“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”

— Mother Teresa

Our teachers

kevin smith

Kevin's not just a forager—he's a PhD archaeologist who spent years studying how California's Indigenous peoples lived off the coast for thousands of years, then decided to prove it all works by doing it himself. His YouTube channel Catch N' Cook California teaches everything from freedive spearfishing to mushroom identification to friction fire, all grounded in the "Old Ways" he's dedicated his life to preserving. With a near-death ocean experience that turned into a lifelong pact with the sea, Kevin brings equal parts academic rigor and hands-on grit to every adventure. He's the guy who can explain the anthropology of coastal foraging while filleting the fish you just caught together.

Catch N Cook California

taku kondo

Taku turned his professional sushi training and childhood fishing memories in Osaka into one of YouTube's most-watched outdoor cooking channels—750,000+ subscribers who can't get enough of watching him forage sea urchin, spearfish for dinner, and prepare restaurant-worthy meals on remote beaches. What started as weekend foraging trips while working at a high-end San Francisco omakase restaurant became his full-time life when his channel exploded. Now he travels the world (New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii, Thailand) showing people what's possible when you combine chef-level knife skills with sustainable coastal harvest. His newly published cookbook "Coastal Harvest" proves he's not just making YouTube content—he's documenting a way of life that connects people directly to their food source.

Outdoor Chef Life
Mendo Family Forage

Chris Watkins

Chris Watkins is the passionate founder of Mendo Family Forage. After relocating from the Bay Area a decade ago, Chris transformed his deep love for nature and foraging into a thriving venture that connects people with the healing power of the outdoors through customizable guided experiences—from wild mushroom and edible plant forays to waterfall hikes, tide pooling expeditions, swimming hole adventures, and peaceful forest bathing sessions. With a mission to help guests "shed their everyday worries in beauty found nowhere else," Chris creates welcoming, family-friendly environments where nature becomes a pathway to regeneration and calm. Whether guiding solo adventurers or entire families through the redwood forests and coastal landscapes he calls home, Chris brings infectious enthusiasm and deep knowledge to every foray, embodying his belief that "assisting in the freedom and liberation of humanity through nature" is what it's all about.

shane powers

Shane runs a welcoming cyanotype studio in Fort Bragg on California's stunning Mendocino Coast, where he loves sharing the magic of this historic photographic process through open studio "Drop-In Print" sessions, hands-on workshops, and custom printing services for both tourists and locals. His passion for teaching and creating alongside others has been a through-line in his career—from building an award-winning photojournalism program for 80 high school students in Boise (featured in Photo District News Magazine) to teaching at San Francisco's legendary Harvey Milk Photo Center and guest lecturing at India's premier Light & Life Academy. With an MFA from Academy of Art University and decades of experience in both traditional and alternative photographic processes, including his celebrated "Swimming With Ghosts" cyanotype series, Shane brings deep expertise and infectious enthusiasm to every collaboration. His work has been exhibited nationwide and selected by renowned photographers like Mary Ellen Mark, but what truly drives him is the joy of guiding others in discovering the beauty and possibility of hands-on printmaking in his Fort Bragg studio.

Cyan Art Studio