Ant’s childhood in the Scottish Borders meant hills, castles, and rugby. After university he travelled the world working as a chef, notably New Zealand, where there are less castles but plenty of hills and rugby! Here he was lucky enough to be involved in conservation and the release of a kiwi into the wild. His favourite animal encounter happened in Australia, where he swam with the biggest fish in the world- a whale shark. Now back in Scotland he splits his time between Earth Calling and studying an MSc in Environmental Sustainability.

Gabi spent her childhood immersed in the ancient landscapes of Southern Appalachia in the mountains of North Carolina, USA. She grew up paddling and swimming in the rivers, climbing the hills, and sleeping outside amongst richly diverse flora and fauna that surrounded her home. Gabi began her career in outdoor education as a wilderness instructor at a summer camp near her hometown. From there, she’s worked in a myriad of roles, including as a lead instructor on international expeditions and as a member of faculty at an outdoor based boarding school. Her education reflects her passion for the outdoors, having received her BA in Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education from Brevard College in North Carolina, as well as completing her MSc in Outdoor Education from University of Edinburgh in 2022. One of Gabi’s greatest joys is facilitating meaningful experiences for young people in the outdoors, made even better when the sun is shining.

Growing up Lara attended many outdoor camps allowing her to fall in love with the wilderness and enjoy outdoor activities like camping, surfing and hillwalking. She studied marine biology at the University of Glasgow and had the opportunity to dive into many underwater adventures in the tropical reefs of Thailand and Egypt as well as work with wildlife closer to home along the shores of Loch Lomond and the Isle of Cumbrae. One of her favourite activities is rock-pooling and she cannot wait to pass on all her fun facts about the sea creatures to the kids!

Growing up right beside Holyrood park, Juniper has always loved going on little adventures in the outdoors. Their favourite thing is looking for bones, beasties and birds and taking photos of cool looking mushrooms. They have a deep passion for scotland's local wildlife and love sharing that passion with the earth calling clubs. Their no.1 wildlife moment was seeing a peregrine falcon having a little rest on a post about two feet away from the bird hide.

Bethany has loved adventures in the outdoors since she was small. Growing up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides means that she is never deterred from being outside by any weather, especially the rain and wind (Lewis is the windiest place in the UK!) When she lived there she greatly enjoyed rambles in the Castle woods, making friends with the local sheep and days exploring the many beautiful beaches the island has to offer. Since moving to Edinburgh she has explored many of the green spaces nearby and loves the new adventures they bring. Through DofE and Guide camps, she has developed a love of outdoor fire cooking and has become a (self proclaimed) master s’mores maker. Through her work for Earth Calling, she loves helping the kids work on their bushcraft skills and form their own love for adventures in the wild. Her favourite types of clubs involve visits to the local rivers (especially ones with a chance to have a splash in them).

Born in Edinburgh, Christy loves a local adventure. She especially enjoys that Edinburgh is built on seven hills and that each has its own unique view. She knows at the heart of environmental communities there ought to be children that grew up immersed in nature. That’s why she is always keen to impart some of her enthusiasm for the outdoors to the next generation. She currently enjoys engaging the groups in conversations and discussing new topics during woodland walks and activities.     Christy has lots of outdoor hobbies like climbing rocks and whizzing down hills on a bike to name a few. She is vegan and has a deep appreciation for learning about nature and food.       In 2022 she taught outdoor living, high ropes and climbing in Maine, U.S.A for 2 months. This year she’s looking forward to the adventures at EarthCallings summer clubs

Ailsa has been involved with Earth Calling for 14 years and loves every minute of it. She especially likes finding bugs, bones and beasties in the woods. Her favourite part of the job is watching arachnophobes handle a spider for the first time and realise how cool they are!