our guides & Staff
thompson bishop, MA
(tbird)
co-founder, guide, board member
Thompson (Tbird) Bishop grew up in the hills of East Tennessee and the mountains of Colorado. From an early age, Tbird began his study of music and a deep connection to the natural world. Trained in classical piano and voice, he received double undergraduate degrees in Music and Recording Arts. Deeply touched by the ecological struggles of the earth in human hands, Tbird returned to graduate studies in Animal Policy and Advocacy and then into Transpersonal Ecopsychology (MA) at Naropa University. In 2017, he co-founded Alchemy of Prana—an ecopsychological nonprofit fostering the liberation of reciprocal consciousness between the human and more-than-human world. Trained in Council at the Ojai Foundation and as a Vision Fast Guide with the School of Lost Borders, Tbird is currently a Ph.D. student at the California Institute for Integral Studies in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology with a Somatic Psychology emphasis. Tbird has a deep affinity for the Ragged Mountains and the Crystal Valley, and now finds sanctuary and home with his soulmate Colleen and their loving fury-kins just outside of Redstone, CO. Tbird loves trail running, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, yoga, and all things contemplative. He is an active part of multiple nonprofit and foundation boards, a freelance acoustic ecology researcher, project manager, photographer, and currently finalizing his fourth studio album entitled, Songs of Earth and Mountain.
colleen bishop, MA
(collfeatherz)
co-founder, guide, board member
Colleen Bishop was raised in Philadelphia, PA. Her ecological identity was first birthed through the ocean and sand along the eastern coast of the USA. She began a career path in Elementary Education before hearing the call to nature. After living closer to the eastern coast in her mid-twenties, she eventually found herself in Landstuhl, Germany for 2 years, in which she discovered an affinity and profound loving connection with the Black Forest. In some ways, the connection began the path toward contacting wholeness the natural world, which eventually carried her to the "crazy wisdom" that Chogyam Trungpa founded Naropa University on and where she met and committed to deep loving with her beloved, and now husband, Thompson Bishop. Together, they now call home a majestic crystalline river valley within the Great Mysteriousing of the Western Slope Region of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Colleen is a doctoral student of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Psychology at CIIS. She is also a graduate alumni of Naropa University and holds a MA in Transpersonal Ecopsychology as well as a yoga teacher certification. She serves as co-director for Alchemy of Prana--a nature-based nonprofit organization fostering the liberation of deep consciousness and relationship with the natural world. Colleen is also an ultra trail runner, yoga instructor, and a trained wilderness rite of passage guide, in which she serves as a bridge for the meeting of flesh and spirit to help guide human beings through transitions and rites of passages using the vision fast model through the School of Lost Borders. Her work in the world interweaves a deep dive into understanding the relationships between psyche, body, nature, service, and spirit in a ceremonial & heart based way that give voice to the myriad of ways we practice consciously navigating surrender (severance), the unseen liminal space (threshold) and birth (initiation) again and again. Her vibrant presence and soft voice speaks to the fierce loving she embodies.
Colleen's dharma involves *being* in conscious, loving, embodied, connected and sacred relationship with all of life and in midwifing/bridging the death-birth doorway with Earth-body and spirit through ceremony and ritual
Lindsay Sterling-Krank
AOP Board Member
Lindsey Sterling-Krank has been a wildlife advocate and lover of life for decades. She has served as the Prairie Dog Coalition Director with the Humane Society of the United States for more than 10 years. She received her degree in environmental science after she discovered the University of Montana – Western on a bike trip up the Continental Divide. Her travels have led her to mountaintops in the Himalayas, sailboats in the Andaman Islands and a stern on the Buffalo River. Lindsey’s highest and most grounded moments are in the wilderness. Using the Four Directions and her internal compass, she spends as much time outside as possible with her furry friends and family. Her life has been dedicated to advocating for wildlife conservation and self growth. She is most happy spending time in nature with her family and friends. Lindsey is a member of the Priestess Circle of graduates from All Season’s Chalice, Pathway of the Ceremonial Arts.
jakob ledbetter
Past AOP Board Member
Born and raised in the piedmont bioregion of Georgia, Jakob Ledbetter grew up exploring the beautiful blue ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Heeding the call of the Earth, Jakob embarked upon a MA in Ecopsychology at Naropa University. While completing his masters, Jakob worked as a personal development mentor at a young-adult transition home, in addition to volunteering as a nature-connection mentor at multiple 8-shields organizations in the southeast. Furthering his explorations into the wonders of the natural world, Jakob spent a year at Wilderness Awareness School as part of the Anake program learning the core routines of a naturalist. Combining his experience, knowledge, and various skill sets, Jakob applies himself as an environmental educator teaching science-based programs in schools, a nature-connection mentor working with youth outdoors, and a rite of passage guide leading coming of age ceremonies for teenagers. He is passionate about place-based skills like wildlife tracking, bird language, and wild edible foraging. He believes that rite of passage and initiatory experiences are essential cultural tools to be utilized in the modern world towards creating soul-centric communities. On most days, Jakob can be found in the forest staring up at birds in trees, crawling on the ground looking at tracks, or sharing food around a campfire, singing with friends
