2025 summer festival

presenters

 

Kathe Anderson

Kathe is endlessly fascinated by birds. She has been leading bird walks for over 20 years, and estimates she’s led more than 500 field trips for a variety of individuals, conservation organizations, private groups, and life-long learning programs, learning something new almost every time she's out. She’s also developed a series of hands-on classes, often coupled with field trips, taught for the ASU life-long learning program; Desert Botanical Garden; Hassayampa River Preserve; and Verde Valley, Tucson and Southwest Wings festivals, and elsewhere.

 

Rich Bailowitz

Rich was born and raised in New York and was smart enough to move to Arizona in 1974, already a seasoned birder and entomologist. He finished his MS in Entomology from the University of Arizona in 1985. His latest books are The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Arizona and Sonora, co-authored with Doug Danforth and Sandy Upson (nominated for Southwest Books of the Year: Best Reading 2016), and Southeastern Arizona Butterflies (2021) co-authored with Jim Brock.

​

 

Priscilla Brodkin

Priscilla has lived in Carr Canyon, in the bird and butterfly rich Huachuca Mountains of Arizona, for twenty-one years. Her special love of the tropical birds and butterflies has taken her on trips to many places around the world, especially the neotropics, mostly Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. In 1992 she became interested in observing and photographing butterflies. She is a founding Director of the Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association (SEABA) and co-author of Butterflies of Arizona. She has led and co-led many butterfly field trips in Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico.

​

Callie Caplenor 

Callie is the education coordinator for the National Park Service’s Southeast Arizona Group, which includes Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial, and Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Callie attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she earned a B.A. in English, and eventually an M.S. in Forestry, with research focused on human dimensions of wildlife management. She then traveled around the west for several years working as an interpretive park ranger at places like Olympic National Park and Glacier National Park before settling down in Sierra Vista, AZ in 2021. Despite growing up with a passion for nature and outdoor activities, she did not develop an interest in birds until moving to Arizona, for which she credits the amazingly diverse Sky Islands and a very warm and welcoming local birding community. She enjoys inspiring the next generation to care for our public lands and conversing with the visiting public about the latest bird sightings in the parks.

​

​

Bill Cavaliere

Bill Cavaliere is an independent researcher who retired after 28 years in law enforcement, during which time he was sheriff of Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Prior to this, he was employed by the US Forest Service in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. He is currently president of the Cochise County Historical Society and sits on the boards of several other historical societies as well.  He and his wife Jill live on a ranch near Portal, Arizona, where he has written numerous articles published in historical journals. He is the author of the book The Chiricahua Apache: A Concise History and is currently writing a biography on Naiche, the last hereditary chief of the Chiricahua Apache.

​

Kate Hotten

JKate is the Co-Executive Director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, where she leads the organization’s large landscape conservation programs and advocacy work. She’s trained as a landscape architect and has recently returned to the US from Ireland, where she worked in peatland conservation and natural capital policy.

​
 

Jim Koweek

Jim is the owner of Arizona Revegetation & Monitoring Co. and the author of Grassland Plant ID For Everyone – Except Folks That Take Boring Technical Stuff Too Seriously. For the last 4 decades Jim has worked with plants, seed, and rock in SE Arizona. To be honest, the results are not always pretty. Then again, having your career’s reputation dependent on moisture in the great Southwest is not a genius move to begin with. When not day working, Jim can often be found playing mandolin at various water holes in the Sonoita - Patagonia area. 

 

Karen Krebbs 

Karen Krebbs worked at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for more than 26 years, and now works on her own as an independent contractor. She has extensive knowledge of birds, mammals, deserts, and animal adaptations and behavior. Karen has carried out research for bats in the United States and Mexico for more than 30 years. She trains biologists on the proper protocol for handling and studying bats. Karen regularly carries out workshops and presentations on bats and birds to groups, schools, festivals, and organizations in the southwest and Mexico. Her long-term inventory and monitoring program for bats in the Chiricahua Mountains continues in its 20th year of study. She has written articles, books, and manuals for bats and birds. She has collaborated with other researchers on many bat research projects with local government agencies, universities, Mexico partners, and non-profit organizations. Karen has participated in natural history learning trips in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico, Baja, Costa Rica, Africa, Galapagos, and Ecuador. Karen’s passion for bats is contagious! Her animal lectures and presentations are exciting and fun! Karen has a B. Sc. Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Arizona. Karen’s latest books include Desert Life: A Guide to the Southwest’s Iconic Animals and Plants & How They Survive; Desert Life of the Southwest Activity Book; Explore Tucson Outdoors; and Bat Basics: An Introduction to the Life of Bats in the United States & Canada & Their Many Benefits.

​

Katherine Matthiesen

Katie is a Habitat Specialist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department based in Tucson. She was born and raised in Phoenix, and earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management from the University of Arizona. Most of her professional experience has been related to ecological monitoring, primarily at the Santa Rita Experimental Range near Madera Canyon, AZ. She loves the Sonoran desert and its endless recreational opportunities. 

​​

 

Charles Melton

Charles has spent the past 20 years traveling throughout Arizona taking photographs and video of a wide variety of nature subjects. Hummingbirds and insects are two of his favorite subjects. For the past 15 years, photographing the moths of Arizona has been a major activity. To date he has photographed over 1600 species of moths in Arizona. He occasionally conducts hummingbird photography workshops and has produced four DVDs, three on hummingbirds and another on the Mexican Spotted Owl.

​

Glenn Minuth

Glenn is a 34-year career federal civil servant. His bachelors and graduate degrees are in geography with specialties in cartography, geomorphology, remote sensing, and geology. Others areas of academic focus were biogeography (flora/fauna), weather/climate, and pedology (soils). His research focused in the area of geomorphology and geology examining mound micro-relief (Mima-type mounds) on volcanic mudflows in the central Sierra Nevada foothills, California. He taught geography, weather & climate, and geology part time in the Life and Physical Science Department of American River College, Sacramento for seven years. He's been a part time instructor in geography and geology for 20 years in Cochise College credit and non-credit programs where he conducts field trips and lectures in the areas of military history, ecology, weather/climate, geography, and geology. 

​

Eric Moore

Eric Moore, owner of The Lookout (formerly Jay's Bird Barn and Arizona Field Optics) in Prescott, Arizona, has been a life-long birder. Eric grew up in Tucson and at a young age birded extensively all over southeastern Arizona. As the owner of The Lookout, Eric has an intimate knowledge of optical equipment, including binoculars and scopes and knows what the unique demands are for quality birding optics. With the perspective of being a birder, and not just a business owner, Eric understands the importance of quality optical equipment to maximize birding experiences - both at home and in the field. 

​​

Megan Resor

Megan is the Engineering Services Manager for SSVEC and plays a critical role in balancing infrastructure development with environmental stewardship.  She recognizes the importance of protecting birds while maintaining a safe reliable and affordable power system for SSVEC’s service territory. Through collaboration with landowners, environmental agencies, and utility stakeholders, Megan helps ensure compliance with avian protection regulations while minimizing service disruptions caused by avian interactions.  Megan also works with consultants to ensure critical habitats are not negatively impacted, especially in designated riparian corridors. 

​​​​​​

Nora Synder

Nora Snyder is a poet, performer, organizer, collector, and free-range librarian. Her work is diverse in topic but is often image heavy and heart forward free verse serving to elevate the human experience while knitting in lots of interesting connections and humor. Nora has participated in many events, readings, workshops, and open mics in her former home on the middle finger of the Finger Lakes in Ithaca NY and now in her new desert town of Sierra Vista. Two chapbooks of Snyder’s work, The Bee, the Bear, and the Blossom and Spilling Pools of Light, are available on Amazon and her website illuminousflux.com. Her work has been published in numerous literary journals including Cajun Mutt Press and Blue Heron Review.  She created Sierra Vista Poets, an online and real-life networking and support group for word artists and friends. She is a volunteer for NAMI of southeastern Arizona and a regular contributor to the Positivity in Pain online journal. She is looking forward to opening her vintage goods Etsy shop- Glimmer Frolic. Her creative influences include Frida Kahlo, Strega Nona, and Ray Bradbury (resilience, abundance, and joy respectively). Ms. Snyder is settled in Sierra Vista Arizona taking her place among three generations of women in her family, her love of 27 years, some sweet fledglings, and lots of furbabies.

​

​

Janet Trumbule

Janet is the Executive Director of Administration for Oasis Sanctuary Foundation.
After 32 years in the real estate and financial fields Janet experienced a life event and motivating force that altered her path. Following her heart and desire to help at-risk parrots, she joined The Oasis in 2007, then becoming the 2nd generation Director in 2010.   The Oasis provides safe, stable and nurturing life-long sanctuary for displaced and exploited parrots. Their flock now numbers over 800 birds.

​

Stephen Vaughan

Steve is a seasoned professional nature photographer and ornithologist, dedicating over five decades to capturing and exploring the wonders of natural history. His exceptional imagery has graced the pages of countless esteemed publications, including Audubon, Bird Watchers Digest, National Wildlife, and Sierra Club.​​​​​

​

​

​

Roberto A Wolf Webels

Roberto has been dedicated to animal care since childhood. After studies in philosophy and veterinary medicine, he held curatorial positions at African Safari Zoo in Puebla, Tamatán Zoo in Tamaulipas, and served as the director of fauna at El Nido sanctuary in Ixtapaluca. Roberto participated in conservation advisory groups for the Mexican and U.S. governments related to the Mexican gray wolf, ocelot, and California condor. With an emphasis on wolf reintroduction, he worked for SEMARNAT (Mexico’s federal wildlife agency) and CONANP (natural protected areas commission), including experience with binational conservation in Sonora. As executive director since 2021, Roberto continues the Northern Jaguar Project’s work to create cooperative solutions for the conservation of jaguars.

​

​​​​

Rick Wright

Rick Wright leads Birds and Art tours in Europe and the Americas for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. A widely published author and sought-after lecturer and field trip leader, Rick studied French, German, Philosophy, and Life Sciences in his native Nebraska before making a detour to Harvard Law School.  He took the Ph.D. in German Languages and Literatures at Princeton University in 1990, then spent a dozen years as an academic, holding successive appointments as Assistant Professor of German at the University of Illinois, Reader in Art and Archaeology at Princeton University, and Associate Professor of Medieval Studies at Fordham University. He and his wife, the medievalist Alison Beringer, spent eight happy years in Tucson before Alison's work took them to northern New Jersey, where they live with their little girl, Avril, and their black lab Quetzal. Rick's numerous scholarly publications include two books on the Latin animal literature of the later Middle Ages. He is the author of the ABA Field Guide to Birds of New Jersey and the ABA Field Guide to Birds of Arizona; his most recent book is the Peterson Reference Guide to American Sparrows..   

​​