Instructors

Sandy Bell
Sandy Bell is a resident of Springdale, Utah where she works as a freelance graphic designer. Among her clients are national museums and several national parks. She recently completed the design of ZNHA's "Water, Rock, & Time," learning more about geology along the way. She has been sketching and keeping journals through all of her world travels and finds much inspiration in the wilds of the west.

Dr. Allen Brown
After receiving his graduate degrees at the University of California Berkeley, Dr. Allen Brown served as a biologist and Dean of Natural Sciences at Fullerton College for more than 35 years. During this time, he led tours of the southwest and Baja California for over 30 years. Allen now lives in Rockville, Utah with his wife, Anne.

Anne Weiler Brown
Anne Weiler Brown has an AFA from Sullins College, and did MFA studies at Brown University. She recently moved to Rockville, Utah from an established art career in Laguna Beach, California. A longtime exhibitor in the Sawdust Art Festival there, she also participates in juried art shows throughout the United States. Her work is represented in private and corporate collections throughout this country. Anne works on canvas in mixed media with predominately water based media and also creates work in Adobe Photoshop.

Mark Colberg
Mark Colberg is an assistant professor of geology at Southern Utah University. He received his Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of Georgia. He is a metamorphic geologist with research interests in the northern Snake Range and Beaver Dam Mountains of southern Utah.

David Eaker
Mr. Eaker has been the Fire Information and Education Specialist for Zion National Park for the past five years. He also represents all the NPS units in the Great Basin/Colorado Plateau region regarding fire-related information/education issues. He has worked for the NPS for over 15 years, in 10 different parks, and in a variey of disciplines including interpretation, public affairs, resource management, and fire management. He is currently a Type II Wildland Fire Information Officer and also works as an information officer on NPS All Risk Teams. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State Unviersity with a B.S. in biology.

Walt Fertig
Walt Fertig has a M.S. in Botany from the University of Wyoming and is currently a Ph.D candidate at the same institution. Walt has extensive experience as a working field botanist. He has worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U. S. Geologic Survey, and the National Park Service among others. His field studies have occurred through much of the Rocky Mountain West and southern Utah area.

He is also an accomplished botanical illustrator, having had his illustrations published in three books and 25 government technical publications. His plant knowledge is encyclopedic, and his enthusiasm for all things flora is boundless.


Lyman Hafen
Lyman is a fifth-generation southern Utahn who has been writing about the region’s history, culture and personality for 20 years. He was co-founder of St. George Magazine in 1983, and has published more than 300 magazine articles in publications as diverse as Northern Lights and Western Horseman. He is the author of eight books of memoir, history, biography and fiction, including the popular MUKUNTUWEAP: LANDSCAPE AND STORY IN ZION CANYON, and his work has been recognized by awards from the Utah Arts Council. He is currently working on a history of the Arizona Strip region. He is executive director of the Zion Natural History Association and lives in Santa Clara, Utah.

Tom Haraden
Tom graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in Wildlife Biology. He has conducted field work on grizzly bears, desert bighorn sheep, moose, and bats. He first worked for the National Park Service in 1972, and has since served in eight national parks as a natural history interpreter and educator. Tom believes that enjoying nature and the outdoors should be a part of everyday life and that it improves the quality of life. Currently he is the Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services at Zion National Park. He is a licensed bat rehabilitator, and lives with his wife, a children’s librarian.

Rick Heflebower
Rick received his BS and MS degrees from Utah State University. He has worked for the Extension service in Maryland and Utah for the past 24 years. He is a Certified Arborist and a member of The City of St.George Shade Tree Board. He is also a member of the planning and development committee for The Southern Utah Water Conservation Garden located near Tonaquint Park. Water conservation in the landscape has been the primary emphasis of his educational programs since coming to Utah in 2000.

Sarah Horton
Sarah Horton is the Zion National Park Archaeologist. Ms. Horton received a B.A. from Appalachian State University in North Carolina and M.A. from Northern Arizona University. She has worked with the National Park Service since 2000. Prior to that date she worked as a private archaeological consultant throughout the Southwest since 1987. Ms. Horton has inventoried more than 35,000 acres in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, and recorded over 1500 archaeological sites.

Ron Kay
Ron Kay grew up in Utah and has been exploring its southern regions for over 30 years. Ron’s knowledge of this area is sought by researchers, geologists, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world. Ron is currently working as a seasonal park ranger at Zion National Park and teaches Natural History for Dixie State College. His love for this area is reflected in the work that he does.

Jim Lutterman
Jim Lutterman has worked for the National Park Service for 7 years. Prior to that he worked as a commercial service technician for a natural gas utility company for 16 years, and owned a commercial service company for 10 years. Jim has a custom built wind generator and a large photovoltaic (2.5Kw) system powering a small commercial shop that he owns. He is currently involved in energy saving alternate power sources including all HVAC systems in Zion National Park and all photovoltaic systems in the park.

Aviva O'Neil
Aviva has been an organic farmer for 12 years. She has farmed in California, Washington, and Utah. In 2000 she started a small farm business in Springdale, Utah, "Faith in a Seed Organic Farm," where she grows organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers. She has a certification in Ecological Horticulture and Sustainable Farm Systems from UC Santa Cruz, and is currently working on her masters in agronomy from Iowa State Unviversity. She has also monitored Mexican spotted owls in Zion National Park for six years. She studies their occupancy and breeding status for the park.

Michael Plyler
Photographer Michael Plyler is a 16 year resident of Utah and runs his own studio, Michael Plyler Photography, in Springdale. In 1993 he won a Visual Artists’s Fellowship from the Utah Arts Council. Originally trained as a field archaeologist, his background in this ensures that participants will learn about natural and cultural history as well as photography. Michael’s photography has been widely exhibited and published both in this country and abroad. He has led photo workshops from Central America to Spain. As a resident of Zion Canyon, his intimate knowledge of the park and its surrounds ensures exciting workshops. Michael is also the Field Institute's Director as of July, 2005.

Kenneth P. Puchlik
Ken is an exploration geologist with 35 years of field experience throughout the Southwest. He now resides in St. George, close to his favorite package of rocks. Ken has led geological excursions throughout SW Utah for the last 5 years and has been written up in many national publications and newspaper articles. He is known for his ability to present the fascinating geology of the Zion region in an entertaining yet educational manner. He has co-authored two publications related to the geology and pioneer history of the` region.

Dr. Doug Reynolds
Doug Reynolds, a self-described natural history junkie, has studied natural communities from Costa Rica to the arctic tundra of northern Alaska. Retiring early from college botany, he started a native plant nursery and habitat restoration business working with governmant and environmental organizations. After searching the southwest for the perfect place, he settled west of Cedar City, Utah and now lives off the grid in his solar-powered cabin surrounded by thousands of acres of pinyon-juniper forests.

David Sharrow
David Sharrow has a degree in watershed hydrology from the University of Arizona. He has held related positions throughout the southwest in places ranging from Grand Canyon National Park
to the Kaibab National Forest. He is currently the Zion National Park hydrologist where he works on issues from water rights, river restoration and fish recovery, to geological hazards, paleontology, and air and water quality monitoring.

Peter Stempel
Peter Stempel maintains a multidisplinary design practice in Virgin, Utah. His work includes all aspects of architecture and planning and industrial design. Peter has been teaching at the college level for ten years, and is a member of the adjunct faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Kevin Wheeler
Kevin Wheeler is a biologist, working with native species in southern Utah. He received a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Conservation in 1998 at Brigham Young University and has lived in St. George for eight years. He is currently the vice-president of the Red Cliffs Audubon Society and leads field trips for them regularly. He enjoys birding and the outdoors, and sharing the wonders of nature with others.