Author

Dr. Karine Gil-Weir is a research biologist at the Crane Trust, a full-time crane population ecologist, Whooper Watch coordinator and pianist. Several CDs of her piano compositions, inspired by wildlife and nature, are commercially available. Her website is www.karinegil.com.

Scott Cassel is the executive director of the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) and has worked on product and waste management issues for the past 25 years. Prior to PSI, Scott served as director of Waste Policy and Planning for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. He is also a founding board member and past president of the North American Hazardous Materials Management Association, whose mission is to reduce the toxicity of the municipal waste stream.

Matthew Roque received his undergraduate degree in business administration from Union College and recently received his master's degree in community and regional planning from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He currently works for the Nebraska National Guard as the deputy master planner. Along with ProRail Nebraska, Roque is advocating for the creation of the Husker game day train service. If you have any questions, are interested in investing or would like him to speak to your group, you can reach him at roquemd [at] hotmail [dot] com.

E. Benjamin Skinner is the first person in history to witness negotiations for the sale of human beings on four continents. In his book “A Crime so Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery,” Skinner tells the story of modern-day slavery. In 2003, as a writer on assignment on the frontlines of the Sudanese civil war, Skinner met a survivor of slavery for the first time. Like Skinner, Muong Nyong was 27 years old. After meeting Nyong, Skinner began traveling the globe to find others like him.

James Mallman, president of Watchable Wildlife Inc., is responsible for the development and production of their Wildlife Professional Publication Series, as well as the Watchable Wildlife State Viewing Guides. Mallman conducts workshops on developing sustainable wildlife viewing programs worldwide. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a master’s in education with an emphasis on Wildlife Recreation and Nature Tourism from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Mallman lives with his wife, Sharon, on the St.

Nathaniel E. Ostrom is a professor in the Department of Zoology and Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. He completed bachelor’s degrees in marine science, biology and chemistry at the University of Tampa and graduate degrees in earth science at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His current research is centered on the microbial production of biogenic greenhouse gases, notably nitrous oxide, and factors leading to the development of hypoxia in natural waters.

Ken Winston is the lobbyist for the Nebraska Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado is a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the assistant director of UNO’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies.

Farmer Bill Hawkins is a local organic-produce farmer and longtime environmental activist involved in a variety of local sustainable agricultural issues. He is a native Nebraskan and is dedicated and passionate about educating Nebraskans on environmental issues. He is director of HempNebraska, a grassroots organization dedicated to educating Nebraskans about hemp prohibition.

Jane Kleeb is executive director of Bold Nebraska.

Jeff Baron is a writer who lives in Arlington, Va. He limits his sewing to replacing the occasional button, but as the husband of a quilter, he has spent many hours in quilt shops.

Katharine Shiffler is a freelance journalist from Lincoln, Neb.

Jeff Rawlinson is assistant division administrator, information and education, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Rawlinson would like to especially thank Jim Posewitz as one of the greatest advocates of our North American Model of Conservation he has ever met. Posewitz, a retired biologist from Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and one of the founders of Orion The Hunters’ Institute, is known for his insight, ramblings and writings on our conservation heritage.

Matt Low is a Ph.D. candidate in English at the University of Iowa. He is currently living in Omaha while on fellowship to complete a dissertation on Midwestern literature, prairie restoration and narrative ethics.

Benjamin Vogt has a Ph.D. in poetry and creative nonfiction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks and a blog, “The Deep Middle,” which follows his gardening and writing exploits.

Dr. Roger Cognard retired from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2008 after teaching for 37 years in the English Department. He served as dramaturg for many of the Shakespeare productions at Wesleyan and still frequents shows and other events around campus.

Cris Trautner is production editor for Prairie Fire and co-partner of Infusionmedia Publishing.

Paul A. Olson is the retired director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, Lincoln, Neb.

Charles R. Brown, professor of biological sciences at the University of Tulsa, has studied swallows since age 11. Over the last 28 years in western Nebraska, he and a research team have banded more than 200,000 cliff swallows. Receiving degrees from Austin College (B.A.) and Princeton University (Ph.D.), Brown published his first scientific paper at age 15, and his articles have appeared in Nature, Science, Evolution, Ecology and many other publications. His book, “Swallow Summer,” was published by the University of Nebraska Press in 1998.

Eugene Glock is a farmer who lives and farms (both irrigated and dryland) near Rising City, Neb. He has been involved in conservation since his discharge from the army in 1955, serving on Sen. Bob Kerrey’s staff for 12 years as the state ag representative and on the State Water Task Force.