommon, a Change Summer organization that specializes in expanding camp access to children from under-resourced communities. Over seven summers, he was an Outdoor Adventure counselor, a Head Counselor, an Assistant Director, and a Director Fellow. Alex was also an educator for nearly ten years, teaching the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades in Baltimore and Boston before transitioning to instructional leadership and teacher coaching in Freeport, Maine.

Alex studied at Dickinson College, earning B.A. degrees in Political Science and French and serving as the president of the men’s a cappella group, The Octals (a skill that translates nicely to PIC campfires). He also has an M.S. in Education from Johns Hopkins University. Alex currently resides in Portland, Maine during the off-season with his wife, Emily, their dog, Scout, and their cat, Bean.

Ben’s family’s involvement with Pine Island Camp dates to 1908, when his grandfather purchased the fledgling institution, and he was the third generation of his family to serve as Pine Island’s director. Ben has a B.A. in English from Washington & Lee University and an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia. He was a teacher at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia for several years before returning to Maine to work for Pine Island.

Prior to accepting the Facility Manager position at Pine Island Camp, Peter managed large, production fish hatcheries in Maine, New Mexico and bush Alaska. It was in New Mexico that Peter also operated a public drinking water system for the local ranching community which had its source from springs behind the Los Ojos Hatchery. In between these aquaculture experiences Peter became an accomplished furniture maker after working for Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers in Auburn, Maine. Peter is passionate when it comes to designing and building chairs and stools. Some of his designs have been juried into Taunton Press Fine Woodworking publications.

In July of 2017, Peter and Liz returned home to their property in New Sharon after he had managed a pink salmon hatchery in a small native Alaskan village located on the Western tip of the Kenai Peninsula. They lived in a tent on their land for three weeks while they built a small 14 by 20 off-grid cabin. Since then two more tiny houses have sprung up on the “homestead” and they are presently working on completing the main house, which was started in 2021.

When there is talk of the first snowstorm of the season, cars are parked at the top of the driveway and a “self-imposed bush life” begins. Items are walked in and out by sled down the quarter of a mile driveway and most meals are cooked on a small woodstove. As the snow piles up the cabin stays cozy and warm…..a true Pine Island experience!

Following his graduation from St. Lawrence and inspiration from Sumner, Sam spent his first summer at Pine Island in 2016. He returned in 2018 as the assistant director of Pine Island’s program at Whitehead Island. There he worked alongside 22-year veteran director Anne Stires, learning the details of the Whitehead program and skills of an outdoor educator. The winds and water of the Maine coast pulled Sam back to Whitehead in 2021, where he worked directly with Anne as the co-director of the program. That summer marked the transfer of decades of Whitehead knowledge and directorship from Anne to Sam.

During the rest of the year, Sam works as a place-based educator in Richmond, Vermont, where he spreads PIC values by imparting students with the importance of independence coupled with a concern for others, honesty, generosity, a sense of humor, and the ability to find all the joy life has to offer. His free time is spent recreating and traveling among the mountains, rivers, and lakes of the Northeast.