Will Close, B.A.

Outdoor Educator

Will joins Birches after serving five years as the outdoor education instructor just down the road at the Carroll School, where he specialized in teaching students with dyslexia and neurodivergent learning profiles. During his time there, he developed the school's Scandinavian woodworking program based on the educational tradition of Slöyd, while also leading all things nature-based—from forest games, wildlife tracking, and maple sugaring to rock climbing, backpacking, and wilderness first aid. Previously, he taught at White Pine Programs in Maine and the deCordova Museum, as well as adult education programs in nature journaling and biomimicry. Outside of the classroom, Will is a visual artist and naturalist who specializes in the intersection of nature, art, and design. He holds a degree in Fine Art Painting from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and studied wildlife track and sign under Dan Gardoqui and Daniel Hansche. His passion for nature illustration, tracking, and sharing it with others has taken him from the spruce forests of Maine to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Will can often be found canoeing the Concord and Sudbury Rivers, practicing traditional winter camping, carving wooden spoons, gardening, or tracking migrating warblers through New England's forests and wetlands.