Staff Biographies

Stewart Aitchison

Stewart Aitchison’s writing and photography career grew out of his curiosity about the American Southwest’s remarkable natural history. After graduating from Northern Arizona University, he worked for 10 years at the Museum of Northern Arizona as a research biologist.

Presently, when not writing, he escorts natural history trips for Lindblad Expeditions, Road Scholar, and other educational tour groups in the American Southwest, Alaska, Mexico, Central America, and Scotland.

His books include Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Arizona Mountains and Grand Canyon; Grand Canyon: Window of Time; Red Rock-Sacred Mountain: The Canyons and Peaks from Sedona to Flagstaff; A Traveler’s Guide to Monument Valley; and Utah Wildlands. His photos have been published in many national and regional magazines and newspapers.

Aitchison makes his home in Flagstaff, Arizona, with his wife, Ann, and daughter, Kate.

Ernie Atencio

Ernie Atencio has worked throughout the West as a freelance writer, environmental activist, environmental educator and wilderness instructor and has led trips for Northern Arizona University (NAU), Yavapai College and Yosemite Institute. He spent many years as a park ranger at Mesa Verde National Park, Bandelier National Monument and on both rims of the Grand Canyon. Now reattached to his deep roots in northern New Mexico, Ernie is executive director of the Taos Land Trust.
Pursuing a lifelong interest in cultural adaptations to rugged landscapes, Ernie has a Masters in applied socio-cultural anthropology from NAU and has traveled and studied extensively in the Himalayas and remote parts of Mexico and the Southwest. He has conducted ethnographic research and published works on sustainable development on the Tibetan Plateau, Havasupai Tribe ethno-history in the Grand Canyon and western cowboy culture. Ernie is author of two books on Indo-Hispano stewardship traditions in northern New Mexico and a wide variety of journalism, anthropology, natural history, reviews, essays and creative writing.

Peter Baenziger

Peter Baenziger, born in the United States, was raised in Switzerland. He attended a graduate program in Munich, Germany, a master’s program in filmmaking in the United States, and had a long career in photography and industrial filmmaking. He has a passion for photography and hiking, capturing the natural beauty of the land and sky throughout Arizona. He has led many Road Scholar Outdoor Adventure programs and lives in Sedona with his wife, Dee, who is a visual artist.

Bruce Banker

Bruce Banker is a graduate of Northern Arizona University, where he studied natural sciences and geology. He lives in Flagstaff and has worked for the National Park Service as a naturalist on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Chaco Canyon National Historic Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Bruce also serves as an outdoor educator for the Grand Canyon Field Institute. Bruce has taken students to many of the far-flung corners of the Southwest and has a few good stories to share.

Dr. Nadine Barlow

Dr. Nadine Barlow received both her bachelor’s (astronomy), and her doctorate (planetary sciences) from the University of Arizona. She has been a post-doctoral fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas; a National Research Council Fellow at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston; and an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where she also served as the first Director of the UCF Robinson Observatory.

Chuck Barnes

In the Fall of 1957, when the USSR launched “Sputnik,” Chuck Barnes was at sea as an Intelligence Officer on the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. Ten years later, after two advanced degrees in geology, Chuck moved to Flagstaff and began working on the geology of our moon. As the years rolled on he was involved in some 20 NASA advisory committees. His specialties are Planetary Geology and Grand Canyon geology … one foot on Earth and another one above.

Bryan Bates

Bryan Bates is an Ex Officio member of the Governing Board for the International Society for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture. Under a NASA grant, he created a course manual for archaeoastronomy and published research on a solar calendar at Wupatki and an equinox site near Stoneman Lake. He is involved in a research project on archaeoastronomy at Mesa Verde National Park and teaches archaeoastronomy, as well as biology, environmental science, natural history and chemistry.

Jennifer Beltz

Jennifer Beltz is a former interpretive park ranger at Phantom Ranch, located in Grand Canyon National Park. She has worked as a naturalist and national park ranger throughout the United States, was co-coordinator of a Road Scholar service program that built a health clinic in Brazil, and has worked on many intergenerational programs. Jennifer has lectured in the Department of Geography and Public Planning at Northern Arizona University and has led programs for Road Scholar since 1992.

David Best

David Best was born in Cardiff, Wales, and immigrated to North Carolina with his parents in the late 1940s. He has been a geology department professor and administrator at Northern Arizona University for 30 years, and strives to enhance the learning process of non-science majors in general education science courses. In his spare time, David is currently working on two books and enjoys gourmet cooking, woodworking, traveling, and reading.

Dr. Stanley Beus

From his early days growing up on a dairy farm in Idaho, Dr. Stanley Beus quickly became fascinated with nature. He earned a Ph.D. in geology from UCLA before beginning a career as an exploration geologist, and later became the first head of the Geology Department at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Beus has been both a field and class instructor for Road Scholar programs for over 20 years, and has enjoyed bringing geology to life for literally thousands of participants.

Dr. Amanda Bosh

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994 Dr. Bosh's major research interests include: Kinematics and compositions of planetary ring systems using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe stationary-point stellar occultations and obtain spectra of planetary rings; and Stellar occultations by small bodies in the solar system (Pluto, Triton) to study atmospheric composition and structure.

Cheryl Brenman

Cheryl holds a B.S. in Education from the Univ of Colorado, is a licensed massage therapist with over 25 years experience, a certified Yoga and Nomadics teacher, and a certified Jin Shin Jyutsu Self Help Instructor. A Sedona resident since 1984, she maintains a private massage practice, teaches Swedish Massage at the Sedona School of Massage, Yoga and Nomadics at Los Abrigatos Health Spa, private yoga sessions, and works with the Sedona Artist in the Classroom Program teaching yoga, simple massage and self awareness skills to area children. She has written and produced an instructional DVD, “Infant Massage, The Gift of Love that Lasts a Lifetime,” which is available through local bookstores and Amazon.com. She has recently produced a Nomadics DVD specifically for her older students. She has been teaching with the Elderhostel program since 2001.

She lives with her husband, John, and two cats. They have two grown daughters.

Ahna Bridenbaugh

Ahna is a licensed accupuncurist. She graduated Cum Laude in 1996 from Emperor's College of Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica, CA. She has enjoyed her private practice in Sedona since then. She is board certified and AZ licensed.

Elena Bullard

Elena Bullard began her yoga training at the age of 4 when her grandmother taught her Sanskrit chants. Influenced by her father who studied Sanskrit, Yoga worked its own way in and out of her life for the next 50 years. After receiving a B.A. in Archaeology, and an M.A. in Sociology, Urban Planning and Architecture, Elena spent the next 25 years in the corporate world, and as Adjunct Faculty at Arizona State University. In 1995 Elena settled with her husband in Verde Valley, first telecommuting for a hi tech company and then pursuing yoga full time. Elena is a full time Certified Instructor, and leads a yoga teacher training and certification course at the Arizona School of Integrative Studies. Elena teaches at A.S.I.S., The Old Town Center for the Arts, The Pathways to Wellness Center in Sedona, and in private practice.

John Burcham

“I want to be challenged, and I’m not afraid of a little manual labor,” says Arizona-based photographer John Burcham. In John’s photographic niche, he often gets his wish. Whether it is schlepping in the Arctic’s sub-zero temperatures or fleshing out the photographic details in the midst of grinding chainsaws and falling trees, John artfully meshes a sense of story with an obsession for detail. John’s work has been published in National Geographic, The New York Times and Popular Mechanics.

Marcia Burns

Artist and nature lover Marcia Burns has worked on the North and South rims of the Grand Canyon. A ceramic artist for more than 30 years, she originally interpreted the canyon country into landscapes out of clay. Then she became intrigued with the critters of the region, rendering them as well. She went on to have a successful ceramic art business for 15 years, sculpting plants and animals of the tropics and the Southwest. She fueled her fascination for exotic wildlife by traveling the world.

Chio Black

Chizomana (Chio) Black was born at Second Mesa on the Hopi Indian Reservation. A few years after Chio’s birth, her parents died and she was raised by an uncle who taught her that Hopi culture wouldn’t be understood unless it was shared, leading Chio to lecture at museums. Later, she put aside a pop music career when she adopted three Hopi children. Chio is a member of the Indian Living Treasures Association, which honors Arizona Indians age 60 and over for dedication to arts and crafts.

Chris Coder

Chris Coder has a B.A. in Geology from Augustana College and a Masters of Anthropology from Northern Arizona University. He has been a professional archaeologist since 1981, working on the Colorado Plateau, across the intermountain west and the Great Plains. Chris was a project archaeologist for the Grand Canyon National Park on the Colorado River from 1990-1996. Since then he has been the archaeologist for the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Camp Verde. Chris lives with his wife and two daughters outside of Flagstaff, AZ.

Jerry Cohoe

Artist Jerry Cohoe is the son of a Diné (Navajo) medicine man from Tocito, New Mexico. Jerry is the third of six children. His mother is from the Bit'ahnii (leaf) clan and his father from the 'Ashiihi (salt people) clan. Jerry feels that his curiosity in art dates back to early childhood watching his mother weave intricate traditional Diné rug designs or seeing ritualistic sand paintings created on hogan floors during his father's healing ceremonies. Even though this interest in art started when he could first hold a pencil Jerry became serious about his talent in 1983. Jerry's work reflects his Diné heritage mixed with the influences of the white man's society. Most of his studies are framed in the setting of the Great Diné Nation, where his roots and heart are firmly planted.

Dr. David Cole

David Cole has been on faculty at Northern Arizona University for 11 years and is a past recipient of the LOUIE Award for outstanding professor. Formerly assistant director of the NASA Space Grant on campus, he left that post to assume a senior lecturer position that allows him to focus more on teaching physics and astronomy. He has three small children, but none of them has expressed an interest to be an astronaut — yet.

Perry Crampton

Perry Crampton is a docent at a 200-acre botanical garden in Flagstaff, where he works with birds of prey rehabilitation. His interests include rock art, geology, archaeology, hiking, birding, and he has a special passion for wolf reintroduction efforts. Perry works with a coalition studying the reintroduction of wolves on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim and spent two years with the bison reintroduction project at the Tallgrass Prairie in Northern Oklahoma.

Terra Crampton

Terra Crampton was born in Oklahoma, raised in England and Germany, and educated in the United States. Highly knowledgeable about Four Corners flora and fauna, she is founder of the Flagstaff Xeriscape Council and a member of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery. Terra helped create the first Master Naturalist program in Flagstaff and now teaches classes there. A docent at the Museum of Northern Arizona, she ventured south to help rescue thousands of stranded animals after Hurricane Katrina.

Dr. Kathy Eastwood

Dr. Kathy Eastwood has been a physics and astronomy professor at Northern Arizona University since 1988. She earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wyoming and held a postdoctoral position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A Fulbright scholar in Chile in 2006, Dr. Eastwood’s research interests concern the formation and evolution of massive stars. She also directs NAU’s National Undergraduate Research Observatory and the Research Experiences for Undergraduates site for astronomy.

Carolyn Emanuel

Carolyn Emanuel is an experienced group leader and guide who has planned and led cultural programs and hikes to Hovenweep, Canyon of the Ancients, the Oh Be Joyful wildflower trek near Crested Butte, Colo., and to the Devil’s Causeway near Yampa, Dominguez Canyon, Paria Canyon, Rim-to-Rim on the Grand Canyon, Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks, Rocky Mountain National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

Carol has spent a decade leading groups to most of the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in Ancient America including Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Grand Gulch, Betatakin and Keet Seel in Navajo National Monument, Chaco Canyon, Lion House, Eagle’s Nest and Two Story House in Ute Mountain Tribal Park, Horseshoe Gallery in Utah’s Canyonlands, Grand Gulch sites, and West Texas’ Seminole Canyon.

Jerry Foreman

Jerry Foreman is a photography instructor at Northern Arizona University who loves telling stories through his photos — and teaching his students to do the same. He is an expert on the Flagstaff area, having grown up in the Red Rock Country. He studied business and Spanish at NAU while working at the school newspaper as the photo editor. He has worked as a landscape photographer and began teaching color, black and white, and digital photography five years ago.

Linda Hall

Linda Hall was raised in Phoenix but wandered off to live in four states and travel in four continents before returning to Arizona. She joins Road Scholar through the docent and master naturalist programs at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Linda has a background in history, mathematics and philosophy, and her interests include the Flagstaff Symphony Guild, American Association of University Women, the local therapeutic riding program, Friends of the Flagstaff Library and the Audubon Society.

Wilma Hunter

Wilma has been a demonstrator, program coordinator and teacher in the Canyon de Chelly region since 2000. She is a registered Navajo guide with the National Park Service in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Wilma crafts jewelry which has been shown at the Santa Fe Market and other world-class Native American art shows throughout the country. She lives in Canyon de Chelly.

Feather Jones

Feather Jones is a clinical herbalist in the field of natural healing. She operates a private practice where she helps individuals with their health care needs, she leads “herb walks” that introduce people to the healing plants around them and she writes for Sedona’s Four Corners magazine. Feather is an expert in the teachings of the Mandan tribe of Native Americans and incorporates their timeless knowledge into her own work.

Joanna Joseph

Daughter of a Montana saddle maker, Joanna Joseph is an artist, musician and interpreter of human history. At the University of Montana, she studied art, drama and classical Greek. Joanna was also tour supervisor at Glen Canyon Dam, developing an appreciation for the importance of water in the Southwest. A resident of Big Water, Utah, she has worked with Road Scholar since 1994.

Lisa Kearsley

From her father, a biology professor, Lisa developed an appreciation for the Southwest. She has a bachelor’s in zoology from University of California, Davis and a master’s in biology from Northern Arizona University. She has worked at the Grand Canyon as an interpretive park ranger teaching natural history programs, and has studied the effects of Glen Canyon Dam on area campsites. Lisa recently wrote the book, “The San Juan River Guide,” a guidebook for river runners.

Karen Landis

Karen Landis’ front door has opened up onto Route 66 for the past 38 years, giving her status as a Route 66 legend in the Seligman stretch of the road. Some 25 years ago, a customer at her convenience store mustered the gumption to ask her to marry him, and Karen and Mike Landis — a legend himself known as Arizona’s No. 1 cowboy — have been ranching together ever since. Karen’s independent spirit and ropin’ and ridin’ skills have opened a new world to Road Scholar adventurers year after year.

Stewart Lasseter

After completing studies in geo-science, natural history and Spanish at the University of Arizona, Stewart Lasseter studied as the protégé of a Native American healer, learning from her practices of wholeness, kinesiology, mind-body medicine and dyslexia correction. He has years of experience bringing groups in touch with the natural world, and is currently pursuing post-graduate studies in health sciences at Prescott College.

Jen Lavris

Jen Lavris knew that she wanted to be an archaeologist by age four. She completed her field school at a prehistoric Iroquois settlement in upstate New York with Binghamton University when she was just fifteen, received her BA in Archaeology from the College of Wooster in 1994, and her Master’s Degree in Archaeology and Heritage from the University of Leicester (UK) in 2009. In the fall of 1996, she worked on a project on Easter Island for Norway’s Kon-Tiki Museum and in 1998 in the US Southwest at the Hohokam site Pueblo Grande. In 2001 she joined the Penn-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts (NYU) Expedition to Abydos, Egypt (excavation and conservation of Early Dynastic ±3000-2575 BC mud brick funerary structures of Egypt’s first kings). In 2003 Jen began working as an archaeologist with the Natl. Park Service at Canyon De Chelly Natl. Monument in Chinle, AZ where she has designed a project for the inventory, monitoring, and recording of prehistoric and historic archeological sites.

Azalia Lewis

Azalia Lewis is descended from the Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna tribes. Currently residing in Chinle, AZ. near the mouth of Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Azalia is Kin'ya'aani, (towering house clan), Kis'anni, (born for Hopi), Maii' deeshgizhnii, (born into coyote pass clan), Too' lanii dinee', (born into Laguna). She attended school in Chinle, AZ and is pursuing a career in the art of jewelry making. Azalia is married and has two beautiful children. She looks forward to meeting new people and sharing the beauty of her multicultural background, especially Navajo, on Road Scholar programs in Canyon de Chelly.

Ramson Lomatewama

Ramson Lomatewama, Hopi artist, poet, and educator has been wowing participants for over a decade with insightful commentary about what it means to be Hopi. Ramson offers his unique perspective on the challenges of living in two worlds – both the “modern” world and that of a traditional Hopi. Ramson's life on the Hopi Reservation is at the heart of his art and poetry, and his is a spiritual reflection of his rich heritage and the timeless culture of the Hopi people.

Ramson has been carving dolls for sale twelve years. He began carving ‘old style’ dolls about ten years ago after seeing Manfred Susunkewa’s work in Phoenix. He is fanatical about using the most traditional materials and techniques. His pigments are all natural. He even spins his own twine to attach the feathers. Ramson also produces silver jewellery, is a talented glass blower and has published three books of poetry: Silent Winds: Poetry of One Hopi; Ascending the Reed; and Drifting Through Ancestor’s Dreams.

Keith Lyons

Keith Lyons is an archaeologist who specializes in North American archaeology, historic and prehistoric architecture, rock art, site preservation, cultural landscapes, human osteology, and museum management. He has spent the past sixteen years working as a professional archaeologist throughout the U.S. southwest, and has worked with the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, and several private archeological firms. Keith has spent the past eight years working as an archaeologist for the National Park Service at Canyon de Chelly National Monument. In 1995, Keith earned his B.A. in Anthropology from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In 2009, Keith completed his Postgraduate Certificate in the Planning and Management of Archeological Projects from the School of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester, in the United Kingdom.

James "Q" Martin

James "Q" Martin has been a lead photography instructor for Road Scholar programs for more than eight years. He has led programs in Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon National parks as well as numerous other locations throughout the Southwest. James’ work has been widely published in books and catalogs worldwide, with an emphasis on landscape photography and outdoor adventure themes.

Mike Masek

Mike Masek is a wilderness skills instructor, herbalist and ethnobotanist living in Flagstaff, Ariz. In addition to his current work with Road Scholar, he is adjunct faculty at Northern Arizona University where he teaches traditional uses of native plants and outdoor survival skills. He also teaches programs at the National Parks and Coconino Community College. He has spent a lifetime exploring the canyons and deserts of the American Southwest and loves to share these treasures with others.

Sierra Marie McKenna

Born in Long Beach, Calif., Sierra's childhood dream was to become an artist. She later graduated from CSU Fullerton with a broad background in art, advertising, marketing, and business. A watercolorist, Sierra also has extensive experience in design, drawing and illustrating. She began her career in ad firms, but later left the corporate world to pursue a career in fine arts. Sierra has studied with renowned watercolorists including Robert E. Wood, Milford Zones, and Christine Sullivan.

Ken and Lyn Mikell

Ken and Lyn Mikell play a wide range of traditional music, with particular attention to the Celtic roots of cowboy music. Using harp, guitar, recorder, fiddle, and harmonica, Ken and Lynne animate and illuminate the music that followed the trail west.

From old time trail songs to the golden era of the radio and silver screen cowboy, they have an extensive knowledge of the history of Western music and enjoy sharing it with audiences.

The music of the Old World found a new home at the hearths and campfires of the Old West. Ken and Lynne are proud to be a part of that continuing tradition.

They have been featured at gatherings in Sierra Vista, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Alpine, Texas and many others.

Their work in schools and classrooms is educational and entertaining, introducing a new generation to an important part of America’s unique cultural heritage. They are long-time favorites with many of the resorts of Northern Arizona.

Eric Moore

Eric has birded extensively from Maine to California and just about everywhere in between. However, Eric's favorite birding destination is southeastern Arizona. In 2003, after working in the grocery industry for 22 years, Eric decided to combine his retail experience with his love of birds and opened a backyard wild bird store in Prescott, Arizona called Jay's Bird Barn. In February 2010, he opened his second Jay’s Bird Barn store in Sedona. Eric teaches non-credit courses on birds at Yavapai College, and he teaches classes and leads bird walks for the Highlands Center for Natural History in Prescott. Eric also writes a weekly column about wild birds for the Prescott newspaper, the Daily Courier.

Kevin Mullins

Kevin Mullins began working for the U.S. Geological Survey while still a student at Northern Arizona University, where he earned his master’s on the spectral responses and geochemistry of the Moenkopi Dune field. He has worked on all major NASA solar system mapping projects — including Viking and Voyager images — and now splits his time between terrestrial and planetary geology projects. Kevin also teaches part time at a local community college and enjoys writing poetry and playing the guitar.

Michael Peach

Native Arizonan Michael Peach brings decades of professional study and field experience in the cultural anthropology of ancient Arizona to his interpretation of the rock art of its early native peoples. He has taught college-level courses for more than a decade, and for the past 19 years he has led groups to ruin and rock art sites in the Verde Valley and across the Colorado Plateau. His original masks have sold at professional galleries and at the International Festival of Masks.

James Poley

James Poley is from the village of Bacavi, on the Third Mesa of the Hopi Reservation. Born into the Reed Clan (one of 25 clans that make up the Hopi tribe), James has embraced the teachings, religion and lifestyle of the Hopi, and very much enjoys sharing these traditions with Road Scholar participants. James is a skilled Kachina doll carver, farmer and father of five children. His wife, Stephanie, often shares her love of cooking traditional Hopi meals with Road Scholar groups.

Garrett Roberts

From the historical to the cinematic to the dust-on-your-brow trail, Garrett Roberts knows the American West. His lectures invoke intrigue and humor to dispel the myths created by Hollywood’s western genre. Garrett replicates museum-quality 19th century leather equipment for theater, is an avid hiker, and enjoys singing jazz. He has also worked for Emmy award-winning wardrobe designer Michael Boyd and was the key costume designer for Stephen Spielberg’s “Into the West.”

Avani Robinson

Avani Robinson has studied and practiced ayurveda since 1998. She is a graduate of New York University and the International Vedic Institute of Ayurveda. She has a practice in both Sedona and New York, specializing in health and nutrition, ayurvedic spa therapies and detoxification. Avani especially enjoys sharing the ancient secrets of ayurveda with the community.

Melissa Ruffner

Melissa is a member of an Arizona pioneer family which arrived in the Arizona Territory in 1867 and left a rich and colorful legacy here..

Over thirty years ago, Melissa co-founded the Elderhostel program at Yavapai College. Her tours were featured in Arizona Highways magazine and are Fodor and Berlitz recommended. She wrote three books on Arizona history. As official storyteller for the Arizona Jamboree and later the Arizona Revue, Melissa performed for over a decade at Prescott’s Elks Opera House.

In 2003, Melissa received the Sharlot Hall Award for “a woman who has made a valuable contribution to the understanding and awareness of Arizona history.” She and her mother were honored with the prestigious Arizona Culture Keeper designation. To Melissa, “Arizona is an enormous, spectacular classroom where I share the history and love of place passed on to me. I am here because of those who came to Arizona and helped build a territory into a state."

Rick Serchio

In my coaching practice I utilize several techniques in guiding people out of their limiting concepts and behaviors, with my favorite being the Sedona Method. The Sedona Method is an easy and natural way to let go of any unwanted feeling or thought in the moment by "releasing". We possess and are born with this natural ability to let go or release and we will re-connect with that ability.

Jana Shiloh

Jana Shiloh is certified in classical homeopathy and has been practicing for 27 years. The author of two books, she has taught homeopathy at the University of Tucson Medical School in a course co-sponsored by Dr. Andrew Weil. Jane currently works with Dr. Devin Mikles in his medical clinic, Choices Integrated Healthcare.

Dennis Sigman

Dennis Sigman's background is a patchwork of arts, science, business and traveling. During his studies in chemistry and biology, Dennis got caught up in the excitement of the 1960s and became a propaganda artist for the peace movement. This led to a career in the arts, with emphasis on painting, sculpting, theater directing and journalism. He has published a monthly arts magazine and is an arts feature writer for Flagstaff’s Daily Sun.

Jerry Snow

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Jerry Snow taught college classes for 25 years in the areas of biology, ecology and environmental health. He moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, with his wife, Juana, over a decade ago and worked part-time for the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Lab in entomology. Jerry has been a docent with the Museum of Northern Arizona since 1994, specializing in Navajo and Hopi Indian history and culture. His hobbies include model railroading and archeoastronomy.

Jeff Strang

Jeff Strang’s knowledge of the environment stems from his education at the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School, as well as from his extensive experience as a naturalist. In 1987, Jeff filed a precedent-setting lawsuit against Oregon polluters under the Clean Water Act. Jeff has been leading Road Scholar programs since 2002. In his free time, Jeff enjoys biking to work, hiking, kayaking, outdoor photography and studying geology.

Matt Turner

Matt Turner has lived in the Southwest since 1982 and currently resides in Prescott, Ariz. He has traveled extensively in the region and has done work in field ecology and cartography. In addition, Matt is an ecological consultant and a professional photographer. You can view his photographs at www.pbase.com/swtravel.

Veronica Vida

Veronica is an astrologer and expressive art therapist with a deep concern and passion for individual and planetary healing. She brings 30 years of experience in women’s spirituality, facilitating sacred rituals and ceremony. Veronica has worked with women, children, and families in a variety of settings, as a midwife, teacher, and therapist. Combining this rich experience with a master’s in counseling and expressive art therapy allows her to bring insight, compassion and creativity to her work.

Nat White

Ph.D., Ohio State University, 1971 Major research interests: measurement of stellar properties using lunar occultations; and development of astronomical instrumentation, high-angular-resolution astronomy. Dr. White is Lowell Observatory's program manager for the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) currently under construction at Anderson Mesa.

George Witteman

George Witteman has been a field instructor for Road Scholar in the Sedona, Arizona area since 2006. He volunteers as an archaeological docent for the Coconino National Forest and is an active member of the Verde Valley archaeological society. A retired, board-certified ophthalmologist who specialized in cataract surgery for 35 years, George took second place in the World Arm Wrestling Championship while in medical school. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force.

Steve Yoder

Steve Yoder is a lifelong resident, student, and explorer of the American Southwest. He holds a Master’s degree in Geography from Northern Arizona University, where he researched Navajo attitudes towards environmental issues, which required 200 interpreter-aided interviews and 30,000 dirt-road miles of travel.

Steve is currently the Acting Director at The Arboretum at Flagstaff, a 200-acre botanical garden, research station, and environmental education center located in the ponderosa pine forests outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. Steve has worked at The Arboretum since 1993, and there he shares his love of the environment and natural history with visitors and Participants.

As a graduate student, Steve interned with the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., where he researched questions for the National Geography Bee. As an undergraduate, Steve worked weekends as a captain with the world’s seventh-largest submarine fleet, headquartered in Anaheim, California.

Mike Young

Mike Young has lived in Arizona for 40 years and taught math and geology at Yavapai College prior to his work with Road Scholar. To convey the Arizona landscape, Mike uses a broad range of topics including botany, natural history and geomorphology. He has been a commercial boatman, designed and constructed his own home, and conducted field exercises throughout the intermountain west. He is an accomplished hike leader who challenges hikers of all skill levels.