JOIN US ↠ ACCESSIBLE OUTDOORS ↞ 13 DEC 2025
JOIN US ↠ ACCESSIBLE OUTDOORS ↞ 13 DEC 2025
Small but Mighty! With a dedicated staff of three and an incredible network of volunteers, NatureTrack brings the wonders of nature to thousands of students and hundreds of wheelchair users every year. Their passion and commitment make a lasting impact, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to connect with the great outdoors.
Sue is deeply passionate about connecting students and wheelchair users to the natural world. In 2011, she founded NatureTrack to provide outdoor field trips for Santa Barbara County students, giving them the opportunity to explore local trails and beaches during the traditional school day. She saw it as a way to support teachers while bringing learning to life in the great outdoors—helping students discover the natural wonders in their own “backyard.”
With a guiding mission to inspire a lifelong appreciation for nature, Sue believed the best way to foster stewardship was through firsthand experiences. By making nature fun and accessible, she let the outdoors be the teacher, knowing that people are more likely to protect what they understand and love.
In 2020, NatureTrack expanded its impact with the discovery of Freedom Trax, a battery-operated track system that attaches to manual wheelchairs, allowing users to navigate beaches, trails, snow, and more independently. Recognizing the transformative potential of this technology, Sue spearheaded the launch of the Trax program—not just acquiring one device, but building a fleet to serve wheelchair users and individuals with mobility challenges. Today, NatureTrack provides Trax access for events across California, ensuring that everyone has the chance to experience the freedom and joy of the natural world.
Abby is passionate about the outdoors and dedicated to helping others connect with the wonders of the natural world. In her role, Abby organizes NatureTrack field trips for students, Family Days, and Trax trips for wheelchair users, ensuring that everyone can experience nature’s beauty. She is also responsible for coordinating with volunteers to support NatureTrack’s diverse events.
Dee found her tribe when she found NatureTrack! The love and respect for nature and for children that characterizes the NatureTrack ‘family’—and the joyful, flexible approach to connecting the two—just feels like home. Her background in Montessori (early childhood development) and in developing/delivering adult trainings all comes in handy as a volunteer docent on field trips and also in joining the team to expand the wonderful program for college-age docents that Dennis Nord developed.
Curtis is wholeheartedly invested in connecting people across generations and abilities to the outdoors. Curtis leads the school field trips, conducts Trax maintenance, and supports Trax outings — working hand in hand with NatureTrack docents and bringing care and enthusiasm to every aspect of his work. With an educational background in Psychology and Neurobiology, Curtis has a deep appreciation for the profound psychological benefits that time in nature can provide.
He feels strongly that everyone deserves access to those gifts. Through school field trips and accessible outdoor experiences, he works to create moments in nature that leave a lasting impression and spark a deeper appreciation for the world around us. Curtis believes that when people of all backgrounds feel welcome in natural spaces, those spaces become a source of healing, wonder, and connection for the whole community.
Nancy’s background and passion in working with exceptional people and her love of the natural world and being outdoors have guided her to join the NatureTrack team where she supports Abby and Sue in all things Trax related. Nancy helps to organize and facilitate Freedom Trax outings with groups and individuals. Before joining NatureTrack, Nancy worked as an Education Specialist in schools throughout Santa Barbara County.
Although she misses her students, she has found purpose and inspiration working and engaging with individuals accessing Freedom Trax and she is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something that brings joy and access to her community.
