About Us

Joan Ferrell

Joan's affinity for nature blossomed during her early years in her parent's backyard, where she took care of trails and had close encounters with diverse wildlife. She is the second oldest of five siblings.  Over a decade of involvement in a search and rescue organization honed her outdoor expertise, survival abilities, and leadership qualities. Hailing from Pennsylvania, she boasts a wealth of experience trekking numerous miles with a fully loaded backpack and setting up campsites along stretches of the Appalachian Trail. A certified Florida Master Naturalist, Joan has also written comprehensive outdoor guidebooks and safety manuals.

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.