FOUNDER & PUBLISHER

Strider John Peterson came to the publishing business in a roundabout way. After an early-career stint as a magazine and fine art photographer, he pivoted into medical imaging and had a three decade career as an ophthalmic (eye) photographer on the front lines of the battle against blindness and vision loss.

After retirement he founded Psychedelic Pathways Magazine to explore converging interests: navigating the narrow space between prohibition and reckless abandon in psychoactive substances; leveraging the magazine format to amplify compelling stories; using images to propel a narrative; and online marketing. He's a life-long opponent of the failed War on Drugs whose heart aches for those caught up in its tentacles.

Outside of magazine work he loves to garden, sail, travel, cook large vats of delicious food for lots of people, and play hand percussion. He lives in Western Massachusetts, USA.

MANAGING EDITOR

As an editor and publishing project coordinator, Nancy’s mission is to support well-intentioned, open-hearted writers, artists, leaders, and organisations in producing clear, purpose-driven content. Over the past two decades, she’s collaborated on books, magazines and events connected to the arts, health and education. She has an eye for aesthetics and often notices details that many others don't.

Nancy joined the PPM team in August 2025, and is fascinated by the medicine and altered states of consciousness. She is a budding herbalist and is also training to become a Biodanza facilitator, which has been the most profound journey of her life so far.

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

Claire joined Psychedelic Pathways Magazine in April 2026. As Director of Community Partnerships, she finds organizations and voices across the sector with important and unique stories to tell.

She brings a decade of leadership experience in the global management consultancy space, the tools and tales from two successful entrepreneurships, and a lifelong awe for the human condition. 

The curiosity to explore individual and collective consciousness began with Claire’s studies in communication and psychology. Her post-graduate journey took her to Latin America for nearly 15 years, where she first drank ayahuasca and felt the transformative power of plant medicine.

Since returning to Europe, Claire has organised a 30-city conference tour for a psychedelic-assisted therapy group, coordinated and supported retreats across UK and Spain, and begun training and practicing as an executive coach.

For Claire, presence, awareness and connectedness are what enable healthy relationships with self, other and all. Her purpose is helping make the many paths to these states - with and without psychedelics - visible and accessible to as many people as possible.

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

CHEMIST & INTERN EXTRAORDINAIRE

Ian Grochowski is an undergraduate researcher at Northern Michigan University specializing in behavioral and molecular pharmacology, and organic synthesis. He is currently serving as Project Lead at the Lacrosse Neuroscience Laboratory, directing investigations into the pharmacology of substituted tryptamines. In addition to his work in neuroscience, Grochowski is a drug hunting Research Fellow in the Cinelli Lab, applying tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to isolate natural product alkaloids and investigate their potential as novel drug candidates.

Previously, he spent over two years as a research assistant in the Prus Neuropsychopharmacology Lab, where he co-authored a behavioral study evaluating novel Sigma-1 receptor agonists for treatment of depression and compulsive behaviors. Moreover, Grochowski has gained extensive experience in organic synthesis, specializing in organofluorination, flow chemistry, synthetic optimization, and organometallic catalysis. Through bridging advanced organic chemistry with receptor pharmacology, Grochowski hopes to utilize structure-activity relationships to guide the rational design of novel therapeutics.