Meet the Lead Instructor

I've loved nature for as long as I can remember.

When people ask me where my love for the outdoors came from, I always smile because I honestly don't remember it ever not being part of my life.

When I think about my childhood, I don't remember toys or television (not that we had much television anyway!). I mostly remember playing outside with mud and sticks.

I grew up in eastern Ukraine, in Luhansk, where I was surrounded by forests, open fields, gardens, rivers, and endless places to explore. Nature was simply part of everyday life, and some of my happiest childhood memories were made outdoors.

Looking back now, those were some pretty brutal winters! We got a lot of snow. I still remember walking to school after snowstorms when the snowbanks seemed almost as tall as I was. We'd walk what felt like forever through deep snow, and by the time we got home our boots were soaked, our socks were wet, and we could barely feel our toes. But did that stop us from going back outside? Absolutely not! We were having way too much fun out there.

My friends and I spent hours building snow forts, digging tunnels, making winding trails through the snow, having snowball fights, and staying outside until it was almost dark.

I can still picture the paper birch trees after a fresh snowfall, the evergreen trees covered in snow, the smell of fresh pine, the long icicles hanging from the branches, and the peaceful silence after a storm. If you've ever walked through the woods right after a snowfall, you know exactly what I mean. Snow has an incredible way of absorbing sound. Everything becomes still, quiet, and peaceful. Even today, every time I hike after a snowfall, I'm instantly taken back to those childhood memories.

Then spring would arrive, and it felt like the whole world came back to life. Flowers seemed to appear everywhere, birds returned, butterflies floated through the fields, ladybugs covered the leaves, and after every rain I was out collecting snails because, for some reason, I thought they were the coolest things ever. I'd even build tiny little houses for them.

I spent most of my summers at my grandmother's farm. I loved sitting under a giant walnut tree reading while listening to the sounds of nature all around me. We dug potatoes straight from the ground, picked vegetables for dinner, cracked open fresh walnuts, and ate sunflower seeds right from the flower heads. There was always something growing, buzzing, flying, or blooming.

One of my favorite childhood memories was from when I was about five years old. A summer thunderstorm rolled in, the sky turned almost black, and the smell of fresh rain filled the air. Instead of staying inside, my cousins and I snuck outside to dance in the rain, jump in puddles, and roll around in the hay. We came home soaking wet and covered in mud ... those are still some of my happiest memories.

We built pretend mud kitchens, baked "cakes" out of dirt, climbed trees, collected interesting rocks, and spent hours outside using our imaginations. We didn't need television or fancy toys to keep us entertained. Honestly, give a child a stick, a few rocks, and a little imagination, and they'll probably have more fun than they would with most toys.

Those experiences shaped the person I am today. They taught me to slow down and find joy in the small things that many people frequently miss. They also gave me a deep appreciation for the natural world.

Today, I still spend countless hours on the trails. I love exploring new places, but I also love returning to the same trail over and over again because nature is never the same twice. Every hike teaches me something new, whether it's a plant I hadn't noticed before, mushrooms that appeared after a rain, or a bird behaving differently than it did the week before. I love sharing those little discoveries with my own children.

Learning about nature has become a lifelong passion. I spend much of my free time reading field guides, scientific publications, and books about botany, ecology, and natural history. The more I learn, the more I realize there is still so much to discover.

I hope to inspire Long Island children to fall in love with nature the same way I did. I want them to come home excited about what they discovered, eager to learn more about the insect they found or the bird they spotted, and motivated to continue exploring with their families. I hope to inspire children to recognize the common birds in their neighborhoods, identify the butterflies visiting local parks, learn the plants growing along the trail, and realize that an ordinary walk through the woods is anything but ordinary once you know what to look for.

Professionally, I've been a registered nurse for over fifteen years after earning my Bachelor of Science in Nursing from New York University, with a minor in Psychology. My nursing career has strengthened my observation skills, critical thinking, and ability to stay calm under pressure while always putting safety first. Those same values shape every Little Hikers class; from teaching trail safety and helping children recognize poison ivy to encouraging them to observe wildlife respectfully without disturbing it. I also maintain certifications in CPR, First Aid, Wilderness First Aid, Outdoor Biological Hazards, and Anaphylaxis and Epinephrine Auto-Injector Administration.

One of the most rewarding parts of running Little Hikers is hearing from parents about what happens after class. I love hearing that family hikes have completely changed, that a child who was once afraid of bugs is now searching for roly-polies, gently observing earthworms after the rain, or excitedly calling out the name of a bird they recognize. Parents tell me their children begin noticing animal signs on the trail, explaining that an American robin is probably looking for worms, or spending an hour as a family watching a spider build its web instead of being afraid of it. Those moments are lasting family memories that children will probably remember for the rest of their lives.

My hope is that Little Hikers inspires children to become lifelong observers of the natural world. When children understand the birds, insects, plants, and animals living around them, they begin to appreciate them. And when they appreciate them, they're much more likely to protect them. I hope every child leaves my program a little muddier, a little more curious, and excited to head back outside to see what they can discover next!

I'll see you on the trail!

-Viktoriya Nezhnik