About me

Hi!

My name is Sophie Monkman (she/her), and I am a queer nature lover who has been in deep awe of the more-than-human world for my entire life.

I grew up in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario — the traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabeg — with a naturalist as a father, and a childhood rich with time in nature. Connecting to nature has been an integral and inextricable part of who I am, and it is this most profound — and primary — relationship that led me to this practice.

My home for the last decade has been Tiotiah:ke/Montreal, Quebec, which lies on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) territory. It is here that I have been guiding hundreds of individuals on forest therapy experiences since 2019.

Following and trusting what brings me most alive has guided me along my meandering path; I completed a Bachelor’s of Arts in Cultural Anthropology at Concordia University in 2014 as well as two forest therapy guide certifications; the first with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) in 2018, and the second with the Global Institute of Forest Therapy (GIFT) in 2020. I continue to deepen in the field of nature connection and activism by regularly participating in related trainings, workshops and conferences — such as the Nature Mentoring Training with Coyote Programs (2024), the Reciprocal Healing Confluence in Arizona (2019), and the Work That Reconnects workshop with Joanna Macy in San Francisco (2018).

In addition to building my forest therapy practice, I read widely, write poetry and essays related to and inspired by the human connection to nature, garden, cook, and can reliably be found exploring the beautiful and often overlooked natural pockets in my city with my dog, Sully.