John Bates is an author, naturalist, and educator. His books include Trailside Botany; Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year for Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin; A Northwoods Companion-Spring and Summer; A Northwoods Companion-Fall and Winter, and River Life: The Cultural and Natural History of a Northern River. He has worked as a naturalist for the Wisconsin DNR, and currently owns Trails North, a naturalist guiding service.
Deana Jones Bigley is a retired art and physical education teacher from Sugar Camp. She enjoys being active in many outdoor pursuits and has biked across Iowa five times. She's been a ropes course facilitator at the Ced Vig Classroom since 1989 and still holds the record on the Duo Dangle.
Scott Bradley is a veteran of numerous wilderness canoe trips in northern Canada including adventures on the God's River, Red Sucker, and North Knife. Scott has been canoeing for four decades.
Mark Bruhy has been a professional archaeologist for over 30 years and holds a M.S. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has spent most of his career as an archaeologist for the USDA Forest Service, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and has published and presented numerous papers on the archaeology of northern Wisconsin. In 2009, he was named the Forest Service's National Archaeologist of the Year. He now lives in Cedarburg,WI, and his current research interest is the Native peoples of northern Wisconsin at the time of European contact.
Mary Burns works primarily as a fiber artist and incorporates elements of the Northwoods into nearly all her pieces. She has been teaming with John Bates for over 18 years to lead an array of natural history trips.
Tori Cihla is a personal trainer, martial artist and pilot. The hat she is most proud to wear is that of mom to her two children. She has been a ropes course facilitator since 1992.
Dan Clausen teaches canoeing, sea kayaking, cross country skiing, and windsurfing. He has led many trips on Lake Superior and, in 1994, led a sea kayaking expedition around the Whitsunday Islands of Australia.
Paul Ehlers is a native of Cornucopia, Wisconsin’s northernmost village. Paul has had a lifelong interest in the natural environment. A geography major at UW-Stevens Point, Paul received his M.A. in geography from the University of Nebraska. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Rhinelander and is currently the geography/geology instructor at Nicolet College. He travels extensively on his bicycle, regularly taking extended trips in different parts of the country.
Ferdy Goode is of a very small guild of master birch bark canoe builders and basket makers who keep alive the almost extinct traditional techniques of totally hand crafting these vessels. He has been a member of the Wooden Heritage Canoe Association for 30 years. He was a consultant in charge of canoes for the popular movie, People of the Forest produced by Peter Matulavich and has himself appeared on Wisconsin Public Television in a program called Up North. He accurately continues Native American techniques by patterning his work after local tribal designs.
Mark and Katya Gordon are co-owners of Amicus Adventure Sailing, a small family-owned charter sailing business that operates out of Knife River, MN. Mark (captain) has more than 25 years experience in directing wilderness programs and leading wilderness trips with people of all ages and over 18 years as a licensed captain and EMT. Katya (first mate) is a lifelong sailor and is a veteran of outdoor wilderness experiences, with more than 15 years of experience leading trips in mountains, lakes, deserts, rivers, and oceans. She is a facilitator and trainer in restorative justice and circle keeping. Together they have sailed thousands of miles on Lake Superior and beyond with their two daughters, Cedar (9) and Lamar (6). In 2007, they completed a year long, 5,000 mile sailing trip to the Bahamas and back from Lake Superior with their two daughters (then ages 2 and 4) aboard Amicus, a 34-foot steel ketch.
Ruth Jaeger subscribes to the philosophy that a day isn’t complete without time outdoors, along a river, lake, road or trail. Ruth playfully competes at whitewater canoeing, cross-country skiing, and running and also likes to kick it back a notch. As a physical therapist and a Feldenkrais Method movement educator, she can help you with your body needs and then turn to her background in biology to identify plants and aquatic bugs.
Bob Knops has preferred the canoe over any other watercraft ever since he was a teenager. He has tripped, fished, and whitewatered all his life and has raced competitively for 27 years. Bob has logged more than 7,000 canoe miles in the past 34 years.
Joseph Krawczyk and Mary E. Kozak have owned and operated Field and Forest Products, Inc., a business that produces speciality mushroom spawn and cultivation supplies, since 1983. Joseph and Mary presented cultivation talks throughout the eastern half of the United States including Penn State University Speciality Mushroom Short Course, the National Shiitake Symposium, and the North American Mushroom Conference. They have authored the book, Growing Shiitake Mushrooms in a Continental Climate, which is highly regarded as one of the most practical guides to log-based mushroom cultivation, and many other popular papers and booklets. They have also shared expertise with aspiring mushroom growers by helping to set up and troubleshoot mushroom farms in Khyrgistan, Macedonia, Armenia, the Republic of Georgia, Russia, and, of course, the United States. They have attended symposiums in China on shiitake and other mushroom cultivation and recently toured log-based shiitake farms in Japan.
Wil Losch has been kayaking for over a decade, completing his first ACA instructor course in 2001. His favorite kayak students are his young children and his favorite place to paddle still remains the cool waters of Lake Superior. Wil is an educator in the Rhinelander School District and has been an integral member of two of the district’s Charter Schools: Northwoods Community Secondary School and the Rhinelander Environmental Stewardship Academy.
Sandra Lotto was a teacher/naturalist at Trees For Tomorrow Natural Resources Specialty School for 18 years before branching out to open her own outdoor skills/rustic furniture school, Lotto’s Log Cabin, near Eagle River. She has a B.S. in Forestry from UW-Stevens Point, is a PSIA Certified Nordic Ski Instructor, and has taught a variety of classes for the Outdoor Adventure Series in the last decade. She also helped build her log home (starting with peeling the logs) and is furnishing it with rustic furniture she makes.
Rae Lundberg has been paddling for several years and guiding since the summer of 2003, mostly on Lake Superior. Rae is certified through the American Canoe Association and is a Wilderness First Responder. She is an avid teacher both on the water and off. When not in a kayak, Rae is an avid rock and ice climber. She is equally at home on the water, frozen waterfalls, or vertical rock. Rae is recognizable often paddling in the cedar-strip kayak her father made.
Jay Mager has been working with loons since 1991 and with the banded population of loons in Wisconsin since 2000. Jay received a B.A. from Hiram College, a M.S. at Miami University, and a Ph.D from Cornell University. He currently teaches ecology, animal behavior, ornithology, wildlife management, and introductory courses in biology and zoology at Ohio Northern University. Currently, his work is looking at territorial acoustic and visual signals in loons and has been researching the information communicated by the yodel.
Bob Martini has been working and playing in rivers all his life. He spent 32 years with the DNR cleaning up rivers, working on dam issues, and coordinating statewide river protection. In retirement, he serves on several environmental protection and education boards in addition to enjoying his favorite rivers every week.
Bryn Meyer Lottig graduated from Winona State University in 2005 after earning a B.S. in Recreation and Tourism with a minor in Adventure Tourism. She studied abroad in a number of different countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Fiji, and France. Bryn has Wilderness First Aid and Wildnerness First Responder Certifications. Her hobbies include scuba diving, paddling, backpacking/hiking, rappelling, swimming, cycling, triathlons, horseback riding, kickball, swing dancing, skiing, and snowshoeing.
Baaswewe Frederick D. Maulson is a tribal member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and holds a B.A. in Sports Management from the University of Lindenwood. He has also completed courses in Leadership Management from the University of Northwestern and National Conservation Leadership Institute. He is the Chief Warden that serves 11 tribal nations. He joined the world of Law Enforcement in 1999 as a tribal conservation officer on his reservation conducting safety classes and youth activities. He became Chief Conservation officer in 2004 for Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) that has a force of 20 conservation officers.
David Osborn lives in continual contemplation of links to the past. After a career in process engineering, Daved heeded the call to the North and is now restoring and refurbishing these connections in the form of old wooden canoes. Bringing canoes that have been damaged and neglected to a restorer means bringing them back to its former glory. The labor of love gets a canoe back on the water and gives a new story to anyone that is lucky enough to paddle.
Joe Panci has dedicated his life to being out in, and teaching about, the outdoors. When he is not teaching about the outdoors and our connections to the land and the natural resources that sustain us, Joe is out on the water or traipsing across the landscape... backpacking, hiking, camping, kayaking, biking, canoeing, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing. Some of Joe’s more ambitious adventures include backpacking and whitewater canoeing in the Yukon; testing gear for Backpacker Magazine in Glacier National Park; and thru-hiking a variety of long distance backpacking trails. Joe currently works as a teacher/naturalist for Trees for Tomorrow Natural Resources Specialty School in Eagle River. He earned bachelor’s degrees in forestry and environmental education from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in environmental education from UW-Stevens Point.
David Phillips has had a long career involved in adventure education, consulting, program development and world travel. David developed and managed SPRITE, an adventure education program for the Wisconsin Division of Juvenile Corrections and has consulted with public and private agencies involved in issues of education and juvenile justice. David began his adventure travel as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa and has since traveled extensively on five continents. Travel highlights include: a successful climb of Mt. Logan (second highest mountain in North America) and a natural history survey for the World Wildlife Fund on the Thelon River (Northwest Territories). Currently, David leads adult groups on walking tours in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Martha Schouweiler is Nicolet’s Outdoor Adventure Series coordinator. Martha develops the series of offerings each year, instructs several of the courses, and attends to the details of each one. She is an avid cross-country skier, biker, paddler, dogsledder and mom. She holds a B.S. in physical education from UW-River Falls and an M.S. in experiential education from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Bill Sherer is a World Line Class Record holder for walleye, muskie and several saltwater species on fly tackle, and a nationally acclaimed fly tier. The Boulder Junction resident is a published author and recognized authority on muskie fly-fishing. He is a former state council chairman of Wisconsin Trout Unlimited and a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Fly Fishers Great River Council. Bill has been a professional fishing instructor, licensed Wisconsin Guide, and USCG Captain for many years.
Andrew and Susan Teichmiller world traveler, ski bum medical professional, entrepreneur, father and mother Andy and Sue continue the adventure of life! Sue a a Physician Assistant and Andy owns the Chequamegon Adventure Company, the Minocqua-based paddesports, bicycle, nordic and adventure center. They live with their two daughters in Arbor Vitae.
Shane Tulowitzki is an avid canoeist and kayaker. He works at Mel’s Trading Post in Rhinelander, one of the Northwoods’ biggest sports and adventure outfitters, so he does literally live and breathe canoeing, kayaking, camping, and all other outdoor adventure pursuits.