bring local environmental experts to your school!

  • Virginia Department of Forestry

  • Piedmont Environmental Council

  • Piedmont Master Gardeners

  • Rivanna Master Naturalists

  • Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM)

  • Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards (CATS)

  • Virginia Native Plant Society

  • The Davey Institute

  • Rivanna Conservation Alliance

  • Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District

Place-based learning customized to your academic goals:

  • Watershed assessment and improvement

  • Natural resource management

  • Regenerative Agriculture

  • Invasive species identification and removal

  • Native species (plant and tree) identification, care, and propagation

  • Soil assessment and improvement

  • Growing and cooking vegetables, fruits, and herbs

  • Map making and orientation

  • Wildlife tracking

  • Birding

  • Forestry

  • Hazard identification, avoidance, and treatment

Call/text/email to create your own experience 434-218-2095 cvillenatureschool@gmail.com

testimonials

Aaron Hackett facilitates an experience that is as safe and welcoming as it is fun and expansive. I had the privilege of working with him for several years when I was a young adult aspiring to be a mentor for the children’s programs I grew up attending. He was a phenomenal example of a nature mentor and instructor for me to learn from. His facilitation always left me feeling more embodied, self-aware, joyful, and connected with nature. He helped me grow into the adult I am today and I will always be thankful for the time spent in nature with him.

 Esperanza Vicente - Nature mentor, aspiring herbalist, and organic farmer

I’ve enjoyed working with Aaron many times over the years and highly recommend his programming. He’s got a broad knowledge of nature skills and is an expert teacher. He’s great at challenging students within their comfort level and sharing his passion with them.

Peter Yencken - Maker and instructor of many things

instructor

Hello!

I'm Aaron Hackett, the sole instructor at Cville Nature School. I'm thrilled to be embarking on this journey to share fun, challenging, and meaningful skills!

  • I grew up in Charlottesville and first started learning wilderness survival skills by attending classes at Tom Brown Jr.'s Tracker School during college breaks. During the school year, I shared what I had learned with local teens as an AmeriCorps volunteer and studied philosophy. I served as a nature connection mentor at the Living Earth School for 4 years after graduating, then led educational adventures, taught ecorestoration practices, and partnered with therapists to provide ecotherapy at Wildrock, a nature play & discovery center. 

    I’ve continued to practice and study wilderness survival skills in my daily life while exploring careers focused on environmental stewardship, health, and housing. Over the last ten years, I have led the agricultural side of a farm-to-table operation, learned and practiced several different healing techniques, apprenticed under a soil scientist, toured as a professional musician, earned a master naturalist certificate, and built 5 houses (4 were 3d printed!) I currently teach outdoor education at Free Union Country School and work part-time as a personal trainer and massage therapist.

contact

Survival skills

SAFETY

Learn how to navigate local hazards. Bears, bees, snakes, poison ivy, poison hemlock, spiders, ticks, mosquitos, and weather.

SHELTER

Stay warm and dry in the wild. Get practical experience in tying knots, setting up tarps, and assembling primitive structures.

WATER

Find or create safe, clean water. Get water from the ground, plants, trees and air, make a primitive filter, set up a rock boil, and more!

FIRE

Primitive and modern firecrafting techniques. Harvest firewood sustainably, experiment with fire structures, and build your own friction fire kit.

FOOD

Practice ancient techniques of hunting and gathering. Stealth movement, camouflage, dynamic target practice, primitive traps, and edible plants.