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Audrey Benedict is the founder and Director of Cloud Ridge Naturalists. Trained as both a geologist and biologist, Audrey has guided natural history groups in mountain and oceanic environments around the world for more than 35 years. She is author of the definitive The Naturalist's Guide to the Southern Rockies and Valley of the Dunes: Great Sand Dunes National Park with photographers Bob Rozinski and Wendy Shattil.
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Patrick Cardwell has been fascinated by South Africa's birds and natural history for over 40 years. He's seen over 870 of Southern Africa's 900 or so bird species, participated in distribution studies for the S.A. Bird Atlas Project and a leading authority on the country's endemic species. Patrick is fully certified as a Field Guide of South Africa and holds Bird Life South Africa's specialist guide endorsement. He and his wife, Marie Louise, own Avian Leisure, a natural history tour company offering exclusively tailored itineraries. |
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Dr. Steve Cassells is one of Colorado's foremost archaeologists, the author of The Archaeology of Colorado, and recipient of the prestigious C.T. Hurst Award from the Colorado Archaeological Society. He is currently Professor of Anthropology at Laramie County Community College. Steve is a superb teacher who enjoys sharing his knowledge of human prehistory—especially when it involves running a river. |
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Sarah Drummond is a naturalist/artist who grew up traveling with Cloud Ridge and now serves as Co-Director. She received her B.A. from Maine's College of the Atlantic, where her studies emphasized ecology, island ecosystems and art, and where she was awarded a Watson Foundation research fellowship. Sarah has taught natural history art at COA and is completing a Masters at Prescott College. She spends her summers as a naturalist/kayak guide in Southeast Alaska aboard the M/V Catalyst, and is now working on a book that "follows in the footsteps" of artists who accompanied the major exploratory expeditions. See her artwork at www.sarahdrummondart.com.
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Dr. Emmett Evanoff is Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Northern Colorado, and a Research Associate at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the University of Colorado Museum. His research focuses on the study of paleo-environments—the "story behind the scenery." Emmett brings to his field teaching a tremendous knowledge of regional geology and a contagious enthusiasm for the geologic events that have shaped western landscapes. |
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Jennifer Hahn
is a writer, illustrator, naturalist, teacher, wild harvester, and coastal traveler. She has 30 years of wilderness travel experience, including guiding natural history trips by sea kayak in the San Juan Islands for 22 years, solokayaking from Southeast Alaska to Washington, and has spent many seasons guiding in Southeast Alaska. She is author of the award-winning Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage, and Pacific Feast: A Cook's Guide to West Coast Foraging and Cuisine. |
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Marilyn Hailbronner’s drawings—rendered in pen and ink and color wash—grace Cloud Ridge's brochure and website. Her work as a professional artist is a reflection of her love for the natural world and her passion for conservation. Marilyn works aboard the M/V Sea Wolf as a naturalist/ kayak guide in Glacier Bay. She also serves as Cloud Ridge's Staff Advisor for curriculum and medical issues, which takes her to wilderness areas around the world. Visit Marilyn's website to see more of her art: www.wildinkwell.com.
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Dr. Geoff Hammerson
is Senior Research Zoologist for NatureServe and lives in Port Townsend, WA. He is the author of the definitive Amphibians and Reptiles in Colorado, as well as Connecticut Wildlife. Geoff is an outstanding zoologist and a popular field instructor wherever he goes, always adding new dimensions to his natural history expertise, and is famous for his ability to coax the most reluctant animal to share its secrets with an appreciative audience. |
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Wayne Howell, who recently retired after a distinguished career at Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park, is an archaeologist with 35 years of experience working in Alaska, the American Southwest, and the Maya lowlands of Guatemala, Wayne's work in Glacier Bay has focused on historical and contemporary relationships of Tlingit clans to place and the ways in which landscape shapes culture. He continues to explore the natural history of Glacier Bay's hidden corners, combining geologic and ethnographic data to better understand the Little Ice-Age-history of human occupation in Glacier Bay and Chichagof Island.
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Kimber Owen
wears many hats—owner of the
M/V Sea Wolf and Sea Wolf Adventures, captain, expert naturalist, and conservationist. Her passion for Alaska and its wildlife is unsurpassed and is reflected in her mission to make the Sea Wolf a platform for conservation education throughout the Pacific Northwest. Kimber's early experience in creating "Leap of Faith," a therapeutic riding center in Texas, inspired her retrofit of the Sea Wolf—total accessibility in the service of wilderness education without barriers.
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Bob Rozinski & Wendy Shattil are the rarest of
species—full-time professional nature photographers. They've worked individually and as a team for more than 30 years and are known world-wide for their award-winning images and reputation as environmental  photographers of endangered species and at-risk ecosystems throughout North America. Fellows of the International League of Conservation Photographers, Bob and Wendy have produced twelve books, and their images have appeared in National Wildlife, Audubon, Nature Conservancy, BBC Wildlife, Nature's Best, National Geographic publications, and many others. They are extraordinarily talented and extremely generous in sharing their expertise. |
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Dr. Mike Scott, who recently retired as Senior Research Ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, focuses his research on the biology and ecology of cottonwoods and other riparian tree species of the Colorado River System, and on developing a predictive understanding of how western riparian vegetation responds to humaninduced changes in stream flow. Mike is an excellent field teacher and has a marvelous talent for sharing his broad knowledge of rivers.
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Dr. Ed Wick has studied the biology, behavioral ecology, and habitat requirements of the Colorado pike minnow (squawfish), humpback chub, and razorback sucker for more than 35 years. He has focused his research efforts on the Yampa, Green, Little Snake, White, and Colorado Rivers. Ed is an extraordinary field teacher—an eloquent and compelling spokesman for the conservation of the native fish of the Colorado River System.
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