Staff

Megan first came to Alaska in the summer of 2021, and has been here ever since!  Like many other Alaskan transplants, what was supposed to be a one-time seasonal gig ended up transforming into a permanent move.  Alaska's wide variety of biodiversity and landscapes made it impossible to leave!  One summer just wasn't enough, and the experiences fostered a deep sense of place and belonging leading her to stay in the State.  She has worked in both Southeastern Alaska as well as the Interior.  She worked as a seasonal guide in Denali, then transitioned to working as a Forest Service Ranger prior to signing on with Denali Education Center.  Megan has a passion for the outdoors & natural sciences.  In her free time, she enjoys hiking, hunting, foraging, and especially loves collecting spruce tips! 

Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Chelsie first visited Alaska in 2012 with friends and was immediately drawn to its wild beauty. Throughout her 20s, she traveled extensively, but Alaska remained at the top of her favorite places. In 2017, she took a seasonal job in the state, and by the following year, she had fully embraced the Alaskan lifestyle, moving to Talkeetna as a full-time resident.

Over the years, she pieced together a life through seasonal work, eventually securing a four-year role at the South District Ranger Station in Denali National Park. When the opportunity with the DEC came along, she knew it was the next step in her journey.

When she’s not working or directing the Oosik Classic ski race, you can find Chelsie outdoors—reading, identifying plants, birding with her partner, or running around with her two energetic huskies.

Bathsheba Demuth is a writer and environmental historian specializing in the lands and seas of the Russian and North American Arctic. Her work addresses how ecologies and people change each other over time, paying particular attention to our relationship with animals, the role of ideas and law in shaping how we relate to the world, and Indigenous modes of science and history. Her interest in the north started when she was eighteen and moved to the Gwich'in village of Old Crow, in the Yukon, where she trained sled dogs for several years. Her first book, Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait, won multiple awards and was named a best book by NPR, Nature, and other publications. Currently she is writing a biography of the Yukon River watershed from the beginning of colonization to the era of climate change, and has spent the last several years traveling the river by boat and dog team, and in archives around the world.

Bathsheba's writing has appeared in publications from The New Yorker and Granta to The Best American Science and Nature Writing, as well as academic venues. She teaches creative writing alongside history and environmental studies classes, as well as a field-based course where students canoe 150 miles of the Yukon River through the University of Alaska Fairbanks Climate Scholars Program. When not in the north, she lives in Providence Rhode Island, where she is the Dean’s Associate Professor of History and Environment and Society at Brown University.

Colorado-based photographer Ralph Lee Hopkins was the founder and director of the Expedition Photography program for the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic alliance. For more than 30 years he has traveled the world leading photo expeditions from the Arctic to Antarctica and points in between. Back on land he taught workshops and seminars with the National Geographic Traveler magazine, National Geographic Expeditions, Canon USA, Arizona Highways, and Santa Fe Workshops.

An inspiring teacher, Ralph’s enthusiasm for the creative aspects of photography is contagious and chronicled in his book, Nature Photography: Documenting the Wild World. He is also author/photographer of the popular guidebooks Hiking the Southwest’s Geology and Hiking Colorado’s Geology.

Images from Ralph’s travels are published widely in National Geographic publications. His work documenting conservation issues in Baja California was featured in the National Geographic Traveler magazine story, “Is Baja on the Block?” A selection of his polar images were featured in the National
Geographic companion book to the major motion picture Arctic Tale, and included in the Best Wildlife and Best Landscapes book series. Ralph’s images are represented by National Geographic Creative and Fine Art Galleries. To view his online travel portfolio visit @RalphLeeHopkins on Instagram.

An award-winning documentary-adventure photographer, filmmaker, and conservationist, Navy Veteran Chad Brown is the founder/president of non-profits Soul River, Inc. and Love is King. In addition, Chad’s latest efforts include outdoor adventure travel, threatened wild spaces, and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. Through his projects, he connects the public to endangered lands, capturing the true essence of their peoples in moments of passion and the indomitable human spirit. Utilizing striking documentary portraits, photographic exhibitions and film, Chad also advocates for social and environmental justice.

Chad’s pathway began as a conventional one, but took on a number of unexpected twists and turns. He studied communication and photography at American Intercontinental University, then moved onto the Pratt Institute in NYC earning his Master’s Degree in Communication Design. He went on to manage interdisciplinary teams in multiple agencies, serving in various roles including creative/art director and photographer, as well as a freelance artist and editorial photographer for the New York Times. His efforts crossed into the world of hip-hop fashion and culture, where he worked with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of PhatFarm and Rasheed Young of Run Athletics, photographing and developing creative campaigns for national hip-hop culture magazines.

In 2007, Chad moved from New York to Portland, Oregon, once more expanding his life and career path beyond the conventional. Today, his adventure photography leads him around the globe - Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, and into the Alaskan Arctic several times a year. Mother Nature played a significant healing role from the war trauma he experienced during his Navy service. After a failed suicide attempt, he launched his first non-profit, Soul River Inc. in 2013. The organization specializes in cultural expeditions called “deployments” which bring at-risk youth and Veteran mentors together in threatened wild spaces for mission-driven experiences where advocacy and outdoor education meld seamlessly together. Soul River, Inc. also led Chad to Capitol Hill, where he advocates for public lands, wild places, and indigenous peoples and provides youth leaders of tomorrow the opportunity to interact with Congressional members.

In 2021, Chad founded Love is King, a second non-profit organization focusing on access, safety, and healing in the outdoors as well as conservation leadership training opportunities for BIPOC communities and other underserved voices.

Chad also serves on the board of the Alaska Wilderness League, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, and Northern Alaskan Environmental Center. He has been featured on the BBC and CBS, including Good Morning America and NatGeo/Disney’s Called to the Wild, as well as national publications like Outside Magazine and The Drake and regional publications in the Pacific Northwest. Chad was the first recipient of the Breaking Barriers Award presented by Orvis, and the Bending Toward Justice Award from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley.

Most recently Chad is the 2024 recipient of three prestigious IndieFest Film Awards – including the African American Theme Award of Recognition, the African American Filmmaker Award of Merit, and the African American Theme Award of Merit.

To learn more about Chad’s non-profits and how to help, please visit Soul River Inc. and Love is King.

Klara Maisch lives and works in Alaska, where she travels to remote areas to paint on location throughout the seasons. Her landscape-based work often features glaciers, geologic forms, and boreal and Arctic environments. Maisch has painted alongside scientific teams in the remote Arctic, packed paint into bear-proof containers, and painted at Denali Base Camp. Her methods, materials, and conceptual focus seeks to redefine Western traditions of plein air and expeditionary art through ethics of care, questioning, and collaboration.

She has worked on numerous interdisciplinary projects including with the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research program, "In A Time of Change.” Her work has been supported by Rasmuson Foundation, the Connie Boochever Fellowship, The Puffin Foundation, and the Alaska Wilderness League. Maisch works seasonally as a guide for Arctic Wild and has previously instructed for Inspiring Girls Expeditions.

Ramey Newell is an American-Canadian filmmaker, photographer, and multidisciplinary artist who splits her time between British Columbia and Oregon. Her moving image work has been screened at film festivals and in galleries, museums and other art spaces throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia, including: the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; Alchemy Moving Image Festival in Hawick, Scotland; Mountainfilm in Telluride, Colorado; Antimatter in Victoria, Canada; and many others. Ramey’s experimental and documentary films have also earned accolades such as the Jury’s Stellar Award (Grand Prize) at Black Maria Film Festival (2018), Best Director at Mirror Mountain Film Festival (2017), Jury Award at Imagine Science Film Festival’s Symbiosis competition, (2022), and Audience Award for Best Documentary at Eastern Sierra Mountain Film Festival (2024). Her photographic work has been exhibited at venues such as The Polygon Gallery in Vancouver, Gallery 44 in Toronto, and the New York Hall of Science in Queens, NY.

Ramey holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from New Mexico State University, and she later attained a Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Practices and a Certificate in College Teaching from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Art at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She has taught filmmaking at University of British Columbia Okanagan and at University of Oregon.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Ramey gained an early appreciation for open spaces, forests, and mountains that has persisted throughout her adult life and permeates much of her creative work. When she’s not making art or teaching, she enjoys hiking in deserts and high country, rock climbing, playing tennis, gardening, and traveling with her partner and their spotty dog.

The trailer for her film A Good Wolf can be found on the film's website: https://goodwolffilm.com/

Nathaniel Herz is an independent journalist based in Anchorage, Alaska, where he publishes the Northern Journal news website, newsletter and podcast.

Nat graduated from Bowdoin College and spent two years covering Olympic level cross-country skiing and biathlon before receiving his graduate degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. After moving to Alaska in 2013, he spent nearly six years reporting on government and politics for the Anchorage Daily News and four years covering climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic for Anchorage’s NPR affiliate station before founding Northern Journal in 2022.

Nat now focuses his work on Alaska’s natural resources — namely its fisheries and its oil, gas, renewable energy and mining industries. His work has taken him from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to Southeast Alaska fishing towns. He spends a few weeks every summer harvesting salmon at a small commercial setnet site in Cook Inlet, near Anchorage, which supplies Camp Denali with some of its fish.

AlexAnna Salmon is President of the Igiugig Village Council. She is of Yup’ik and Aleut descent and was raised in the village of Igiugig, Alaska.

In 2008, AlexAnna graduated from Dartmouth College with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American Studies and Anthropology. After graduating, she returned to work for the Igiugig Tribal Village Council where she was elected President and, until 2016, also held the role of Administrator. AlexAnna serves as a member of the Igiugig Native Corporation board, which is responsible for the stewardship of 66,000 tribal acres. She also serves on the Nilavena Tribal Health Consortium and is a member of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s Advisory Board. She received her Master’s Degree in Rural Development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2021.

In her work as President of the Igiugig Village Council, AlexAnna has been a driving force behind the community’s efforts to generate its own energy from renewable sources. In 2015, she was invited to President Obama’s roundtable discussion with Alaska Native leaders and was praised by Sen. Dan Sullivan in 2017 on the Senate floor for helping strengthen her community and making it an incredible place to live. AlexAnna loves raising her kids in the subsistence way of life, revitalizing Indigenous languages, and traveling.

Mike and Molly are the co-founders, Su Salmon Co. and live 5 miles north of “the end of the road” in Talkeetna. They built their off-grid home by hand on the banks of the Susitna River. They log the trees for heat and building materials, drink the water, eat the moose, and garden the glacial soils, that are supported by the mighty Big Su.

At the heart of their life is a river that connects it all. The Susitna River drains Denali, the southern slopes of the Alaska Range, and the Talkeetna Mountains. Its legendary Devils Canyon is home to some of the biggest whitewater in the world. It is a travel corridor in winter and summer by local remote homesteaders, boaters, rafters, snow-machiners, skiers, and Iditarod mushers. The river's marshy estuary is world-class waterfowl habitat and the uplands support moose, bear and caribou; many of which still provide sustenance to thousands of people, just as it has to the river's first residents, the Dena'ina and Ahtna, for millennia. Its streams, lakes and wetlands support one of the largest Salmon runs in the state. It is a constant source of amazement and bounty.

Every July, Molly and Mike boat downriver to their fish camp, where they operate a small, remote, commercial salmon set-net operation with their Partner Ryan Petersen and close friends. They supply fresh, sustainably harvested salmon to local customers, including Camp Denali. Summer is a special time of year, when many Alaskans migrate along with the salmon runs and thrive off hard work and the challenges that come from harvesting off the land and sea.

Su Salmon Co. was first inspired as a means of making, keeping, and encouraging human connection to the river. That motivation remains the cornerstone of the business – we are dedicated to sharing the delicious miracle of salmon and by extension the bounty that the local watershed provides – right from our own backyards. Things that are loved are protected, and to this day, a proposal to dam the Susitna remains a quiet threat to all it supports. It is our hope that the more we all understand and relate to the incomparable Susitna, the more likely it will remain free-flowing, and healthy for generations to come.

When not fishing, Mike works as a builder and carpenter, specializing in remote, complicated and messy jobs that take him to wonderful communities around Alaska. He is a member of the Alaska State Board
of Fisheries, co-chair of the Chase Community Council, and volunteer President for the 15,000-member Susitna River Coalition, where he advocates for a healthy watershed and sustainable future for our communities. Molly works from her remote office as a Senior Partner for Meridian Institute, a non-profit organization that provides collaboration, conflict resolution and strategic planning support to environmental and public policy initiatives around the world. She has dedicated her career to working with diverse coalitions to provide clean water, sustainable fisheries, healthy food, and the means for a just and resilient world.

David Sibley, son of ornithologist Fred Sibley, began seriously watching and drawing birds in 1969, at age seven. Since 1980, David has traveled throughout North America in search of birds, both on his own and as a leader of birdwatching tours. This intensive travel and bird study culminated in the publication of his comprehensive guide to bird identification, The Sibley Guide to Birds, in 2000 and the completely updated second edition in 2014. Other books include a companion volume The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior in 2001; Sibley's Birding Basics – an introduction to bird identification – in 2002; and the Sibley Field Guides to Eastern and Western birds second edition in 2016. In 2009 he completed a fully illustrated guide to the identification of North American Trees – The Sibley Guide to Trees. His newest book - What It's Like to be a Bird - was published in 2020.

He is the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for lifetime achievement from the American Birding Association and the Linnaean Society of New York’s Eisenmann Medal. David lives in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where he continues to study and draw birds and trees.

Dr. Patrick Druckenmiller is Professor of Geology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. His research focuses on dinosaurs and Mesozoic marine reptiles, particularly those from high latitudes. He leads numerous field-based paleontology projects across Alaska, from Southeast to the North Slope. Pat has conducted research on Denali dinosaurs since 2015. In 2018 he became museum director. In that role he oversees the state’s largest teaching and research museum that houses 2.5 million objects focusing on the cultural and natural history of the North and welcomes up to 90,000 visitors annually.

Katie first came to Alaska in the summer of 2010 as a seasonal worker on the Alaska Railroad. It wasn’t long before she fell in love with the magic of Alaska and decided to call it home for the next few years. She has spent the last decade living in the Blue Ridge Mountains and is excited to bring her love of adventure and hospitality back to Denali. Her career focus is on the growth and connection of the guest experience through travel and community. In her free time, Katie enjoys traveling, tending to her native plant garden, and cooking for family and friends.

Caitlin first came to Alaska and DEC in the summer of 2023 as a Youth Field Educator. Despite her status as a “bear-magnet,” according to some NPS rangers, she has returned to Alaska to stay year-round. As an avid traveler and passionate environmental educator, she’s worked with schools and youth programs across the country. Caitlin enjoys all things outdoors, from climbing to nature photography, and especially loves trying new activities. She has found Denali and the surrounding communities to be something truly special, whether it was exploring the backcountry of the park, appreciating the midnight sun, or blueberry picking with friends.

Kellie headed north for Talkeetna in the summer of 2021 just because it seemed like the right place to be. It turns out that it was, and she began with Denali Education Center in early 2022. Prior to finding her place and her people, she spent time adventuring in various parts of the world and dabbled in multiple trades along the way including massage therapy, youth ministry, baking, farming, and customer service. The sense of “at-home” she’s found in Talkeetna is one to be savored and she’s hoping to make it the longest adventure yet.

James will tell you he grew up in the woods in Virginia. When his two kids were grown, he decided to attend the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Charlotte, where he found his passion and calling as a chef and baker. Often using the ingredients he finds available to him in nature, you could say that he aspires to be a truly sustainable chef and subsistence hunter. James has spent the last few years cooking in Hawaii, but we sense that he’s found a home here in Alaska, as many of us do.

Born and raised in Alaska, Eli’s roots originate in the heart of Denali. Eli grew up on a bluff overlooking the Nenana River and has young memories of helping carve the logs used to begin building the structures on the campus of the Denali Education Center. He began his kitchen career in Denali where he first found his passion and curiosity for cooking. When Eli is not in the kitchen, you may find him out in the creeks of Alaska trout or salmon fishing and grinning ear to ear. He is enjoying being back home in Alaska and doing what he loves, cooking good food and seeing people come together for meals as a community.

Lauren is originally from Washington state where she earned her degree in Environmental Studies between training horses. She first ended up in Alaska due to a coin flip and after many back-and-forth trips (perhaps encouraged by a rugged Alaskan mountain man), finally decided to trade riding horses for riding snow machines and make Alaska home. Lauren is eager to try anything that involves recreating outdoors, then retiring inside to bake bread and dabble in arts and crafts. She is often found during the summer in her little vegetable garden or walking the dog to the beaver pond for a swim, and in the winter taking her snowmachine out to catch the sunset or cross-country skiing by moonlight.

Originally from Florida, Dave is now a long-time Alaskan resident. Dave is no stranger to the Denali Education Center campus as he served as our maintenance manager for six years before taking a two-year hiatus to work for an Alaska Native corporation. Dave has 35 years of experience as an ASE auto and truck-certified mechanic and has aviation repair/maintenance experience. Skilled in carpentry, electrical, and plumbing, he says he has the best job maintaining this wonderful place, nestled in this great land!

A seasoned Road Scholar Program Manager, Katie falls more head-over-heels in love with Denali everyday. Hailing from the Sunshine State, Katie is delighted to find that she enjoys the long Alaskan winters, especially when she can spot aurora shimmering overhead. Katie is an avid hiker, a wannabe chef, a huge bird nerd, a book devourer, and maker of strange faces. 

Keith first came to Alaska, and the DEC, in 2002.  He has spent many seasons frolicking in the summer sun and the snowy darkness and, after a decade of living in Pittsburgh, PA, is humbled and honored to call Alaska home once again! Keith has an MEd in Social and Comparative Analysis of Education, is an award-winning filmmaker, and fancies himself a savvy world traveler.  He has lived and worked in Antarctica, made documentaries in Japan, and tackled various long-distance hiking pilgrimages. In his spare time, Keith can be found chasing after his wide-eyed toddler, enjoying van life with his family, or scheming the next travel adventure.

Jill changed her life when she moved to Alaska in 1999. It only got better when she began working at the Denali Education Center in 2004. She and her husband Carl share their handcrafted homestead with Pete, their cheeky Jack Russell terrier, overlooking Denali National Park. Her favorite things include growing tomatoes in her greenhouse, singing avian migrants, springtime flowers, endless summer days, the tapestry of the autumn tundra, and the quiet of winter. She enjoys traveling and exploring the world with an open, inquisitive mind and a pair of binoculars.

Jodi came to Denali in 1995 to work for a summer and has remained here ever since. She has a BS in geology from Montana State University and began her career at the Denali Education Center teaching about the Denali Fault Zone. She loves living in this wonderful community with her husband and daughter, who keeps her “old” parents young! In winter, she enjoys skiing on the dog mushing trails and playing pick-up hockey on a local pond.

Suzi grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated college in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in education. She moved to Alaska in 2003 to work for ‘just one summer.’ Immediately, she was in awe of the beauty of Alaska’s nature, which inspired and grew her desire to travel and find adventure. She spent the next seven years traveling the world in the winters and working in Talkeetna in the summers. She loves experiencing new cultures and languages. In 2014 she settled in Talkeetna and became a preschool teacher at Talkeetna Elementary School. She worked as a Denali Discovery Camp instructor one summer and fell in love with the mission and programs that Denali Education Center offers. Currently, Suzi teaches second grade at Talkeetna Elementary and is a mom to an almost-three-year-old daughter Penelope. She loves outdoor adventures with her family and has a passion for igniting the love of learning in children.

Alex first visited Alaska in 2009, a summer trip that has never really ended. He quickly fell in love with Denali and soon began working for the DEC as a field educator. He is now an environmental philosopher and writer in Anchorage, where he teaches as a professor at Alaska Pacific University. Alex researches and writes about the ethics of environmental problem-solving. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, completing a B.A. in Philosophy and Earth Science, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, earning a Ph.D. in Environmental Ethics. Alex is also an avid climber, skier, and wanderer – he still spends as much time as he can in Denali.

Michael Kaplan was born in Connecticut and raised in New York. In 1994, he moved to Alaska in pursuit of a career in outdoor education. At Reed College, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology in 1991. At the University of Alaska Anchorage, he earned a Master of Arts degree in interdisciplinary studies in 1997. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Washington in 2008.

From 2002-2007, he was an assistant professor and program chair of outdoor leadership at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska. In 2008, he was appointed the assistant professor of outdoor studies at Alaska Pacific University.

Tennelle earned a BS in International Hospitality from the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University. She has extensive experience in Alaska’s tourism industry, having worked with CIRI Alaskan Tourism Corp., Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Residence Inn by Marriott, the St. Thomas Restaurant Group, and currently Grande Denali, LLC. Being closely tied to the Denali National Park area through the hospitality industry, she believes it is important to promote and educate visitors and residents of Alaska about the area, the park, and everything it has to offer. Tennelle is passionate about leadership and service, as well as the park, the area, and supporting community activities and education.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Blair first arrived in Alaska in 2006 for an internship with the Denali Education Center’s youth programs. She spent the next six summers sharing the wonder, might, and value of wild places (and honing her marshmallow roasting skills) with Alaska’s young people. In 2013, she moved to Pittsburgh to pursue an MBA in Sustainable Business Practices and spent the next 10 years developing expertise in community and economic development, impact finance, and sustainable food systems in jobs spanning the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In 2023, Blair and her family moved back to Alaska and she joined the talented crew at Agnew::Beck, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm working to achieve healthy, equitable, thriving communities across Alaska and the Mountain West region.

Originally from Utah, Bonnie came to Denali for a seasonal summer job in 2001; never did she think Alaska would become her home! She has attended many events and activities at the Charles Sheldon Center over the years and has always been impressed with the mission of the Denali Education Center. Bonnie joined the board of directors in 2013, and she enjoys being a part of this inspiring organization. After spending many years in the Denali area working for Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, Bonnie now works for the parent company, Holland America Princess Alaska, as the Director of Sustainability and Community Relations.  This new role may take her around the state to many incredible communities, but she will always be a Denali Girl at heart!  In her off time, Bonnie enjoys traveling, yoga, and adventuring outdoors with her adorable cocker spaniel, Poppy Seed.

Greg LaHaie joined the Denali Education Center board in 2006 and loves supporting an educational nonprofit he considers vital in the community. He owns and operates Kantishna Air Taxi and Skyline Lodge, located at the end of Park Road in Kantishna. LaHaie studied business finance at Michigan State University but changed paths before finishing, completing his commercial pilot’s license and starting his air taxi business in 1992. During Denali’s winter months, Greg travels around the world. “I love Alaska for its vast untouched wilderness,” Greg says. “As I travel the world, it makes me appreciate [Denali] more every year and realize what a gift it is and how important it is to take care of it and preserve it for the future.” Some of his favorite past times include flying (of course), surfing, yoga, organic farming, and sustainability practices. His favorite motto comes from famous ice cream makers Ben and Jerry: “If it’s not fun, why do it?”