About Us

About us

Our Mission

Our History & Head Frog

Our Staff - Meet our Mammals!

Chris Giorni
Founder, Executive Director

Nicknames: Mr. Science, Chris Tree Frog, Head Frog, Dirt

Personal History: Bachelor of Science, Zoology - U.C. Berkeley
Master’s Degree, Biology - San Francisco State University

Active in education since 1989, teaching science at the kindergarten through adult level. Has studied lizards in the Dominican Republic, coral reef fish off of Lizard Island in Australia, and amphibians and reptiles throughout California.

I founded Tree Frog Treks in 1999.

Native Habitat: San Francisco, CA.

Environment: Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach and Aquatic park beach

Captive Care Requirements: Lots of room to roam; full sun exposure; active at mid-day on weekends

Physical Characteristics: Curly salt and pepper hair, long arms and legs, and always running around talking to anyone in sight.

Diet: Pizza, Thai food, spaghetti and meatballs, burritos with hot salsa.

Trivia Facts: Likes to hide hotwheels in the sand box and go on archeological digs to excavate them; Other related populations can be found in parts of Northern Italy and Southern Ireland. Can be hybridized with a Colao-Vitolo.

Shelly Helstowski
Business Manager

Nicknames: Penguin

Personal History: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. I've been with Tree Frog Treks since February 2009.

Native Habitat: The suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Migrated to California in 2002.

Environment: The wilds of San Francisco

Captive Care Requirements: Pretty basic needs including sleep, food, shelter but also requires to be around music and on occasion a blank canvas with paint.

Physical Characteristics: 5' 8" tall when standing, 5' 9" when hair standing on ends, blue/green eyes that change with surroundings

Diet: Pizza, burritos, hamburgers and lots of fresh fruit and salads.

Trivia Facts: Can make a mean pierogi!!

Kelley Vauk
Education Director/Camp Director

Nicknames: Ms. Kelley Belly Frog

Personal History: I started working with kids over 18 years ago, and have been with TFT since Summer Camp 2004.

Native Habitat: Born and raised in Caldwell, Idaho

Environment: The wilds of San Francisco

Captive Care Requirements: 8-10 hours of sleep each night; daily dose of sun & fresh air; reading, hiking and gardening in my free time.

Physical Characteristics: Short legs, blue-green eyes, and a long neck.

Diet: Must have lots of spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese, cheesy poofs.

Trivia Facts: Watch out, kids! I can leap over tall hurdles with inifinite patience; I'll read your mind and then hyponotize you with my mind-blowing easy-going attitude.

Ross Beswick
Operations Director

Nicknames: Dark Lord

Personal History: "Bachelor of Arts, Graphic Design - Kingston Polytechnic (U.K.) I've been with Tree Frog Treks since 2004."

Native Habitat: Born in Plymouth Devon (U.K.), moved to San Francisco in 1991

Environment: The wilds of San Francisco

Captive Care Requirements: Pretty basic requirements - food, sleep, and English football on T.V.

Physical Characteristics: Typical San Francisco arrested adolescent appearance - black clothes, heavy metal jewelry.

Diet: Spaghetti, fish & chips, marmite, no veggies.

Trivia Facts: I was in a movie with Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland and Natasha Kinski, but it was pretty bad so I'm not gonna say what it was called.

Alan Parowski
Camp Director

Nicknames: Dr. Fronkensteen

Personal History: I have been working with kids for over 20 years running day camps and teen and after school programs. I also have two kids of my own.

Native Habitat: The world is my home. The world is my oyster. All the world is a stage. Therefore, my home = an oyster on a stage.

Environment: I care about it deeply.

Captive Care Requirements: Bananas, water, straw, and a litter box.

Physical Characteristics: I don't know. I'm always wearing a fake mustache and glasses and a mysterious black cape when I look in the mirror.

Diet: Five years and counting, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Trivia Fact: I went around the world for two years on $700. Summer Camp 2010 is going to be really really FUN!

Alan's Philosophy for Kids and Camp: 1) Fun trumps cold, rain, wet shoes, being on time, and remembering your backpack. 2) Trees are for climbing, hills are for rolling down, grass is for laying in, and the world is for exploring. 3) Our "big deals" to kids seem like "little deals" to them but what seems like a "little deal" to us can be a very very "big deal" to them. 4) Being fair is really important as is being heard. 5) Unstructed time is when genius happens. 6) Promises matter.

Erin Elizabeth Dal Ferro
Programs Coordinator

Nickname: E-Squared, E2

Personal History: B.A. in Fine Arts, Humboldt State University. Arrived at TFT in April 2008.

Native Habitat: Born and raised in Oakland, California.

Environment: Lives in the wild wild East (Bay).

Captive Care Requirements: Needs a good book close by, furry animal to pet, and the occasional nap in the sunshine. Can't survive long without trips to the ocean or redwood forests.

Physical Characteristics: 5'6" tall when standing upright. Brown hair, blue eyes, chipmunk cheeks.

Diet: Omnivorous. Prefers a diet of Italian food, ice cream, and assorted fresh fruits.

Trivia Facts: Third generation Bay Area native. Can fold a paper crane out of anything flat and square.

Natalie Colbentz
Warehouse Manager/ PFA Coordinator

Nicknames: The Wizard

Personal History: Bachelor of Fine Arts/Visual Arts, EMT/EMS Certified

Native Habitat: The Americas

Environment: Golden Gate Park, Presidio, the beach, the Panhandle, the Mission, and Clement

Captive Care Requirements: a compass, pocket knife, towel, lots of fruit, nuts, chocolate, the sun in the sky, a rugby ball, The Science Times, her thoughts and a good pair of shoes.

Physical Characteristics: 5'3" Latina, tiny but powerful, athletic build, a smile with seven dimples, brown eyes with a freckle, xo's, solar flares, sunshine and love.

Diet: must eat fresh produce

Trivia Fact:I play more musical instruments than I can carry.

Teaching Staff

Our experienced staff bring to our programs a broad range of education and experiences. All of our lead teachers have an undergraduate degree, most of them with degrees in one of the sciences. A number of our teachers have completed a graduate degree or are in graduate school at the moment. Our teachers have:

held teaching positions with Sacramento City College, College of Marin, Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Connolly Ranch, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, the National Forest Service, the California Academy of Sciences, and more.
received fellowships from the Headlands Institute, U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
received grants to bake bread with inner-city students, study bird-skulls at the American Museum of Natural History, and research global amphibian decline.
held research positions in the Farallon Islands, Yosemite National Park, Hawaii, Thailand - all over the world.

Our staff all share our priority of creating a safe environment. All teachers are trained in CPR and First Aid, TB tested and fingerprinted through Department of Justice.

Staff Photo

2008-2009 Staff (left to right)

Pictured (starting in back row): Jay Silverman, Shelly Helstowski, Ross Beswick, Chris Giorni, Brooke Rahn, Monica Sullivan, Arnold Posada, Julie Hanft, Natalie Colbentz, Kelley Vauk, Jacqueline Tay, Lindsay Dunn, Mara Lutsky, Jessica Schaffer, Harvey Rabbit, Casey Howard

Not Pictured: Anastasia Marin, Andrew Nimmer, Christina Yunker, Daniel Watson-Weller, Eli Koral, Erin Elizabeth Dal Ferro, Lauren MillerMeg Freitag, Micahel Feinberg, Rachel Freed, Roberta Chavez, Saramax Guttermann, Suiho Ryo, Svenja Drebes, Taji Allen, Tony Iwane, Zenaida Sengo

Next: Our Location »