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.

Quinn Anderson moved to Boise from Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2021 to pursue his passion for history at Boise State University. Inspired by a lifelong love of greenery (a precious scarcity in New Mexico), he studied the Boise River Greenbelt in his Master’s program, which he completed in 2023. As an environmental and urban historian, he is most interested in the ways in which people view nature and “the city” as being distinct, and how the two can be combined to provide equitable benefits for all citizens.

Tom Baerwald earned a Doctorate in Geography at the University of Minnesota. He worked for 10 years at the Science Museum of Minnesota and for 30 years at the National Science Foundation. His scholarly publications focused on urban transportation, metropolitan development, interactions among human and natural systems, and the conduct of interdisciplinary research. He also was lead co-author for a widely used secondary school world geography textbook.

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.

Ralph Bild is a retired intelligence analyst who served in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 2000. As an analyst, his primary duties involved providing timely reports and estimates of political and economic developments in key countries of interest to U.S. policymakers. His career spanned assignments in the Agency’s Near East, East European, and East Asian divisions. Ralph also helped guide intelligence collection efforts in the field and worked out of CIA field stations in Europe and Asia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Oberlin College and a Master of Arts in International Studies from The John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Following his retirement from the CIA, Ralph began a new career as a teacher at Borah Senior High School, where he taught economics and world history for 12 years before retiring again in 2014.

Kenny Bramwell, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for SelectHealth in Idaho. He previously served as the System Medical Director at St. Luke’s Health System, where he supervised clinical care and provided operational support for the children’s hospital. Prior to that, he served as the executive medical director at Regence BlueShield of Idaho, where he developed medical and pharmacy policies and fostered relationships with physicians and hospitals. He has 20 years of clinical leadership experience and has held various roles in pediatric emergency medicine in Idaho, the University of Arizona, and Primary Children’s Medical Center. He is an experienced lecturer, frequently educating on pediatric emergency medicine and the healthcare landscape. He has a Doctor of Medicine from the University of California San Diego, where he completed his residency in emergency medicine. He then completed a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at the University of Utah.

Dr. Brittany Brand is a Professor in the Department of Geoscience at Boise State University and Director for Boise State’s Hazard and Climate Resilience Institute. She received her BS in Geology from Wright State University, her MS in Geology from Boise State University, and her PhD in Geology from Arizona State University. Her volcanology research focuses on eruption dynamics, sediment transport in volcanic flows and volcanic hazard assessment. With her hazard preparedness research group, Brittany investigates ways to motivate preparedness actions for natural hazards by engaging individuals in active (experiential) learning opportunities. Her community resilience research focuses on engaging a diverse group of community members and researchers to co-develop community-driven, locally relevant resilience metrics that holistically assess community disaster resilience needs.

Dr. Gonzalo Bruce serves as Assistant Provost for Global Engagement at Boise State University. As the Senior International Officer, he provides leadership in areas that support strategic internationalization, including Global Learning, International Recruitment and Admission, the Intensive English Program, International Student and Scholars Services, and the Peace Corps Prep Program. Originally from Chile, he has more than 18 years of experience in international education. In his current position, he is directly involved in developing new international programs and partnerships for the university.

Isaac Castellano is a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Public Service and has been teaching political science at Boise State University since 2013. Raised in the Seattle area, he spent his adult life living in a range of places in our country, including Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, Oregon, and Idaho. Castellano believes that there is more that unites us than divides us as Americans, and that tolerance and engagement with our fellow citizens is a critical component of a democracy. As the Associate Director of the Institute, his role is to facilitate our range of programs geared at generating civic discourse on our campus and across the state of Idaho.

Eve Chandler is the author of Building Bogus Basin, Brundage Mountain: Best Snow in Idaho and has written history articles for local, regional, and national publications. She created a WWI exhibit at the Old Penitentiary. In 1981-82, she wrote Boise State University’s 50th Anniversary History for their publications and a special supplement to the Idaho Statesman. A native Idahoan, she has been a City of Boise Arts and History Commissioner, President of the Christ Chapel Historical Society, and served on the boards of Idaho Public Television, Bogus Basin Recreational Association, and the Idaho Humanities Council.

Matt Compton an Idaho native, joined the Idaho Education Association in 2013 as the Political Director and now serves as the Associate Executive Director. He has extensive campaign and lobbying experience. Matt graduated from Meridian High School and Boise State University, and later earned a Master’s degree from Humboldt State University, and has substantial experience in political campaigns, organizing, fundraising, and public relations.

McKay Cunningham is a graduate professor and the Director of Graduate Programs at the College of Idaho, where he also teaches Reproductive Rights and Constitutional Law. Prior to joining the College of Idaho, he was a tenured law professor at Concordia Law School and a visiting professor at the University of Idaho. He taught courses related to constitutional law for over 12 years, during which time he published 12 law review articles, one book, and several shorter publications. He frequently appears on local NPR to discuss constitutional law issues and drafts opinion pieces for local newspapers. Prior to joining legal academia, he practiced law for nine years in Dallas, Texas, including four years as a Staff Attorney on the Texas Supreme Court. He earned his undergraduate degree and his juris doctor degree at Baylor University. Professor Cunningham lives in Boise and has four children, Ray, Calvin, Cleo and Lula.

Mitch Cutter is a Salmon and Steelhead Associate at the Idaho Conservation League (ICL). He holds a BA in Biology from Whitman College and worked for two years as a management consultant in the energy field before joining ICL in 2020. He works in Boise but travels occasionally to meet stakeholders and advocate for Idaho’s fish and the rural communities that depend on them.

Dennis Daw is Fish and Wildlife Program Director for Upper Snake River Tribes. He grew up in Idaho fishing, hunting, and learning to love everything the outdoors has to offer. This passion became his career. He has a BS in Biology with an emphasis in Ecology and an MS in Biology, both from Boise State University.

Dr. Jared Day taught American history at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh for sixteen years. His areas of specialization are U.S. political, urban, and cultural history as well as world history from the late fifteenth century to the present. He is the author of several books along with numerous other popular and peer-reviewed articles.

Abhilash Desai, MD, is a geriatric psychiatrist, medical director of Idaho Memory & Aging Center, P.L.L.C., and an adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Washington School of Medicine, Boise-Idaho track. He is the co-author, along with his mentor Dr. George Grossberg, a national and international leader in Geriatric Psychiatry, of the book Psychiatric Consultation in Long-Term Care: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals, Second Edition published by Cambridge University Press. He was the guest editor for Clinics of Geriatric Medicine special issue titled Healthy Brain Aging: Evidence-Based Methods to Preserve Brain Function and Prevent Dementia. His practice focuses on helping patients with dementia and their family members live the best life possible. He has been in practice for 23 years. Abhilash and his wife, psychologist Faith Galliano Desai, conduct workshops on brain health and wellness for all age groups.

Dr. Megan Dixon first visited the Soviet Union in 1989. She made return visits in 1990 and 1991-92, followed by several other regular visits through the 1990s and 2000s. She holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focusing on Russia and Poland, and a PhD in Urban Geography from the University of Oregon, focusing on Chinese-financed development in European Russian cities. She has taught four previous classes relating to Russia for the Osher Institute at Boise State, including the literature of socialism, contemporary Russian geography, and the history of the intelligentsia.

Lee Flinn joined the Idaho Crisis and Suicide Hotline as Director in May 2020. She has nearly 30 years’ experience in nonprofit operations with mission-focused organizations in Idaho. Prior to joining the Hotline, Lee served in various roles in Idaho nonprofits, including Policy Director for Idaho Community Health Center Association, Advocacy Director for AARP Idaho, and founding Executive Director of Conservation Voters for Idaho. Lee is a long-time Idaho resident and a graduate of the Boise State University Executive MBA program. In July 2022, the Hotline began taking Idaho’s 988 calls as part of one of the biggest developments in behavioral health in a generation. In July 2024, ICSH became the hub for the new Idaho Behavioral Health Plan as the “air traffic control” hub for the new crisis system under managed care.

Marcia Franklin has been a producer and host at Idaho Public Television since 1990. She is the lead producer for “createid,” the station’s program covering the arts. For more than 25 years, she was the producer and host of “Dialogue,” a statewide conversation program. She is also a contributing producer for “Idaho Experience,” a history series at IdahoPTV, and “Outdoor Idaho,” which covers environmental and outdoor issues in Idaho. Marcia has produced special documentaries, including “Barbara Morgan: No Limits,” “Hearts and Minds: Teens and Mental Illness,” and “The Color of Conscience.” In 2003 she traveled to Iran, where she filmed a documentary about the environmental movement there. Marcia’s programs have received honors, including a George Foster Peabody Award, the Silver Gavel Award of the American Bar Association, and six regional Emmy Awards. She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and a Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern University.

CMarie Fuhrman is the author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems and coeditor of Native Voices: Indigenous Poetry, Craft, and Conversations. She has published or forthcoming poetry and nonfiction in multiple journals, including Terrain.org, Emergence Magazine, Platform Review, Northwest Review, Yellow Medicine Review, Poetry Northwest, and several anthologies. CMarie is a regular columnist for the Inlander, Translations Editor for Broadsided Press, and the Director of the Elk River Writers Workshop. She directs the Poetry Program at Western Colorado University, where she also teaches Nature Writing. She is the current Idaho Writer in Residence and resides in the mountains of West Central Idaho.

Before moving to Boise eight years ago, Dennis Hall and his wife, Robyn, lived in Billings, MT, where he was an investment advisor for over 25 years. Soon after arriving they joined Osher. In June, Dennis completed his sixth and final year on the Osher Advisory Council which he considers a great experience. He enjoys researching topics and has presented three other Osher lectures. Dennis and Robyn recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They have two sons. Both are married, and each has a son and a daughter.

Dr. Greg Hampikian is Professor of Biology and Criminal Justice, Director of the Forensic Justice Project, and Co-Director of the Idaho Innocence Project (IIP) at Boise State University. He also directs the Boise State University Wastewater Epidemiology Lab and lectures at the University of Idaho College of Law. His casework has been featured in Science and on BBC, CNN, and Dateline. His book Exit to Freedom with exoneree Calvin Johnson Jr. chronicles Mr. Johnson’s 17-year fight to prove his innocence using DNA. Dr. Hampikian has helped establish innocence organizations in Armenia, France, and Ireland, and served as a DNA expert in more than three dozen exonerations, including Amanda Knox, Freddie Lawrence and Paul Jenkins (with Montana Innocence Project), Kerry Robinson (with the Georgia Innocence Project), and Christopher Tapp and Charles Fain in Idaho. In both Idaho cases, his lab worked with police to identify new DNA genealogy matches that led to arrests decades after the crimes.

Marla Hansen and and her husband, Alfred, founded Idaho Dance Theatre in 1989. Since that time, she has choreographed over 70 ballets for IDT. Marla has collaborated many times with other artists including composers Eric Sandmeyer, David Allen Earnest, Jim Cockey and Eric Alexander, pianists Del Parkinson, and Mark Hansen, soprano Laura Rushing Raynes, to name a few. Choreography for organizations include Opera Idaho, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Philharmonic Brass Quintet etc. An acclaimed teacher, Marla was named the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, “Dance Educator of the Year”. She was also one of the 2015 Women of the Year honored by the Idaho Business Review. Marla is also a Professor Emeritus at Boise State University in the Department of Theatre Arts where she directed the dance program and choreographed most of theatre dept musicals and many productions over 30 years.

David Harrison is Canon for Music at St. Michael’s Episcopal Cathedral in Boise, Idaho, directing an active and multifaceted music program in the Anglican Choral tradition. His favorite parts of this job are encouraging the congregation to sing through compelling improvised hymn accompaniments, and challenging his ambitious choirs with the most beautiful, substantive repertoire he can find. He is also active as continuo with the Boise Baroque Orchestra, and enjoys any other opportunities he can find to make music together with other people.

Dr. Samantha Harvey is a Professor of English at Boise State University. She received a BA from Harvard College and a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University. Dr. Harvey’s teaching and research interests include nineteenth-century British poetry and prose, transatlantic Romanticism, and the environmental humanities. In 2012, she started an annual public lecture series called “Interdisciplinary Explorations: The Idea of Nature” which brings three internationally known lecturers to Boise State every Spring. Visit the Idea of Nature site for more information.

David Hinchman, MD, has been a full-time clinical cardiologist for 21 years in Boise. He is board certified in Cardiovascular Disease and Nuclear Cardiology. He is the Co-Founder of High Desert Heart and Vascular in Boise. His special interests are in clinical cardiovascular research, and he has been a local principal investigator for over 100 trials, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, lipid therapy, congestive heart failure, stress testing, non-invasive cardiac imaging, anticoagulation, and stroke prevention.

Tricia Hosch-Hebdon is the Assistant Chief of Wildlife for Idaho Department of Fish and Game. She has spent the past twenty years working in wildlife health, disease diagnostics, genetics, wildlife conservation and science education. She has worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for 16 years as a Wildlife Health Biologist, Wildlife Lab manager and Health Program Coordinator. Tricia is a member of the CWD Research Consortium and is a proponent of education and science literacy.

Rebecca Ingram began dancing in 1999 with the Treasure Valley Academy of Irish Dance under the director of David Chase, TCRG, and Bridy Frett. During those years of instruction, she learned from her instructors through workshops and from Irish musicians. She has performed and competed all over the Northwest. In 2005 Rebecca, Heidi, and Spencer Ingram began Irish Dance Idaho and grew from 12 students in a basement studio to hundreds of students who enjoy dancing in their beautiful studio in Boise, Idaho. Rebecca continues to instruct students in Boise and online students from all over the United States and share Irish dance and culture with audiences and classes everywhere.

Andrew Ip is a licensed independent insurance agent and has been since 2006. He helps individuals and small businesses with Medicare, individual and family, and small group health plans. Medicare is his emphasis. He has been named a preferred broker with multiple insurance companies and is an active member of the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals. He graduated from Boise State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a minor in Accountancy. He was a brand manager for multiple national brands with Fortune 500 companies before changing careers and becoming an insurance agent.

Andrew collaborates with his clients to understand their medical needs and priorities. He draws upon his knowledge and experience to educate and guide his clients through the complex and changing landscape of health insurance, particularly Medicare. He enjoys developing authentic relationships with his clients and helping his fellow Idahoans. Andrew enjoys exploring new foods and spending time with his wife, their dog, and their adult children.

Dr. Brian Jackson is Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Boise State University. His research interests include extrasolar planets, Mars, planetary geoscience, and computational science.

With over 20 years of communication experience, Erin has successfully launched high profile communication campaigns across the U.S. As the Marketing Manager for the Idaho Small Business Development Center, Erin was responsible for implementing communications campaigns for the six SBDC offices throughout the state of Idaho. Currently, Erin is the Business and Community Relations Coordinator with the Ada County Highway District, where she is the liaison between the district and community. She plays an intricate role in communicating construction impacts to citizens and businesses and enjoys presenting to many organizations in Ada County about what ACHD does and how ACHD serves the residents of Ada County. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two active teenage boys, and her dog, Rocky.

Dr. Danell Jones is a writer and scholar with a PhD in literature from Columbia University. She is the author of The Virginia Woolf Writers Workshop; the poetry collection Desert Elegy; and An African in Imperial London, which won the High Plains Book Award for Nonfiction. Her newest book is The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race, and the Dreadnought Hoax.

Jim Jones grew up on his family’s farm in Eden, Idaho. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Oregon and earned a Juris Doctorate at Northwestern University School of Law. He served as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army, including a 13-month tour in Vietnam, and was honorably discharged as a captain in August, 1969. In addition to a number of combat decorations, he received an Army Commendation Medal for his civic action work with an orphanage run by the Cao Dai Church in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam. After his military service, Jim practiced law in Boise from 1991 until being elected to the Idaho Supreme Court in 2004. He was elected Chief Justice in July 2015 and served in that capacity until his retirement at the end of 2016. He is currently “of counsel” with the law firm of Parsons Behle & Latimer in Boise.

Mike Journee is the Communications Director at the Idaho Education Association. He joined the team in January of 2022. He previously served as communications director for Boise Mayor Dave Bieter and chief spokesperson for the City of Boise. A recovering newspaper journalist, Mike served in a number of senior communications roles in since leaving the Idaho Statesman in 2003, including press secretary to former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and multiple roles at Boise State University.

Tracey Kindall is a dedicated scholar and teacher who loves sharing her knowledge and passion with others, particularly when it relates to mythology, story, and the power of imagination. Tracey teaches Ancient Cultures, Humanities Foundations, World History, and American History at The North Fork School, an internationally accredited private school in McCall, ID. Additionally, she operates Earth•Story•Spirit, a life coaching practice through which she offers individual guidance, retreats, and group classes all grounded in the power of story. Tracey holds a Master’s degree in Folklore Studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.

Muffy Koch is a senior regulatory manager at the J.R. Simplot Company and has 35 years of experience in the regulation and safety assessment of genetically modified organisms. She was educated and trained in South Africa as a botanist and microbiologist. She worked for eight years as a microbial and plant genetic engineer, for 10 years as a South African regulator, for 15 years training regulators internationally in the safety assessment of GMOs, and more recently in Boise, Idaho, helping to confirm the safety of new potato varieties.

Andrew Lam, MD, is a retina surgeon and the award-winning author of four books: Saving Sight, an Amazon bestseller about his surgical career; Two Sons of China, a 2014 Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Award winner; Repentance, a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award; and The Masters of Medicine, about the greatest medical discoveries in modern times. Before attending medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, he earned a history degree from Yale University. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, and he has been a contributing commentator for PBS Newshour, NPR, and many other media outlets. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Jim Leonard is an Idaho Native who served as a Medical Evacuation Helicopter Pilot during the Vietnam war. He completed his education after his military service and worked as a Mechanical Engineer until retirement. He is a volunteer at the Warhawk Museum.

Dr. Don Lincoln is a Fermilab scientist and science popularizer. He is coauthor of over 1,500 scientific papers and was a member of the teams that discovered the top quark and the Higgs boson. He has also authored several books about physics aimed at a general audience and he hosts the Fermilab YouTube channel, where he has made over 150 videos on topics ranging from the quarks to the cosmos.

Dr. Roger Longbotham is a retired Statistician/Data Scientist from Microsoft who has worked as a consultant for companies throughout the U.S. and in Europe. Prior to Microsoft, he was at Amazon and Rockwell International. In addition to his private sector work, Dr. Longbotham was a professor teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of California, Riverside, University of Denver, and two universities in China.

Dr. Daniel Luna grew up in South Florida, earned undergraduate degrees in Biology and Religious Studies at Duke University, and completed his PhD at University of California, Santa Barbara studying vertebrate paleontology. After teaching at UCSB for several years, Dr. Luna joined the Department of Geosciences at Boise State in 2019, where he now teaches several courses related to geology, evolution, and paleontology. In 2022, Dr. Luna was selected as Idaho’s Science Teacher of the Year by the state’s General Education Committee.

Bryan Madden is the Director of the Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse. Before this role, he launched and lead the Mission43 initiative from 2016-2022. During that time, Mission43 grew to over 5000 members and supported over 1,000 veterans and military spouses to find quality employment throughout the state of Idaho. Bryan played lacrosse at West Point, where upon graduation he was selected to fly helicopters in the US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), known as the Nightstalkers. In addition to his leadership at the Fieldhouse, Bryan serves in the Idaho Air National Guard as a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) officer and is the squadron commander of the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron (ASOS).

Dr. Jack Marr is a Clinical Associate Professor in International Business and as Director of Global Programs works on COBE’s global outreach. His research and teaching areas are around East Asia, global business, economic clusters, networks, and emerging markets. Previously, he was on the faculties of City University of Hong Kong, New York University’s Stern School of Business, and the Kellogg School of Management. He was a consultant with McKinsey and Company in Greater China, served the U.S. Foreign Agriculture Service in Shanghai and the State of Missouri in Tokyo, and has held numerous other advisory positions globally. Dr. Marr holds a PhD from Boise State in Public Policy and Administration, an MA from the University of Chicago, and a BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is fluent in Mandarin and Japanese.

Dr. April Masarik joined the Department of Psychological Science as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2015. She earned her PhD in Human Development and an MS in Child Development from the University of California, Davis. Her research centers on stress and resilience, dynamics in close relationships, intergenerational transmission, and the social, cultural, and biological influences on development. Dr. Masarik directs the Human Development and Ecology Lab, conducting research with an interdisciplinary team of faculty, students, and community stakeholders to investigate the factors that influence health and wellbeing among refugee youth and families. She regularly teaches courses in Child Development, Multicultural Perspectives on Children and Families, and Research Methods.

In 2019, Dr. Masarik was a Top Ten Scholar Honored Faculty Member. She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the National Council on Family Relations, and the Society for Research in Child Development to name a few. She also works in the community as a board member for Tidwell Social Work and Consulting Services, a non-profit organization that provides trauma-informed and culturally sensitive mental health care and community healing programs.

Dr. John Mather is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) with George Smoot. This work helped cement the big-bang theory of the universe. According to the Nobel Prize committee, “the COBE-project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science.” Dr. Mather is a senior astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. In 2007, Time magazine listed Mather among the 100 Most Influential People in The World. In October 2012, he was listed again by Time magazine in a special issue on New Space Discoveries as one of the 25 most influential people in space.

Dr. Mather is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May 2008, urging him to “reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill” by requesting additional emergency funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dr. Mather served as the senior project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope from 1995 until 2023, when he was succeeded by Jane Rigby.

Dr. Isidra Mencos holds a PhD in Spanish and Latin American Contemporary Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught Spanish language, literature, and creative writing for 12 years. She has published three books, the latest in 2022, Promenade of Desire: A Barcelona Memoir. Her essays and articles have been published in Diálogo, WIRED, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Stirring Literary Journal, among others. Her piece My Books and I was listed as Notable in The Best American Essays 2019. Originally from Spain, Isidra lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Robert Miller spent 21 years working for Hewlett-Packard before the birds called him outside. He has since earned a second Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Raptor Biology from Boise State University. Robert currently works for Boise State’s Intermountain Bird Observatory as a research biologist leading their work on the Northern Goshawk, Short-eared Owls, multiple woodpecker projects, migration studies in both North America and Europe, vulture and raptor population studies in Mozambique, and general data management and analysis support for a dozen other projects.

Detective Mike Miraglia recently retired from Idaho law enforcement after a 23-year career, during which he served as a member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Boise Police Gang Unit, and the Boise Violent Crimes Unit. In partnership with local and federal agencies, he has successfully investigated several local and regional sex trafficking organizations. As a Violent Crimes Detective, he investigated homicides, robberies, and officer involved critical incidents. He also served as a member of the Crisis Negotiations Team, where he applied the art of de-escalation to highly charged incidents.

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.

Barbara Morgan, Emeritus Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State, served on one space shuttle mission, and in the 1980s served as the back-up for Christa McAuliffe in NASA’s Teacher in Space Program.

Matthew Nelson, MD, is a cardiologist at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. He is currently the Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine. He is the Clinical Director of the Preventive Cardiology clinic and echocardiography lab. He attended medical school at the University of Iowa. He did an internal medicine residency at Wake Forest University. He completed his cardiology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He then completed further training in ultrasound imaging and is currently part of a team at St. Alphonsus which implants valves and devices into the heart without the need for open heart surgery. He currently lives in the Boise area with his wife and six children. In the summer, you’ll find him backpacking in the Sawtooth mountains with his local Boy Scout troop.

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.

David Nevin is a criminal defense lawyer in Boise, Idaho, now in his 43rd year of practice, with particular emphasis on cases implicating issues of civil rights and government overreaching, including the 1993 Ruby Ridge case and the 2004 terrorism prosecution of a Saudi Arabian graduate student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen. For the last 13 years, he has served as counsel for a defendant charged in a military commission at Guantanamo Bay with responsibility for the attacks of 9/11. Mr. Nevin is a founder and past President of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is the namesake of its Nevin Professionalism Award, which the organization awards annually to a criminal defense lawyer who has advanced the ideals of the profession. He has twice received the organization’s President’s Award for outstanding service to criminal justice.

Mr. Nevin graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in English Literature in 1974, and from law school at the University of Idaho in 1978. After law school, he served as an Instructor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law in Toledo, Ohio, and as a law clerk for the Hon. Jos. J. McFadden, Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court. He was a deputy Ada County Public Defender in Boise, Idaho before forming his present firm in 1983.

Dr. Ellen Ochoa was the Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX from 2013 until her retirement in May 2018. She became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she flew on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993. She currently serves on several boards and previously chaired both the National Science Board and the nomination evaluation committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Dr. Ochoa also speaks on a range of topics including diversity, corporate management, science and engineering, and human space exploration. Prior to her astronaut career, she was a research engineer and holds three patents for optical systems. She received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from San Diego State University and both a Master of Science and Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. She is honored to have seven schools named for her and has been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, the California Hall of Fame, the Government Hall of Fame, and the National Academy of Engineering.

Scott O’Connell began his emergency management career serving in the Air Force as a firefighter at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. After leaving the Air Force, he returned to Southern California and served for eight years as a 9-1-1 dispatcher and instructor. Scott joined the Red Cross as a Disaster Program Manager for Ventura County in fall 2018 and was promoted to Regional Disaster Officer (RDO) of the Central California region in spring 2019. Currently, Scott is the RDO for the Idaho Montana and east Oregon region. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles with a certificate in Emergency Management and Homeland Security and is currently enrolled in a Master of Emergency Services Administration at California State University, Long Beach. He is a member of the IAEM and ATAP and holds his CVA.

Erin Olsen has combined formal education, life experience, and intellectual curiosities to manage the Health Promotion program with the Idaho Commission on Aging (ICOA) for the past seven years. Erin became aware of the significant impact falls have on the physical, emotional, social, and financial lives of individuals, their families, and communities, and founded the Falls prevention Coalition of Idaho in 2023. Prior to joining ICOA, she owned PCKeys Technology Solutions, a technology training company for 26 years. She has a Bachelor’s degree in IT and two Master’s degrees in Education. She blends these distinct disciplines with her experience as a person with type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and blindness to empower others to make the most out of life. Having lived in Idaho since she was five years old, Erin considers herself a native and takes advantage of everything the state has to offer including hiking, kayaking, and snowshoeing. She loves to travel but still needs to add Antarctica to her list. Erin strives to take on life with the attitude of it is what it is, but it will be what we make it.

Dr. Steven Olsen-Smith is a Professor in the Department of English Literature at Boise State University. He teaches courses in American Literature and Digital Humanities, and he directs the scholarly web archive Melville’s Marginalia Online.

James Osterkamp, DMD, grew up in Buhl, Idaho, and attended Boise State University for his undergraduate degree where he majored in Biology. He was accepted to Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, where he completed his Doctorate of Medicine in Dentistry. He returned to Boise in 2015 and was able to purchase his current practice, located in Bown Crossing, in 2017. He has since continued his education at the esteemed Kois Center located in Seattle, Washington, and graduated from their program in 2022. He prides himself on practicing dentistry at the highest level based on an evidence-based approach.

Dr. Del Parkinson began studying piano at age five in his hometown of Blackfoot, Idaho. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University and a postgraduate diploma from The Juilliard School. He was the recipient of a Fulbright-Hays grant for graduate study in London. He was coordinator of piano instruction at Brigham Young University-Idaho, where he taught for eight years, and is professor of piano at Boise State University, where he joined the faculty in 1985.

Dr. Parkinson’s London debut recital was on the American Bicentennial Series, and his New York debut recital in Carnegie Recital Hall was sponsored by the Idaho Commission on the Arts. He has performed with the Guadalajara Symphony, the Indiana University Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Utah Symphony, and the Boise Philharmonic. He is featured on four compact disc recordings: The American Piano Quartet and The American Piano Duo’s Mendelssohn Two-Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff Duo Piano Works, and Celebrating Gershwin. He is the recipient of the Boise State University Foundation Scholar Award for creative activity, the Boise Mayor’s Award for artistic excellence, the Morrison Center Honor Medallion, the Idaho Commission on the Arts Career Fellowship Award, and the Idaho Governor’s Award for excellence in the arts.

Harry Peachey began his career with elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo in 1974. He later moved to the Columbus Zoo where he served in a dual capacity as the zoo’s elephant manager and curator of mainland Asia. Harry has also served as a consultant to several other zoos, including two facilities in Eastern Europe where he introduced a method of elephant management that enhanced the zoo’s ability to care for the male and other aggressive elephants while providing an additional measure of safety for the staff. During his tenure at the Columbus Zoo, Harry had the opportunity to travel to Asia and Africa in conjunction with in-situ conservation projects and was fortunate enough to come into contact with both wild and “domesticated” elephants. After taking early retirement from the Columbus Zoo, Harry realized that “early retirement” was actually “too-early retirement” and came back to the profession as the general curator at Zoo Boise, where he has served in that capacity since September 2018.

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.

George Prentice has been honored for his decades-long career in broadcast and print journalism. He has won dozens of awards for his investigative reporting and took home top prizes in the fields of crime/courts, environmental, health, religion, and feature reporting. As host of Morning Edition, he helms one of the highest-rated broadcasts in Idaho. He has taken the live broadcast on the road, reporting from Wall Street, the White House, and presidential inaugurations in D.C. George has also been honored for his work with Idaho foster children, winning the Governor’s Brightest Star grand prize award. He’s also been a film critic for more than three decades and is a regular fixture at some of the world’s best film festivals.

Ruth Prince is the Director of International Student and Scholar Services at Boise State University. She helps international students, faculty, and staff with immigration-related topics, including F1, J1, and H1B visas and employment-based permanent residency.

Dr. Patricia Quinlisk was the Medical Director and State Epidemiologist at the Iowa Department of Public Health for 24 years. She is now semi-retired; continuing to teach at various universities and working on projects such as how to change behaviors to prevent dementia. Her background includes being a hospital clinical microbiologist, a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, and training as a field epidemiologist in the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service.

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.

Ethan Sims, MD, is an emergency medicine physician and Medical Director for Sustainability at St. Luke’s. He started the non-profit Idaho Clinicians for Climate and Health to educate the health care community, patients, and families in Idaho about the very real, already present health threats and that to future generations that climatic changes pose. He is a father to two amazing young women and his concern for their future is what inspires him to strive to educate himself and others to affect change.

Dr. Bill Smith is a Clinical Full Professor and the Director of the Martin Institute, Borah Foundation, and Program in International Studies at the University of Idaho, where he has worked since 2000. All three entities consider the causes of war, the conditions necessary for peace, and the international system with a mix of teaching, research, and outreach. Unlike most academic jobs, his requires a little bit of knowledge about everything rather than a specialization in something, making him something of an “expert generalist” about the world and how myriad topics fit together. Bill received his PhD in History from Washington State University, and he has lived in Mexico, Spain, and Portugal.

Randy Stapilus is a journalist, author and publisher of books and other writing, for a half-century, about Idaho and Oregon. He may be the only writer in the country of two separate regularly-published columns each about public affairs in two different states. He came to Idaho from Virginia in 1974, attended the University of Idaho, worked for newspapers from Coeur d’Alene to Pocatello, and was Political Editor (the last with that title) at the Idaho Statesman in Boise. He moved to Oregon in 2004 and since has lived in Carlton with his wife, Linda Watkins, who is mayor there.

Dr. Michael Steele is a physical oceanographer; he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics and his PhD in Oceanography. His research focus is the upper waters of the Arctic Ocean and the changes in ocean temperature, salinity, and circulation that happen both naturally and by global warming. He also investigates changes in the floating sea ice pack that covers less and less of this unique ocean. Dr. Steele uses data taken by instruments deployed in the ocean, satellites that fly overhead with cameras, and computer climate simulations.

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.

Janice Stevenor Dale is President of JSDA Inc. serving Los Angeles, Boise, and projects on the West Coast. She was trained by Chicago Arch Foundation and tours of Frank Lloyd Wright. JSDA has designed more than nine million square feet of space across the U.S. and preserved eight historical residences, two landmarks. JSDA Inc. clients include Lumineye, House of Design, Keynetics, Boise State, BMW, Boeing, and State Farm. Projects typically range in size from 1,500 to 500,000 square feet. The firm serves on several boards, including IWCF and Preservation Idaho, and it contributes pro-bono projects for Because, SHE, and Habitat. JSDA Inc. has recently completed multiple future workspaces and live/work facilities for entrepreneurial firms and tech startups. The firm specializes in commercial design and project management leadership, including contracts and construction, expertly managed. JSDA Inc. creates technical 3D CAD drawings.

With over 45 years of experience behind a camera; degrees in environmental science and education; participation in many of the county’s most prestigious photography workshops; and certification as a master naturalist, Patrick Stoll is uniquely qualified to teach digital photography. He has developed and presented digital photography classes for Boise State University’s five-week Upward Bound Program (five days a week, four hours a day), the Boise School District’s Adult Community Education program, the Treasure Valley YMCA’s Artist in Residence digital photography class for cancer survivors, and many others.

Dr. Robert Suydam lived and worked for the North Slope Borough (a municipal government) in northern Alaska for 32 years. Working closely with Inuit hunters and communities, he studied bowhead and beluga whales, Arctic birds, caribou and a variety of other animals. The aim of his work was to collect data that could be used to inform the sustainable management of subsistence species. He earned a PhD in Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences from the University of Washington, served as Vice-chair and Chair of the International Whaling Commission’s Scientific Committee, and was appointed to the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission’s Committee of Scientific Advisors. He is now (mostly) retired and splits his time between Alaska and Idaho.

Dr. Steve Swanson is a Boise State University Distinguished Educator in Residence, where he instructs three engineering project-based courses and promotes the University and STEM locally and around the world. He received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics from the University of Colorado, a Master of Applied Science in Computer Systems from Florida Atlantic University, and a Doctorate in Computer Science from Texas A&M University. He joined NASA as a systems engineer and a flight engineer in the Aircraft Operations Division of the Johnson Space Center. There, he worked on the Shuttle Training Aircraft, a complex airborne shuttle simulator which models the flight characteristics of the space shuttle from 35,000 feet to main gear touchdown. He served as Commander of the International Space Station on a long-duration mission, and is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and one Russian Soyuz flight.

As the 4th Judicial District CASA Program Director, Maggie Thompson oversees the program’s day-to-day operations. She was hired in 2019 as the Advocate Supervisor and oversaw the Advocate Coordinators, supervised more than 30 volunteers, developed standard operating procedures, and developed in-house continuing education for CASA. Maggie moved into her role as CASA Program Director in March of 2022. She has more than 20 years’ experience working with volunteers and has earned her certification in Volunteer Administration. She is a graduate of West Liberty State College where she earned her BA in English and is a graduate of Emory University where she earned her Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology. Maggie was raised in California, went to college in West Virginia, attended graduate school in Georgia, worked in Texas, and now calls Idaho home. When she is not working, she and her husband are avid gardeners growing as many fruits, vegetables, and flowers as possible.

Phillip Thompson is the Director of the Idaho Black History Museum. He has worked in Information Technology for over 20 years. For the last seven years, he has been working with Parkinson’s patients to delay the progression of the disease through a regimented approach to sleep, diet, and intense physical exercise to diminish symptoms. He previously spent two years as a researcher at Idaho Neurological Institute focusing on TBI and movement disorders. Phillip currently sits on the boards of the Idaho Red Cross and the Boise Police CCAP. Most importantly, he is the father to his unstoppable 12-year-old daughter, Zaida.

Dr. Robert Tiedemann is principal of Clean Water Professionals, LLC, and the owner of Ecological Design, Inc., a private consulting firm providing environmental and ecological services to public, private, and non-profit clients. He is a Certified Professional Wetland Scientist, Certified Wetland Delineator, Certified Fisheries Scientist, and Certified Wildlife Biologist. He has over 35-years’ experience working complex projects with significant environmental and ecological issues throughout the Pacific Northwest. Rob’s skills include expert knowledge of the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. He served as an expert witness and provided scientific support for the Department of Justice in the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, Chantell and Michael Sackett v. U.S. EPA. He is a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Ecohydraulics Research, University of Idaho, and as President of the BOD leads the 501(c)(3) non-profit Boise River Enhancement Network.

Dr. Anders Tobiason is the Multimedia Development and User Experience Librarian/Assistant Professor at Boise State University. He holds both a PhD in Music Theory and an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Anders was previously a Research and Instruction librarian at Portland State University. He has published and presented on topics ranging from using storytelling techniques to enhance accessibility, using Twitter feeds in library guides as a means to promote anti-racist conversations, and how cultivating a lateral reading mindset can help us all navigate our information environments.

Nani Vazana is an internationally recognized artist known for her captivating performances. She is a maestra in the Judeo-Spanish tradition known as Ladino, a Jewish culture dating back to medieval Spain. Nani is a professor at the London Performing Academy of Music and the Jerusalem Music Academy.

Thornton Waite has written several books and numerous articles on the history of railroads. He enjoys researching the history of railroads and the passenger trains operated by them. He worked at the Idaho National Laboratory and retired as a project manager. Thornton and his wife, Susan, live in Idaho Falls. They have two married daughters and two grandsons.

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.

Sheila Weaver is the Program Manager for the Family Caregiver Navigator project, adjunct faculty in the School of Social Work at Boise State University, and works as a therapist at a local behavioral health agency. Sheila holds a Master and a Bachelor of Social Work, along with a minor in Gerontology and a certificate in Dispute Resolution from Boise State University. With extensive experience in supporting individuals and families, Sheila specializes in caregiving, substance abuse, and behavioral health. She is deeply committed to cultivating a community where everybody can thrive.

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

Dr. Pei-Lin Yu is an ethnoarchaeologist who has worked with Indigenous peoples of Taiwan, Japan, Venezuela, and North America to learn from and celebrate their traditional knowledge about human-ecosystem relationships. She also studies the climate resilience of cultural heritage resources in U.S. national parks and the history and contributions of Chinese people in the Boise Basin. Dr. Yu has worked for the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Corps of Engineers, as well as serving Boise State as a tenured and affiliate professor of Anthropology. She loves teaching and learning from Osher participants.

Lauren Andersen, JD, is the Director of the Utah Judicial Institute. Andersen practiced appellate law in the state of California and presented arguments to the California Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. During this time, Andersen closely studied the Roberts Court. She has lectured about the Supreme Court and the death penalty. Her opinions were quoted by The New York Times and the ABA Journal. She was previously the director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Utah.

Dr. Aleen Bayard has been a long-time adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University, teaching courses in leadership and change management for the School of Professional Studies, and Kellogg’s Center for Nonprofit Management. Bayard served as the primary faculty member in Northwestern University’s partnership with Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership to develop the curriculum for the Certificate in Jewish Leadership and taught in the program for several years. She holds degrees from Stanford University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and earned her doctorate from the Center in Values Driven Leadership at Benedictine University where she studied peacebuilding. Bayard is the Vice Chair of the Leadership for Peace group of the International Leadership Association and has published two book chapters on peacebuilding. Bayard works with organizations through her consulting practice developing programs on leadership, culture, employee engagement, and team performance.

Jeri Bingham is an introvert advocate and strategist, and the founder of HushLoudly: Introverts Redefined, an award-winning WGN Radio podcast and brand. Dedicated to amplifying the voices of introverts in a world that celebrates and rewards the most extroverted, Bingham is on a mission to empower, through education and understanding, the most ill-defined, misunderstood personality type. Bingham is an adjunct lecturer for Northwestern University and speaks frequently on the topic of introversion at universities and companies. She has been featured in The Chicago Tribune, Cosmo UK, Color Magazine, WGN Radio Chicago, and the Myers-Briggs Company Podcast. She is a contributing writer for the Myers-Briggs Magazine and Rolling Out magazine. Her Myers-Briggs articles include “Inclusivity Includes Black Introverts” and “Be a Champion for All, Including Your Introverts.” Bingham is a higher education administrator and marketing communications executive who has served in leading accountability positions in academia and non-profits for more than 25 years.

Dr. Heather Brown has a PhD in English with a concentration in rhetoric and composition from the University of Maryland, a master of arts in English from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and a bachelor of arts in English with a concentration in creative writing from Hollins University. She has taught courses in academic writing, English literature, language and linguistics, women’s literature, feminist theory and criticism, rhetorical theory and criticism, and more. Brown began working as a learning designer primarily serving graduate and professional studies programs in not-for-profit higher education institutions and library training organizations, and most recently the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies. Brown is also an adjunct associate professor of academic writing at the University of Maryland Global Campus, one of the largest distance-learning institutions in the world, where over a third of the students are Black and African-American and the University serves more than 55,000 military-affiliated students worldwide.

Dr. Diana Carlin is Professor Emerita of Communication at Saint Louis University. She teaches courses on and written about First Ladies for 30 years and is the co-author of U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies and Remember the First Ladies: America’s History-Making Women. Carlin has also published articles and book chapters on a variety of First Ladies and researches and writes on the topics of women in politics, presidential communication, and political debate.

Mónica E. Gómez has made her living with words as a writer, songwriter, teacher, broadcast journalist, and voice talent. Her writing appears in numerous anthologies including Red Boots & Attitude: The Spirit of Texas Women Writers and The New York Times 2020 online edition. In her hometown of El Paso, Texas, she hosted NPR’s State of the Arts and moderated National Issues Forums for the local PBS station. As a performing songwriter, she released three CDs and presented performances and workshops through the Texas Commission on the Arts and other state and regional arts agencies. Distilled from years of work with diverse populations, Gómez’s creative writing workbook, EXPRESSERCIZE: Write Answers contains more than 100 exercises in expression and self-discovery. Gómez’s workshops integrate diverse forms of inspiration and highlight the literal creative power of writing.

Dr. Myra Gutin is Professor Emerita of Communication at Rider University. For the past 40 years, her research has focused on American First Ladies. She is the author of The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century and Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch. She has authored book chapters, articles, and op-eds about first ladies and is currently at work on a biography of Betty Ford. A frequent media commentator, she is the immediate past president and one of the founders of FLARE, the First Ladies Association for Research and Education.

Dr. Andrés Gvirtz is an assistant professor at King‘s College London, University of London. His research aims to improve our understanding of behavior by combining personality data (who somebody is) with spatial information (where somebody is). He is also a research affiliate at the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Before joining King’s College London, he was a supervisor for marketing and organizational behavior at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and taught psychometrics at the department of psychology, University of Cambridge, where he was nominated for the Student-Led Teaching Awards. He has been awarded an Innovation Education Fund, shortlisted for the Dean’s Awards, and nominated for the King’s Education Awards. Gvirtz holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge and was a visiting fellow at Harvard Business School. He received a MPhil in psychology from the University of Cambridge and a BA in economics and psychology from Clark University.

Annie Krall is an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. She is a former radio news anchor for WLS-Radio (890AM) in Chicago and has taken her storytelling abilities on-air as a TV news and sports reporter to NBC in St. Louis, MO (KSDK-TV) and ABC in Green Bay, WI (WBAY-TV). After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University, Krall covered breaking news in Green Bay, the Ryder Cup international golf tournament, and the Green Bay Packers. Host of her own weekly medical investigative series “Your Health Matters,” Krall has written and produced for ABC NEWS in New York City on the medical and business units for shows like Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir, and 20/20. Sharpening her golf skills as a competitive golfer starting at the age of six, Krall was the first entertainment golf correspondent for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). She has helped spotlight celebrity women who either play or have had their lives changed by the sport.

Susan Loyd is Chief Executive Officer of the Better Business Bureau serving Minnesota and North Dakota. She is regarded as an expert in ethical business practices, customer service strategies, and consumer protection. She is passionate about educating buyers to be astute in their purchasing decisions and particularly in protecting themselves from fraud and deception. She is a frequent contributor to the media and panel discussions on factors that make certain consumers more at-risk. In her series The Capable Consumer, Loyd teaches empowering techniques and practical tips to safeguard one’s identity and financial assets and to bolster acumen in knowing who to trust, especially in this online world.

Dede Petri, JD, has served as the president and CEO of the Olmsted Network since 2020. For over 30 years, she has been a leader and innovator in a wide range of nonprofit organizations. She was the 42nd president of The Garden Club of America, co-founded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, serving as president from 2003 to 2016, and served as general counsel and congressional liaison for the National Endowment for the Humanities. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard College with an AB in American history and literature, and she received her JD from Harvard Law School.

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

Steve Weyer has been a cruciverbalist (crossword aficionado) since the 1990s. In 2002, he developed CrozzWord, a mobile app for crossword solving. Since 2010, he has been teaching crossword and other courses at the OLLI at Southern Oregon University. He also constructs crosswords for Jackson County Libraries and other organizations and publications. His first New York Times crossword debuted in November 2023. Weyer’s crosswords appear weekly in Ashland.news and on his website.

Dr. John Zukowsky is an architectural and design historian with over five decades of museum experience, which includes university courses taught in Chicago, New York, and Hamburg, Germany. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and master and doctoral degrees from Binghamton University. He has been the recipient of awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the republics of Austria and France. While curator of architecture for the Art Institute of Chicago from 1978 to 2004, he organized popular, award-winning exhibitions and books. From 2004 to 2012 he served as a museum executive in Ohio, Chicago, and New York, including sites that are historic landmarks. Recently, he authored the following books: Building Chicago, Architecture-Inside Out, New Military Museums, and A Chronology of Architecture.