About Deep
Our Community
The community we serve is young men and women age 10-17 who would like to attend wilderness programs but do not have the financial resources and/or equipment they need to do so. We fund students from the United States and Canada. We usually reach them through referrals from program staff, outdoor educators, teachers, school counselors and community leaders.
Our Story
DEEP was started by CG Stephens, Director of Northwaters & Langskib Wilderness Programs. Northwaters & Langskib provided scholarships for 30 years until demand exceeded their ability to fund all the requests. In early 2001, CG used donations from trip leaders and staff, and a generous grant from the Lopez Low Foundation, to begin DEEP. Five students were funded that year. Estair Van Wagner became DEEP's first staff member. In July of 2002 DEEP was incorporated.
In January of 2003 Burke O'Brien, a beloved trip leader was killed in a violent accident. He had been an instrumental part of DEEP's creation and there was an outpouring of donations in his memory. These gifts were used to seed an endowment and to build the scholarship program.
In February 2003 DEEP received notice of tax-exempt status from the US Internal Revenue Service. That summer Estair moved on to new projects and in November Elizabeth Lee was hired as DEEP's Executive Director.
In early August 2005 DEEP Canada was incorporated and in May 2006 the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency awarded the new organization tax-exempt status as a registered charity.
Our Leadership
Maggie Ballantyne works for the Toronto District School Board and Evergreen Canada in their EcoSchools department. She attained her Masters of Environmental Education overseas in Australia & New Zealand and has a Bachelors degree in Geography and Outdoor Recreation. Maggie strives to educate and build a higher capacity of ecological literacy within students and teachers. In the last six years, Maggie has been coordinating an adult sea kayaking program with Northwaters Wilderness programs venturing out to the west coast paddling the breathtaking Pacific sea. Outside of work, Maggie is passionate about staying active in both winter and summer seasons -from skiing to gardening- and enjoys doing so with friends, loved ones and her dog.
Chris Booth grew up spending summers paddling the lakes and rivers of Temagami, Ontario. He now lives in Kingston, Ontario with his wife, Celeste, and their children Noah, Lilah, and Adele. Chris is an oncologist at Queen's University Medical School where he teaches and has an active research program. Summers are now spent camping and paddling with a canoe full of toddlers.
John Booth grew up spending summers in northern Ontario working for a reforestation company and leading canoe trips for Northwaters & Langskib Wilderness Programs (NWL) . At NWL he discovered an enduring passion for the wilderness. His love of animals led him into a career in veterinary medicine. He and his wife spent a year traveling and volunteering for animal rescues throughout Central and South America. They now live in Toronto with their dog, Panama, whom they picked up off the streets of his namesake country, and three cats. John is excited to be part of the Deepwater Project, to stay involved in and give back to youth experiential education.
John Bowie began relationship with DEEP as a trip leader at Northwaters & Langskib Wilderness experience. He has a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, and a Master's degree in Depth Psychology, as well being LEED certified. Currently, John is in Borneo researching how to implement an integrative freshwater resource management policy for the Sarawak River Basin. Jodi Browning grew up exploring the lakes & woods of southeastern Ontario before attending the University of Ottawa where she graduated in 1994 with a BA in sociology. Since 1986 she has worked in various capacities throughout the field of adventure based education including directing an outdoor center in eastern Ontario, leading extensive canoe tripping expeditions for youth at risk and directing courses for the Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association. She has worked as both an instructor and administrator for wilderness programs and has paddled thousands of kilometers with young people through lakes and rivers in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. She led several Leadership expeditions to Hudson Bay. She currently designs and implements curricula for leadership expeditions. A trained ballet dancer, musician & vocalist, Jodi has spent much of her life pursuing both the arts and the outdoors. In the winter she can be found cross country skiing & snowshoeing in the Adirondack Mountains where she lives with her husband, C.G. Stephens, two sons Hudson and McKenzie, and a daughter Grace.
Alexa Dare is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Leadership at Gonzaga University where she teaches courses in non-profit leadership and community development. Alexa grew up canoeing the rivers and lakes of northern Canada, and has seen first-hand the transformational power of wilderness education. Through DEEP, she helps provide opportunities for other young people to learn, grow, and lead in the wilderness. Alexa splits her time between Missoula, Montana and Spokane, Washington, and despite a growing love-affair with the American West, the lakes and trees of northern Ontario will always be Alexa's first love.
Tyler Hargreaves is a lawyer in Toronto. He completed a B.C.L. at Laval University and an LL.B at the University of Victoria. He has a B.A. from McGill University and has lived and worked throughout Eastern Canada and Western Europe. Tyler's past volunteer work includes two years as the treasurer and co-ordinator for McGill's Santropol Roulant, a meals on wheels service and five years as a youth member of the board of the Westmount St-Louis provincial riding association. He has been involved in public policy work while living in Brussels, Belgium, and was the managing editor of a city magazine in Strasbourg, France. Tyler is a dedicated dilettante and pines for the long days of summer 365 days a year.
Greer Krembs grew up in Vermont and quickly learned to love the outdoors, from being fascinated by ecological processes to enjoying a canoe paddle around the lake. This awe for the natural world guided her to St. Mary's College of Maryland on the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay and to her B.A. in Biology. Greer has spent more than ten summers participating and leading youth wilderness trips from backpacking to canoeing in the forests and lakes of New England, Ontario, and Manitoba, including facilitating leadership expeditions to the Hudson Bay. Her desire to work with children and young adults also brought her to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, where she volunteered with a local grassroots relief organization for three months designing and implementing an after-school program for middle school students. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Teaching at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, and will graduate with an endorsement to teach middle and high school Biology and General Science. She dreams of working at a school in which she can teach a fusion of inquiry-based science and experiential outdoor education to culturally and economically diverse students with the goal of empowering them to grow into their full potential.
Caeli Lynch
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Caeli received her BS. in Biology from Mount Allison University in 2001. After spending the summers of her youth canoeing through the woods of northern Ontario and hiking through the mountains of Washington State, Caeli had the privilege of joining the staff of Northwaters Wilderness Programs as an Assistant/Trip Leader for four seasons. This combination of adventure and passion for personal growth lead Caeli on a three year journey through Northern Canada, Central America, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, Hawaii and Arizona before settling in Encinitas, California for two years. Understanding the age old adage 'to whom much is given, much is expected' Caeli has returned home to intertwine her passions of personal growth, sustainability and pushing the envelope, while offering her support of youth leadership programs.
Thor Mann spent 11 summers paddling the lakes and rivers of Northern Ontario, being shaped by the land, the people, and the communion between them. Along the way, he picked up a BA in history from Reed College and a PsyD in organizational psychology from Rutgers University. Now a New York-based management consultant, Thor creates development opportunities for young people through the Deepwater Project and serving as the founding executive director for the Smart Kids Leadership Program. He lives outside New York City with his wife Alice and twin sons Sebastian and Julian.
Our Advisory Board
DEEP has gratefully benefited from the guidance of many mentors, including:
- Jeff Allot
- David Knudsen
- Cynthia Knudsen
- Louise Mahdi
- Rod Napier
- Tanis Browning-Shelp
- Benjamin Errett
- Kate Gardoqui
- Estair Van Wagner
Our Staff
Executive Director, Stacie Smith,has had a long career working in both recreation and conservation. A devoted environmentalist and avid outdoor enthusiast, Stacie has worked with organizations such as the Canadian Olympic Committee through to the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation.
Over the last few years Smith has been a strategic partner to many Canadian-based companies developing and executing communications and marketing campaigns that result in actual changes in behaviour and operational practices. From planning and executing community initiatives through to changing business operations, Smith has a successful record of being a catalyst for positive change.
Smith and her family work in Toronto but enjoy life on the trails and lakes of Northern Ontario.
Our Impact
Recipient testimonials
“This trip has become landmark in my life. I have met amazing people and learned so much about myself. For me this experience created a microcosm of the community we live in in our everyday life. As we were paddling down the Dumoine River and past Bald Eagle Cliffs I had a revelation. Paddling down the river is much like walking through life. Some days will be rainy and cold, and sometimes the rapids are too big to run but you can always count on the people around you to pull you through in life. Life has the same rain and cold, but I believe this trip has let me appreciate the sunny days that we take for granted. Thanks to you I have been able to look inside myself and see what is truly important to me...”
“ ... Even though we spend days paddling, portaging and packing and unpacking camp, without cheesecake or soft towels, my summers in the wilderness show me how great my actual life is. The experience makes me appreciate every difficulty I have to go through at home, every stressful task I wish I didn't have to put up with. The people and the atmosphere up here have shown me how to power through everything with what I've got. And I do it consistently with my head held high and my smile shining the brightest it can. I am doing something real, something that makes me stronger, something that makes me smarter, something that makes me more capable -- but most of all something that makes me me.”
Parent testimonial
“Our son Jesse left for Langskib on his 11 birthday. He had never been away from his family for more than a couple of days prior to this trip. We, as parents, were nervous for him, not sure how he would handle the physical, social, and emotional challenges confronting him. Two weeks later, when we saw him and his group speed paddling across the lake into Base Camp, we knew his stay was a success. He returned completely comfortable with himself and confident about his abilities. Jesse's experience satisfied not only his desire for fun and adventure, but also gave him an understanding of himself as a person. He learned to live comfortably and co-operatively with others, while meeting many personal challenges. He now has the aura of self control and inner strength. Others in his group all had that same appearance. Jesse left for camp expecting outdoor fun and adventure, he got all of that and returned with so much more. “
Leader evaluations
“To my mind, the opportunity to attend Northwaters has helped D. immeasurably in a number of discrete ways. I think that DEEP was particularly helpful to him given the challenges he faces at home. His home life has been bedeviled with loss and privation, and there's no question that in his daily life he is frequently tried in ways that most people can't imagine. The loss of his father and other close relatives has left him with markedly fewer positive role models and supportive members of a close community. At Northwaters he has both of those. On this trip he exhibited a clear trend as the trip progressed towards greater self motivation, initiative, and leadership. Especially during difficult portages or extreme weather, of which there was a lot, D. was conscious of his need to place the group first and to adopt a leadership role in many small, but important, tasks.”
“On trail M. was happy, and she was so excited about being happy. It was amazing to watch her smile all the time, and enjoy that feeling so deeply...The experiences she has are unique in her year....”
“M. learned strategies to work with others in demanding situations where conflict will often arise. Throughout the course of the trip I saw M. learn to stop and think before he responded to another camper in frustrating situations, as well as learn to approach the leaders for help when he needed a strategy to work through a conflict, skills he can take to use in other stressful situations. He gained confidence as his tripping skills improved by leaps and bounds including cooking over a fire, portaging heavy equipment and paddling. He also developed an interest in both the natural and cultural history of the region...”