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.

Jay Avner is a retired health care executive with extensive experience negotiating provider contracts. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a MS in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

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.

Michael Biddle is an Ambulatory Care Pharmacist at St. Luke’s Humphreys Diabetes Center in Boise where he provides targeted education and medication management for patients with diabetes. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in 2009 and completed a 2-year pharmacotherapy residency at Idaho State University’s Department of Family Medicine in 2011. He is also a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist.

Bert Bowler is a native Idahoan. He graduated from the University of Idaho with an MS in Fisheries Management in 1972. He worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for 29 years, then after his retirement in 2001 worked for Idaho Rivers United, a grassroots river advocacy organization, for another six years. Bert hung his own shingle called Snake River Salmon Solutions in 2007. He is as an independent advocate whose mission is promoting dialogue on the importance of restoring wild Snake River salmon and steelhead.

Aidan Brezonick is a filmmaker and the Executive Director of The Idaho Film Society. Growing up in Boise and Eagle, Adam never had access to a true film scene. It was only after beginning his film career in Chicago, then subsequently Austin and Los Angeles, that he realized what he was missing as a kid. Austin Film Society built a hub for creators, generating a new creative economy and producing filmmakers that continued to impact the city four decades on. Coming back to Idaho, Adam realized Boise could have all these things: a great community space, workshops with industry professionals, amazing theme film parties and events, and a space where artists and art lovers could work together and grow a scene from the ground up — not in the way other cities had, but something specific to Idaho.

Alex Brooks is the Climate & Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Boise. She is part of the Climate Action Division in the Public Works Department. Alex’s work focuses on climate resilience and nature based solutions. She holds a BS in Environmental Science and MEd in Curriculum & Instruction. Her background is in science and environmental education. This experience drives her passion for communicating about challenging science topics, such as climate change. Alex is from Fargo, North Dakota, but has called Idaho home since 2009 and lives here with her husband, two kids, dogs, and chickens.

Sarah Brudenell is a current graduate student at Boise State University pursuing a MA in Anthropology. Her primary focus is in bioarcheological research with specific emphasis placed on the bioarcheology of inequality in post-medieval London. She believes that exploring the connections between socioeconomic status, health, and migratory status in the historic osteological record is vital for present-day examinations of these interconnected phenomenon.

Shaila Buckley is the founder of Shaila Buckley Law, a boutique law firm specializing in estate planning and administration. The practice focuses on customizing estate plans to serve each individual’s and family’s unique needs and guiding clients through probate and trust administration. She and her husband, Matt, moved to Boise almost a decade ago in search of a better quality life. They left busy jobs in the Bay Area – Shaila was an associate at a large corporate law firm in Palo Alto, Matt was at a start-up in Mountain View – to spend more time with their two daughters and each other. The move was also an opportunity for Shaila to consider how she wanted to use her law degree from Stanford Law School to do meaningful work that makes a positive difference in people’s lives.

Chris Canfield is the founding artistic director of The Boise Bard Players, a local nonprofit theatre company specializing in taking Shakespeare and other classics off their pedestals and making them emotionally and economically accessible to the Treasure Valley. BBP has been a continuously producing nonprofit since 2018. Chris is also an adjunct lecturer in the Theatre Arts program at Boise State. He holds his Masters in Teaching and Bachelor of Arts form Boise State University. Apart from BBP, Chris has worked with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Contemporary Theater, Alley Repertory Theater, Opal Theatre Company,, and the former Company of Fools in Hailey, ID.

Sam and Candy Caponegro are passionate about American musicals. They met in a musical and have acted, co-directed, and taught theater courses for over 40 years. Their base is Rutgers University Olli, but they have lectured on Princess Cruise Lines, at libraries, senior centers, and universities throughout the United States. Their motto: If music be the food of life, let’s gorge ourselves.

Charlene Cariou is a Public Health Program Manager 2 with Southwest District Health (SWDH) in Caldwell, ID. In this role, she leads the Community Health Team in identifying community needs; implementing programs to increase preventive health behaviors and change health outcomes; and evaluating our health impact across SWDH’s six-county region. Charlene has over 15 years’ experience in healthcare and public health working within systems at the state and local levels. She completed her Master of Health Science degree at Boise State University and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Public Health Leadership at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Catherine Chertudi worked in environmental management in Idaho for more than 35 years and currently has a consulting company for water and waste management issues. She is a native Idahoan and has been married for 44 years. She and her husband have two children and three grandchildren. Catherine enjoys reading, gardening, traveling and hiking. She loves a good glass of red wine and dark chocolate, preferably while sitting on the patio reading a book.

Josi Christensen has lived in Idaho for 13 years. She is a mother of four and married to an engineer river rat. She is a teacher and will soon be starting a Master’s program in Counseling. In 2020, she and her daughter crafted period-style outfits to attend the many festivities planned for the suffrage year. When the pandemic cancelled all of these plans, Josi shifted her energy and dove into understanding the ERA. She has made this presentation to the National Organization for Women and the American Association of University Women.

Chadd Cripe is in his fourth year as editor of the Idaho Statesman. He has been on staff for 28 years, including 14 years as the Boise State football reporter and stints as sports editor, outdoors reporter, and assistant editor. He’s a Washington State University graduate who began his Statesman career as an intern on the copy desk.

Kali Cusimano is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Council for Holocaust Awareness of Idaho. She is completing her Master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide studies at Yeshiva University. Kali has taught Holocaust education to a variety of ages. She is also a Facilitator with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), where she facilitates sessions on combatting antisemitism.

Dr. Jenée Cyran is an Assistant Professor at Boise State University in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She received her BS in Chemistry from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. She earned her PhD in 2015 from Colorado State University in the group of Amber Krummel. After finishing her PhD, she was an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Spectroscopy Department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) in Mainz, Germany.

Rachel Danford is an associate professor of art history in the School of Art and Design at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. She also serves as the assistant director for the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Marshall. Her research focuses on the art and architecture of Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages with a special emphasis on materials and media theory. She earned her Ph.D. in the History of Art from Johns Hopkins University and holds a BA in art history, with a minor in archaeology, from Stanford University.

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.

Bio coming soon

Dr. Ilya Dines is a codicology specialist at the Library of Congress, where he describes manuscripts and incunabula at the Law Library. He is the recipient of the 2015 Kluge fellowship at the Library of Congress. In 2011-2013 he spearheaded the medieval Latin and vernacular manuscripts project at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. His publications include Apocalyptic Cartography (co-authored with Chet Van Duzer), an analysis of fifteenth-century maps that predict the transformation of the world during the prophetic Apocalypse. Another of his works is Westminster Bestiary: Text and Commentary, an edition and commentary of the Westminster Abbey Ms 22, a beautiful and mysterious thirteenth-century bestiary comprised of unique imagery and striking iconography. Dr. Dines is chief paleographer of the Lazarus Project, an initiative to recover damaged manuscripts using multispectral imaging, which is affiliated with the University of Rochester.

Lauren Edson, originally from Boise, Idaho, is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of LED. She is a dancer, award-winning choreographer, producer and director. She received her training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and The Juilliard School and was a celebrated dancer with Trey McIntyre Project for many years. She returned to her hometown with the desire to build a community of artists and art-making practices that inspire risk-taking, greatness and sustainability. Described as a “choreographer of the first rank,” by the Seattle Times, Lauren’s works have been commissioned and presented by The Kennedy Center (DC), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), San Francisco Dance Film Festival (CA), Dance Camera West (CA), Winspear Opera House (TX), The McCallum Theater (CA), The Freeman Company (CA), Houston Metropolitan Dance (TX), Milwaukee Ballet (WI), Whim W’Him (WA), Ballet Idaho (ID), Northwest Dance Project (OR) and SALT Contemporary Dance (UT).

She received the 2022 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, is a 2021 Alexa Rose Fellow, a two-time recipient of the ICA Performing Arts Fellowship (2015, 2021), a 2023 choreographer of Dance Lab NY, winner of NWDP’s Pretty Creatives’ International Choreography Competition, the Grand Prize Winner of the McCallum Theater’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival, a United States Artist Fellowship nominee and recipient of the 2019 Washington Award for Excellence in Choreography.

Frank (Harkonen) Eld grew up in the Finnish community near McCall, Idaho, where his father and maternal grandparents migrated and homesteaded. He received a BA in History from Columbia University, New York, and a Master in Applied Historical Research from Boise State University. He is the founder of the Valley County Museum in Roseberry. Frank’s career included teacher, business owner, and Valley County Commissioner before retiring. As a historian, he has spent over fifty years preserving, researching, lecturing, and writing about American/Finnish history, concentrating on Finnish log construction. He published the book Finnish Log Construction: The Art in 2013. He was Finlandia Foundation National’s Lecture of the Year in 2018-19. Frank is a recipient of three Preservation Idaho’s Orchid Awards, and the Finnish Society of the West’s 2013 Sauna Bucket Award, recognizing his years in restoration and preservation of buildings and the Finnish culture. Today, he serves as a Finnish consultant for the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation education program and the “Finnish Classroom” at the University of Pittsburg. Frank serves on the boards of Dry Creek Historical Society, the historic Finnish Lutheran Church, and Ada County Preservation Council.

Tom Farley was the former Bureau Chief for Accountability, School Choice, Educational Improvement, and Federal Programs for the Idaho State Department of Education from 1995 to 2005. He was a State Department of Education Mathematics and Science Specialist and and Adjunct Professor at Lewis and Clark State College in the late 1960s. He spent 15 years as a teacher, football and track coach, and district curriculum director of the Orofino School District. Tom served as Executive Secretary for the Idaho Indian/Latino Education Caucus, as well as the Idaho State Chair and Commission Finance Chair for the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NASC). He was a 10-year representative for Idaho on the Northwest Regional Education Lab Executive Board. He also served on NASC’s international school accreditation team in Magadan, Russia. He received a BS in Secondary Education in Mathematics and Geology from LCSC, an Master’s of Education in Administration from the University of Idaho, and a Post-graduate Doctoral study in curriculum and instruction from U of I.

Terra Feast is the K12 Professional Development Manager for Boise State’s Division of Extended Studies and an adjunct professor of art education for the Department of Art, Design & Visual Studies. She began her career in museum education and has more than 20 years of experience developing and presenting interdisciplinary visual art content for learners of all ages. Terra holds a BA in Fine Arts from the College of Idaho and a Masters of Art in Art Education from Boise State University. She received the Idaho Art Education Association’s Idaho Art Educator of the Year award in 2015 and a Governor’s Award in the Arts for Innovation in the Arts in 2022.

Bio coming soon

Bio coming soon

Aurora Galloway is a dedicated librarian who has been fostering a love of reading and lifelong learning at Boise Public Library since 2016. In her role as an Information Services Librarian at Boise Public Library she is focused on community engagement and outreach, and is the Arts and History Liaison for the Library. Aurora holds a Master’s of Library and Information Science from Emporia University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boise State University. Aurora is committed to making the library a welcoming and enriching space for everyone.

Dr. Phil Gore is a nationally recognized speaker, researcher, and author on school district governance. He is the Chief Learning Officer for the Idaho School Boards Association. Phil is co-editor of Improving School Board Effectiveness: A Balanced Governance Approach. He is the author of an upcoming book, Confessions of a School Board Member: What Every Superintendent Needs to Know. He is a frequent contributor to the School Administrator, a publication of the American Association of School Administrators. Phil’s PhD research completed at the University of Washington focuses on the factors and sources of information that school boards consider when evaluating a superintendent. His Master’s thesis discusses the importance of balance between centralized and localized control of education governance. He holds a Bachelor’s in management from Bushnell University. When not assisting school boards, Phil enjoys hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking, and long-distance running.

Susan M. Graham is the founder of the law firm, Senior Edge Legal®. She has a Juris Doctorate Law Degree from the University of Idaho, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Cornell University. She is a member of the Idaho State Bar Association, Treasure Valley Estate Planning Council, the Boise Estate Planning Council, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and co-founder, past president, and board member of the American Association of Trust, Estate and Elder Law Attorneys. Ms. Graham is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA). The National Elder Law Foundation (NELF) is the only national organization certifying practitioners of elder law. NELF’s Certified Elder Law Attorney designation is itself certified by the American Bar Association. There are fewer than 550 CELAs in the United States. Other attorneys have designated her as a “Super Lawyer” in Idaho – the top 5% in her field – for 16 years, including 2024.

Bio coming soon

Bio coming soon

Inga Hadder is the Director of Communication and Community Engagement at NeighborWorks Boise, a nonprofit organization that has been working for over 40 years to revitalize neighborhoods and improve lives in the region. One of the affordable housing solutions provided by NWB is HomeShare Hub, which is their most recent initiative.

Bio coming soon

Bart Hendricks is the Senior Director of Charitable Gift Planning for the Boise State University Foundation. With a financial background prior to joining Boise State, Bart held his securities and insurance licenses, bringing a knowledge and understanding of various financial products and assets, their uses and the benefits of each within an individual’s estate. Bart is also a proud graduate of Boise State and takes pride in seeing the university grow as he works with donors to make informed gift planning decisions, utilizing their assets to maximize personal benefits while ensuring the future success of students, faculty and programs at the university.

Jeanne Huff is the editor of Boise Weekly, and also a reporter and Life Editor at Idaho Press. She is also a published poet and together with her late husband, Bob Neal, founded the slam poetry scene in Boise. Huff has three children, seven grandchildren, and 49 plants; is a huge Stephen King fan; and listens daily to NPR and to vinyl albums of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and many other classic rock artists at high volume on her turntable. She believes in love and living life with gusto. She is currently toying with the idea of retirement and travel but is not quite there yet. She also is working on an autobiography/memoir/cookbook featuring recipes culled from the pages of her own personal story.

Nicole Inghilterra is the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Idaho State Museum. She got her start in the field through the agency’s first costume digitization project, Defining Style: Western Heritage Through Fashion. Nicole is deeply passionate about sharing and stewarding the artifacts of Idaho’s past to foster a more informed and empathetic present and future.

Elizabeth Keller was born in Dubai, UAE and started her ballet training at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. After moving back to the United States, she continued her training at Ballet Center of Houston under the direction of Victoria Vittum and Gilbert Rome. At 15, she was invited to train at The Rock School of The Pennsylvania Ballet on full merit scholarship. She danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet for two seasons and was coached extensively by “Prima Ballerina Assoluta” Violette Verdy. She then joined Miami City Ballet under the director of Edward Villella for ten seasons. While with MCB, Elizabeth danced corps de ballet, soloist and principal roles in works by choreographers such as George Balanchine, John Cranko, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Anthony Tudor, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Trey McIntyre, Marius Petips, and August Bournonville among others. She also danced with Miami Contemporary Dance Company and taught on the faculty at Miami City Ballet School. She was appointed Children’s Ballet Mistress for Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” from 2009-2012. During the summers, Elizabeth taught at MCBS, Ballet Center of Houston and helped run and was on the faculty at the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSA) in Saratoga Springs, NY under the direction of Damian Woetzel and Jennifer Ringer. Ms. Keller has been very fortunate to have had many mentors throughout her professional ballet and teaching career, including Nancy Raffa, Olga Kostritzky, Ray Sullivan, Patrick Corbin, and Marianna Alvarez have all influenced her as a dancer, artist and teacher. Elizabeth moved to Boise to dance with Trey McIntyre Project and toured the country with TMP. She then joined Ballet Idaho as a principal dancer for three seasons. She has been trained in the “Dance for PD” method and has taught Dance for PD classes all over the US and Canada. Elizabeth started the very first Dance for Parkinson’s class in Idaho in 2014.

Phoebe Kilby grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. After obtaining a B.S. in Botany and Master of Environmental Management from Duke University, she had a long career as an environmental planner. Later, Phoebe went back to school to obtain a degree in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University. Discovering in 2006 that she was a descendant of enslavers, she was inspired by the Coming to the Table movement to connect with descendants of persons her family enslaved, including Betty.

Dr. Betty Kilby Baldwin grew up in rural Virginia. Thanks to her father’s determination, she entered and graduated from Warren County High School after suing the school board, based on the landmark Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954. Later in life, she documented her experiences in her autobiography, Wit, Will & Walls. Betty has an MBA and an Honorary Doctorate from Shenandoah University.

Dr. Matthew Kohn is a Distinguished Professor in Geosciences at Boise State University. Recipient of several international scientific awards, he has conducted field work in numerous countries around the world, specifically investigating the origins of the Himalaya in Nepal, Bhutan, India, and China. Specializing in the origins of mountain belts and the geochemistry of fossil teeth, he has also worked across the eastern United States, southern South America, and the European Alps. A resident of Boise for 17 years, he is married to Heather Steele and has two children, Tavi and Asa, both recently graduated from college.

En-Hsun (Vanessa) Lai is a visiting professor from Providence University in Taiwan. She teaches Chinese in the Department of World Languages at Boise State University. She has a Master’s degree in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, and her research focuses on language and culture, and language education. Ms. Lai has experience teaching Chinese to both children and adults. Additionally, she has taught Chinese courses for new immigrants at the National Taichung University of Education.

Dr. Richard Leahy is Professor Emeritus of English at Boise State University. He has degrees from University of San Francisco, University of Iowa, and University of California, Davis. At Boise State, he directed the Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum. In recent years, he has indulged his enthusiasm for ancient Greek and Roman culture by presenting Osher literature classes on Homer, Virgil, and Greek tragedy, and historical presentations on Athenian democracy and ancient Sparta.

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.

Joseph Luzzi is Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College and an award-winning writer, teacher, and scholar of Italian culture. He is the author of four books and lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Dr. Sophia Mavroudas completed her BA and MA at New York University in 2009 and 2011 respectively and her PhD from Texas State University in 2023. Her research focuses on both how human bone histology is used in applied contexts and the global impact of migration on the identification processes of medicolegal offices. She has been a forensic anthropologist at FACTS since 2011 conducting casework for law enforcement and is responsible for training and outreach at the center.

Dr. Matthew May is a research scholar at Idaho Policy Institute and currently serves as Survey Research Director for Boise State University’s School of Public Service. Specializing in state and local government, elections, and the legislative process, Dr. May has extensive experience in survey writing and research design. During his time at IPI, he has led numerous studies including those dealing with population growth, digital access, education, property taxes, transportation, and public safety. He holds a BA in Political Science, a Master of Public Administration, and a PhD in Public Policy and Administration from Boise State University.

Dr Maureen McCue is a writer, literary scholar, and cultural historian, specializing in 18th- and early-19th-century Britain. She is the co-editor (along with Sophie Thomas) of The Edinburgh Companion to Romanticism and the Arts and author of British Romanticism and the Reception of Italian Old Master Art, 1793–1840, as well as several essays on the relationship between art and literature in the Romantic period. Long fascinated by the intersections between literature, the visual arts, and the materiality of our everyday lives, Dr. McCue’s current research recovers the ways in which women crafted Georgian Britain through their creative practices. A former Senior Lecturer, she holds a PhD in Romanticism from the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and currently lives in Italy.

Jim McKairnes is a veteran of more than 30 years in the media industry, including 15 years at CBS Television. He is a business executive, a writer and producer, a college media instructor, and a TV historian. He divides him time between Los Angeles and Nashville.

Elisabeth McKetta is an award-winning author, teacher, and speaker. She teaches writing at Harvard and Oxford. She is the author of 13 books, including the novel Ark, the picture book We Live in Boise, the memoir-in-essays Awake with Asashoryu, and the guidebook Edit Your Life, which was inspired by her 2019 TEDxBoise talk. She co-edited the anthology What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience, which Gloria Steinem described as stories that “will help each of us to trust and tell our own.” Elisabeth’s work with myth and memoir, the focus of her doctorate, has been spotlighted in Harvard Magazine. Elisabeth and her family travel widely and call Boise home.

Debbie Miller has lived in Alaska for 40 years and has developed a passion for writing nature books about the extraordinary wilderness and wildlife that surrounds her home near Fairbanks. During her early years, she taught school in Arctic Village, a small village in the Brooks Range. She learned about the fascinating culture of the Athabaskan Indians, the natural history of the region, and the wonders of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. For many years, her family has explored this incredible place, studied the great caribou herds, and observed wolves, grizzly and polar bears, migratory birds, and other Alaska animals. Her many outdoor adventures and encounters with wildlife has inspired her to write nature books for children and adults. Debbie works closely with Jon Van Zyle, an outstanding Alaska wildlife artist who has illustrated 10 of her children’s picture books. 

Dr. Clyde Moneyhun teaches creative writing at Boise State University and translates contemporary poetry from Spanish, French, Italian, and Catalan. He has also taught at the Universitat d’Alacant (Alicante, Spain) and received translation awards, grants, and residencies from the Arts and Humanities Institute, the Institut d’Estudis Balears, the City of Barcelona, and the Catalan Delegation to the United Kingdom.

Rachel Murphy is a Principal Attorney at Shaila Buckley Law. a boutique law firm specializing in estate planning and administration. She met Shaila when they were both first years at Stanford Law School. After working at a large law firm in New York City, then as an Assistant Attorney General in Chicago, Rachel was happy to meet up with Shaila again in Boise, where she’s lived for more than 10 years. As a single mom, Rachel has experienced firsthand the peace of mind that comes from knowing that her daughter will be safe and her assets protected should anything happen to her. In addition to estate planning, Rachel also head up the firm’s probate practice. After seeing a need in the community, she spearheaded the firm’s pro bono clinic in partnership with the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program. Through the clinic, they offer free, simplified estate plans to all who qualify.

Dr. Mickey Myhre is a retired pathologist, founder of IDX Pathology, and currently President of the Southern Idaho Mycological Association, also known as the Southern Idaho Mushroom Club.

Lorraine Neeley-Fortunati has been a volunteer docent at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial for five years and is the current Docent Chair.

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.

A native Boisean, Dr. Ted Obenchain, is the recipient of Boise State’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2023. He recently endowed a Professorship in Developmental Anatomy (Embryology) to Boise State’s Biology Department. Dr. Obenchain completed his neurological surgery training at UCLA in 1973. After a brief tenure on the UC San Diego neurosurgical faculty, he began a 35-year career in private practice in San Diego. Although now retired, in the 1990s he devised a minimally invasive outpatient technique for spinal surgery, a technique which is now in use internationally. In 2010, after earning an MFA degree in creative nonfiction writing, he has subsequently published three books concerning different aspects of natural science. For more than a decade, he has been intensively involved in the study of natural science, a discipline steeped originally in hopelessly medieval and superstitious ideation.

Dr. Terry Panhorst earned BS and MS degrees in Geology at University of Missouri-Rolla and worked in the mining industry for 12 years as an exploration geologist and mine geologist. He then earned a PhD in Geology from University of Nevada, Reno and taught for 20 years in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at University of Mississippi. He moved to Boise in 2017 and is currently affiliated with the Idaho Museum of Mining & Geology.

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.

Barbara Perry Bauer is a principal and founding member of TAG Historical Research & Consulting organized in 1994. As a consulting historian, she has worked throughout Idaho on projects ranging from museum exhibits to National Register of Historic Places nominations. She is the author of South Boise Scrapbook: A Neighborhood History, Treasure Valley’s Electric Railway and Legendary Locals of Boise (with Elizabeth Jacox). Barbara is passionate about history and shares her interest through lectures, walking tours, and bike tours.

Alexis Pickering is a Program Manager leading the Western Idaho Community Health Collaborative (WICHC), a ten-county, private-public partnership aligning healthcare, public health, and social services to address the social influencers of health. She is the first shared employee of two local public health districts, Central and Southwest District Health. Raised in Kooskia, ID, and sometimes living without running water or electricity, she learned early on the importance of community, health, and collaboration. A first-generation college student, she is a proud graduate of Walla Walla Community College and Boise State University, earning a BA in English and a Masters in Health Policy. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the Idaho Business Review’s Accomplished Under 40 and was elected to the Ada County Highway District Commission, bringing a public health perspective to Idaho’s largest local transportation authority. As the youngest ACHD Commissioner and Commission President (elected in January 2023), she has fostered and strengthened bipartisan partnerships, led and accomplished policy change, and continues to advocate for safe transportation infrastructure for all.

Jessie Proksa is originally from Pocatello, ID. As a remarkably diverse artist, Jessie’s passions and talents have led her to study visual art, music, and comedy. After graduating in 2003 with her MFA from Cal Arts in Los Angeles, Jessie relocated to Boise, ID. Jessie has played the cello since 1986, and her collaborations as a musician/sound artist include composing, recording, and performing music for art installations, theatre performances, and dance productions.  In 2015 Jessie premiered her first major solo performance, “I’m Not From Here” at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Currently, she continues to make art and collaborate with local musicians. Her latest major project includes the establishment of the New American Slovak Kitchen Band.

Darrin Pufall Purdy is a Professor of Theatre Arts with a specialization in Costume Design and Technology at Boise State University and also serves as the Director of University Theatre. Holding an MFA in costume design and technology from the University of Florida, he has worked for many notable companies across the United States, including the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Contemporary Theater, Artist Repertory Theatre, Broadway Rose Theatre Company (Portland, Oregon), and The Forestburgh Playhouse (Forestburgh, New York). Additionally, Darrin’s work has been part of touring productions in Brazil and Russia. His design work has been recognized with a Portland Drammy Award for A Little Night Music (Mock’s Crest Productions, 2009), in addition to three Portland Area Musical Theatre Awards for his designs of The Pirates of Penzance (Mock’s Crest Productions, 2008), A Little Night Music (Mock’s Crest Productions, 2009) and Into the Woods (Broadway Rose Theatre Company, 2020). He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829.

Terry Rich has a BS in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MS in Zoology from Idaho State University. He worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for 20 years and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 15 years. He writes a weekly column on birds for the Idaho Press, leads field trips, and gives programs on birds in Boise and beyond. Mr. Rich is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the American Ornithological Society. He and his wife, three kids, and seven grandkids all live in the Boise area.

Diane Ronayne and her husband have shared their Boise home since 1986, so she has plenty of stories and real-life information to share. She volunteers with the HomeShare Hub to help more people discover the joys of homesharing.

Dr. Roger Rosentreter was a botanist for the Idaho State Office of the Bureau of Land Management for 35 years. He is very interested in lichen ecology. He still servers on the Graduate Faculty Committee for several universities. Roger has been a member of the US Forest Service, Old Growth Forest, and Definition Team; the NRCS, Riparian Plant Improvement Advisory Committee; International Forest Health Monitoring Program for Eastern Europe; USAID assistance in the Middle East on forest health; and on the President’s Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team (FEMAT). He has published over 100 scientific publications and is an author of six books on lichens.

Felix Silva is a retired IT professional with a career spanning software engineering, quality assurance, business operations, supply chain and cybersecurity. The bulk of Felix’s professional tenure was spent with Hewlett Packard Inc. on leadership roles including engineering science and executive management. He has published technical journals presented in Software Quality Week Europe. Felix was awarded a luminary honoree citation by the Hispanic Engineers National Achievements Awards Corporation. Felix immigrated from Venezuela to the USA in 1983 on a National Scholarship for study abroad. Felix holds a BS in Business Management from Spring Hill College graduating Cum Laude and received a Master’s Degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of South Alabama.

Dr. Eric Smith is a fellowship-trained neurointerventional radiologist with expertise in minimally invasive procedures of the brain, head, neck, and spine. He specializes in both arterial and venous approaches for the treatment of many cerebrovascular disorders including pulsatile tinnitus, idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), spontaneous intracranial hypotension, cerebrospinal fluid-venous fistulas, dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVF), arteriovenous malformations (AVM), stroke, brain aneurysms, and other vascular disorders. Dr. Smith is also interested in neurointerventional robotics, treatment of congenital vascular anomalies, and MRI guided focused ultrasound for the treatment of movement disorders such as essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. He completed diagnostic radiology residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin, followed by diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco. He is excited to grow the neurointerventional program and offer cutting-edge treatments and technologies to the patients of Boise.

Caile Spear’s lived experience included times of food insecurity and being unhoused. This informed her career choice, and she taught public health at Boise State University for 25 years. She volunteered with the Student Basic Needs workgroup to increase students’ access to healthy food. Her efforts with an intergenerational housing workgroup have transformed into the HomeShare Hub.

Becca Sprague is the Program Manager for Health Policy and Promotion programs at Central District Health. A North Idaho resident most of her life, she had a six-year stint in Alaska to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and her Master’s degree in Public Health Practice. In 2010, she moved to Boise where she worked in primary care and specialty care settings, refugee resettlement, and education, and in 2016 began work in more traditional public health settings as a Health Educator for Idaho’s Division of Public Health, Suicide Prevention Program, and Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Rebecca began her work at Central District Health as a Project Coordinator in April 2020 and moved into the role of Program Manager in May of this year. She is passionate about health literacy, health equity, and promoting shared protective factors and upstream prevention practices. She enjoys hiking and backpacking, Bollywood movies, and NERF battles with her son, Phineas.

Donovin Sprague teaches history and political science at Sheridan College, including Wyoming Tribal History, American Indian History & Culture, Tribal Law, Treaties, & Government, and Plains Indian Art, among other courses. At previous universities, he taught classes in history, political science, sociology, social science, psychology, literature, and art. Donovin serves as the advisor for the Multicultural Center as well as the Native American organization on campus. In addition, he plans events each November to celebrate Native American Heritage Month.

Peter Stempe is originally from Victorville, California. He graduated from California State University, Fresno with a Music Performance degree, followed by a stint in Berlin with the 298th Army Band. On his return to the United States, he earned a Master’s degree at Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. His principal teachers were Russell Howland, Bert Lucarelli, and Lothar Koch, principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is formerly a member of the Hartford Symphony, the New Orleans Symphony, and the Kansas City Philharmonic, and he has taught at Wesleyan University (Connecticut) and Tulane University. For many years he was Principal Oboe of Topeka’s Sunflower Music Festival; Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts Music Festival; and Sunriver Music Festival in Oregon. He was the Principal Oboe of the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra from 1981- 2018. He currently teaches at Northwest Nazarene University and at his private studio at home.

Andrew Stensaas, hailing from Mason City, Iowa, co-founded LED and serves as its Creative Director. A talented self-taught musician, songwriter, composer, and producer, Andrew honed his skills in piano and percussion from a young age. His musical journey includes playing in well-regarded bands such as Sons of Sirens in Portland and Edmond Dantes in Boise, with the latter scoring the soundtrack for the 2014 film Almosting It.

Dr. Trent Stephens grew up in Idahome, a suburb of Malta. He has BS degrees from BYU in Microbiology and Zoology, an MS in Zoology from BYU, and a PhD in Anatomy from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a post doc in Pediatrics at the University of Washington in 1981 and took a position teaching Anatomy and Developmental Biology in the Idaho Dental Education Program at ISU. He retired in 2011. He was selected as the ISU Distinguished Teacher and Outstanding Researcher. He continues to teach anatomy classes at ISU. He has authored or co-authored around thirty books.

Traci Swift is the Marketing and Outreach Specialist for The Nature Conservancy in Idaho. She is responsible for creating engagement opportunities, marketing campaigns, and social media content. She believes in TNC’s vision — a world where people and nature thrive—and is passionate about helping people connect to nature. She also serves on the board of directors for the Treasure Valley Canopy Network. Traci holds a Media Content Management Certificate from Boise State University, and Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences from Northern Arizona University. She enjoys hunting and fishing and volunteering across Boise.

Gregory Taylor spent 28 years at Hillside Junior High School as an English teacher, language arts chair, and Teacher Librarian. He has studied Shakespeare at Boise State, Oxford, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. He has also served on selection committees for the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards. Gregory enjoys Shakespeare performances, gin & tonics, Young Adult literature, and all things Disney.

Olivia Terry is the Museum Registrar for the Idaho State Museum. She has extensively studied western fashion with a focus on the clothes carried and worn by women traversing the Oregon Trail throughout the 19th century. Olivia is also an expert sewist and avid collector of vintage clothing.

Edward “Mac” Test is a Professor at Boise State University in the School of Arts. He is an English Renaissance scholar, poet, and translator of Spanish. He is author of three books of translated poetry, a book of poetry, and a scholarly monograph, Sacred Seeds: New World Plants in Early Modern English Literature (University of Nebraska Press, 2019). He is recipient of several grants and fellowships: the Idaho Humanities Council Research Grant, National Endowment of the Humanities Summer seminar, Boise State University Research grants, and fellowships at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Huntington Library, and the John Carter Brown Library. Dr. Test is currently working on a translation of the 1626 Spanish play, La monja alférez (The Lieutenant Nun), with Marta Albalá Pelegrín (under contract with Routledge Press).

Bio coming soon

Dr. David Walker is a military historian at Boise State University who teaches and researches on World War II and the Cold War. His classes include Weapons of Mass Destruction, World War II, History of Firearms and Tactics, and U.S. Military History and the Art of War.

Cynthia Wallesz dedicates every day to help provide for the needs of birds and wildlife while Executive Director of Golden Eagle Audubon Society, a local nonprofit that educates, conserves and advocates for birds in southwest Idaho. Ms. Wallesz is passionate about the Boise River and the work Golden Eagle Audubon has done there. Her professional background is varied and includes work as a nonprofit consultant, business owner, plant nursery manager and commercial fisherman, as well as an earned Master’s degree in Sustainable Business.

Bio coming soon

A New England native (and self-described “New England Transcendentalist”), Dr. Anthony Antonucci teaches history and American studies at Cal State Pomona. His passion for Transcendentalism is rooted in his experience as an avid hiker, mountain climber, vagabond traveler, and lover of wild nature and poetry. He earned multiple graduate degrees in US history and culture including a PhD in US History from the University of Connecticut under the direction of Bancroft Award-winning-historian, Dr. Robert Gross. Antonucci’s work as a scholar of US social and transnational history has earned numerous awards, including a Fulbright Research Fellowship (Italy), and fellowships through the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Rita Benn, PhD is a clinical psychologist and was University of Michigan faculty for 20+ years where she taught integrative medicine and published numerous academic papers and chapters. As a founder of Michigan Collaborative for Mindfulness in Education (MC4ME), she trains educators and professionals in mindfulness meditation practice.

Ruth Wade is a retired training and development executive, a speaker and docent at the Florida Holocaust Museum, and leadership committee chair of Tampa Bay Generations After. Wade assists her father, a Holocaust survivor, with his Holocaust presentations at schools and his book Sevek and the Holocaust: The Boy Who Refused to Die.

Joy Wolfe Ensor, PhD is a retired psychologist whose clinical, teaching, and leadership activities over 45 years centered on the social determinants of health and the multigenerational legacy of trauma. She is active in the Michigan Psychological Association, of which she is a Fellow and past president.

All three women are founding committee members of the Irene Butter Fund for Holocaust and Human Rights Education.

Elizabeth Burnette attended Cornell University for a BS in engineering physics, then worked on Space Shuttle experiments at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She then obtained a master’s degree in Astrophysics from the University of Pittsburgh. Burnette has been teaching astrophysics, physics, and science for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Pitt and is a returning Osher Online instructor.

Oliva M. Espín, PhD is Professor Emerita in the Department of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University and the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University. Espín was a pioneer in the practice and theory of feminist therapy with women from different cultural backgrounds, particularly immigrants and refugees. A native of Cuba, she received her BA in psychology from the University of Costa Rica and her PhD from the University of Florida. She did post-doctoral work at Harvard University with a fellowship from NIMH. Espín held the 2010 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Her most recent book is My Native Land is Memory: Stories of a Cuban Childhood, winner of the 2021 San Diego Book Award.

Eileen Goddard is a lecturer and PhD student at the University of California Santa Barbara. Eileen’s dissertation research focuses on the 16th century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition and comparatively analyzes Indian religious constructions of “perfected” minds and bodies. Eileen’s broader research interests include comparative Indian philosophy, Sanskrit literature and poetics, devotion (bhakti), perception, and gender and sexuality. Eileen completed her MA in Religion at Rutgers University and BA in Philosophy at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kjir Hendrickson, PhD is a teaching professor in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU). They hold a PhD in chemistry and authored the textbook Chemistry in the World. As an erstwhile quantum chemist, their academic work focuses on science communication, the reciprocal relationship between science and society, matters of workplace climate, and matters of DEIJ in STEM. Hendrickson is an associate researcher with the ADVANCEGeo Partnership and is pursuing research on functional scientific literacy in partnership with OLLI at ASU.

Matt Jennings, PhD, is on faculty at Middle Georgia State University. His research includes Native American history, early American history, and the history of violence. He has studied Thomas Paine’s interactions with Native Americans and the roots of John Brown’s ideas about violence. He is currently studying the relationship between Native American peoples and the mounds at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, and the intertwined history of tourism and archaeology at the site. He has published several books including New Worlds of Violence, The Flower Hunter and the People, and Ocmulgee National Monument: A Concise History with Field Notes.

Emma Miller started her career working for the Mouse, which was the travel agency sales arm of Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. Since then, she has worked in media and marketing, including time at McDonald’s and consulting across a range of clients at Deloitte. Miller’s perspectives from working at Disney have shaped how she views marketing, brands, and fandom. Outside of work, she volunteers on a board for Unbound, an international development nonprofit. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

David Misch is a former stand-up comedian, screenwriter (Mork and Mindy, Saturday Night Live, and The Muppets Take Manhattan), author (Funny: The Book, and A Beginner‘s Guide To Corruption), teacher (his own courses on comedy at USC and musical satire at UCLA) and lecturer at Yale, Columbia, the Smithsonian, 92Y (NYC), Oxford University, Trinity College Dublin, University of Sydney, VIEW Cinema (Italy), and Raindance Film Festival (London), Austin Film Festival, American Film Institute, Writers Guild of America, Sony, DreamWorks, Lucasfilm, Disney, Second City, Actors Studio.

Caroline Nappo is an independent scholar with interests in the history of public information institutions, information as a public good, and the political economy of information. She has taught as an adjunct lecturer for graduate students and previously taught an OLLI course on the history of the public library in the United States. She holds a Master’s and PhD in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and has published and presented on postal history.

Jeff Rice received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University then pursued graduate work in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He completed a dissertation entitled “Wealth Power and Corruption: A Study of Asante Political Culture.” He returned to Northwestern to teach history and political science and became a Weinberg College academic adviser. He is currently an Emeritus Senior Lecturer in political science, specifically West African history, US history of the 60s, Marx & Weber, African politics, military strategy, the politics of famine, and student protest and free speech.

Dr. David E. Smith grew up in the world of fundamentalist religion. As an adult he gradually moved away from that worldview and became a religious progressive/skeptic. After earning an MA in philosophy of religion, he received a second MA and a PhD in religious studies from Temple University. Formerly a philosophy and religious studies faculty member at Central Washington University, he now offers independent seminars and personal consultations in comparative religion and philosophy. He has published widely in these areas, and his mission is to empower people to think well for themselves about things that matter.

Jeffrey Walker, Emeritus Professor of English at Oklahoma State, authored a critical study of the Revolutionary poet and traitor Benjamin Church, edited collections of essays on Fenimore Cooper, co-edited the first scholarly edition of Cooper’s 1821 bestseller The Spy, and is completing an edition of Cooper’s unpublished letters. A Fulbright lecturer in Norway and Belgium, he won the Phoenix Award for outstanding graduate teaching, the A&S Outstanding Professor Award, and the Regents Distinguished Teaching Award. His teaching interests include American literature, Dickens, the history of the book, textual editing, comedy, mystery, and film.