Brinkley Hutchings
Founder, Director, Program Facilitator
Brinkley spent most of her childhood exploring and playing on the beach along Mobile Bay. One of her favorite things to do was make bowls out of the natural clay found on the bluffs. Brinkley is inspired by children's sense of wonder, curiosity, and play, and she loves to share her enthusiasm for the natural world. Brinkley graduated from UNC Wilmington with a degree in Environmental Science. She has worked and studied extensively at multiple outdoor schools across the country and is so grateful to establish Nature Connect in her hometown. Brinkley is the director for both our Alabama and North Carolina chapters. She is also a certified coach and consultant for other nature schools.
Andrea Herring
Homeschool Teacher
Andrea finds beauty, peace, and joy in the outdoors and experiences its positive effects on her and her children. She grew up spending her summers on a lake in NY enjoying water sports and nature. She has been fortunate to live in several different coastal communities in her travels as a military spouse. Each community has unique experiences from the sugary sands of the Gulf Coast to the overwhelming mountains and sights of whales breaching in Alaska. Whenever possible, she tries to visit national and state parks to pass along the experience of adventure and outdoors to her 3 daughters. Andrea’s curiosity and fondness of science led her to get a BS in Biology. Working with children is both a rewarding and continuous learning opportunity for her. She has volunteered in her children’s classes, assisted and enriched her children’s virtual school experience and worked as a preschool aide and teacher. She is excited to be a part of the Nature Connect team to inspire the leaders and explorers of tomorrow!
Ashley Griffin
Preschool Teacher
Ashley grew up going camping almost every weekend with her family. This built a strong connection with nature early on in her life. Growing up, she always knew she wanted to work somewhere that would give her the freedom to explore the outdoors. Ashley obtained a B.S. in Biology, and it wasn’t until her last semester of college when she realized she wanted to go into environmental conservation work. She took an entry-level position in conservation, and while working there, she learned that the first step in conservation is education. That’s when Ashley found Nature Connect! She knew that an organization that values teaching young children about the importance of our environment was the right choice for her. Ashley enjoys sharing her knowledge of and passion for nature with the curious children at Nature Connect. Her favorite part about working with children is watching them question everything. Ashley is looking forward to exploring, discovering, questioning, and learning with all the children that join Nature Connect.
Amy Smith
Homeschool Teacher
Amy grew up on a series of parks near Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans and spent her childhood playing outside with her four siblings and neighborhood friends. She remembers that when the grass was freshly mowed, they built farms with the “hay”; when storms blew down palm branches, they constructed huts with the limbs; when heavy rain flowed, they splashed in makeshift swamps. Then and now Amy loves being outside, whether it's running, biking, boating, hiking, or just watching her three children play in the yard. Until a few years ago, Amy and her husband were raising their children on these same parks when they received an opportunity to move to Germany. Filled with excitement for this new adventure, they set out at a rapid pace to explore as much as they could. After the first six months, they had visited six different countries! While life in Europe was exciting, they hoped to eventually settle in Fairhope to enjoy everything that the Gulf Coast offers. They received the opportunity in January, 2019, and have enjoyed getting to know this beautiful area of gullies, creeks, rivers, and bay.
Amy has a B.A. in communications/journalism and an M.F.A. in creative writing. Throughout her career, she has written for a variety of publications, including Mobile Bay Monthly. She also worked for eight years as a public relations coordinator and volunteered as a Girl Scout leader for four years. Now settled in Fairhope, Amy is excited to be a part of the Nature Connect team. Her three children have all come home happy, dirty, and full of excitement after their days in Nature Connect programs!
Brittany Hultquist
Associate Director
Brittany grew up adventuring all along the Gulf Coast. One of her most treasured childhood memories is spending time at her grandparent's house on Tensaw Island catching fish and swimming in the river. She briefly left the Gulf Coast to continue pursuing her degree in Commercial Art and Computer Graphics in Birmingham, Alabama. It was there that she met her husband and started a family. Brittany now finds joy in her two children's sense of wonder for the outdoors in the same home she did on the river with her grandparents. If she is not helping her kids catch frogs in the backyard, she is photographing other families outdoors or enjoying a good book in her free time. She has worked in customer service for over ten years and specializes in organizational development and client management. Brittany is incredibly grateful to work alongside the team at Nature Connect!
Jennifer Clark-Grainger
Preschool Teacher
Jennifer spent every afternoon in the creeks, forests and mountains of South Carolina as a young child, only willing to come in after dark. At 10, she moved to Louisiana, where she was instantly smitten by the Spanish Moss and various swamps. She moved to Alabama in 2005, where she fell in love with kayaking, exploring and learning about the vast number of local waterways. This curiosity motivated her to leave her job in marketing and go back to school for Archaeology. She now has a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Fine Arts from the University of South Alabama, where she worked with children for over 5 years in the USA Archaeology Museum. This is where she found her passion for education, programming and working with children. When her child started at Nature Connect, she knew she wanted to be a part of it. On the weekends, she can be found traveling, camping, attending ArtWalks, photographing, singing in a band or exploring with her friends, husband and daughter.
Maria Sullivan
Preschool Teacher
Maria grew up on a horse farm in North Georgia. She spent most of her childhood camping, hiking, and riding horses. Some of her most memorable childhood moments were spent barefoot in a creek catching crawfish. Maria fell in love with teaching children in high school while volunteering for the Autism Speaks Program. After obtaining her B.B.A in marketing from the University of North Georgia, she began a career in marketing and advertising. Five years into this career path, she realized her true passion was playing outdoors and teaching children. Maria feels inspired every day by the unique sense of wonder and creativity awakened in children while exploring outdoors. Being a part of the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee has significantly impacted her view of the natural world. She believes that teaching children about their environment is not only necessary for conservation but also for child development.
Meet Our Staff
Anna Maglov
Assistant Kindergarten Teacher
Anna grew up in northern Maryland, watching the calm stream waters flow along the rocks on a hot day. Anna went to school for Environmental Science and Early Childhood Development. She has taught in the classroom and also worked in an estuary center as a lab researcher. Anna believes that helping children to experience nature is the best way to create a lifelong appreciation
and desire to care for the environment. Anna is excited about making a difference by supporting the kindergarteners to learn and explore!
Meg Murphy
Lead Kindergarten Teacher
Meg was born and raised in Arizona, where she grew up riding horses. After attending the College of Charleston, she realized how much she loved living near the water and moved to San Diego, CA. Meg then earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Education and taught for 12 years. In 2021, she moved from Arizona to Alabama with her husband and three children. They love being near the water and are enjoying the beautiful landscape here. Meg is passionate about finding new ways to educate children outside the traditional brick-and-mortar model. She believes children should be given a chance to explore and express their unique creativity.
Samantha Frey
Preschool Teacher
Samantha grew up in south Florida, where she spent every moment she could exploring the swamps, forests, and beaches near her home. When she was eleven years old, her family bought a house on Lake Logan Martin in Pell City, Alabama. Samantha enjoyed spending all her time on the water - boating, fishing, swimming, and kayaking. She helped homeschool her younger siblings, which led her to become a preschool teacher. She is very excited about her new adventure teaching at Nature Connect. Samantha loves to garden and raise chickens.
Susan Desmond
Preschool Teacher
Susan was born on the Texas coast and raised across the southeast, living in the mountains of North and Central Alabama for most of her youth and adult life. She attended the University of Montevallo outside of Birmingham and received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology and English. After the birth of her two boys and a career change, she earned a Montessori Teaching Credential, spending 13 years as a Montessori guide in Alabama’s first private, LEED rated PreK-8 Green School in North Shelby County. As a child, family camping trips were the way to explore the world, and after having children of her own, hiking the areas around Birmingham with her husband and two boys became a great way to get back to nature. Moving to Fairhope has opened up a whole world of new exploration into the biodiversity that is on the Gulf Coast, and she is excited to explore and learn about her new home. She strongly believes in environmental stewardship and is committed to helping the next generation learn how to care for our planet. She firmly believes in Dr. Maria Montessori's words-“A child needs to live naturally and not simply have a knowledge of nature.”
Sarah Bogdanovich, LICSW
Staff Development & Team Building Facilitator
Sarah was raised on the shores of Mobile Bay, where she learned to throw a cast net and catch bluegill on white bread. After spending two decades away from the area as a military spouse, Sarah is happy to share the wonders of south Alabama with her family and yours. Sarah enjoys leading camps, field trips, and workshops that inspire participants to engage more fully in their environment. She is a licensed clinical social worker, focused on helping families build stronger relationships with each other and the natural world.