Presenter Biographies

Dr. David Adler is President of The Alturas Institute and has lectured nationally and internationally on the Constitution and presidential power. His scholarly writings have been invoked by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Justice Department, the White House, and by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. He has taught courses on the Constitution at all three of Idaho’s universities. At Idaho State University, he served as director of the Center for the Study of the Constitution. At the University of Idaho, he was the James and Louise McClure Professor of Public Policy, served as Director of the McClure Center, and was a member of the faculty of the College of Law. At Boise State University, he was the Cecil D. Andrus Professor of Public Policy and served as Director of the Andrus Center.

Dr. Phillip Allen received his BA and MA in History and Public Law from the University of Idaho and his PhD from Washington State University. He has taught courses in History, Political Science, Native Studies, Student Development, Philosophy and Education at North Idaho College, University of Idaho, Northwest Indian College, Lewis and Clark State College and Washington State University. He won the Faculty Member of the Year Award at Northwest Indian College from 2008-2009.

Sara Arkle has worked in resource management, environmental policy, and outdoor recreation management for over twenty years. She has worked in the private environmental professional field, nonprofit conservation advocacy and in municipal government. From 2015 to 2022, Sara served the City of Boise as the Foothills and Open Space Superintendent managing 5,000 acres of open space properties, protecting open space lands, running environmental education centers, and leading a multi-agency collaborative to manage the 200-mile trail network called Ridge to Rivers. In 2022 she took over leadership of the Parks Resources Division for the City of Boise. In this role, Sara works with her team and peers to ensure that Boise’s 96+ park sites and 30 miles of Greenbelt and pathways meet the community’s high expectations. Sara loves doing all things fun outside with her family and pups.

Liz Bageant is an applied economist with expertise in a wide range of topics related to human welfare and the environment. She uses a quantitative and qualitative analysis toolkit to understand how humans are impacted by and adapting to economic transformation and ecological change, and to understand policies and programs designed to improve lives. Ms. Bageant employs a range of approaches, including quantitative modeling using micro-level data, and qualitative methods to identify appropriate quantitative approaches and deepen understanding and contextualize quantitative findings. She has applied these skills to a wide range of topics including index-based livestock insurance, rural agricultural and fishing livelihoods, international food assistance policy and a range of food security and nutrition topics. She has a strong background in the conceptual and technical skills to support transparent and reproducible research processes that generate high-quality, credible evidence for decision-making.

Ms. Bageant has extensive experience mentoring students and scholars from many backgrounds. Her own research career was jumpstarted through inspiring and effective mentorship as an undergraduate student and she has participated in formal and informal mentorship and advising of students ever since. In addition to working closely with students, she led the STAARS and STAAARS+ Fellowship Program from 2016 to 2021, collaborating on research with and providing technical training to 40 early-career African agricultural economists. Ms. Bageant was born and raised in northern Idaho.

Dr. Emre Balikci is a lecturer in the economics department at Boise State University. He received his PhD from the Development Economics program at Marmara University, known for its heterodox and interdisciplinary approach to economics. Before teaching at Boise State University, Dr. Balikci worked for five years at St. Lawrence University as a Visiting Assistant Professor. He also gave lectures in various European universities as an Erasmus scholar and worked in two different well-known universities of Turkey. In addition to his academic career, he worked as a foreign news editor for Milliyet Daily, a prestigious national newspaper in Turkey, for three years. He prepared news about the Middle East. Dr. Balikci’s primary interest areas are the economic history of Turkey and the Middle East, global political economy, and institutional economics.

Dr. Richard Bell teaches Early American history at the University of Maryland. He has received several teaching prizes and major research fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award. He has published the books We Shall Be No More: Suicide and Self-Government in the Newly United States and Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home.

Kay Braden is a freelance choreographer and teacher, receiving her MFA from the University of Utah. She lived and worked professionally in Austin, Texas, New York City, and currently resides in Boise, Idaho. As a choreographer, her repertoire includes over 70 works. She has produced and presented full evening performances of her work, as well as being a guest choreographer throughout the U.S. She has designed and produced numerous workshops on all aspects of dance, including fundamentals of movement and the creative process. Recent guest teaching includes Arts Powered Schools for the Idaho Commission on the Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan and Balance Dance Company in Boise, ID. Kay is on the Idaho Arts Commission roster of Arts in Education. She has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Idaho Commission on the Arts.

Mark Buchanan is a Fulbright Scholar and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Management at Boise State University, having taught law, international business, and ethics for 24 years. He obtained tenure in 2001, the rank of professor in 2004, and served as chair of the Department of Management from 2018-2020. Buchanan also served as director of International Business Programs and four study abroad semesters with the University Studies Abroad Consortium. He has been involved with Braver Angels since 2019.

Steve Burgos is the Public Works Director for the City of Boise. He has worked for over 25 years in the environmental industry as a private sector consultant and now public sector director. His experience includes a wide range of topics from detailed engineering design of large water infrastructure, to developing a program management approach, to complete large scale wastewater improvements. Prior to joining the city, Steve was a vice president for Brown and Caldwell Environmental Engineers and Scientists focused on water resources engineering and client service management. His public sector experience includes serving as the Public Works Director for the past 7 years. The work includes: planning and operations for wastewater collection and treatment; trash collection, recycling and composting; management of climate action and energy planning, water resources planning; management of the city’s geothermal heating system; and providing engineering and construction support for city-wide programs. Steve is a graduate of Duke University with a degree in civil and environmental engineering and is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He enjoys the Idaho outdoors backpacking in the Sawtooths, mountain biking in the foothills, and cheering on his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ellen Bush is a retired educator and philanthropist residing in Garden Valley. She is committed to cultivating interdependence with all of creation and specifically working to inspire others to join the climate solutions outlined by Project Drawdown. She strives to provide specific actions everyone can engage in at various levels from personal to policy.

Dr. John Cossel is an Idaho native, growing up on a farm in Marsing, Idaho. He is also an alum of Northwest Nazarene University, graduating in 1991. Immediately after finishing his degree at NNU, Dr. Cossel began his career as a science educator, teaching high school science for five years. During that time, he obtained his MS in Science Education (with a marine emphasis) from Oregon State University. Upon completion of his master’s degree, he immediately began his studies in the Doctor of Arts program at Idaho State University. His dissertation was on the impacts of fire-altered desert vegetation on reptile communities. He has been at NNU full-time since 1999 and is a Professor of Biology and the Chairman of the Biology Department. Dr. Cossel is the major adviser for a variety of majors and/or degree concentrations including: Biology BA, Biology Education, Pre-Veterinary and Wildlife Biology and Ecology degrees. He teaches a wide range of topics but focuses on anatomy and physiology and wildlife courses. He is a herpetologist (amphibian and reptile expert) and conducts research in the Pacific Northwest and in the Neotropical Rainforests. His work has resulted in numerous publications, many of them with student co-authors. Recent work by Dr. Cossel and his students focuses on the bioacoustics of anurans (frogs and toads) and alpha-taxonomy (describing new species).

Blaine Davies has an MA in History and a BS degree in Business. He taught U.S. History at Boise State University for 14 years. Prior to that, he worked as a product marketing manager at Hewlett Packard. He enjoys researching, preparing, and giving history lectures. Has visited all 50 states and over 30 countries in Europe, South America, Asia, and the South Pacific. He plays pickleball and tennis, and also enjoys ballroom dancing.

Dr. Michael Delahoyde has been a temporary employee of WSU since 1992. Earlier details are sketchy. He locates his birth in Poughkeepsie, NY on a cold July day after the war. He won a John Philip Sousa award for his fine bassoonism and did not attend the prom. Disturbingly unable to focus, he earned degrees in English, Music, and Education at the Vassar College for Wayward Women. Dr. Delahoyde hid out at the University of Michigan through the Reagan years, emerging with a license to practice English, a bucket of dreams, and a Depression-era song in his heart.

Christopher Dennison is the current Chief of Police for the City of Boise. He has over 20 years of law enforcement experience, the majority occurring with the Tucson Police Department in Tucson, AZ. As an officer he worked in uniformed patrol, plain clothes street level (surveillance, limited undercover work and narcotics), field training officer, and lead police officer. As a sergeant he worked in uniformed patrol, plain clothes street level work (interdiction, undercover narcotics and prostitutions), Counter Narcotics Alliance and DEA Task Force officer working domestic and international drug trafficking and money laundering cases. As a lieutenant he worked in uniform patrol, advanced officer training commander and internal affairs commander. Christopher was promoted to captain and assigned the busiest patrol division in the city for three years. He was promoted to Assistant Chief of Police and assigned the Investigative Services Bureau which comprised the Central Investigations Division (crimes against person), the Counter Narcotics Alliance (all undercover and interdiction operations) and the Forensic Division (Crime Laboratory, Evidence and Crime Scene processing unit). He retired from Tucson Police in September of 2024 and joined the Boise Police Department as Chief. Christopher holds a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University, and he attended the Senior Management in Policing (Police Executive Research Forum) Foundations in Leadership and Southwestern Leadership at the University of Arizona.

Tony Doerr was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the author of the story collections The Shell Collector and Memory Wall, the memoir Four Seasons in Rome, and the novels About Grace, All the Light We Cannot See, which was awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and Cloud Cuckoo Land, which was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award, a finalist for Novel of the Year in the British Book Awards, and winner of the Grand prix de littérature américaine in France.

Doerr’s short stories and essays have won five O. Henry Prizes and been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, New American Stories, The Best American Essays, The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Fiction, and many other places. His work has been translated into over 40 different languages and won the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, the Rome Prize, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEA Fellowship, an Alex Award from the American Library Association, the National Magazine Award for Fiction, four Pushcart Prizes, three Pacific Northwest Book Awards, five Ohioana Book Awards, the 2010 Story Prize, which is considered the most prestigious prize in the U.S. for a collection of short stories, and the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award. All the Light We Cannot See was a #1 New York Times bestseller and remained on the New York Times Bestseller List for over 200 weeks in hardcover. Doerr lives in Boise, Idaho. Though he is often asked, as far as he knows he is not related to the late writer Harriet Doerr.

Heath Druzin is the host and creator of Extremely American, a sound-rich podcast series that looks at the intersection of extremism and politics. The first season was an on-the-ground journey into the militia movement, from weapons training to the campaign trail. The second season was an inside look at Christian nationalism. Heath has covered extremism since 2018, first as a reporter with the public radio project Guns & America. He has reported for outlets such as NPR, BBC and the Daily Beast. Previously he spent more than six years as a war correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan for Stars and Stripes.

Todd Duncan combines a research background in physics and astronomy with experience teaching science concepts to a wide range of audiences. His education includes degrees from the University of Illinois, Cambridge University, and the University of Chicago. The core theme of his teaching and scholarship is understanding the fundamental nature of reality as best we can, while helping others discover their own ways to explore deep questions. His publications and presentations include a college astronomy textbook and a TEDx talk on the value of a cosmic perspective. Todd currently teaches at Pacific University, where he received an Outstanding Educator in Science and Mathematics award from the Oregon Academy of Science in 2019.

Haley Falconer is a visionary leader, shaping the future of Boise’s water renewal utility with innovative strategies and a forward-thinking approach. As the Senior Manager for Water Renewal Utility Programs for the City of Boise, she directs long-term strategic planning and capital improvements for the city’s water renewal systems. Her leadership encompasses managing water quality regulations, spearheading the recycled water program, and overseeing project execution for this growing community. Haley has a BS in civil engineering and MS in environmental engineering and is a registered professional engineer.

Judy Ferro is a fourth-generation Idahoan, a 1960 graduate of Caldwell High School and Stanford University, and a retired schoolteacher. She’s been an active Democrat for over 25 years, and for the last 10 years has written a column representing Democrats for the Idaho Press.

Toni Ferro, a 1989 graduate of Caldwell High, has earned a doctorate in Human-centered Design and Engineering from the University of Washington. While there, she was active in the graduate student union and successfully organized post-doc students. In early 2020 she pledged to run for the Idaho legislature three times. She is a contributor to a monthly newspaper distributed in Caldwell.

Daniel Fink is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise, where he served for 30 years. He received his Bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from the University of Virginia, and a Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He is an ardent environmentalist who enjoys hiking, canoeing, biking and kayaking. He is the co-author of Let the Earth Teach You Torah and Judaism and Ecology, as well as numerous articles on Judaism and environmental policy. He is also a certified forest therapy guide. He has served on many community boards, including Planned Parenthood, the Idaho Food Bank, and Interfaith Sanctuary homeless shelter. Dan is married to Dr. Janet Kaufman and is the very proud father of Tanya and Rosa Fink and Rachel and Jonah Kaufman.

Bob Fontaine served as a teacher, principal and superintendent in public and Catholic schools for 33 years and as the Director of Human Resources for the Diocese of Boise for nine years. He currently serves on the Osher Advisory Council, chairs the Track Four Curriculum Committee and facilitates the (Mostly) Foreign Films at The Flicks SIG. He is also an ambassador for Braver Angels.

Emily Fritchman-Mahaney is a public historian and faculty member in Boise State University Department of History. A fifth generation Boisean, Fritchman-Mahaney’s research focuses on the history of Boise’s urban development, including its impact on minority groups, historic preservation, and the natural environment.

Dr. Kim Ganong is an oboe and English horn player, as well as a higher-education professor, currently residing in Boise, ID. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami in oboe performance, plus a cognate in musicology. Dr. Ganong is currently on faculty at Boise State University and the College of Idaho; she also runs a private oboe studio and reed-making business. Her other alma maters include California Institute of the Arts (BFA) and New York University (MM). Kim is also a proud alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy. She can be heard performing as principal oboe in the Boise Baroque Orchestra and in many other groups around the Treasure Valley including the Boise Philharmonic, Opera Idaho, and many more. She also serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the local musicians’ union AFM Local 423. Dr. Ganong previously held positions in the Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Symphony, El Paso Symphony, American Youth Symphony, and YMF Debut Orchestra. She has performed in many great halls worldwide including the Gewandhaus, Carnegie Hall, and Disney Hall. Collaborations have ranged from classical to jazz, Latin to rock, EDM to avant-garde. She enjoys music of all genres and hope to help inspire the next generations to appreciate it in all its forms.

Dr. Matthew Genuchi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Science at Boise State University. His research interests focus on understanding how masculinities impact men’s experiences of depression and unique processes that predict suicidality in various populations of men. He is also focused on developing and examining outcomes in various interventions to decrease men’s high suicide risk. Additionally, Dr. Genuchi leads the Boise State University Healthy Masculinites Initiative, an interdisciplinary group of researchers and professionals focused on improving men’s health in Idaho and the Mountain West United States. He also hosts the podcast, Inside Men’s Mental Health, which includes interviews with a diverse range of men’s health professionals.

David has been documenting, photographing, and researching cemeteries and graveyards for over 20 years. His interest began when visiting the graves of blues musicians in Chicago, where he grew up. His work in Emergency Medical instruction and consulting has taken him all over the world, where he has visited hundreds of cemeteries and taken thousands of photographs. David has previous experience in law enforcement prior to his EMS work and has also worked for a local funeral home. He has given walking tours of Boise area cemeteries and is a volunteer with the Idaho State Historical Society. David also works with the local DAR chapter in identifying unmarked graves of veterans so markers can be obtained and placed. He continues to study the history of cemeteries and the symbols and emblems on gravestones which our ancestors used to relate information to those who visit the graves.

Jim Hansen recently retired after 12 years as an Ada County Highway District Commissioner. He previously served in the Idaho Legislature and founded United Vision for Idaho, a statewide coalition of grassroots organizations working to strengthen democracy, justice, and community engagement. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of Idaho Law School.

Michael Homza is a River Hydraulics and Habitat Enhancement Engineer with Environmental Science Associates, Inc. He has over 40 years of experience in the design of a wide variety of civil engineering projects and has been instrumental in the construction of scores of successful river, stream, fish-passage and habitat enhancement projects across the country. Mr. Homza was the lead design engineer for the stream enhancement projects on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.

Dr. Brian Jackson is an associate professor teaching astronomy in the Physics Department at Boise State University. Before coming to Boise State, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington DC and before that, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt MD. He earned a PhD in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona‘s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson, AZ and a BS in Physics from Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA. His research focuses primarily on transit observations of extrasolar planets, planets outside of our solar system. He also conducts planetary science field work.

Rick Johnson was the executive director of the Idaho Conservation League for 24 years and helped build ICL into Idaho leading voice for conservation. Achievements included passage of the Boulder-White Clouds wilderness bill ten years ago, wilderness in the Owyhee Canyonlands, and much more. In 2016, he was awarded the City Club of Boise’s award for Civic Engagement with Rep. Mike Simpson in honor of their work for the Boulder-White Clouds and building collaborative commonsense conservation policy. Rick’s lifelong career in conservation included serving as a lobbyist with the Sierra Club, an advisor on salmon recovery, and now as a gigging musician.

Gordon Jones is the President of the College of Western Idaho (CWI), Idaho’s largest comprehensive community college serving over 30,000 students from across the Treasure Valley and the State of Idaho. CWI’s primary focus is delivering affordable, high-quality, and accessible education. President Jones is passionate about promoting affordable higher education that translates to enhanced employment and life opportunities for all students.  Prior to CWI,  Jones served as the founding Dean of the College of Innovation + Design at Boise State University from 2015-2021. From 2010-2015,  Jones worked at Harvard University, serving from 2011 as the Evans Family Foundation Managing Director of the Harvard Innovation Lab. He started his education career as a high school math teacher in rural Arizona. His higher education career has focused on innovating and maximizing the value proposition of public higher education in serving students and communities.  President Jones received his Masters of Business Administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Brown University.

Jim Jones earned a BA degree from the University of Oregon, as well as an Army ROTC commission, in 1964. He then served a tour of 407 days duty as an artillery officer in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam. Following his service, he received a law degree from Northwestern University in 1967, became a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Len Jordan, and then entered private practice as a lawyer in Jerome. He was elected Idaho Attorney General (1982–90) and then elected to the Idaho Supreme Court (2004–2016), serving for the last two years as chief justice. Between his elective terms, he continued his law practice.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, Denny Kato is third-generation Japanese American, or Sansei. He graduated from Walnut Hills High School, received a BA from the University of Cincinnati in 1971, and served in the US Army as a 1LT in military intelligence. After retirement from restaurant management, what started out for Denny as curiosity about his family history grew into thoroughly researching how people of Japanese descent were forced from their homes during World War II and placed in incarceration camps. Fifteen members of his family were incarcerated, and most were American citizens. Denny and his wife, Janet, have visited all 10 of the incarceration camps from the Pacific West Coast to the rural southeast of Arkansas. Since 2019, Denny has lectured for the Art Institute of Cincinnati, Japan America Society of Greater Cincinnati, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Louisville Book Festival, Walnut Hills High School, and over two dozen for OLLIs at the University of South Florida, Carnegie Mellon University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Dartmouth, American University, University of Virginia, the University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, and others. Denny has been the subject of several radio interviews and has been a subject of two video profiles, one for AARP and one for WCPO TV in Cincinnati. Additionally, AARP did an article on Denny for their website.

Dr. Gundars (Gundy) Kaupins has been a Professor of Management and former chair of the Management Department at Boise State University since 1986. He has a PhD in Human Resource Management from the University of Iowa and SHRM-SCP and SPHR certifications in human resource management. His research includes over 500 academic papers/publications. They include about 90 academic journal articles on autism in the workplace, artificial intelligence, job evaluation, training and development, Baltic studies, and human resource ethics in journals such as the Academy of Management Perspectives and the International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction. Some books include Design Thinking and Strategy, Business Aha! Tips on Ethics for Managers, and Business Aha! Tips on Creativity. A sample book chapter includes “Investigating Recommended Jobs for Generation A Individuals with High Functioning Autism to Enhance Person-Job Fit.” His HR-related experience includes working as a human resource specialist at Norand Corporation, professional consultant, and co-writer of about 750 employee handbooks.

Dr. Kevin Learned has a PhD in Entrepreneurship and is an expert in angel investing with 25 years of experience. He recently served six years on the Board of Directors of the Angel Capital Association, where he was the founding chair of its Education and Smart Practices Committee and directed the creation of its Angel University, which trains high net worth individuals to be “smart” angel investors. In 2024 he was awarded the Angel Capital Association’s Hans Severiens Award given annually to recognize an individual’s work in advancing the field of angel investing in the U.S. He is a principal in Loon Creek Capital Group in Boise, which has provided administrative services to more than 250 angel groups investing about $60 million throughout the U.S., and Sage Growth Capital in Boise, which is a specialized venture capital firm providing “revenue-based finance” to early-stage U.S. companies. Dr. Learned was a member of Boise State University faculty, was the founding Director (now Director Emeritus) of Boise State’s Venture College, and served four years as the President of The College of Idaho. He was co-founder of Learned-Mahn, a nationwide software company that served the banking and hospital industries.

Hugh Leeman is an artist, lecturer, and consultant. He lectures regularly in Spanish and English at museums and universities throughout the United States. His lectures focus on the historical power of art to influence beliefs and the future of images’ ability to re-engineer contemporary social constructs.  Leeman’s first new-genre public art project focused on a five-year collaboration using Near-Field Communication and the first iPhone to create micro self-empowerment business platforms for unhoused individuals. His public works have been documented through art and exhibited at the Museum of Mexico City, the de Young Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington. More recently, he used his art and community activism to co-found aetatribes.org. Currently, he is collaborating with immigrant communities, leveraging AI, storytelling, and narrative art-making to preserve traditional and familial knowledge.

Mark Masarik has served on local NPO boards and is a current member of the Boise Community Climate Action Committee. He had a 30+ year career with the Environmental Protection Agency. He lives in Boise and works with Drawdown Treasure Valley to present practical solutions to addressing climate change. Mark has a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Singer, songwriter, poet and musician, Sam Mattise has been performing professionally for over 40 years. Sam retired from the Bureau of Land Management where he managed wild horse herds in Idaho. He has performed as a cowboy poet and balladeer throughout western U.S. and Canada. The themes for the songs and poetry he writes come from his experiences with horses, working on cattle ranches, rodeo, his love for the mountains and deserts, and stories from people he has met along the trail. He has published two books of his poetry, Dancing Shadows, Mustangs and Dreams, and Cowboy Dreamin: Sunrise to Sunset, a CD of his poetry, “If Old Saddles Could Talk” and a CD of his music, “Shadow Dust.”

Sandon Mayhew is a Boise-based professional jazz musician and educator. He currently leads a rehearsal big band that meets weekly and regularly freelances. He is a member of the jazz saxophone quartet FOUR. Sandon’s solos have been featured on over 50 albums.

Dr. Lisa McClain is a Professor of History and Gender Studies at Boise State University. Her fields of specialty include the history of religion in Tudor-Stuart England and the intersections of gender, religion, and popular culture. She earned her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin and is a former Idaho Humanities Council Research Fellow. She is the author of the book Lest We Be Damned: Practical Innovation and Lived Experience among Catholics in Protestant England 1559-1642, published by Routledge; and Divided Loyalties? Pushing the Boundaries of Gender and Lay Roles in the Catholic Church 1534-1829, published by Palgrave MacMillan, as well as book chapters and journal articles in publications such as Church History, the Sixteenth Century Journal, the Catholic Historical Review, and the Journal of Religious History.

She teaches courses at Boise State such as “Global Religion,” “The History of Renaissance and Reformation,” and “Saints and Sinners: Women in Christianity.” She is a frequent presenter at local and regional events. Boise State’s College of Arts & Sciences has awarded Dr. McClain its Faculty Excellence Award, and the Association of Students of Boise State University has awarded Dr. McClain its annual Golden Apple Award for superior teaching and dedication to students, both inside and outside the classroom. She has also been named an Idaho Woman of the Year and an Idaho Woman Making History.

John McGown has been practicing law with the Hawley Troxell law firm since 1982. His areas of expertise include tax, estate planning and nonprofit entities. He has been a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel since 1997. A frequent lecturer, John has conducted over 100 continuing education presentations to various professional groups. He was selected to receive the Distinguished Lawyer Award in 2014. It is the highest singular recognition bestowed upon any individual member of the Idaho State Bar. This award is given to an attorney (or attorneys) each year who has distinguished the profession through exemplary conduct and many years of dedicated service to the profession and Idaho citizens.

Phil McGrane is a fourth-generation Idahoan who loves this great state. His happy, honest approach to public service earned him the opportunity to serve as Idaho’s 28th Secretary of State. Over his career, Phil has definitively earned the title of an “Elections Junkie.” His career began in Ada County as an Elections Specialist, where he trained poll workers and counted chads, when we still voted on punch cards. As chief deputy and Ada County Clerk, he enjoyed sharing elections insights and analytics aimed at making elections and government more accessible and transparent. Phil’s various efforts in public service have been recognized and celebrated by Time, Best Places to Work in Idaho, Accomplished Under 40, TEDxBoise, Fast Company, and even Food & Wine magazine, which featured his “food truck” voting concept.

Lauren McLean is the 56th mayor of Boise, Idaho, and the first elected woman to hold this role in the city’s 150-year history. Now in her second elected term, she continues to champion housing and homelessness solutions, open space conservation, and bold climate action.

Mayor McLean’s public service began as a volunteer in 2001, when she led the successful Boise Foothills Open Space Levy campaign, protecting thousands of acres for future generations. She served on the Boise City Council from 2011-2019, including as Council President from 2017-2019, where she spearheaded the passage of Boise’s 100% Clean Energy Plan. As mayor, McLean launched the Modern Zoning Code, a groundbreaking initiative that balances housing growth, economic opportunity, and climate goals. This ambitious project, which involved years of community input, underscores her commitment to building a sustainable future where people can thrive in a climate-resilient, affordable city.

Mayor McLean serves as Second Vice Chair for Climate Mayors. She also chairs the U.S. Council of Mayors CHIPS Implementation Task Force. She has participated in Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiatives. Mayor McLean is on the Board of Governors at the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University.

Michael Merkley is a military-trained, board-certified ophthalmologist and refractive surgeon in Boise, ID. Dr Merkley is committed to offering a comprehensive suite of refractive surgery options, providing cutting-edge treatments including LASIK, SMILE, EVO ICL, Lens Replacement, and Premium Cataract Surgery.

Paul Miles is a fourth generation Idaho native. He graduated from Stanford University, completed medical school at UCLA and his pediatric training at Harbor/UCLA. He was in private pediatric practice for twenty-four years in Twin Falls. Dr. Miles became interested in health care quality and improvement science, and in 1999 he left private practice to become the Chief Quality Officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2002, he was recruited to the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as Senior Vice President for Maintenance of Certification and Quality. He oversaw the development of the ABP’s Maintenance of Certification program assessing physician quality and professional development. Dr. Miles retired from the ABP in 2013, and in 2014 he and his wife moved back to Boise. He serves on the Board of Directors for Full Circle Health here in Boise and acts as a quality advisor for the University of Missouri Pediatric program in childhood asthma.

Zak Miller is the Executive Vice President and CEO of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation. He joined IFBF in 2014 and has served on the organization’s management team the past three years. He has also served as director of commodities and as manager of the Farm Bureau Marketing Association. He previously served as a regional field manager for East Idaho. Prior to joining Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, Miller worked at Cargill Animal Nutrition as a consultant, working with farmers and ranchers throughout the Intermountain West. He is a native of southeast Idaho and a partner on his family’s fifth-generation farm in St. Anthony. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and animal science from BYU Idaho. Miller and his wife, Marcy, live in Rigby with their four daughters.

Dr. Alexander Murphy is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Oregon, where he long held the James F. and Shirley K. Rippey Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences. He specializes in political, cultural, and environmental geography, with regional emphases in Europe and the Middle East. He is the author of more than 100 research articles and book chapters, and several books, including Geography: Why It Matters (Polity Press, 2018). In 2014 he was elected to membership in the Academia Europaea, and in winter 2025 he served as Visiting Research Professor at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Murphy is a Past President of the American Association of Geographers, and Senior Vice President of the American Geographical Society. In the early 2000s he chaired the U.S. National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Committee charged with identifying “Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences.” The American Association of Geographers bestowed on him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He holds a Bachelors degree in archaeology from Yale University, a law degree from the Columbia University School of Law, and a PhD in geography from the University of Chicago.

Rick Naerebout grew up on his family’s dairy farm in McBain, Michigan, where he learned the value of hard work, integrity, and an appreciation for agriculture that can only be learned on the farm. He moved west with his family after the family dairy was sold in the late 90s and shortly thereafter began a family and his schooling at the College of Southern Idaho and Idaho State University. Rick has been married to his wife, Angi, for 20 years, and together they have three daughters. Rick has been with the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, Inc. since 2002, assisting with the Association’s environmental, legal, economic, legislative and stewardship efforts. The IDA is a progressive Association that represents all of Idaho’s 400 dairy farms. As CEO of the Association, he manages the day-to- day operations of the organization, which includes IDA Consulting Services, a division within IDA that provides on-farm services, through its highly skilled staff, ranging from nutrient management planning to dairy worker training and safety programs.

Paul Nelson is retired from a senior engineer position at Micron Technology. While at Micron, he worked in the Dynamic RAM Division on new generations of memory chips and taught Python programming courses as well as other topics related to computer-aided design. Paul received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Fresno State University and a master of science in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming. He also worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories designing telecom infrastructure equipment, participated with the future-microprocessor design team at Intel, worked on NASA contracts for science satellites at Ball Aerospace, ran a vocational electronics program for five years at the College of the Sequoias, and was a professor at Fresno State in the electrical engineering department. Paul has been an amateur astronomer since grade school and got his first serious telescope at the age of 11.

Mark Norton has been active in various industry roles within advanced manufacturing for over 40 years. He is currently the Executive Director for the Northwest I-90 Manufacturing Alliance (NIMA), and principal of Norton Strategic Consulting. His private sector experience is deeply grounded in business development, product development, workforce development and strategic business planning. In 2023, his consulting firm authored the Aviation and Aerospace Industry Report for the Washington Legislature. He is also passionately involved in STEM and trade career exploration in the K-12 arena, and provides industry perspective to regional colleges and universities.

Dr. Javier Ochoa-Repáraz received his bachelor’s degree in science and his PhD in Biological Sciences (Cellular and Molecular Biology Program) from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He was trained as a postdoctoral scientist at Montana State University and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, exploring the impact of the gut mucosal immune responses to microbes on CNS inflammatory demyelination. He has industry experience working for a pharmaceutical company as a scientific member of their MS platform. He has published over 50 research articles and book chapters. Dr. Ochoa-Repáraz moved to Boise State’s Department of Biological Science in August 2022. He continues working on the interplay between the gut microbiome and disease, specifically focusing on immunomodulation mediated by gut microbes and microbiome-modifying treatments in CNS demyelinating inflammation.

Hunter Osborne is the Deputy Director of Resident Fisheries for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ Fish and Wildlife Department and has been with the Tribes for over 30 years. He resides on the Reservation near Pocatello and received his B.S. Biology from Idaho State University in 1999. Specifically, Hunter oversees projects that seek to protect, enhance, and restore native fish and wildlife and ecosystems in accordance with Tribes’ Snake River Policy under Article IV of the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 to ensure reserved rights and culture on and off the Reservation.

Dr. John Ottenhoff is a member of the Boise Jazz Society Board of Directors. He retired in 2019 from The College of Idaho, where he was Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty.

James Pagliasotti is a native of Colorado who has had the pleasure and challenges of growing up Western. His family includes several generations of laborers in the coal mines and other extractive industries, ranching and farming. He has a lifelong interest in Native American art and culture, has lived and worked with Indigenous peoples, and for a decade owned actor Gary Cooper’s home in Montana.

Dr. Del Parkinson began studying piano at age five in his hometown of Blackfoot, Idaho. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University and a postgraduate diploma from The Juilliard School. He was the recipient of a Fulbright-Hays grant for graduate study in London. He was coordinator of piano instruction at Brigham Young University-Idaho, where he taught for eight years, and is professor of piano at Boise State University, where he joined the faculty in 1985. Dr. Parkinson’s London debut recital was on the American Bicentennial Series, and his New York debut recital in Carnegie Recital Hall was sponsored by the Idaho Commission on the Arts. He has performed with the Guadalajara Symphony, the Indiana University Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Utah Symphony, and the Boise Philharmonic. He is featured on four compact disc recordings: The American Piano Quartet and The American Piano Duo’s Mendelssohn Two-Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff Duo Piano Works, and Celebrating Gershwin. He is the recipient of the Boise State University Foundation Scholar Award for creative activity, the Boise Mayor’s Award for artistic excellence, the Morrison Center Honor Medallion, the Idaho Commission on the Arts Career Fellowship Award, and the Idaho Governor’s Award for excellence in the arts.

Dr. Asya Pereltsvaig received a PhD in Linguistics from McGill University and has taught at Yale, Cornell, and Stanford, as well as in several European universities. Her expertise is in language and history, and the relationship between them. Her most recent books, Languages of the World: An Introduction, Third Edition (2020) and The Indo-European Controversy: Facts and Fallacies in Historical Linguistics (2015) were published by Cambridge University Press.

Rishi Rattan is a trauma and critical care surgeon at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, OR with multiple regional university appointments, including at Oregon Health & Science University. He has lectured nationwide about trauma, global, and humanitarian surgery and ethics and is a Medical Officer in the National Disaster Medical System. As a field surgery subject matter expert for FEMA, he trained members of the medical special operations community nationally and internationally. He has also held leadership roles with international NGOs that provide clinical service and surgical education in humanitarian and combat settings. As a former instructor with the U.S. Army Trauma Training Detachment, he trained U.S. Army Forward Surgical Teams in combat surgery and also helped train members from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Special Operations Surgical Team, Joint Medical Augmentation Unit, and White House Medical Unit.

Gary Richardson is a former Idaho Public TV producer and reporter. He has also worked as a public information officer for several Idaho state agencies.

May Roberts focuses on state revenue and budget policy at the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy. She earned a Master of Public Policy, with a specialization in local government, from Portland State University. While at Portland State, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs. May also holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy from the College of Idaho.

Dr. Doug Rutan is a retired school educator, having served as an administrator in the West Ada School District for 20 years; superintendent of the Kuna School District for nine years; two superintendent positions in Arizona for seven years; and Education Coordinator for Northern Arizona University for two years. He also has taught both bachelors and masters level courses for NAU. Doug has an avid interest in the White House: he has been on tours and to receptions at the White House on a dozen occasions. He has attended four White House seminars and is a member of the White House Historical Association.

Carolyn Sauer is a clinical psychologist with 35 years of experience in private practice and a Certified Iyengar Yoga instructor with 30 years of teaching and studying experience. Carolyn serves as part-time adjunct faculty teaching yoga for Boise State department of kinesiology. In addition, she teaches yoga at True North Yoga studio in Boise and is involved in training yoga teachers. Carolyn also enjoys art, olsying the oboe, and spending time camping and fishing in the outdoors with her family.

Chuck Smith is active throughout the Northwest as both a jazz pianist and a music educator. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, he completed his masters degree at New York’s Lehman College. His teaching experience includes adjunct jazz piano faculty at Boise State University and as a music educator in the Boise schools. From 1997 through 2000 he also served on staff at the Frank DeMeiro Summer Jazz Camp in Seattle while participating in the Bud Shank Jazz Camp in Port Townsend, Washington. A member of the International Association of Jazz Educators, he performed at their 1999 annual conference in Anaheim, CA. During the 2000-2001 academic year, he was the recipient of funding through the Idaho Commission on the Arts to supplement his sabbatical to study jazz education.

As a pianist, he has appeared with numerous distinguished artists, including working for three years in Minneapolis with a charter member of Weather Report, drummer Eric Gravatt. While attending graduate school in New York, Smith’s freelance work included accompanying vocalist Johnny Hartman, as well as working regularly with a jazz trio at World Trade Center One. As a member of the Jazz Educators of Idaho, with the Jazz Under the Stars series and Boise’s Riverside Jazz Orchestra, Smith has performed with a host of jazz artists and clinicians, including Jan Faddis, Bobby Mintzer, Dave Weckl, Gary Burton, Don Menza, Gary Foster, Bill Watrous, Pete Christlieb, Jeff Jarvis, Bobby Shew, Arturo Sandoval, Ernie Watts, Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Lew Soloff, and Ray Charles. At the 2001 Gene Harris Festival, he was a featured performer with Harris’ former rhythm section, the L.A. Connection. In August of 2001, he led a jazz trio representing Idaho at the forty-first annual German American Volksfest in Berlin. Smith’s CDs include a Brazilian project with Seattle vocalist Sandy Anderson, as co-leader for the Smith-Mayhew trio, and as a sideman with Rob Walker’s Allegro Jazz Sextet. Smith was Paul Anka’s musical director for eight years and has performed with Bill Watrous, Bobby Shew, Gary Foster, Bob Mintzer and many other jazz greats.

Daniel Steck obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Dayton and his PhD in Physics from The University of Texas at Austin. After a Postdoctoral fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he took a faculty position in Physics at the University of Oregon. Besides playing classical guitar, he taught the Physics of Sound and Music course at the University of Oregon for nine years.

Dr. Jennifer Stevens (she/her) joined the Department of Arts and History as its director in September 2022. As a critical public-facing agency with a responsibility to reach both new and existing residents through an artistic and interpretive celebration of Boise’s diverse and rich heritage, Jennifer works with the team and the cultural community to find even greater opportunities for meaningful connections to Boise residents and visitors. Her civic involvement included seven years as a member and two years as chair of Boise’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and five years as a member and three as chair of Boise’s Historic Preservation Commission. Prior to joining the City of Boise, Jennifer provided historical consulting services for over 20 years and also taught courses in Environmental and Urban History at Boise State University. She remains a Professor of the Practice in the History and Urban Studies Departments there. Dr. Stevens holds a PhD in History from the University of California, Davis, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a graduate of Boise High School.

Mark Stewart was a Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam. When his unit came under heavy mortar fire on Christmas Eve 1968, he was seriously injured. Following his recovery, Mark went into humanitarian relief work in Africa and Central America, eventually returning to Vietnam as director of the East Meets West Foundation, dedicated to improving health and education in Vietnam.

With over 40 years behind a camera, degrees in environmental science and education, and certification as an Idaho Master Naturalist, Patrick Stoll is uniquely qualified to share his photography knowledge and experience with groups of all ages. He has developed and presented digital photography classes for Boise State University’s five-week Upward Bound Program, the Boise School District’s Adult Community Education program, the Treasure Valley YMCA Artist in Residence digital photography class for cancer survivors, and many others.

Jon Swarthout sees a gap in our early learning systems, and he sees what can happen to a child’s spirit, self-confidence and ultimately their character when the gap is filled. Swarthout goes into every educational setting with the belief that he will make a profound difference by being there. In the key moment when children’s personalities are developing, THIS is when education needs to be at its finest. To fill this gap, Jon founded TRICA, the Treasure Valley Institute for Children’s Arts, a multi-disciplined arts education program that has touched thousands of lives in the Northwest. Swarthout danced professionally with the Joffrey Ballet, Feld Ballets/New York and Oregon Ballet Theatre. He started in local theatre productions in Boise as a child, formed his own theatre production company at age thirteen and produced and directed a production of “Free to Be You and Me.” He started ballet lessons at age 14, auditioned and was selected to attend North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was taught ballet by Melissa Hayden among others. He then earned a full scholarship and stipend to attend the Houston Ballet Academy. His dream was always to return to his hometown, where he rightly believed he could have the most impact. In 1996 he became Director of Educational Outreach for Idaho Dance Theater and then launched his own interactive in-school program, which would ultimately become TRICA. In 2010 Swarthout became the father of twin daughters Ginger and Violet. In 2012 he met his husband Mel, an occupational therapist and educator.

Kristy Thieme is a professional genealogist specializing in British Isles research and DNA research. She works for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation as a digital curator and senior research specialist. She has a BS in Professional Studies with an emphasis in Family History Research from Brigham Young University, Idaho. She also earned a Master of Library and Information Science and a Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies from Louisiana State University. When she is not working, Kristy volunteers as a lecturer at the Boise FamilySearch Center and helps at local elementary school libraries.

Dr. Joe Tornello is the Director of Athletic Bands at Boise State University. Since 2011, he has been directing the university’s Keith and Catherine Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band, the All-Campus Concert Band, teaching conducting as well as serving as professor and mentor for students across campus including Kappa Kappa Psi, the university’s band service fraternity. The Blue Thunder has seen record participation as the band has been the largest in university history under his leadership. Boise State’s athletic bands performing ensembles have entertained millions in attendance at performances across the country spanning Dr. Tornello’s time as a director at the university. In 2018 he was awarded the Boise State University Golden Apple Award in recognition of instilling passion for learning in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Tornello was a member of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps and was also a percussion instructor and consultant for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps from 2000 to 2007. He designs drill for a number of college and high school marching band programs nationwide. As a percussionist, he is a Pearl Educational Marching Artist and has been a featured performer with the Boise State University Symphonic Winds.

Dr. Tornello earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Virginia Tech, a Master of Arts degree with an emphasis in Music Education from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL, and a DMA in Wind Band Conducting from the University of Kentucky where he studied with Dr. John Cody Birdwell. Additionally, he studied percussion under world-renowned percussionist and pedagogue, James Campbell. He is in demand as an educator, guest conductor, adjudicator, clinician and drill designer across the country. He is a member of CBDNA, NBA-serving as the state chair for Idaho, NAfME and IMEA. Dr. Tornello resides in Boise, Idaho with his wife, Irene, their three daughters, their Bernese Mountain Dog and Great Dane.

As a soprano and artistic leader, Stacey Trenteseaux is passionate about fostering innovation and creativity in the arts and across industries. She is the General Director of Opera Idaho with previous positions as the Executive Director of Opera Mississippi, Artistic Director of the International Performing Arts Institute, and a creative consultant and grant writer for multiple arts organizations and individual artists. Stacey has performed leading roles in the United States and Germany including Rosalinde (J. Strauss’, Die Fledermaus), Luisa (Verdi’s Luisa Miller) Juliette (Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette), Micaëla (Bizet’s Carmen), Fiordiligi (Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte), Hanna (Lehár’s Die lustige Witwe), Angelica in Pucinni’s Suor Angelica), and First Lady (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte) among others. She regularly speaks as an adovocate of opera and creativity presenting vocal, artistic entrepreneurship, and business master classes and workshops to young artists and business professionals.

Dr. Meghan Vinograd is a licensed clinical psychologist and Health Sciences Clinical Assistant Professor in the University of California, San Diego Health Sciences Department of Psychiatry. She received her BA in Psychology with Distinction and Departmental Honors from Stanford University and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, completed a predoctoral clinical internship focused on Traumatic Stress at the Charleston Consortium, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the VA San Diego Healthcare System Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health. She has taught at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate level, including courses and didactic lectures on clinical psychological methods, forms of psychotherapy and psychiatric disorders, and anhedonia, and has published extensively on these and other topics.

Sandie Waters has been an Economics teacher at Boise High School for 23 years. Over her career, she has taught English, History, Sociology, Community Leadership, Economics, and German. Prior to teaching, she worked for the USFS as an archaeologist on the Payette Forest in McCall, ID. Sandie graduated from Utah State University in 1992 with undergraduate degrees in Archaeology and Language Arts, and minors in Sociology and German. She later attended Boise State University for a Teaching degree and certification, graduating in 1996. Sandie is originally from Milwaukee, WI, and always had a desire to live in the mountains in the West. She has two daughters, both adopted from China.

Dr. Stacey Whitcomb’s journey into acupuncture and Chinese medicine doesn’t begin with a dramatic story of personal healing or enlightenment from a wandering monk. Instead, her path was sparked by a moment of discovery during her early twenties, while attending massage school. During her studies, Dr. Whitcomb was introduced to foundational concepts in traditional Chinese medicine, and was immediately captivated by this ancient healing system, particularly as she pondered why such an effective, holistic approach to health was not integrated into modern medicine. Fueled by her fascination, she decided to dedicate her life to the study and practice of Chinese medicine. Dr. Whitcomb earned her Doctoral Degree in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine from Five Branches University in Santa Cruz, California. Her doctoral training built on a solid foundation established at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, where she earned her Master’s in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Before discovering her calling in Chinese medicine, Dr. Whitcomb earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Physiology, a field that laid the groundwork for her understanding of the human body and its intricate systems.

Lawson Wulsin, MD, is professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the University of Cincinnati. His subspecialty is psychosomatic medicine, and he has focused his research and teaching on various mind-body questions, such as depression and heart disease, and more recently stress and metabolic disorders. In April 2024 his book, Toxic Stress: How Stress is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It was published by Cambridge University Press. He has devoted much of his career to training physicians to practice both family medicine and psychiatry, and he has served in leadership roles for several professional organizations and academic journals related to the integration of medicine and psychiatry.

Dr. Eric Yensen is a native Idahoan. He received his BS in Biology from the College of Idaho, Master’s degree from Oregon State University, and PhD from the University of Arizona. He is an ecologist and mammalogist with an affinity for all branches of natural history. He has published over 75 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 10 book chapters, and three books. He has served as associate editor for the scientific journals, Northwest Science and The Murrelet. He was named “Distinguished Scientist” by the Idaho Academy of Science and received the Charles E. Harris award for Lifetime Accomplishment by the Idaho Chapter of the Wildlife Society. He is currently serving as Adjunct Graduate Faculty at Boise State University, Professor Emeritus at The College of Idaho, and Curator and Board Member of the O.J. Smith Museum of Natural History at the College of Idaho.

Mike Agron grew up in LA, the heart of the recording and entertainment industry. He loved music so much he wanted to become a recording engineer. Fate had different plans, and he ended up with a successful career in hi-tech, including founding a webinar marketing agency. He has fulfilled his musical and entertainment passions by offering his varied and uniquely popular seminars to learners across the country.

Stephanie Arne is an international wildlife conservationist, expedition guide, and storyteller. She is the former host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and has appeared on Animal Planet, The Weather Channel, The Harry Connick Jr. Show, and The Drew Barrymore Show. Arne’s expertise in wildlife conservation has earned her a seat on the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Lion SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) committee and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Education and Communication Commission.

Dr. Arnold Blumberg is a publisher, author, artist, and pop culture historian. He has taught courses in media literacy and cultural studies at University of Maryland, Baltimore College (UMBC), the University of Baltimore, Community College Baltimore College (CCBC), and the Osher Institute at Towson University. With fifteen years of experience in the comic book industry and five years curating a pop culture museum, he now runs his own publishing company, ATB Publishing.

Dr. Karl Brown teaches courses in modern European history, film and media studies, and the history of drugs and drinking at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. Before his academic career, he installed and operated brewpubs in Japan and Greece. Brown co-founded Second Salem Brewing Company in Whitewater and is an avid homebrewer of beer, cider, wine, and mead.

Dr. Johnnie Hendrickson is a Teaching Professor in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University. He holds a PhD in chemistry and is the author of the textbook Chemistry in the World. His academic work focuses on science communication, the reciprocal relationship between science and society.

Beth Hill-Skinner has graduate degrees in Theology and International Diplomacy with a specialization in transnational terrorism. She has educated individuals and organizations for the purpose of empowering citizens to improve their community, state, and country. She believes there is a clear difference between providing information and education. She enjoys transforming the opaque or complex into clarity for her students or audiences.

Matt Jennings, PhD is Professor of History at Middle Georgia State University. He has authored several books on Native American and local history, including New Worlds of Violence, The Flower Hunter and the People, and Ocmulgee National Monument: A Brief History with Field Notes (with poet Gordon Johnston). While he specializes in Native American history, he teaches in a variety of fields, including the history of music in America (perhaps as a way of compensating for his sporadic, and sophomoric efforts on the guitar, mandolin, and banjo).

Adam Kocurek is a PhD candidate in History at The CUNY Graduate Center. His research lies at the intersections of LGBTQ+ history, labor history, and the history of higher education. He is an adjunct lecturer at Hunter College where he teaches modern American history. He has held fellowship positions at Queensborough Community College and Medgar Evers College, and has taught at Baruch College. He is a tour guide for Big Onion Walking Tours, leading locals and visitors on innovative and exciting tours through New York’s ethnic neighborhoods and historic districts. Through his research and teaching, he is committed to illuminating the complexities of American history and fostering a deeper understanding of the diverse narratives that shape our society today.

John Langellier has spent decades researching African Americans in the US military, beginning in the 1960s. His work includes articles and books such as More Work Than Glory: Buffalo Soldiers in the United States Army, 1866–1916 and Buffalo Soldiers in Arizona, and an extensive National Park Service study on Buffalo Soldiers from the Eastern Seaboard to Hawaii. He has consulted and produced documentaries on African Americans in the armed forces for A&E and PBS, curated museum exhibits, developed curricula, and delivered programs across the US and Europe.

Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, and author. She lectures and leads tours worldwide on art and architectural history. She has been named a distinguished instructor at UCLA Extension, where she teaches history of architecture, interior design, furniture, and decorative arts. Schrader is a Professor Emerita of art and architectural history at Santa Monica College. She has completed graduate work in fine and decorative arts at Sotheby’s Institute in London and New York. She has served as a design review commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills and currently serves on the board of directors of the John Lautner Foundation.

Lauren Weingarden is professor emerita of art history at Florida State University. Her publications explore the interrelations between literature and visual arts in 19th century cultural contexts. She is the author of several scholarly books and articles on the American architect Louis Sullivan and on French art and literature, particularly Charles Baudelaire and Édouard Manet. Her interdisciplinary work includes developing an embodied aesthetic model through which art viewers re-experience artists’ immersive encounters with modernity’s fragmentation and nature’s transience—a perspective that deeply informs her teachings on Impressionism.

Geof Woglom, PhD is professor emeritus of economics at Amherst College, where he taught for over 40 years. He has held visiting positions at Cambridge, Harvard, and the London School of Economics, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town and at Nanjing University. He has served as an economic consultant for the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.