Hi,

I’m Thane

I am the founder of the Planet School, where we are transforming high school into an expedition of discovery, purpose, and impact.

I live in Detroit, Palo Alto, Key West, and aboard Wonder, the Planet School’s 82 foot schooner.

I also really like pizza.

Watch the video above to meet me and my vision for the Planet School.

I am an educator who encourages ambitious, imaginative thinking.

I have worn many hats in my career, but I am most proud of the times when I have worked with youth to tackle meaningful projects, like launching a podcast in Mumbai, conducting oceanographic research while sailing across an ocean, creating a haunted house that raised $22,000 in one weekend, or launching a Youth Council within local government.

My own education took place at Bozeman High School, Brown University for a double B.A. with Honors in Development Studies and in Economics, and Montana State University for a M.S. in Agriculture Education.

I have taught on multiple semester-at-sea programs as well as courses on oceanography, writing, literature, history, economics, and coached speech and debate at multiple high schools. Most recently, I taught computer science and managed the Internship Program at the Nueva School. I currently captain Wonder, the Planet School’s Ocean & Lakes Campus and the first of three eventual campuses.

I love a good adventure.

I have a rich background in place-based experiential learning and I have organized, led, and co-led numerous multi-day and multi-week expeditions (see the maps below). I have taken a science experiment onto NASA’s zero gravity plane and co-led 28 college students on bicycles across America for affordable housing. In 2013, I walked the Camino de Santiago on behalf of a dying priest and have been a part of exchange programs in India, Russia, France, Italy, Greece, and the UK.

My sailing school voyages combine outdoor expeditioning with rigorous oceanographic research that students conduct at sea. During my media career, I advocated for lively investigative and research-laden reporting initiatives within my teams. I wrote my honors thesis on land management after working on a 12,000 acre cattle ranch that utilized several cutting edge approaches to conservation. My master’s thesis investigated the efficacy of financial aid programs in encouraging talented students of diverse economic backgrounds to apply to elite schools, leading to the decision to make the Planet School tuition-free.

I am a licensed captain and Wilderness First Responder. My Merchant Mariner Credential (captain’s license) has the following endorsements: 100 ton Inland and Great Lakes Master with sailing endorsement, 200 ton Oceans Mate with sailing endorsement, Able Seaman Unlimited.

Prior Work

Before founding the Planet School and getting my master’s degree in Agriculture Education, I worked in media and journalism for a decade. When I left that field, I finally realized that what had drawn me to journalism was actually education—I had always wanted to find ways to get essential information to people.

Over my career in media, I was immensely lucky to have roles at different levels of the industry, from reporting on the campaign trail in India up to media executive managing twelve international publications and 60+ staff. I have overseen editorial operations for a global satellite broadcasting startup and launched a magazine in Detroit called Jaunt that paired local narrative non-fiction with a quarterly box of local goods. I have previously led the India editions of HuffPost, Business Insider, AdAge, The Weather Channel, and TechRadar and advised VICE, Airbnb, Uber, and Coursera on their India strategies as a member of the Times Bridge executive leadership team. My media career began with a podcast I started in Mumbai called TiffinTalk, which turned into India’s first non-government news radio network.

This entire career would not have happened if I had not participated in a youth radio station as a teenager. While I did not necessarily realize it at the time, every step of my career has been molded by impactful education experiences and exceptional mentors who trusted me with responsibility and helped me recover from failure—what I hope to foster at the Planet School. In media and beyond, I have loved working with and for dozens of inspiring people doing great work. Here are some of them:

To everyone who has helped me along the way, I thank you.

I appreciate you visiting and making it all the way to the end!
I welcome genuine inquiry regarding any of the above.

🪐 thane@planetschool.org
🍕 pepperoni@thane.pizza