About Us

Joan Ferrell

Joan’s connection with nature began at an early age in her parents' backyard maintaining trails and encountering a variety of wildlife.  She is the second oldest of 5 children.  She was active for 10 years in a search and rescue organization where she learned skills in the outdoors, survival, and leadership. Originally from Pennsylvania, she has experience hiking many miles with a full backpack and camping along sections of the Appalachian Trail.  

She is the author of outdoor guidebooks and safety guides.  Her connection to nature has her continuing her education by participating in the Florida Master Naturalist Certification program.  She is also a volunteer for the Florida State Park System and the Voluisa County Lyonia Environmental Center. 

Jack Ferrell

As a youth, Jack spent his time traversing the meadows, streams and hardwood forest of Southwestern Pennsylvania.  Over time outdoor freedoms morphed into the responsibilities associated with Holstein cattle and the family dairy farm.  These sustained activities helped forge an indomitable work ethic, an expanding passion for our natural world and an accepting view of people with diverse backgrounds.  Jack was a contributing essayist for The Audubon Society Field Guide to The Natural Places of The Mid-Atlantic States, Pantheon Books.  He was staff writer for the award-winning Washington County Conservation District Newspaper, Tomorrow.  A platform where he addressed agricultural, conservation and environmental topics.   

He is a Florida Master Naturalist.  He is the former operator of Ferrell’s Jobs in Horticulture, a twice-a-month employment newspaper and website for employment in the North American horticulture industry.  He also established Tour Guide Florida, an enterprise where he took travelers from Europe, Asia and North America to the abundant places of natural and cultivated beauty of Central Florida.