DIRECTORS
Josh Winnecour, RN, is Director of Wellspring Adventure Camp North Carolina. Josh began working with Wellspring as a nurse while taking a “break” from his career as an emergency department nurse. As an emergency nurse, Josh became acutely aware of the impact of unhealthy lifestyles on young people. Inspired by the dramatic results of the program, Josh decided to combine his nursing skills with his passion for inspiring young people with challenging outdoor adventures, which he previously developed over his 6 years at Outward Bound as an Instructor and Course Director. The opportunity to effect positive, sustainable change in the lives of young people, their families and society drives Josh’s pursuit of excellence. Josh is also Wilderness Medicine Instructor, a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Educator Course and a former Airborne Infantry Sergeant in the United States Army.
E-mail:jwinnecour@wellspringcamps.com
Jessie Dean is Program Director of Wellspring Adventure Camp and has been with Wellspring Camps since 2004. She has worked as an outdoor instructor with children, adolescents and university students for the past decade, teaching rock climbing, kayaking and backpacking and snow sports. Jessie is also a professional ski instructor. Jessie received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina and studied Cultural Anthropology for six months at the University of Ballarat in Australia. She is certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and Wilderness First Responder. Jessie has traveled, kayaked and backpacked in Europe, New Zealand and South America and enjoys all outdoor and adventure activities. She strongly believes they can be the key to a positive outlook and a healthy lifestyle.
E-mail: jdean@wellspringcamps.com
Deb Sweeney Whitmore, Executive Director of Wellspring Adventure Camp, was born and raised in the United Kingdom and has been living in the U.S. for the last fifteen years. Deb is an avid outdoor enthusiast, earning her B.Sc. in Sports and Exercise Science from Manchester Metropolitan University. Her experience with the outdoors and camp life began at an early age with involvement in the British Scouting Association and five seasons as a camp counselor. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Wellspring Camps, Deb served as the Program Director at the original Wellspring Adventure Camp. Before joining Wellspring Camps, Deb was a program administrator, course director, whitewater/canoeing specialist, and instructor specialist with the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Her dedication to outdoor education has also given her the opportunity to work with the National Outdoor Leadership School teaching outdoor skills and Leave No Trace curriculum.
E-mail :dwhitmore@wellspringcamps.com
Daniel S. Kirschenbaum, Ph.D., is Clinical Director of Wellspring Camps and a professor at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. He has developed several very successful weight loss programs affiliated with hospitals, has been a consultant for the U.S. Olympic Committee, Weight Watchers, Novartis Nutrition, and is a Past President of the Division of Exercise and Sport Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Kirschenbaum is the author of over 100 articles in scientific journals and eight books, including Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity and The 9 Truths About Weight Loss, the latter unanimously endorsed by the Board of Directors of the American Council on Exercise as "the best book ever written for the public on how to lose weight and keep it off."
E-mail: dkirschenbaum@wellspringcamps.com
