Who We Are
Meg Fields RN, Psy.D.
Meg Fields earned her doctorate in clinical psychology and has
more than 20 years of experience as a psychiatric nurse. Her research focused
on Asperger's syndrome, and her training included extensive investigations into
psychoanalytic training and how the autistic framework relates to narcissism.
Meg currently works at San Francisco General Hospital in the psychiatric
emergency room. Previously, she counseled youth at California College of the
Arts, and children in the Palo Alto (CA) Unified School District. A backpacker
since she was 8 years old, Meg has been an avid outdoorswoman for most of her
life and is an involved Sierra Club member.
Michael Fields, RN
Michael has been on the emergency room staff
at California Pacific Medical Center for more than 12 years. He is also on
staff at Tahoe Forest Hospital's intensive care unit. He is certified in
advanced cardiac life support (
Mark Keim
Over the past five years, Mark Keim has guided students
through multi-day backcountry trips in Yosemite, Alaska, Mt. Rainier, North
Carolina and throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains. He was the program
director of Teacher's Association for Outdoor Adventure and Education for 4
years, focusing on increasing youth environmental education programs and
adventure-based programs. Currently, Mark teaches Tahoe ecology, art and math
at Forest Charter School in Truckee, California, to elementary and middle
school students. Mark looks forward to introducing Twenty Acre Wood
participants to the beautiful Sierras and helping them to develop leadership
opportunities and create amazing memories.
Kathy Allen
We’re pleased to have Kathy Allen M.A. as a consultant, who
will help us with the content of our AS/ND curriculum. Kathy Allen M.A. has
been involved with children on the spectrum for many years. She has 30 years of
varied experiences with disabled children and their families, has represented
parents in disputes with insurance companies and school systems, and was one of
the founders of the Orion Academy in Moraga, CA. Her book, Star Shaped Pegs,
Square Holes, which was written for middle school students on the spectrum, has
been helpful for adults as well as young people. Kathy has a special interest
in students who have social and cognitive issues and is a parent as well as a
professional. She was on the summer faculty at UC Davis’s Mind Institute, and
has spoken at the California Association of Community Colleges, the state
Diagnostic Center, at several national conferences on non-verbal learning
disabilities, and in many other places.
