Our Team
Built by the Community
For the Community
All of the Montana Kayak Academy volunteers, including our seven board members, have a deep passion for the whitewater experience. We want our passion to be shared, to strengthen the lives of the youth and community members we work with!
Dave Meyers
Executive Director + INSTRUCTOR
David Meyers was born in Bigfork, Montana and has spent his life exploring all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. He has been fortunate to live a life of adventure. Most of his time off has been spent searching for the deepest snow, kayaking hard whitewater or bagging that next peak. He organizes the Bigfork Whitewater Festival and loves the game of Spikeball!
Liz Poole
INSTRUCTOR
From river guiding to kayak instruction, she is well versed in river safety, education, and group management. She has paddled rivers spanning the entire Northwest and professionally guided over 6,000 river miles. Her current certifications include Swift Water Rescue Technician, Wilderness First Responder, and ACA Level 4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor. It is her love of rivers coupled with her depth of experience that has inspired Liz to share her extensive knowledge and enthusiasm with others through teaching kayaking.
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Liz grew up in the Flathead Valley, as the youngest of nine, spending her time as a kid attempting to keep up with her seven rambunctious brothers in every outdoor adventure they would try. She sat in her first kayak as a teenager, shortly after losing her mom to a battle with cancer. She quickly fell in love with this sport, the tight-knit community, and has not stopped paddling since. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Montana and has made a career of providing river experiences to others while focusing on the healing nature hidden within outdoor pursuits. She has been involved in the whitewater community for nearly a decade. From river guiding to kayak instruction, she is well versed in river safety, education, and group management. She has paddled rivers spanning the entire Northwest and professionally guided over 6,000 river miles. Her current certifications include Swift Water Rescue Technician, Wilderness First Responder, and ACA Level 4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor. It is her love of rivers coupled with her depth of experience that has inspired Liz to share her extensive knowledge and enthusiasm with others through teaching kayaking.
Carter Eash
INSTRUCTOR
Love myself a low volume class 4
Learned on the Cache La Poudre River near Ft Collins CO
Full time job is teaching middle school science
Thomas Gehling
INSTRUCTOR
Thomas hails from the seacoast region of New Hampshire, where he grew up playing on the lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. While attending the University of Vermont, Thomas's vessel of choice was a sea kayak and he served as a coach for prospective club leaders. He would act as president of the UVM Kayak Club until heading to the deep woods of Maine to river guide full-time. A decade later, Thomas continues to share his love of the water with others. From raft guiding to Swift Water Instruction to kayak school management, he has extensive experience in the paddlesports world. He is an ACA-certified L4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor & L4 Swift Water Rescue Instructor, Wilderness EMT, and a Leave No Trace Master Educator.
Stacy Norris
INSTRUCTOR
Growing up in Grand Junction, Colorado, enabled me to develop a love for the outdoors. I learned how to kayak in college, and fully fell in love with the sport, getting out as much as I could. Being fully engulfed in outdoor pursuits, I began teaching roll sessions and taking other college students on kayaking trips as well as a plethora of other activities, such as mountain biking, climbing, canyoneering, and backpacking. Sharing a passion for the outdoors is a true love of mine, and I’m excited to see you on the water!
Board Members
PAUL MOFFATT
FOUNDER
In the early summers of living in Montana, Paul became a raft guide in West Glacier which eventually exposed him to the sport of whitewater kayaking. He and his friends were among the many volunteers who helped out as instructors and camp counselors for the famous First Descents organization which provides free Kayak instruction to young adults, 18-39 with varying types of cancer. It was this experience along with having volunteered for the handicap ski program at Winter Park which led him to the vision for the Montana Kayak Academy.
MIKE DEZZANI
FOUNDER
Mike was introduced to kayaking as a late teenager in Connecticut. Mike’s mother recalls he took to kayaking like no other activity that she had ever seen him do. If he wasn’t kayaking, he was studying and reading about kayaking. It was not uncommon for Mike to be kayaking more than 40 hours per week. Mike states his first love was motorcycles, but his first passion was found in whitewater…
TRAVIS
SCHULE
Travis has an immense amount of passion for kayaking and knew he wanted to share this sport with others. He also knew that the way he began the sport was irresponsible. Quality instruction in whitewater kayaking is hard to find and even harder to find for children. Hindsight is 20/20, but it allowed him to change to the foresight and begin channeling his passion to MKA. He loves sharing his passion in a safe, controlled environment to teach river stewardship, paddling technique, and river safety to the children of the Flathead Valley.
LIZZY
ENGLISH MUIR
Lizzy English Muir was lucky enough to be introduced to the wonderful world of whitewater at a very young age. She was brought on camping trips to the Lochsa where she watched in awe as throngs of brightly colored boats of all disciplines crashed through the massive waves. It was only a matter of time before she was joining in the fun and it soon became one of her greatest loves. The beauty of the water and all the magical places a river can take a person, has kept her kayaking every season for over 25 years. Lizzy is now a water engineer for a well-respected firm, HDR Engineering, and lives in Whitefish with her loving husband and three dogs. Their family enjoys trail running and skiing together and even swim at the takeout while Lizzy paddles down to meet them. Lizzy’s river related focus has shifted from chasing her own kayaking dreams to working towards expanding the breadth of Montana Kayak Academy programs, to bring new people into the world that has brought her so much joy in life.
ANDREW
BARINOWSKI
Andrew Barinowski grew up in a creek boating haven - Western North Carolina. His love for Whitewater started with a college class in whitewater canoeing. Paddling 18’ OCA Blue Hole canoes solo back then. Once Andrew realized how much he enjoyed the sport, his major switched from Business Admin to Outdoor Rec. Andrew then started guiding in the summers and taking paddling trips whenever he could. Andrew worked at a squirt boat manufacturer, when it was in its heyday, that added another level of excitement for him.
Andrew has always loved moving water - watching it, reading it and being on it. His trips are not nearly as frequent, but still hold a great deal of value. Whitefish has been Andrew’s family home since 2003 and he can’t imagine living anywhere else. Currently, Andrew works with Malmquist Construction locally and love skiing, biking and climbing that the area has to offer.
Sarah
Peterson
Sarah Peterson grew up in the desert but has spent her adult life living all around the Pacific Northwest. She has always loved spending time on rivers or lakes. From paddling on a dragonboat team in Portland, Oregon, to jumping on any whitewater rafting trip she can, or just paddleboarding around a peaceful lake with her dog, Sarah savors all the time she gets to be out on the water. Shortly after moving to Montana in 2012, she started volunteering with the Bigfork Whitewater Festival. She’s been a consistent supporter of the festival and loves seeing how it continues to grow each and every year. Sarah currently resides in Bigfork, Montana and is the Marketing Manager at the Flathead Lake Brewing Company. She loves to get out and paddle, ski, or hike whenever she can!
