Directors
Deb Sweeney Whitmore, Executive Director of Wellspring Family Camp, was born and raised in the United Kingdom and has been living in the U.S. for the last fifteen years. Deb is an avid outdoor enthusiast, earning her B.Sc. in Sports and Exercise Science from Manchester Metropolitan University. Her experience with the outdoors and camp life began at an early age with involvement in the British Scouting Association and five seasons as a camp counselor. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Wellspring Camps, Deb served as the Program Director at the original Wellspring Adventure Camp. Before joining Wellspring Camps, Deb was a program administrator, course director, whitewater/canoeing specialist, and instructor specialist with the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Her dedication to outdoor education has also given her the opportunity to work with the National Outdoor Leadership School teaching outdoor skills and Leave No Trace curriculum.
Email: dwhitmore@wellspringcamps.com
Martha Laugen, MPH, is Program Director of Wellspring Family Camp. Martha joined Wellspring Camps as Activities Director at Wellspring New York in 2007. She has worked in activity promotion and obesity treatment since 1999, coordinating clinical research in obesity medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the most renowned hospitals in the world. Martha also helped run one of the nation's largest public access rowing clubs. As an avid rower and coach herself, Martha holds a medal from the 2001 Head of the Charles Regatta. She earned her Bachelor's degree in public policy from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and her Masters in Public Health from Boston University.
Email: mlaugen@wellspringcamps.com
Daniel S. Kirschenbaum, Ph.D., is Clinical Director of Healthy Living Academies and a professor at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. He has developed several very successful weight loss programs affiliated with hospitals, has been a consultant for the U.S. Olympic Committee, Weight Watchers, Novartis Nutrition, and is a Past President of the Division of Exercise and Sport Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Kirschenbaum is the author of over 100 articles in scientific journals and eight books, including Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity and The 9 Truths About Weight Loss, the latter unanimously endorsed by the Board of Directors of the American Council on Exercise as "the best book ever written for the public on how to lose weight and keep it off."
