Hi! I’m Marlowe Palmer (they/them) a life-long forest creature who lives in Amiskwacîwâskahikan. I’m a Certified Forest Therapy Guide training with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy.

I was born in the boreal forest of rural Ontario, on Omàmìwininìwag (Algonquin) and Anishinabewaki lands. I spent my early years climbing trees and marvelling at fungi and insects. Since then I have made my home in the rainforests of coastal British Columbia and on the prairies of Alberta. I am a settler with Dutch and Celtic ancestry.

While pursing university training in contemporary dance, I (somehow) found myself working in museum and heritage interpretation. There I learned how the tangible and mundane can tell magical, unspoken stories. This curiosity combined with a need to be outside, eventually lead to a career in archaeology. I continue to work as a professional archaeologist, following my long-term interest in humans telling their stories in relation to place.

Parenting my two young children (currently ages 11 and 8) has also taught me so much about how to be in this wild, beautiful, and sometimes devastating world. Raising small humans provides me with intensive training in how finding intentional connection and belonging with the land grows a human’s heart. Playing, exploring and learning in the forest alongside my children and community has been the biggest gift of parenthood.

I love to make art, write poems and daydream. My favourite wildflower is fireweed and if I were an animal I  would be a squirrel. These days, I’m joyfully weaving together my diverse skills and interests in my forest therapy offerings.

(Note: My name has recently evolved from Manda to Marlowe. Please call me Marlowe!)