Don Albright, retired high school geography teacher and former State of California geologist, has been trekking Baja California and the Southwest for 45 years.

Frank Canziani has worked as a photographic assistant, operated his own photographic business, and been both an advisor to professional photographic organizations and a guest lecturer at numerous schools. Canziani has worked in the photographic business for almost 30 years and has been published in several national publications. Currently, he teaches digital photography classes for Nelson Photo Supplies. He has traveled worldwide.

Aenne Carver is a certified master gardener and lectures county wide on gardening and herb use. She is a docent at the Carlsbad Flower Fields and is an accomplished floral designer. Carver writes a weekly garden column for Today's Local News. She teaches elementary and junior high school workshops and is an Elderhostel teacher.

Kerry Cato, Ph.D., is a practicing geologist who deals with surface processes, natural hazards, water resources, and what happens when people try to place projects or structures in this dynamic natural environment. He was a senior project geologist during the construction of Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet, CA, where some of the most recent and largest excavations in California took place—he has led numerous tours regarding this project. Cato currently operates Cato Geoscience, Inc. and his projects take him all over southern California.

Tom Deméré, Ph.D., as Curator of Paleontology, has occupied the Joshua L. Bailey, Jr. Chair of Paleontology at the Museum since 1994. Before that he served as Collection Manager in the department. Tom's research focuses on the evolutionary history and paleobiology of pinnipeds and cetaceans. He is also keenly interested in the geology and paleontology of southern California and Baja California and has published numerous scientific and popular articles on these subjects. Tom also serves as Director of the Department of Paleontological Services, a consulting arm of the BRCC that provides paleontological resource (i.e., fossils) assessment and impact mitigation services to public and private developers. This work has been responsible for the discovery, salvage, and conservation of thousands of significant fossils from construction sites in San Diego, Orange, and Riverside counties.

Estelle Dunst is a native San Diegan. After retiring from a successful first career, Dunst enrolled to a gourmet cooking class and was introduced to the world of chocolate. Chocolate quickly became her second profession, she has been making edible art for over 20 years. Dunst has traveled to Chicago to work with chocolatier Elaine Gonzales and has visited Italy, New York, San Francisco and New Jersey to further her chocolate knowledge. She has demonstrated edible chocolate art at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom’s, Country Music Hall of Fame, for an FBI convention held in San Diego, on cruise ships, and for many other large corporations.

Tim Gallagher is a lifelong bird fanatic. An award-winning writer and photographer, he is editor in chief of Living Bird magazine, the flagship publication of the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For many years Gallagher has traveled to faraway places, from the high Arctic to the tropics, to study and photograph birds and report on his research. He is the author of Wild Bird Photography, Birdwatching, Where the Birds Are: The 100 Best Birding Spots in North America, Parts Unknown: A Naturalist’s Journey in Search of Birds and Wild Places, The Grail Bird and most recently, FALCON FEVER (Houghton Mifflin, May 18, 2008).

Bradford Hollingsworth, Ph.D., is the Museum's curator of herpetology. Hollingsworth serves on the editorial board of Herpetological Natural History and is an associate editor for Herpetological Review. His interests include the evolution and biogeography of the herpetofauna of Baja California.

Thomas Noble Howe, Ph.D., has centered his career on both classical and postmodern architecture in addition to classical archaeology, ancient and modern cultural and intellectual history, history of science and technology, and international management of cultural properties.

Howe received a B.A. in 1971 from Lawrence University of Appleton, Wisconsin, in German language and literature, then studied architectural design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 1971–1973, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in fine arts from Harvard in 1975 and 1985. He has traveled and worked extensively in Western Europe.

His researches began with the history of the aesthetics of classical architecture and its cultural and intellectual implications. Howe has written on the aesthetics of the classical “orders” of ancient and postmodern architecture, (The Invention of the Doric Order, Harvard diss., 1985; and in progress, The Order of Architecture: the Aesthetic of Classical Orders, Ancient to Post-Modern).

At Southwestern University of Georgetown Texas, Howe is the Herman Brown Professor of art and art history. As a field archaeologist, Howe has excavated variously as a field architect, stratigrapher and co-director in Harvard’s excavation at Sardis in Turkey, the late Roman villa at Castle Copse in Britain, and American Academy excavation at the foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome.

Howe has been the Coordinator General of the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation since 1999. The Foundation is a new type of international semi-public, semi-private non profit organization charged by the Superintendancy of Archaeology of Pompei with developing one of the largest archaeological parks in Europe on the site of the ancient Roman villas of Stabiae, right outside Pompeii. The project is establishing a new model for the international sharing of responsibility for a major Italian cultural property. A master plan, of which he is chief coordinating author, was presented and accepted in 2001 and as it moves into execution Howe serves as the chief coordinator for design, archaeology and conservation.

Marie Humphrey has been kayaking for more than 12 years leading local kayak nature tours and multi-day kayak camping trips. She is a certified kayak instructor with the American Canoe Association and is certified in Advanced Wilderness First Aid. In 2002, she left the corporate world behind to start her business, Family Kayak Adventure Center. Humphrey enjoys sharing with people of all ages the excitement of exploring nature by kayak. A native San Diegan, Humphrey brings her knowledge of birds, marine mammals, and local history to all of her kayaking tours.

Dave Massey, Director of Education at the San Diego Natural History Museum, has 32 years of experience in the public schools system. He has a M.A. in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in environmental education. Massey directed the operation of the Big Rock Creek Outdoor Lab, a stream restoration project adjacent to his school campus. During the project, close to 2000 kindergarteners through eighth graders and a few hundred adult visitors participated in the project and gained experienced a valuable learning opportunity. Massey is a lifelong outdoor enthusiast and enjoys backpacking, biking, running, and kayaking.

Bob Miller is an Imperial Valley native who enjoys exploring all aspects of the southwest desert. His interest in birding and desire to share his knowledge of the region have made him one of the Valley's best-known birders.

Esther Mitrani was born in Ensenada, Baja California. She graduated with a degree in psychology at the Universidas Autónoma de Baja California, then worked in a professional employer organization in San Francisco. She has worked as a tour guide for over five years and joined Andiamo in 2002. Esther is an eager traveler and loves sports and languages.

Maria Mitrani lives in Ensenada, Baja California, and since 1985 has conducted specialized tours of Baja California. Mitrani has a B.A. in Italian and art history from the University of California at Berkeley.

Liz Paegel is an instructor and naturalist who teaches K-6 Museum programs and summer camps. She has been with the Museum for seven years and previously taught at Batiquitos Lagoon and the Birch Aquarium. She is an enthusiastic teacher committed to making programs fun and educational.

Elizabeth Podsiadlo, has been a personal chef and cooking instructor in San Diego for ten years. She has studied opera since here twenties and performs as a vocalist regularly downtown in different hotels and restaurants. When you attend one of her cooking classes you will not only get a sample of her delicious food, you will also get a sample aria or two and an intimate look into the world of this passionate artist.

Kesler Randall has a M.A. in geology with a focus in vertebrate paleontology from San Diego State University. Randall works in the Department of Paleontology as Collection Manager for Fossil Vertebrate. Randall also does research on Pleistocene (ice age) fossils. He has been working at the Museum for the past seven years.

Jon Rebman, Ph.D., has concentrated on building research ties between the Museum and scientific institutions in Baja California and Baja California Sur since 1996, when he became Curator of Botany at the Museum. He organized the Second Baja California Botanical Symposium shortly after his arrival, and the following year, the Lindblad Binational Multidisciplinary Expedition to the Sierra San Francisco and the Sierra Guadalupe. While living in Ensenada under a Fulbright Fellowship, as part of his doctoral research at Arizona State University, Rebman conducted extensive fieldwork on the systematics of the chollas of Baja California (both states). During his time in Mexico, he became fascinated by the varied and often bizarre flora of the peninsula, an interest which continues as a focus of his research. His primary research interest is the systematics of the Cactus family. Rebman has continued his work in the genus Opuntia, now tackling the prickly-pear cacti.

Connie Rodriguez, Ph.D., received her B.A. in classical studies from the University of Richmond, VA, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. She teaches Greek/Latin and Greek/Roman archaeology as well as courses on women in antiquity and ancient mystery cults. As a graduate student, she excavated on Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Rodriguez has taught in Rome and has traveled extensively throughout Italy and Greece. She is also involved with the New Orleans Society of the Archeological Institute of America which sponsors several lectures on campus during the academic year. She is the former president of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation of the architectural treasures of New Orleans and Louisiana. Rodriguez is currently working as a visiting curator at the Gulf Coast Exploreum in Mobile, Alabama, for the exhibition, A Day in Pompeii, which will be at the San Diego Natural History Museum February 15–June 15, 2008.

Terry Root, Ph.D., received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics at the University of New Mexico, after which she worked as a scientific programmer at Bell Laboratory and on NASA’s Voyager Project. Returning to school, she obtained her M.A. in biology at the University of Colorado in 1982 and her Ph.D. in biology from Princeton University in 1987. She was on the faculty as an assistant and associate professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan (1987–2001). She has served on the National Research Council Committee on Environmental Indicators. In 1989 she became an Elective Member of the American Ornithologists Union (AOU), the largest professional ornithology society in North America. She was elected to the AOU’s Governing Council in 1993 and became an AOU Fellow in 1995. She was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group 2 Third Assessment Report, with responsibility for the impacts of climate change on wildlife. Root has taught courses in conservation biology, wildlife biology, ecology and ornithology. What might be the possible ecological consequences to birds as the globe continues to warm? This is one question that Root, who is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy in the Institute for International Studies, is currently investigating. Her research resulted in President George Bush honoring her in 1990 with the prestigious Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. In 1992 she was chosen as one of only ten people worldwide to be selected as a Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment, and one of 20 people to be selected as an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in 1999.

Root’s work focuses on large-scale ecological questions investigating factors shaping the ranges and abundances of animals, primarily birds. This research led to her book Atlas of Wintering North American Birds: An Analysis of Christmas Bird Count Data. This continent-wide examination helped reveal the importance of scale in ecological research, prompting further investigation of the integration of large- and small-scale studies. Her small-scale studies have focused on possible mechanisms, such as physiological constraints, that may be helping to generate the observed large-scale patterns. Her work demonstrated that climate and/or vegetation are important factors shaping the ranges and abundances of birds. In a meta-analysis of about 150 articles, Dr. Root and her co-authors found a strong global signal that both animals and plants are changing along with the increase in the global temperature. These findings will help forecast the possible consequences of global warming on animal communities. Additionally, Root has investigated gender-based differences in scientific communities by quantifying the opportunities and obstacles women and men face in science.

Mark Roeder, one of the Museum’s paleontologists, heads Paleo Environment Associates. Roeder collects fossils for local museums in addition to teaching at community colleges and home education programs in Orange County.

Phillip C. Roullard has been a professional photographer since graduating from Brooks Institute in 1993, with a B.A. in photography. Roullard’s background as a park ranger and naturalist contributes greatly to his understanding of the outdoor subjects he enjoys photographing. Roullard has taught photo clinics and led workshops for Adventure-16, a San Diego outdoor recreation store. He also teaches photo business classes for San Diego State University Extension. His photographs have been used extensively in exhibits, publications and websites for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Tijuana Estuary National Estuarine Research Reserve. His photographs have appeared in National Audubon Field Guides, National Geographic books, National Wildlife, Ranger Rick and My Big Back Yard, Canadian Garden, and American Home and Gardening.

Scott Rugh holds a M.S. in biology from San Diego State University. He is an expert on modern mollusks and marine ecosystems of western North America from the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf of California. Currently, he is Collections Manager of Invertebrate Fossils at the Museum. His recent publications include popular articles on fossil arthropods and California shells for the Museum. He also co-authored the chapter on invertebrate fossils in the book Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert. During the creation of the Fossil Mysteries exhibition, he was a consultant for the development of the fossil invertebrate displays. In addition, he has taught environmental biology classes to children and adults at the Museum and at San Diego colleges.

Joseph Andrew Smith, Ph.D., Curator, A Day in Pompeii is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Classics and Humanities at San Diego State University (SDSU) where he has taught since 1997. At SDSU he teaches a wide variety of reading courses in the language and literature of ancient Greek and Latin, as well as lecture courses on ancient civilization and culture. Smith has combined his professional interests in ancient dramatic texts with his love of theater by supervising several student productions of classical plays at SDSU, including, most recently, a world premier of a new edition of the Roman history drama, Octavia. Smith has dedicated himself professionally to academic projects which create fresh perspectives and insights on the classical world.

Neil Solomon was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is a long time San Diego resident whose passionate interest in bird photography has become an equally passionate interest in introducing bird photography to others. To this end, Solomon has presented slide shows of his images to the San Diego Field Ornithologists, the Photonaturalist Photo Club of San Diego, the North County Photographic Society, the Sierra Club and the Rancho la Puerta Resort in Tecate, Mexico. In 2007, Solomon will lead bird-photography workshops at the Museum as well as at the Rancho la Puerta Resort. View his images on his website www.nsolomonphoto.com.

Larry Stein is a professional printer and photographer. Owner of Ray Street Frame & Print, in North Park, Stein creates fine-art prints for artists, photographers and himself. He specializes in art and landscape photography.

Margie Stinson has a master's degree in biology, and is well-known as the Museum's whale watching excursion naturalist. She continues to study Baja California and its coastal islands wildlife. Currently, Stinson is writing a book on Baja California's natural history.

Ian Stirling, Ph.D., is a senior research scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service and an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. He has done research on polar bears and polar seals (Arctic and Antarctic) for 38 years, particularly in the areas of ecology, behavior, evolution, relationships between polar bears and seals, the biological importance of polynyas, and the conservation and management of polar marine mammals and ecosystems. He has won the Northern Science Award and been made an Officer in the Order of Canada. He participates in a number of national and international committees on polar bears and marine mammals and has authored or co-authored over 200 scientific articles and three books.

Al Toth is a personal trainer, yoga teacher, and adventure guide who thrives on combining fitness and recreation. Registered as a yoga teacher at the 200-hour level with Yoga Alliance, he has attended workshops with BKS Iyengar and Patahbi Jois. His style combines elements of Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Vinyasa yoga for an active and well-rounded practice. His teaching is known for its clarity, enthusiasm, precision and alignment. Toth continues to inspire and motivate others with his holistic approach to wellness and a healthy lifestyle. He has been leading trips for Aztec Adventures for four years.

Phil Unitt, has served as Collection Manager for the Department of Birds and Mammals since 1988 and as Curator since 2004. His interests include the distribution, status, identification, subspecies, and conservation of the birds of California and Baja California. The Willow Flycatcher has been a species of long-term special focus; Unitt wrote the seminal paper outlining the range, status, ecology, and history of the endangered southwestern subspecies Empidonax traillii extimus in 1986 and organized a workshop on the bird in 1995. He has investigated the taxonomy of the Marsh Wren and Brown Creeper, describing one new subspecies of each. Long interested in Imperial County, he is a co-author of Birds of the Salton Sea. From 1997 to 2004 he managed the San Diego bird atlas project, managing over 300 volunteers, and amassing a database of nearly 400,000 records. The atlas, summarizing the results of this study and presenting the geographic, ecologic, and seasonal distribution of all birds known from San Diego County, was published in 2004. Unitt's current primary study, with the help of 38 volunteers covering 47 survey routes, addresses the effects on birds of the firestorms that burned nearly 20% of San Diego County in 2002 and 2003.

Ajit Varki, Ph.D., is currently Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Co-director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center, and Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Training at the University of California, San Diego. He received basic training in physiology, medicine, biology, and biochemistry at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India; University of Nebraska; and Washington University in St. Louis. He also has training and board certification in internal medicine, hematology, and oncology. Varki is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He is Executive Editor of the textbook, Essentials of Glycobiology, and is the recipient of the Karl Meyer Award in Glycobiology, the International Glycoconjugate Award, a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, and an American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award. Varki’s research interests focus on a family of cell-surface sugars called sialic acid and their roles in biology, evolution, and disease.

Michael Wall, Ph.D., became interested in the ecological relationships between plants and insects while working on both a B.S. and M.S. in botany at Auburn University. This interest ultimately resulted in the discovery of an insect species that was new to science and Wall's induction into the world of insect taxonomy and systematics. After completing his Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of Connecticut in 2004, Wall received a postdoctoral fellowship to study at the Australian Museum in Sydney. He joined the San Diego Natural History Museum as Curator of Entomology in January 2006.

Ken Weaver is a high school biology teacher in Temecula, California. He is a past president of the Palomar Audubon society and served on the advisory committee for the San Diego County Bird Atlas Project. He is familiar with many of the excellent birding spots in northern San Diego and southern Riverside counties.

Dave Wyman has conducted photography workshops and family camping trips since 1983. He founded the travel photography program and directed the wilderness outings program at the University of Southern California for 14 years. Wyman is the author and photographer of the guidebook, Backroads of Northern California.

The San Diego Natural History Museum’s education programs are funded in part by the City of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture and the San Diego County Community Enhancement Program. Proceeds benefit the Museum’s education and research missions.

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