Speakers & Sessions
February 19-22, 2026
The 5th Annual Yellowstone Summit features a brand-new lineup of 30+ park staff, researchers, historians, educators, artists, filmmakers, and storytellers—sharing fresh perspectives, inspiring stories and deeper insights into Yellowstone. Explore the speakers and schedule below and get ready to be inspired, whether you’re joining us for the first time or returning.
- General Admission: New sessions release daily at 7:00 AM (MT) and remain available for 48 hours.
- VIP Pass: All pre-recorded sessions unlock on February 19 with lifetime access. Live VIP Only sessions (noted in blue) occur at the time listed below, links will be emailed, and the recording will be posted after in the summit portal.
*Registration opens February 2 and schedule will be posted in early February
Click the down arrows to learn more about each speaker
Thursday, February 19
Reflections on a Career in Wolf Recovery
Carter C. Niemeyer has served as a state trapper for the Montana Department of Livestock, a district supervisor for USDA Wildlife Services in western Montana managing and controlling large predators, and was chosen as the wolf management specialist for USDA Wildlife Services covering the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. In that position, he was responsible for livestock depredation investigation, as well as wolf capture and removal.
Carter was a member of the wolf capture team in Canada during reintroduction in the mid 1990s. In 2001 he was recruited by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to run the agency’s wolf recovery program in Idaho. He retired in 2006, coincidentally on the same day that wolf management was officially handed over to the state of Idaho. He also has worked on wolf issues in Washington, Oregon and California, as well as England, Scotland, France and Kyrgyzstan.
Most recently he served as an advisor on the Technical Working Group in Colorado to develop a plan to restore and manage gray wolves. He wrote his first memoir, Wolfer, in 2010. His second memoir, Wolf Land, was published in 2016. He recently completed his third book The Other Ten Wolves: A Yellowstone Backstory in 2025. Carter lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife, Jenny.
Messages & Memories: Rock Cairns and the Places Where Stories Dwell
Roger Amerman (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is a resident and active community member on the Nez Perce Reservation of Idaho. Roger is a graduate of Universty of Oregon (B.S. Geology), Colorado School of Mines (M.S. Geology), and Washington State University (M.S. Plant Ecology). Mr. Amerman has collectively worked for the private sector (MOBIL Exploration) and U.S. Government (USFS, BIA, NRCS, and NPS) for over 35 years as a geologist, plant ecologist, soil conservationist, historical interpreter and Tribal Liaison across the western United States.
Mr. Amerman recently served as a 2024 visiting professor of Geology and Ethnogeology at Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA), and in Fall 2025 Amerman will be a featured exhibitor and speaker at Portland OMSI and the Environmental Studies Program of Reed College (Portland, OR). During the recent Geological Society of America Conference in May 2024 (Spokane, WA), Mr. Amerman a was featured exhibitor at the poster session where he co-authored two Indigenous Earth-Science mural diagrams including a poster about the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) Ethnogeology of Yellowstone National Park. Mr. Amerman talks to the spectrum of ways Native Peoples incorporate soils, geography, lithic materials, landforms, and geologic phenomena in their lifeways, languages, and oral testimony.
Wildlife through a Guide's Eyes
Carolyn Bulin fell in love with Yellowstone on a family vacation over 25 years ago, when she watched the Druid Peak wolf pack successfully hunt an elk in Lamar Valley. She has been guiding and teaching in Yellowstone for nearly 15 years. Carolyn holds a B.S. in Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Management with emphases in ecology and cultural anthropology from Northern Michigan University, and she is a certified guide trainer through the National Association for Interpretation.
Carolyn and her husband Brad own and operate Yellowstone Wildlife Profiles tour company, which connects people to Yellowstone and the natural world through immersive educational experiences. Previously, she was a seasonal field instructor, year-round resident instructor, and program manager for the Yellowstone Institute. Carolyn's specialties include multi-day seminars on wolf research and management, day hiking and backpacking courses, and training courses for new and experienced guides. She has volunteered on snow tracking surveys for the Yellowstone Cougar Project, carcass surveys with the grizzly bear research team, and raven trapping and tagging operations.
Carolyn has hiked and canoed thousands of miles through the GYE backcountry. During her free time, Carolyn enjoys exploring the GYE with her husband and two small children from their home in Gardiner, MT.
Wolverines Roam the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Jim is an author, scientist, educator, and explorer whose interest in COLD (altitudinal, latitudinal, and seasonal) has taken him to all seven continents, Greenland, New Zealand, and Japan. He teaches classes on aurora, carnivores, climate change, environmental ecology, tracking, winter, and Yellowstone. His loves are bears, wolves, wolverine, and lynx.
Jim has written over 30 books and videos including Charting Yellowstone Wolves, Yellowstone Bears in the Wild, Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild, A Field Guide to Tracking in North America, and Winter: An Ecological Handbook. He led the American East Greenland expeditions in 1975 and 1976 and is a Fellow of the Explorer's Club and received the Antarctic Service medal. Jim is past Chairman of the Board of Directors, senior instructor, and administrative liaison officer of the National Outdoor Leadership School.
Currently Jim is President of A Naturalist's World, an ecological education company that houses the Track Education Center and Museum in Gardiner, MT. A past Research Fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Jim was Director of the Mountain Research Station and the Long-Term Ecological Research program in the Alpine. Jim is a Vietnam veteran.
History Matters, Even to Thermophilic Microorganisms
Dr. Eric Boyd is a Professor of environmental microbiology in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Dr. Boyd developed a fascination of minerals at an early age and fell in love with “invisible” microorganisms after viewing them through a microscope in middle school. Yet, it was not until he was an undergraduate student that he learned that certain microorganisms breathe minerals in the same way that animals breathe oxygen. This included microorganisms that breathe minerals that impart vivid yellow, orange, and red colors to hot springs. He quickly exchanged his aspiration for a planned career in orthopedic medicine to one in environmental microbiology and has never looked back.
For the past 22 years, Dr. Boyd has been studying the intersection of geology, geochemistry/mineralogy, and microbiology in Yellowstone’s diverse thermal features to better understand how they together support life. This work, supported by the NASA, NSF, and private foundations, provides exciting new ways of thinking about the origin and evolution of life on Earth and the potential distribution of life in the Universe. He recently authored his 200th scientific article and currently mentors three postdoctoral scholars and five doctoral students. Dr. Boyd proudly calls the railroad town of Livingston, Montana home, and when he is not busy with his research, he can often be found hiking in and around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with his wife, Marisa, and dog, Blueberry.
Inspired by the Land: A Painter's Vision
Born in northern Montana, Clyde Aspevig's world was shaped by the land. Encouraged by his parents, Clyde knew from an early age that he wanted to be a painter, and with a tenacity that still helps define him today, he relentlessly pursued his goal.
Clyde has been honored with one-man exhibitions at galleries and museums throughout the United States, most recently at New York City's National Arts Club. He has received such prestigious awards as the Prix de West from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Red Smith Award from the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and the William E. Weiss Purchase Award from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. His biggest painting today “Common Ground” is permanently installed in the National Discovery Center in Lewistown, MT, along with many smaller paintings in the Conference room named after him.
After years of living in a busy, urban world, Clyde and his wife, fellow painter Carol Guzman, have chosen to make their home in the foothills outside Bozeman, Montana.
LIVE 12:00pm MST Yellowstone Summit Kick-Off (All Passes)
Join us for a live celebration of Yellowstone as we kick off the 2026 Yellowstone Summit. Come say hello, ask questions, and get details about the event.
LIVE 2:30pm MST
What's New in Yellowstone: Park Update (VIP)
Mike Tranel has been the deputy superintendent of Yellowstone National Park in February 2021. In this role, Mike essentially serves as the chief operating officer of the park. Yellowstone is one of the largest operations in the US National Park System with approximately 1,000 employees and volunteers. Mike is a 40-year veteran of the National Park Service and from 2018 through 2020 was superintendent of the
Powder River Group in Eastern Montana and Wyoming where he oversaw Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Little Bighorn Battlefield and Devils Tower national monuments, and Fort Laramie National Historic Site.
Originally from northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, Mike has spent most of his NPS career in Alaska, where he was chief of planning at Denali National Park and superintendent of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Other National Park Service assignments have included acting superintendent roles at Cape Lookout National Seashore and Jewel Cave National Monument; acting associate regional director for operations in the Alaska Region; special assistant to the Alaska regional director; and special assistant to the director of the National Park Service. Mike served as a park ranger early in his career at Ocmulgee National Monument and Gulf Islands National Seashore, and he was chief ranger at Timpanogos Cave National Monument before moving to Alaska. While chief of planning at Denali, Mike published several articles on protected area management in national and international journals and served on three international assignments in Sweden, South Africa, and China, in which he provided advice to other national park systems on sustainable tourism.
Mike has a bachelor’s degree in American studies/earth science from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in geography from the University of Iowa. He graduated from Billings Central High School in Billings, Montana, and grew up one of 10 siblings near Big Horn, Wyoming, and Ashland and Broadview, Montana. He and his wife, Mary, live at park headquarters in Mammoth, Wyoming. One daughter attends the Cleveland Institute of Music and the youngest is a high school senior in Gardiner,
Montana. Mike’s oldest daughter, Kelsey, lives and works in Anchorage with her husband Tom.
LIVE 4pm MST
The Legacy and Ancient Relationship of Nez Perce Peoples with Southwest Montana and the Yellowstone Region (VIP)
Nakia Williamson-Cloud, Ipeliikthil'aamkaw'aat (One Who Gathers the Clouds), graduated from Lewis Clark State College with a B.S. in Social Science. He gained much of his knowledge and education concerning the traditional “way of life” of the Nimíipuu (Nez Perce) from culture bearers over a lifetime. He worked in the area of Cultural Resource Management for 30 years, and currently serves as Program Manager for the Nez Perce Tribe Cultural Resource Program. Nakia conducts and coordinates technical consultation with various federal/state agencies, such as: the US Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration, 13 National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management, to name a few. He is an accomplished artist, particularly painting, but also other forms, including traditional artwork such as featherwork-bustles and warbonnets.
Friday, February 20
Autobiography of a Wildlife Filmmaker
Bob Landis has been filming wildlife in Yellowstone and Denali National Parks since 1965. Bob and his wife Connie arrived in Billings, MT, from Wisconsin in 1968 to teach in the two high schools. For Bob, summers and weekends were spent filming in Denali, Glacier, and most importantly in Yellowstone.
In 1995, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone and Landis, now living in Gardiner, was at action central for the historical event. He has spent countless hours observing and filming the wolves of Yellowstone over the past three decades, and he has now filmed and produced over 20 documentaries, including titles with National Geographic Television, PBS's NATURE, and BBC. His favorite, In The Valley of the Wolves, aired on Nature in 2007.
Bob’s current projects include a coproduced documentary about ravens in Yellowstone and a Nat Geo production of Wolf Dynasty: The White Wolf, scheduled to air in January.
Yellowstone's Northern Range Moose: Winter Ecology and Population Trend
Ky and his wife, Lisa, are wildlife biologists who live in Fayston, Vermont. They have worked on ecological studies of wolves and their prey for the Yellowstone Wolf Project and the Isle Royale Wolf and Moose Study for more than a decade. Ky earned a master’s degree from the University of Vermont, where he quantified moose habitat suitability within Vermont Wildlife Management Units during a period of rapid range expansion. His keen interest in moose winter ecology, combined with the couple’s experience using non-invasive sampling methods on Isle Royale, led them to launch a three-year non-invasive winter population study of Yellowstone’s Northern Range moose from 2013 to 2016. Findings of this study, "A noninvasive and integrative approach for improving density and abundance estimates of moose" were published in the Journal of Wildlife Management (2022).
Stories from the Early Years of the Yellowstone Wolf Project
Rick McIntyre is the award-winning author of the bestselling "Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone" book series, which includes The Rise of Wolf 8, The Reign of Wolf 21, The Redemption of Wolf 302, The Alpha Female Wolf, and Thinking Like a Wolf. The series has won awards, garnered praise from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and is currently being adapted into a major motion picture. McIntyre's books for children about the Yellowstone wolves include The Unlikely Hero and A Time of Legends, co-authored with David A. Poulsen.
Rick has worked with the National Park Service for more than forty years and has recorded more sightings of wild wolves than any other person. During one fifteen year period, he rose before dawn every day to observe the Yellowstone wolves. Now retired from the National Park Service, he has spoken about the Yellowstone Wolves with news outlets such as This American Life, 60 Minutes, and Snap Judgement, among many others.
A History of Yellowstone's Beavers
Bethan Eira Wallace, MPhil, MA (Oxon) is a DPhil student working on the history of Yellowstone's wildlife. Bethan received a BA degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford in 2019, and an MPhil in Zoology at the University of Cambridge in 2022.
Bethan's project examines every mammal species (and a few birds) across the whole park area for over 200 years. One chapter focuses on the history of Yellowstone's beavers and the role of the trophic cascade in beaver recovery on the Northern Range. Another chapter examines the history of all of Yellowstone's herbivores, and another examines the history of all carnivores. She is in the final year of her degree, and will shortly be sending her first paper to journals for publication.
Bethan is also an avid martial artist (Brown belt in karate), President of the Oxford University Clay Pigeon Shooting club, and recently learnt horseback archery in Hungary.
Kablooey! What's New in Yellowstone's Thermal Features?
Susan and David Jennys are lovers of all things Yellowstone. You might recognize them as having been Summit presenters in the past. Susan and David are administrators of the FB social media page “Yellowstone Thermal Features” which is dedicated to the enjoyment of and dissemination of information related to the Yellowstone Caldera System including its mudpots, geysers, hotsprings and fumaroles. Susan, who is wild about thermal features (and proudly labels herself a “Yellowstone thermal geek”) is in the process of writing a book about these things. David is fascinated by park history and by its incredible geography and topography including the mountains and watersheds.
Susan and David have been visiting Yellowstone together annually for many years. In fact, they honeymooned in the park 42 years ago and have spent many anniversaries there as well. Susan and David are avid hikers, with their favorite hiking destination being the Yellowstone backcountry. They are editors for the “Yellowstone Trail and Backcountry Field Guide” by Thomas P. Bohannan. Susan and David are both pastors, currently serving a total of three churches in the Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Exploring the Backcountry: Cache Creek, Pebble Creek, and Heart Lake
Jenny Golding is a writer, photographer, and nature-connected life coach living with her family on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. She is the founding editor of A Yellowstone Life and along with her husband George Bumann is the creator and host of the Yellowstone Summit. With more than two decades of experience in education and conservation Jenny now creates stories, photography, and programs that help people form meaningful relationships with Yellowstone and the more-than-human world. She writes about slow living, creativity, and deep nature connection on her Substack publication, Wilder Life.
Alongside her Yellowstone work, Jenny coaches women in midlife and beyond who are ready to find their way back to themselves. Shaped by her own journey through perimenopause, grief, and burnout, Jenny’s work blends nature connected coaching, mindful photography, and transformational wilderness journeys to help women navigate their own inner and outer wilderness, tap into their deep wisdom, and rediscover their spark so they can craft a life that feels more authentically true.
LIVE 4pm MST
Deep Dive into Bear Sign (VIP)
Brad Bulin grew up on a dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin, where he spent his days outside getting to know the local flora and fauna. After teaching and serving as school principal for several years, Brad earned his M.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, studying songbirds, raptors, and carnivores.
He then packed up his Jeep and headed to Yellowstone for a month-long stint teaching about Yellowstone’s wolves. More than 20 years later, he’s still here, guiding, teaching, and filming in Yellowstone. Brad has spent years studying and filming cougars, wolves, and wildlife behavior in and around Yellowstone National Park and, more recently, has recorded his observations and stories in his book, The Grand Lady of Yellowstone and Other Yellowstone Wolf Stories. Brad lives in Gardiner, MT, and co-owns and operates Yellowstone Wildlife Profiles, LLC.
LIVE 6pm MST
Let's Talk Yellowstone (VIP)
Let's Talk Yellowstone sessions are live Zoom meetings where you get to talk about your favorite Yellowstone topics with other attendees, connect with speakers and ask questions in a fun and casual community environment. Today's speakers & hosts include:
Katherine Gura - Owls
Eric Boyd - Thermophiles
Jim Halfpenny - Wolverines and Winter
Susan and David Jennys - Thermal Feature Exploration
Joan Zenzen - Writing about Yellowstone: For Authors, Would-be Authors, and Curious Folks
Jeff Hogan - Wildlife Filmmaking
Saturday, February 21
Discovering the Phantom of the Forest: Great Gray Owls of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Dr. Katherine Gura is a research scientist at Colorado State University. Her research focuses on understanding ecological relationships, including wildlife-snow interactions, and the effects of changing environmental conditions on organisms. She is based in northwestern Wyoming and conducts research throughout the arctic, sub-arctic, and Mountain West. As part of this work, she has led a long-term study on Great Gray Owls in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Wildlife Photography and Remedies to Species Loneliness
Ronan Donovan is a National Geographic Fellow, wildlife biologist, and conservation photographer whose work seeks to mend the rift between modern humans and the more than human world. Through visual, written and spoken stories, Ronan strives to capture the intimate rhythms of family bonds, shared challenges, and ancient behaviors that call us back to our wild selves. His photography and film reveal that the boundaries we imagine between ourselves and nature are illusions—reminding us that, as Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote, “It has been said that people of the modern world suffer a great sadness, a 'species loneliness'—estrangement from the rest of Creation."
Ronan believes, as the above wisdom speaks to, that our path forward to honor and preserve both the natural systems of this planet and the heath of ourselves could be to rewind ourselves in whatever ways we can. To remember that we are part of Earth, not apart from it. In doing so, he has felt more aliveness, more connection, more grief and love, and a felt sense of place amongst fellow humans.
Yellowstone Summers: Wylie Tent Camps
Jane was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She has fond memories of traveling to Bozeman, Montana to visit her grandparents--often with side trips to Yellowstone National Park--experiences that led to future interests. She received a BA in history from the University of Puget Sound. A former K-12 special education teacher, she completed extensive career-related course work at the University of Montana and Seattle Pacific University. She currently lives and works in Helena, Montana.
Origins and Dynamics of the Yellowstone Trophic Cascade Story
Dr. Dan MacNulty is a Professor in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University. He earned a PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior and an MS in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He conducts research at the interface of animal behavior, population biology, and community ecology to address basic and applied questions in ecology and conservation.
His research career began in 1995 as a field technician in Yellowstone National Park, where he assisted with wolf reintroduction and post-release monitoring. He has conducted research related to Yellowstone wolves ever since. Much of his research centers on understanding the ecological consequences of wolf reintroduction as part of several long-term, collaborative studies of carnivores, ungulates, and plants in northern Yellowstone National Park.
His research is featured in several books he has co-authored and edited—written to be accessible to both scientists and the general public—including Wolves on the Hunt: The Behavior of Wolves Hunting Wild Prey, Yellowstone Wolves: Science and Discovery in the World’s First National Park, and Northern Yellowstone Elk: Resilience and Adaptation to an Ever-Changing Environment.
Enjoying Yellowstone's Butterflies
George Bumann (rhymes with ‘human’) is an artist, author, and naturalist based in Gardiner, Montana, with over four decades of experience studying and teaching about the natural world. Whether it is through multi-day field programs,
riveting storytelling, dynamic clay models, self-effacing blog posts, or
exacting animal mimicry, George's goal has always been to help people
connect deeply with nature. George, along with his wife Jenny, is a co-founder of the Yellowstone Summit and a host to many of the sessions. George's fine art wildlife bronzes can be found in public and private collections around the globe, and news about his educational programming has been featured in prominent television programs, podcasts, and in numerous print and digital outlets. His book, "Eavesdropping on Animals: What We Can Learn from Wildlife Conversations," published in 2024 can be found wherever books are sold.
Filming Teton Cougars: A Conversation with a Cinematographer
Jeff has been producing and filming wildlife programs for over 30 years. He specializes in wildlife behavior and is recognized in the wildlife community for his ability to capture intimate behavioral sequences. Jeff’s inventive filming techniques, creativity and fieldcraft have led to numerous awards including four Emmy nominations for cinematography. Clients include but are not limited to National Geographic, BBC, Nature, Argentine Productions, Lions Gate, Red Rock Films, Original Productions, Sea Studios, and Africa Wildlife Films.
LIVE 4pm MST
Let's Talk Yellowstone (VIP)
Let's Talk Yellowstone sessions are live Zoom meetings where you get to talk about your favorite Yellowstone topics with other attendees, connect with speakers and ask questions in a fun and casual community environment. Today's speakers and hosts include:
Leslie Quinn - Yellowstone History Chat
Bethan Wallace - Beavers and Yellowstone Wildlife History
Jane Galloway Demaray - Wylie Tent Campps
Cara McGary - Exploring the Beartooths
Carter Niemeyer - Wolf Recovery
Ashea Mills - Trip Planning
LIVE 6pm MST
Yellowstone Trivia Night (VIP)
Test your park knowledge in the super fun live trivia contest!
Virginia came to Yellowstone from a long history in outdoor education and the Girl Scouts. She first worked in the park in 2012, thinking it would be just a fun one-summer job. But after falling in love with the animals, the thermals, and even the lodgepole pines, she stayed for over a decade! Virginia is a Certified Interpretive Guide, a Leave No Trace Trainer, and a Wilderness First Responder. She uses her degree in theater to make science and the outdoors come alive for students of all ages!
Nicole is a Montana transplant from Vermont. She was drawn to the Big Sky Country in 2011 to study wolverine ecology and stayed because she fell in love with the wild landscape. She is a certified Montana Master Naturalist and enjoys spending her free time on public lands with her dogs.
Sunday, February 22
The History of Winterkeeping in Yellowstone
My parents first brought me to Yellowstone when I was six months old, and then they brought me here several more times during my growing up years. I first arrived to work and live in the park on May 25, 1977, and have been here ever since. I have worked a wide variety of jobs during my time, including fishing guide, tour guide, truck driver, heavy laborer, maintenance man, park ranger, park resource manager, grizzly bear researcher, coyote researcher, winterkeeper, and many more. From the very beginning, working at different jobs and living in various locations around the park was my intention as a means of learning all I could about Yellowstone. The most consistent thread with my employment history in the park has been working as a winterkeeper. I have done that work in one form or another and in one location or another every winter since the season of 1978-79.
How You Can Help Support Greater Yellowstone
Todd lives in Bozeman, Montana, and is considered a journalistic authority on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He has been writing about Yellowstone for more than three and a half decades and has won awards for his reporting. He is author of the recent critically-acclaimed book, "Ripple Effects: How to Save Yellowstone and America's Most Iconic Wildlife Ecosystem."
Wilkinson worked for two summers during his college years as a cook at Canyon Village in the center of Yellowstone and then got a job as a violent crime reporter for the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago. Today he is a correspondent for National Geographic and The Guardian and has contributed stories over the years to dozens of national newspapers and magazines.
Todd founded the non-profit conservation journalism site Mountain Journal, which during his tenure amassed almost 260,000 followers on Facebook. Leaving MoJo in summer 2023, he is the founder of a new project called Yellowstonian devoted to celebrating the Greater Yellowstone region and the importance of wildness in the West. He is author of several well-received books, among them "Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and Truth," "Last Stand: Ted Turner's Quest to Save a Troubled Planet," and two books about famous Jackson Hole grizzly mother 399 that feature the amazing photography of Thomas D. Mangelsen.
Louisa has advocated for the preservation of the wildland ecosystems of Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies for over 40 years, working for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and Greater Yellowstone Coalition. She has a special passion for vulnerable wildlife, especially grizzly bears, and co-founded Grizzly Times with her late husband, Dr. David Mattson.
Louisa specializes in developing comprehensive strategies and campaigns that
succeed by working across multiple scales and using a range of approaches, including grassroots organizing and outreach, education, media and communication, policy analysis, lobbying, coalition development, and public
protest. Louisa has a BA from Williams College and a Master's in Forest Policy from the
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 2014, she was given a lifetime achievement award from Yale.
Hiking the Tetons
Bo was born and raised in the Elk Mountains of Colorado and attended Colorado State University for both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees. There he studied Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, researching international conservation issues in Rwanda and domestic issues with Subaru and Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. Intertwined with these field research experiences, Bo continually taught environmental education throughout the west, which eventually brought him to Jackson and the Teton Science School.
Landing in Jackson in the depths of the 2017 winter, Bo knew that he was home. He has always felt connected to wild places and feels honored to be able to call the largest area of “wild” country in the Lower 48 his home. During years of teaching with Teton Science Schools, Bo led thousands of students from ages 5 to 96 into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. From hour-long programs with first graders discovering the worlds of stream ecology, to multi-day wildlife safaris across Wyoming with retirees, Bo loves learning from others’ perspectives and experiences. He hopes to never be considered an expert in any topic because that means he has nothing new to learn, and years teaching others about the natural world has demonstrated to him that someone else always has something to teach you.
Bo is a certified Wilderness First Responder and a certified University of Wyoming Outdoor Guide.
High, Wild, and Rugged: Journey in the Beartooth Mountains
On a winter visit to Yellowstone, Cara was smitten by the wonder of this "American Serengeti". As a result, she decided that she wanted to spend her life helping others develop and feed their fascination with the natural world in Yellowstone. Cara owns and operates In Our Nature Guiding Services, and she is a co-founder of Wild Livelihoods Business Coalition - a group of over 250 business members from southern Park County, Montana, who support projects and work together to protect open spaces, clean air and water, rich soil, native plants, and vibrant wildlife populations for all.
Before settling in Gardiner MT, Cara worked for the National Park Service in Redwood National Park, the US Fish & Wildlife Service in southern California, the Queensland Government, the Western Australian Government and a couple of private environmental consulting firms. She has worked on shorter stints in Antarctica and the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Cara is a qualified biologist, holding a B.S. in Aquatic Biology and an M.S. in Biology. When not in Yellowstone, she likes to explore places where there are good tidepools or snorkeling.
Edmund J. Sawyer: Yellowstone Naturalist and Artist 1922-1928
Bob is a long-time Oregonian who worked as a Forest Service archaeologist early in his career and later as a computer analyst. In retirement, Bob was bitten by the Yellowstone bug, making videos of wildflowers and geysers. In 2018 he noticed the rustic bear art on the walls of the Old Faithful Inn delicatessen. That set him off down a Yellowstone research and writing rabbit hole including artists Olive Fell and Walter Oehrle, geyser expert George Marler, and lastly artist Edmund J. Sawyer. Bob has spoken at two Montana History Conferences and been published in the Yellowstone History Journal. His YouTube channel includes many Yellowstone videos and slideshows.
Film: Hidden Valley
Through years of patience and careful, quiet observation, National Geographic photographer Dan Hartman has proved rare wildlife can be photographed in its natural habitat. Dan and his wife Cindy lived in Jackson, WY, from 1981 to 1990 before moving to a cabin in the woods in Silver Gate, MT. They immediately fell in love with the cabin because of its location and because it has pine martens in the yard, and it has served as a perfect base for Dan’s photographic pursuits.
Over the years, Dan has built a career as an outstanding photographer and someone who is extremely knowledgable about wildlife in the area. His services are much in demand by film and television production companies which rely on his photographic and naturalist skills when making documentaries about Yellowstone. His list of credits includes numerous films and television documentaries, such as Yellowstone Wild, The Life of Mammals, Planet Earth, Yellowstone: Battle for Life, and the Yellowstone Park series for National Geographic. Owls are his specialty, and telling the stories behind the images and local wildlife is one of Hartman’s talents. Happy to share all his stories and photographs, he has a passion for the natural world and the region he calls home.
Yellowstone Stories: Wahb the Bear
Jim Garry has held a wide variety of jobs. After completing a degree in wildlife biology at the University of Michigan, he spent three years in Jackson Hole, WY, working as a wilderness guide and as a folklorist collecting stories of the early days in the valley. He returned to Ann Arbor, MI, to do graduate work in environmental communications. Returning to Wyoming, he then worked for the Powder River Basin Resource Council in the “Coal Wars” of the 1970s. His work included everything from communications with the media, to lobbying Congress, to cowboying on some of the board members’ ranches.
Jim began working as a storyteller during these years and began working with Herman Viola, the director of the Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institution, and together led educational trips and conducted research throughout the West. Jim was later invited to teach a class on the folklore of bears at the Yellowstone Institute which led
to him teaching a variety of classes on multiple topics over the next thirty years. He has also delivered programs for National Natural Geography, Road Scholars, WY Artist in Residence, and the Smithsonian speaker’s bureau. Jim has published three books. Two are collected oral stories and the third is a historical study of the weapons of the Lewis & Clark expedition.
LIVE 12pm MST
Let's Talk Yellowstone (VIP)
Let's Talk Yellowstone sessions are live Zoom meetings where you get to talk about your favorite Yellowstone topics with other attendees, connect with speakers and ask questions in a fun and casual community environment. Todays speakers and hosts include (more coming soon):
Jeff Henry - Winterkeepers
Bob Nisbet - Special Places in the Park to Visit
Jenny Golding or George Bumann
Kyle Moon - Wildlife Photography
Angela Tempo - Dark Skies
Rob Thomas - Geology Discussion
LIVE 3pm MST
Yellowstone Summit Live Closing Session and Giveaway (All Passes)
Join us for the live closing session of the Yellowstone summit, where we'll announce photo contest winners, draw winners for the giveaway, and celebrate 4 days of immersion in the world of Yellowstone.
February 19-22, 2026
Indulge your passion for the park at the ultimate online event for Yellowstone lovers.