KEEN

10th Annual
Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe
Saturday May 2, 2009

Please join KEEN in thanking all our volunteers, field trip leaders, lecturers and event sponsors for a great 10th Anniversary Event!

Wonderful Thanks go to all our Field Trip Leaders and Lecturers!
Every year they freely give of their time and expertise and share their love of the shrub-steppe with our community.

We couldn't do GISS without them!

Dr. Nick Zentner
Dr. Dan Beck
Dr. Paul James
Joe Meuchel
Dick Ambrose
Dr. Morris Uebelacker
Dr. Jim Huckabay
Charles McGeehee
Joann Hutton
Maureen Traxler
Scott Nicolai
David Hagen
Deb Essman
Rod Pfeifle
Jack Powell
Kerry Turley

Field Trip Leader and Lecturer Biographies

Rod Pfeifle is a forester with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Ellensburg, Washington. He is responsible for sustainable management of state timber trust lands in the Yakima and Ellensburg area for the citizens of Washington State. Rod graduated from Washington State University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forest Management. After working seasonally for the US Forest Service, Rod worked as a consultant in the Colville area for 16 years before starting his career with DNR in 2003. Rod is an also an avid outdoorsman, enjoying hunting, fishing, hiking and camping in his spare time.	Scott Nicolai - is the father of two boys. He holds bachelors degrees in biology and science education and a masters degree in environmental studies. He has worked as a habitat biologist for the last 17 years for the Yakama Nation Fisheries Program. Dan Beck lives in Ellenburg, where he studies snakes and teaches biology at CWU. He has participated in GISS since its inception in 2000. Charles McGehee - Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, I attended Baylor University, the University of Oregon, and University of Nevada, Reno. Throughout high school I took pictures for the school year book, as well as studying art for four years where I learned, among other things, elements of color, composition and lighting. With retirement from Central Washington University, where I taught sociology for some thirty-five years, I have returned to my earlier love of the camera embracing the digital revolution. Since then I have exhibited in central Washington and Seattle, and in June, will exhibit in Berlin, Germany. Deb Essman: I am an avid amateur ornithologist/birder. I never say I’m an expert unless I am lecturing at least 200 miles from home. I rehabilitated birds of prey in California (’72-‘80) and at the Woodland Park Zoo (‘80-‘81). I was a Wildlife Officer (ie. Game Warden) for the Wa State Dept of Fish and Wildlife (‘83-‘90). I have lived in the Kittitas Valley for 20 years (’89-present). I am a Cascade Land Conservancy trustee, secretary of the Kittitas County Field and Stream Club (the 2nd oldest sports club in Washington—90 years old this year), and a KEEN board member (not as active as I’d like). I also occasionally help lead Kittitas County Audubon field trips. I have been attending the Ellensburg School District’s 5th grade camp for almost 20 years teaching about wildlife and especially birds of prey. Oh, and I am manager of Sterling Savings Bank in Ellensburg. David Hagen: is a long time board member of Cowiche Canyon Conservancy. He is also a member of the Washington Native Plant Society, Cascadians and a well known nature photographer. David will lead a hike about shrub steppe habitat.
Nick Zentner is a major presence in the lives of our CWU Geology students. He is an academic advisor to most of our geology undergraduates and he mentors quality geology lab instruction with our graduate students. Each academic quarter, Nick teaches a popular Geology of National Parks course to non-science students and leads sections of Academic Advising Seminar to incoming freshmen. For two weeks each September, Nick and Charlie Rubin teach a required geology major course Introduction to Geologic Field Methods in Owens Valley, California. Nick is the president of the Ice Age Flood Institute's Ellensburg Chapter and is also the host of the local television show "Central Rocks".
Richard Ambrose: I have a bachelor's degree biology. I worked 28 plus years for three different park systems. 26 years for Washington State Parks. I taught Native plants for 13 quarters and ethnobotany for 1 quarter at Skagit Valley Community College. I have conducted numerous guided walks and hikes. I have studied native plants for over 30 years. I enjoy hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, canoeing and fishing. I have written a hiking article for the local newspaper once a month for the past nine years. My wife and I have worked as volunteer rangers and caretakers for the forest service in Hell's Canyon for 8 seasons and BLM in S.E. Utah for 6 seasons.

Kerry Turley is currently president of Yakima Valley Audubon Society. A member of the “Washington Ornithological Society”, with over twenty years of local birding experience. Volunteer with Yakama Indian Nation taking Bobolink surveys and bird censuses on restoration properties for the tribe.

Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe is KEEN's flagship event.
2009 was the 10th Anniversary!
Expert-led field trips, informational booths, children's activities and a new lecture series were involved this year.

A dedicated planning committee worked for many months to bring the event together.

Thanks to our Planning Committee Members:

Diedra Petrina
Marte Fallshore
Andrew Lyons
Jill Arango
Melanie Garrod
Kim Freier
Mark Lundgren
Beth Rogers
Megan Jones
Barb Masberg
Angie Begosh
Jeanne Williams
Deb Essman
Ken Cohen