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2011 PROGRAM DIRECTORS

Young Adult Director
Peggy Brosnan has been a leader for hiking, youth, teens, and young adult programs. A biology and genetics teacher, she advises an ecology club and Environthon team at one of the D.C. area's top public high schools. She has done hikes to 12,000, 14,000, 16,000, and 20,000 feet in the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes, and the Himalayas respectively, and camped inside Kilimanjaro's crater at 18,800 ft. She has kayaked Baja, New Zealand, Italy's Elba Island, and Alaska's Glacier Bay, but says that one kayaking moment in Canada's westernmost islands topped them all.

Junior Naturalist Director
Steve Houser, Jr. is an award winning teacher of gifted children at Providence Spring Elementary School in Charlotte, NC. He uses the natural world as a gateway for instruction in all areas of the curriculum. Hands-on and experiential learning are his main instructional strategies. In the past, Steve was selected to receive the Governor's Award as North Carolina's Environmental Educator of the Year, and he has been the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (a program of the White House and the National Science Foundation). He is a North Carolina certified Environmental Educator and has been named an "Educator of Excellence" by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. He was selected as the 2009 US Earth Science Teacher of the Year by the American Geological Institute. One of Steve's goals is for his students to be happy, stimulated, and learning. He also strives to help children learn to be good stewards of the earth, and encourages them to go outdoors often.

Hike Co-Director
Chris Lenz and his family have attended 13 summits in the last 16 years. He has been active as a volunteer for the summits since 2003 and this will be his 6th year working with the hike program both as an assistant and leader. He is a full time human resources manager and part time firefighter-EMT from northern Illinois who loves the outdoors. He brings his EMT experience to the hike program to help everyone have a safe and enjoyable experience. His family operates a 1200 acre grain farm west of Chicago. He and his family are a product of Summit experiences learning about the environment and they bring that knowledge back to the farm and city.

Hike Co-Director
Danny McMurphy is a native Missourian and lives in his hometown of Sullivan near Meramec State Park. He has been married to Linda, an RN, for 40 years and they have four children, sons: Kelly 39, of Ann Arbor, MI where he is a Professional Scouter, Shannon 38, a software specialist with a DOD contractor for Scott AFB in Illinois. There are 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson among the two sons; daughters, Caitlin, 23, and Molly, 21, both of whom are still in college. Danny graduated from the U. of Missouri – Rolla (currently Missouri S & T) in 1971 with a BS in Geology and later in 1993 with an MS in Engineering Management. He retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, in 2009. He has been involved in the Boy Scout program for over 50 years and besides being an Eagle Scout, he has served in many capacities, including Scoutmaster, Explorer and Venturing Advisors and as a Webelos Leader. His sons are also both Eagle Scouts. He is currently active with the Ozark Trail Association where he serves as membership chairman, and with the Missouri Master Naturalist program with the Miramiguoa Chapter, as well as being a volunteer in local state parks and conservation areas. He is also an active member of St. Anthony Catholic Church where he is a member of the choir and serves as a lector.  He enjoys, hiking, backpacking, canoeing, baseball, wildflowers, and taking photos of the outdoors and his family.

Childcare Director
Teri Schroeder is the director in the childcare program. Teri and her family began attending NWF Family Conservation Summits in 1985. Since that first summit, Teri has worked as a volunteer, as childcare staff and director and as a junior naturalist leader at many summits.

Teen Director
Joel Schroeder became involved with the NWF Family Conservation Summits starting in 1985 and has either served on the teen staff or directed the teen program many times since then. He is a secondary science teacher and technology coordinator for a school district in Iowa. His current teaching duties include classes in all areas of science and some college-level science classes as well. 

Early Discovery Director
Sally Sherrard lives in Littleton, NH with her husband Jim. She has her degree in Early Childhood Education and has taught preschool for 25 years. Sally is presently working as a Para Professional at the Waterford Elementary School in Vermont. She believes that children learn through playing in their natural environment. Sally and her son James have attended 18 summits. James started the nature summits when he was 8 years old. Sally is also a magician; she will share her Nature Magic Show at the Family Summit.

Youth Faculty

Peggy Hays teaches elementary science in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has been teaching for 27 years in all grade levels with the past ten years as a science specialist. She has also taught outdoor education classes and workshops for both students and teachers. She is married and has two grown children of her own. She loves the outdoors and enjoys helping children to appreciate and take responsibility for its preservation. She is excited to be returning for her seventh summit as one of the Junior Naturalist teachers.

DeLene Hoffner returns from her year of teaching in Australia for this her seventh summit. She is a K-2 science teacher and half day kindergarten teacher in her "real" life in Colorado Springs, CO.  She has been teaching elementary education for over 25 years. She is very involved in environmental education in many ways: author, curriculum designer, as well as instructor for outdoor education summer courses! (such as Project Wild/ WET/Learning Tree) DeLene has received the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in Elementary Science, Teacher of the Year for her school, and Exemplary Elementary Science Teacher by the Council for Elementary Science International (CESI). She was the Preschool/Elementary Director for the National Science Teacher Association,  and continues to serves on several national science committees as well as reviews publications such as  a magazine, Science & Children, and National Geographic curriuculum.  She is so excited to be part of OUR summits where families can experience adventures, learn about nature, meet new friends and MORE!!! DeLene believes in the critical importance of connecting children with nature. Our future is in their hands!

Sara Jackson is an Outreach Assistant for Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation where she leads volunteer events combating invasive plant species, as well as coordinates the newsletter and assists with prescribed natural area burns. Prior to moving to Ann Arbor she spent many years moving about the country teaching and directing programs at various environmental education and outdoor adventure facilities. She also worked for the Great Lakes Regional Center of National Wildlife Federation for eight years assisting with publications and intern coordination. She has a B.S. in Environmental Communications, Education, and Interpretation from The Ohio State University. In her spare time, Sara enjoys backpacking/hiking, traveling, reading, teaching piano lessons, taking snapshots, and spending time with her friends and family. This will be Sara’s ninth Summit.

Leslie Krebs is originally from St Louis. She has both of her degrees from the University of Iowa; Elementary Education, (Science), Outdoor Recreation and a Masters in Science Education. Her teaching in environmental education has taken her to Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming Iowa, and Ohio. These have included work with the Girl Scouts, National Park Service, and other fine non-profits over the years. She is currently employed with the McHenry County Conservation District in the Chicago area. She enjoys working with all ages in the outdoors and is pleased to be teaching at her twenty fourth Summit.

Christi Hadden has been working with students outdoors for over ten years. This is her 8th summit. She currently resides in Harrisburg, PA where she teaches middle and high school art and adventure education at Yellow Breeches Educational Center. Previous to teaching at YBEC, she worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Catalina Island Marine Institute. Other than teaching, Christi loves to paddle, climb, dive, paint, draw, and garden. She is certified in swift water rescue, Red Cross CPR, first aid, and lifeguarding, and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. Her favorite living thing is kelp.

Penny Owens has over a decade of experience in the environmental education sector.  Currently, she is the Education Coordinator and Assistant Biologist for Santa Barbara Channel Keeper, an environmental group working to protect and restore the Santa Barbara Channel and its watersheds.  In her free time she enjoys playing in the ocean and being outside.  This will be her 6th Summit working with the teens.

Leslie Sherrard is a National Board Certified teacher with 27 years of teaching experience in elementary and middle schools. She is currently teaching middle school math in Charlotte, North Carolina. Outdoor experience:  Worked at Glacier National Park in Montana, attended the Lake George, NY Family Summit as a Jr. Naturalist teacher, Director of Camp Invention (a science camp for elementary students), assistant PADI scuba diving Instructor. She is a mom of two sons.

Hike Leaders

Kathie Brennan found herself at an OTA construction outing on the Middle Fork-John Roth Memorial section in 2005 and quickly became hooked. When her daughters were younger, the family was involved with Girl Scouts, doing family camping trips, floating the creeks and rivers to hiking the trails in the parks they camped in. Not a stranger to any work or task, Kathie retired from Wal-Mart after 20 years and currently works as an Adm. Asst. for an Alternative school, does part time retail sales with Bath & Body Works and in the summer months, Kathie is a seasonal naturalist for Missouri's Trail of Tears State Park. Becoming involved with the OTA/OT has provided Kathie opportunities to not only meet a very diverse group of volunteers from all over the state, but also through training to become a USFS certified sawyer, crew leader and event leader while sharing her passion for the outdoors with kids of all ages at events big and small.  Living in Cape Girardeau MO with husband Calvin; daughters Casey and Emily are also volunteers as well as boy friend Marcus, and husband Derek and her 2 1/2 yr old grandson Stratton. As a family, they have adopted a 3.1 mile section of the Middle Fork - John Roth Memorial section.

In 2008, Kathie received the USDA Forest Service 32 state Eastern Region "Volunteer Crew Leader/Supervisor" Award, was recognized at the National Trail Symposium last year as Missouri's "Trail Worker of the Year" for 2009 and was just announced as the 2010 "Volunteer of the Year" for the Mark Twain National Forest.  Kathie was also appointed to the Missouri Governor's Trail Advisory Board, is a member of the Ozark Trail Association Board of Directors, a member of the OTA's Construction & Maintenance committee and is an avid fund raiser for the OTA.  She serves as the President of the Cape Girardeau Beta Sigma Phi City Council and is her chapter's president.

Paul Corley is a native Missourian from the Chesterfield, Creve Coeur area of St. Louis County! He had 2 brothers & 7 sisters; he was the 6th from the top with 4 elder sisters & 1 elder brother! Wheat & soybean fields surrounded the family property where his mother's family had operated a truck farm & raised 10 children. His family lived adjacent to a dairy farm, a creek & a quarry. They all grew up hiking in the surrounding area. He graduated from St. Louis University High School and Forest Park and Meramec Community Colleges. Paul has worked for the Crest Industry in sales for approximately 35 years. Besides locally in Missouri and Illinois, Paul's hiking, canoeing, biking, and kayaking experiences span the United States from the Great Allegheny Trail Alliance & C&O National Park Trail to the Mickelson trail in South Dakota and parts of the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska. He has solo backpacked through the Indian Peaks Wilderness on the Cascade Creek Trail & the Pawnee Pass Trail as well as numerous backpacking trips in Colorado, New Mexico, southeast Kentucky, Arkansas, the Smokies, Big Bend National Park, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks and the Muir Woods.  Paul has a trip planned for the Smokies this summer with his companion Diane whom he has been together with for 27 years & helped to raise her 2 children & now two grandchildren!  He performs volunteer work for the Ozark Trail Association and is also a member of several hiking groups including MO Trails, Mostly Trails, St. Louis Trails Club, Shawnee Hills Trails Club, Beyond the Trail, Let's Hike, WGNSS, & SLAG.

Cindi Norris is a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau, MO. Cindi is a 50-something single who never had much interest in being outdoors until she discovered trails in the summer of 2009. Cindi started out with short walks of less than a mile and has worked up to completing 7-10 mile hikes. Hiking has since become an obsession. Cindi hikes nearly every weekend; rain, shine, snow or heat-wave, even if it is just a short local trail, and is always accompanied by her camera. Cindi prefers hiking alone, even on remote trails. However, after a few group hikes with the local Conservation Department, Cindi started searching for other hikers. That search led her to St. Louis Nature Meetup Group in May 2010 and by June she began organizing hikes that would take the group out of St. Louis and into areas in Central Missouri and Southern Illinois. In March 2010 Cindi paired up with a friend and formed a new outdoor Meetup group, Beyond the Trail. With both groups she has organized popular day trips and weekend events.

Matt Tenny is an avid hiker, biker, and canoeist.  Matt has been married to Diane for 31 years and they have two grown children, a son and a daughter.  He has led annual Super bowl Sunday hikes the last 4 years and loves getting into the outdoors with his camera to see what he can find.  Matt became a Missouri Master Naturalist 2 years ago and is very active in the Miramiguoa Chapter at Shaw Nature Reserve.  He is also a trail building volunteer for the Ozark Trail Association.

Hike Assistant

Jan Houser retired after teaching 33 years in upper elementary. She is currently tutoring on a private basis. She stays very busy with her personal activities of horseback riding, working out, and walking her dogs. She also enjoys reading, puzzles, and spending time with her husband, Steve. The Summits have been very important to her family, and she has volunteered in many capacities over the years.

Faculty

When not acting as President of Family Nature Summits Chris Blank is a private practice attorney based in Newport Beach, California. His firm's focus is business litigation, business law, and bankruptcy. In addition to his law practice he sits on the board of a local educational non-profit organization and founded a political action committee to support local candidates. He has been coming to the Nature Summits since 1994. This is the highlight of the year for he and his sons. He has been a committed environmentalist since the 1970s and is excited about continuing the Summit mission.

Annie Tiberio Cameron is a fine art nature photographer with special emphasis on teaching. She brings to this Summit  - in 2011, her 30th - over 37 years of elementary school teaching, coordinating environmental education programs for Massachusetts Audubon Society, and teaching photography for the National Wildlife Federation, University of Massachusetts, Bay Path College among many other institutions.  Her photos have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the country, received awards and have been published in numerous calendars, magazines, newspapers, and other publications, including two editions of a top-selling Sierra Club book entitled: Mother Earth -- Through the Eyes of Women Photographers and Writers, as well as its accompanying postcard book. Annie also tours an elementary school program entitled “Death Valley, Okefinokee and Beyond,” a geography-based program that looks at natural history and culture throughout the US, that corresponds well with the upper elementary school curriculum.  She has transformed her UMass course entitled, “Digital Photography for the Non-Art Major” to a 100% online format, meaning anyone, anywhere can take it.  And, she can teach it from home in Vermont!  Talk to her if you’d like to know more about her elementary school program or UMass online photo course.

Dave Egan got his undergraduate degree in the Valley and Ridge Province of central Pennsylvania at Bucknell University and then his graduate degree in the glacial plains of the Miami River Valley at Wright State University in Ohio.  Dave has been involved with geologic studies nationwide as a geologist supporting cleanup of soils, groundwater, streams and estuaries at Superfund sites and other industrial or former industrial facilities. He has also helped to interpret geology for hikers and other enjoyers of the outdoors for the past 20 years.  In his spare time, you may find him biking.

Brete Griffin has been passionate about birds since his early teens when he drove around the back roads of central West Virginia looking for Screech Owl families after dark. He still gets excited finding birds for people while leading birding outings. Ask anyone who went out in Utah when the 3-toed Woodpecker was found! He has assisted in bird fieldwork projects in California, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia; He has conducted his own field work for a Master of Science degree by studying Gary Vireos in Big Bend National Park in Texas. He continues to lead birding groups on trips in the field and also teaches a community education birding course through a school board in the Toronto area in Ontario, Canada. He is also very active in bird education and conservation programs and does a Birdathon every year to help support and promote various bird conservation projects and campaigns. One of his dreams is to head back south to help study and learn more about the rediscovered population of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker!

Marilyn Hartness is an avid outdoors person.  She likes to hike, swim and ride horses.  These interests enhance her career as Assistant Professor of Art at Wingate University.  She teaches Ceramics Fundamentals and Ceramic Art History to college students at this liberal arts university in North Carolina.  She has instructed courses with the Family Summit Staff for 12 years.  She instills a challenge of discovery in her students (young and old) , with the focus on shapes of natural objects and the emphasis on  the art of seeing:  line, shape, color, mass, and space.  Creativity plus nature  =  enjoyable learning with a focus on art.

Bruce Lampright currently serves as the Naturalist for Brays Island Plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina.  Originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, Bruce has lived in coastal South Carolina for the past 35 years. After graduating from the University of South Carolina (with a degree in Marine Science) he conducted research at USC’s Baruch Marine Lab and served as Education Coordinator for the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, both near Georgetown, SC.  Lampright also served as the Director of USC-Beaufort’s Coastal Zone Education Center and is a founding member and former President of the South Carolina Marine Educator’s Association. In 1999 Bruce and two others started the SC Master Naturalist Program, now administered by Clemson University, with programs training naturalists throughout the Palmetto State.  Lampright has been involved in environmental education for over 30 years and was the 2004 recipient of the South Carolina Marine Educator of the Year Award.   He is also a Master Gardener and recently received his Coast Guard Captain’s License.  This will be his eighth summit as a faculty member.

Dave Linthicum is a Recipient of the 2000 Jug Bay Wetlands Environmental Award, Dave used maps to help save 2200 acres on the Potomac and 1200 acres on the Patuxent in Maryland from becoming 4200 townhomes and a gravel pit respectively.  He's been either 1st or 2nd in his category on 5 of the last 6 national orienteering championship days.

“Bob” Robert Michael Pyle was born and raised in Colorado and has lived in the Pacific Northwest, California, New England, and Great Britain.  His undergraduate degree in Nature Perception and Protection and Master of Science in Nature Interpretation from the University of Washington were followed by a doctorate in Ecology and Environmental Studies from Yale University.  He has worked as a Ranger-Naturalist for Sequoia National Park, for the wildlife department of Papua New Guinea, as Northwest Land Steward for The Nature Conservancy, and as co-manager of the Species Conservation Monitoring Center of the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN in Cambridge, U.K.  In 1971 he founded the international Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (http://www.xerces.org/), and later chaired its Monarch Project.  For thirty years, Pyle has been a full-time freelance writer, teacher, speaker, and biologist.  His fifteen books include Wintergreen, The Thunder Tree, Where Bigfoot Walks, Chasing Monarchs, Walking the High Ridge, and Sky Time in Gray’s River as well as The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies and several other standard butterfly works.  They have won the John Burroughs Medal, a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Governor's Writer's Awards, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Award, the Harry Nehls Award for Nature Writing, the National Outdoor Book Award for natural history literature, and have been finalists for the Orion and Washington Book Awards.  Mariposa Road: the First Butterfly Big Year is just out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  A novel, Magdalena Mountain, is in progress along with collections of poems and essays.  Pyle's popular essay-column, “The Tangled Bank,” appeared in 52 consecutive issues of Orion Magazine.  Bob Pyle has taught writing and natural history seminars for many conferences, institutes, and colleges around the world, and presented hundreds of invited lectures and keynote addresses. In recent years he has served as Visiting Professor of Environmental Writing at Utah State University, Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Montana, and place-based writing instructor for the Aga Khan Trust for the Humanities in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.    He has been named Distinguished Alumnus by both the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington and  the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and received  a Distinguished Service Award from The Society for Conservation Biology.  For thirty years he has lived along Gray's River, a tributary of the Lower Columbia River in southwest Washington, with his wife, artist and botanist Thea Linnaea Pyle.Facebook fan page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robert-Michael-Pyle/293832101900

Monica Piche and Brian Yinger - Monica was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  She moved to the United States when she was 11 and currently lives in Powell Ohio.  She is 27 years old and engaged to Brian Yinger.  This will be her 4th Summit.  Monica is a hair stylist and has her own business at the Salon Lofts. Brian was born in Columbus, Ohio and has lived there his entire life.  He is currently 28 years old and will be turning 29 August 3rd at the Summit.  This will be his 15th summit.  Brian is a full time musician and plays the guitar along with some vocals.  He is in a band called Acoustic Mayhem. Monica and Brian have a 2 year old little girl named and Mesa and this will be her 2nd Summit.

Guest Lecturers

Tim Banek - Originally from South Dakota, Tim received a BA in Biology from Augustana College Sioux Falls, SD and a MS in Biology from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.  He began his career with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation in northeast Oklahoma.  In 1986, he accepted a position with the Missouri Department of Conservation and worked in southwest Missouri as a Fisheries Management Specialist and Fisheries Management Biologist for 22 years.  Tim has a diverse history of successful accomplishments for the Department, including working with private landowners, and conducting close coordination with city municipalities, communities, and several state and federal agencies.  Tim developed and implemented unique smallmouth bass regulations on Elk River that has improved the fishery in that stream. He also led the effort to improve walleye management in Missouri and showed that stocking high priority lakes with walleye fingerlings significantly improved walleye fishing.  Tim is a member of the Missouri Chapter of American Fisheries and the Wildlife societies and represented the Department on the North Central AFS Walleye Technical Committee for 15 years.  Tim has presented papers at several professional meetings and has organized and conducted interagency and public meetings. In February 2008, Tim accepted MDC’s first 1-year leadership training position to serve as Invasive Species Coordinator in central office.  The leadership training position was extended and his promotion was made permanent with the Conservation Commission’s approval of the vacancy management plan in October, 2009.  He is enjoying the diversity of his responsibilities and the challenges related to invasive species.  A few of Tim’s accomplishments as Invasive Species Coordinator include editing and working to get Missouri’s Aquatic Nuisance Species Plan submitted through the Governor’s office, approved by the ANS Task Force and  to administer the annual federal grant to implement the plan. Tim also had a major role in using bioagent insects in Missouri to combat the noxious spotted knapweed.  Long term bioagent evaluations are currently being conducted on Department areas in southern Missouri. He also continues to provide training and workshop opportunities for staff and produces invasive species materials to help educate Missouri citizens about invasive species.

Jeff Beringer has degrees in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Wisconsin – Steven Point and the University of Tennessee.  He has worked on a variety of carnivore species including grey wolves, black bears, bobcats, fishers, river otters, and coyotes.  He started with the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1986 as a Wildlife Damage Biologist, then, worked as a deer research biologist, a turkey biologist and grouse biologist.  Jeff’s current responsibilities include research and management of furbearers and large carnivores and chairing the mountain lion response team in Missouri.

Kathy Blank graduated from Northwestern University in 1952 and is the Mom of Chris Blank and Grandmother of Alan and Matt.  This will be her fifth Family Summit.

Lonnie Hansen is a resource scientist with the Missouri Department of Conservation working mostly on elk and deer.  He is an Illinois native and received a B.S. in zoology from Western Illinois University in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Illinois in 1978.  Before moving to Missouri, he was a research biologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey (1978-1987) working on squirrels and deer.  He has been with the Missouri Department of Conservation for 24 years.  Lonnie is primarily responsible for deer and elk research, assessing deer population status, public attitudes toward deer and deer hunting, proposing hunting regulations for deer seasons, and more recently elk.

Nels Holmberg lives on a sheep farm in east central Missouri with his wife Sandra and 10 Australian shepherds. A born again environmentalist, his great interest is understanding, cataloging and preserving the great diversity of fascinating organisms living on this earth. Sandra’s desire to be a farmer led to Nels’ interest in ecology which led to quitting his job and going back to UM-St. Louis for a MS degree in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. He now spends as much time as possible in the field, looking for and learning new plants. Nels believes that the quality of a nature hike depends greatly on the knowledge all the group members bring along.

Carroll Jackson, who is blind, is a field representative for Leader Dogs for the Blind and regularly travels independently all over the United States with his leader dog hunter using the Trekker, a GPS devise for the blind.

As a young teen, Amy Kilpatric attended the very first conservation summit that was held at the YMCA of the Rockies. When she became a parent she wanted her own children to experience the joys of being Summiteers, so she and her husband, Michel Lillmars, packed up their three little girls, along with the water bottles, ponchos, binoculars and field guides and headed to another Rocky Mountain summit.  The daughters were hooked and continued to encourage Mom and Dad to take them to summits all over the country.

As a native of the Ozark area, Amy Kilpatric spent her childhood climbing trees, playing in the woods behind her home, going on wildflower walks, and floating on the crystal clear water of the Ozarks streams. She continues to share her love of the natural world with children in her position as the lead science and nature teacher at Community School in St. Louis county. Every year Amy leads her sixth grade science students on geology tours of Meramec Springs Park and Onondaga Cave. During a camping trip to the area, Amy assists her students in water quality monitoring of streams in the Meramec River Watershed. Amy is delighted to have the opportunity to share her love of the Ozarks with her fellow Summiteers.

Larry Kinsella’s interest in stone tools began as a boy on the farm when he found arrowheads. In the early 1970’s, he went to an adult field school in Kampsville, IL and dug at the famous Koster site. That began his work as an amateur field archaeologist and his association with the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology. As a volunteer at the World Heritage site – Cahokia Mounds, he spent countless hours working on digs. In 1979, he began making stone tools. At first he knapped flint into arrowheads. Soon other stone tools and ancient techniques caught his interest – stone axes, atlatls, spears, pottery, fire-making, and more. He not only made stone tools but used them and experimented with them.  Since 2000, he has worked full-time as a professional field archaeologist, historical replicator and experimenter, demonstrator, and teacher.  His work in archaeology has been honored with several awards over the years. The most prestigious was in 2010, from the Society of American Archaeology – The Don Crabtree Away – the highest honor given to any amateur archaeologist for his outstanding work.  For more information, go to www.flintknapper.com

Marilyn Kinsella, Taleypo the Storyteller, of Fairview Heights, IL, has been telling stories since 1981. She tells stories “…from nursery schools to nursing homes.” Her folktales come from many cultures, but her favorite stories are those she wrote about growing up in her small, Mid-western town. Her stories are full of energy and a delicate blend of action and word imaging. As a full-time, free-lance teller she travels to where stories want to be told. Besides telling, she often leads workshops, writes, and performs puppet plays. In 2010, she became a published author with her book Storytelling and QAR Strategies. She has told stories to hundreds of schools and libraries in the Midwest and has been featured at many festivals and special events including The St. Louis Storytelling Festival Under the Arch, The Celtic World Festival in Ohio, Cahokia Mounds, and The Illinois Storytelling Festival. For more information visit her website at www.marilynkinsella.org.

Marla Krasinsky is a former teacher, an avid reader and an enthusiastic Summiteer.   She began her summit experiences Big Sky, Montana when she and her husband, Arthur, brought their grandson, Dean Kullmann, for a grandchild trip.  They were so excited about the summit that the next summer they brought the Kullmann family to Maine.  Then they added their son's family. All love sharing these summer experiences with friends they've made through the years.  Marla is looking forward to leading a book group this summer.

Stephen Mahfood has a 35 year track record as an innovative administrator and leader in the environmental, energy and natural resource fields. Steve was appointed by three successive governors over a 7 year period as Cabinet Secretary to lead the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and in that role was responsible for managing the environmental, energy, geological, cultural and historic resources of the state. He also represented Missouri and the US in a number of prominent roles including chairing the NAFTA-US Governmental Environmental Advisory Commission, serving on the EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) for 13 years. He received the “United States Presidential Environmental Achievement Award” in 1997. Steve currently is advising the Nature Conservancy and many influential organizations on climate change, energy, environmental, natural resource and carbon management issues. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers University and is a graduate of the Yale University Environmental and Management Leadership Program.

Lynda Mills is a Certified Wildlife Biologist with the Mark Twain National Forest.  She has worked for the Forest Service for 20 years and has expertise in fire ecosystems, timber management for wildlife, red-headed woodpecker recovery, and Indiana bat recovery.

Sue Sabo first contracted the Conservation Summit Virus (CSV) about 17 years ago when her parents invited her to join them at the Blue Ridge Summit and she has been infected with it ever since! Since the CSV is so contagious, she has managed to infect the rest of her family and a few others along the way! The symptoms of CSV include an intense desire to collect scarves of differing colors, greet others infected with the same virus, and see parts of this country that un-infected people never get a chance to experience! About 6 years ago she developed a new symptom--an uncontrollable desire to become even more involved in the Summit experience. Thus, I have now entered the "Faculty" phase, working with the Adult Adventure Class and eventually leading the Family Adventure class on her own.  Two years ago the CSV mutated into a new but very similar virus known as the Family Summit Virus (FSV), and hopes to remain infected with this new virus for many years to come! When not indulging her viral symptoms, she is a media specialist in an elementary school near Columbus Ohio, and also a member of the Improv Comedy Troupe, Squishy! www.getsquishy.com

Jo Schaper has been an outdoors person since she first went camping with the Girl Scouts. A lifelong Missourian, she combines interests in writing and geology as the assistant editor for the River Hills Traveler, a Missouri outdoors newspaper and as a freelance writer. She has been a Volunteer in Parks nature interpreter for the Missouri State Park system since 1989, an active caver since 1986, and most enjoys sharing her passion for rocks and water with others.  http://www.riverhillstraveler.com  

Eugene Vale - While doing plant ecology research towards a Masters at St. Louis University, Eugene Vale became active in the Grotto [caving club] there.  On his outdoor adventures, he found himself interpreting much of the natural world to others.  He came to think, "Wouldn't it be great to be paid for doing this?"  Mr. Vale worked his way through school on a teaching fellowship and at an opticoelectronics factory.  In 1980 the Missouri State Parks took over the Fisher Cave Tours at Meramec State Park. Members of the Missouri Speleological Survey, including Mr. Vale, advised state parks on this. That year was his first year as a seasonal interpreter.  He led cave tours at Fisher Cave and expanded to cover other interpretive programs at the Park.   He also was a seasonal at Babler, and in 1985 was appointed as the first full time naturalist at Onondaga Cave State Park.  Mr. Vale moved to the Research Management and Interpretation Program in 2003, where his background in electronics and computers has helped the Mo. DNR switch to digital AV, and develop new types of interactive exhibits. He has received three Missouri Masterpiece Awards from the Missouri State Parks, is a Fellow of the National Speleological Society, has received two awards from the National Association for Interpretation Region VI, and is past president of the Association of Missouri Interpreters.  He has received three awards from that organization. Mr. Vale has degrees in Biology and is married to Jo Shaper who has a degree in geology.  She says, “Together we make a planet.”  The two are known for their joint programs.