Walk + Hike Leaders
Meet the Deschutes Land Trust's walk and hike leaders.
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Sue Anderson has been involved with just about every natural history happening in Central Oregon for many years. She specializes in butterflies and has been conducting the Ochoco and Metolius annual counts for 21 years. She also has done butterfly inventories for several regional National Monuments. She is happiest when in the field introducing adults and children to nature’s art on the wing and using her macro camera lens. Sue leads butterfly walks for the Land Trust. |
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Rod Bonacker is the special projects coordinator for Deschutes and Ochoco National Forest. He began his Forest Service career in 1974 as a firefighter, and continues to work in fire suppression as Operations Section Chief for the Central Oregon Incident Management Team. When he is not volunteering for the Land Trust or fighting fire, Rod fishes, skis, rides his bike, and manages his rare book business, Black Butte Books. |
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Janet Brown moved to Bend to retire in 2000 after working as a Geologic Ranger-Naturalist for the National Park Service and as a research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado for many years. Janet is widely traveled and when she is not pondering the volcanic history of Central Oregon, you can find her hiking, canoeing and crawling over rocks on Deschutes Land Trust Preserves. |
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Mary Crow has been hiking and skiing the the Cascades throughout her life. After working for Intel for 16 years, then retiring as a school librarian, she wanted these magnificent mountains to continue to be a central part of her life. She moved to Sisters in 2002 in order to pursue her passions: skiing, hiking, birding, kayaking, and gardening. Taking care of this land, and helping people understand why we must all become good stewards our environment is now Mary's primary focus. With this focus in mind, she has become a Certified Master Naturalist, and hopes to put her training to use on her hikes. The Land Trust's mission of preserving and caring for the land has become a perfect fit for her. Mary leads wildflower and nature hikes for the Land Trust. |
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Eva Eagle has lived in Central Oregon for ten years and vacationed here extensively for 15 years before deciding to give up life in the city to enjoy stewardship of 40 acres near Sisters. After a career in planning and analysis for the health care industry, Eva now applies her research skills to the Land Trust’s bird survey program and her organizational skills to chairing the conservation committee for East Cascades Audubon. This she finds immensely more gratifying that using them at work! In the past few years she has begun to study local conservation issues more intensively and enjoys sharing what she has learned on Land Trust tours. |
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Paul Edgerton's life-long fascination with plants and animals and their interactions led him to pursue a long career with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, US Forest Service. He spent many years as a research wildlife ecologist in eastern Oregon and later directed Forest Ecology research in eastern Washington and the North Cascades. He completed his professional career in the eastern US where he was involved in developing strategies for understanding and maintaining biological diversity across public and private landscapes. Prior to moving to Sisters in 2002, he volunteered as an ecologist and Master Gardener in the San Juan Islands. Paul leads tours on plants, forests, and general ecology. |
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Norma Funai was an elementary school teacher in California for 25 years before retiring to Sisters in 1993. She was a school group docent for the High Desert Museum for six years before starting to lead tours for the Land Trust in 2000. Her avocation is birdwatching and she has been a member of National Audubon Society for 35 years. Norma leads bird walks and walks for children, but she always manages to get in a little botany, ecology, and history in on the way! |
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Jim Hammond moved to central Oregon in 2004 and has since been involved with the Land Trust as a volunteer and supporter. Participating in star parties at the Sisters High School, Jim has joined other amateur astronomers in providing opportunities for the community to learn about the night sky and the wonders of our galaxy and solar system. Jim is a retired physicist and has been interested in astronomy since he watched, at a very young age, his father build a telescope. Jim leads the Land Trust's star parties which currently take place at Rimrock Ranch--a private ranch with dark skies and open views in all directions. |
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Pat Kearney is a retired University administrator. She grew up as a city kid but came to love the outdoors and nature. At every opportunity she travels to places that provide beauty, new and interesting ecology, and adventure. Land Trust Preserves are at the top of her list for local activities. A certified Oregon Master Naturalist, Pat can be found helping with a variety of Land Trust hikes. |
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Martha Lussenhop moved to Sisters in 2005 after dreaming of living in the mountains of the West for decades. Martha has a diverse background that includes a master's in zoology, teaching middle school, taking school groups on tours of prairies and woodlands, and leading workshops for children and adults at the Field Museum in Chicago. Martha's home overlooks Indian Ford Meadow Preserve and she is becoming well acquainted with the birds along Indian Ford Creek. Martha leads a variety of walks and hikes for the Land Trust. |
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Kelly Madden has lived in Central Oregon since 1999. A retired english and french teacher, she now uses her skills to read and understand the landscape. As a Deschutes County Historic Landmarks Commissioner and a Certified Oregon Master Naturalist, she combines interests in the intersection of cultural and natural history. She is particularly fond of wagon roads and tree blazes and the history that walks hand in hand with nature. Her peace and comfort are found in nature and she enjoys all outdoor activities, especially hiking with the Land Trust and passing on her love of the natural world |
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Daniele McKay is a geologist who studies recent volcanic activity in Central Oregon and teaches at OSU-Cascades. She has lived in Bend for over 20 years, during which she worked for several conservation groups and as an interpretative ranger. She grew up hiking and skiing in the Cascades, which inspired a life-long passion for exploring wild areas. This prompted her to travel the world extensively and ultimately to examine natural processes in detail by studying geology. In addition to contributing to the scientific understanding of volcanoes in Central Oregon, Daniele also enjoys sharing her interest in science with people of all ages. She has taught classes and led field trips for children and adults, including geology hikes for the Land Trust. |
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Jane Meissner was raised in Central Oregon and spent much of her childhood outside with her mother learning about wildflowers. She is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist who taught hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing for COCC for 20 years. In her free time, Jane likes to watch wildflowers while hiking and backpacking and in the winter she loves to backcountry ski. Jane can be found leading a variety of hikes for the Land Trust with a special fondness for the world of wildflowers. |
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David Miller is a retired electrician whose hobbies include classic guitar, writing fiction, and the study of native plants. He was a docent for six years at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden and more recently at the Audubon Canyon Ranch in California. Since moving to Sisters he has been fascinated by the flora on both sides of the Cascades. He likes to enliven his wild plant tours with stories, history, Indian uses, principles of botany, and even some evolutionary theory. He is currently working on a novel called The First Bird. |
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Bill Mitchell started hiking and backpacking on the Appalachian Trail while in college in Virginia and Tennessee. After moving to California he took up botany, birding and everything wild while working as a field researcher for the state of California and the National Park Service. He moved to Bend in 2003 and started volunteering with the Deschutes Land Trust soon after we purchased the land for the Metolius Preserve. Bill is our resident digital photo librarian, as well as all-around volunteer, surveying everything from birds to weeds, helping on restoration projects and even stuffing envelopes in the office. In his spare time he hikes, backpacks, snowshoes and kayaks to learn more about the flora and fauna of Oregon. Bill is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist. |
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Leslie Olson has lived in Bend for more than 30 years, spending the last seven as a leader for Bend Parks and Recreation. All of that face time with flowers and birds has stimulated her ongoing enjoyment of all things natural. |
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Maret Pajutee has been an ecologist for the Forest Service for the past 20 years, and is an expert on the rare Peck’s penstemon, a wildflower found only in Sisters and nowhere else in the world. |
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Karen Parker has an extensive background working with children, but guiding them on fun nature excursions is what she enjoys most. Karen has been a park interpreter where she developed and guided many walks, talks and classes on many different subjects for people of all ages. She has also led eco trips to some of the nations most beautiful national parks and natural areas. Karen considers herself a generalist as she enjoys learning and teaching about many things, especially ecosystems as whole. She enjoys hiking, bird watching, bug collecting, looking at wildflowers, and photographing nature. Karen is a Certified Interpretive Guide. |
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Tom Rodhouse is an ecologist for the National Park Service. He works on monitoring and related research projects for a diverse range of plants and animals including the American pika, bats, and the endemic Lemhi penstemon in western Montana. He lives in Bend with his wife and 2 daughters, enjoying cross country skiing and birdwatching, among other hobbies. |
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Al St. John is a naturalist, photographer, and author of several books including Oregon's Dry Side: Exploring East of the Cascade Crest and Reptiles of the Northwest. He can be found turning over rocks and logs in search of frogs, lizards, snakes, and other critters at Land Trust Preserves. |
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Kirin Stryker was lured to Bend 16 years ago with tales of unparalleled recreation and has not been disappointed. After working in the local schools as a science teacher for 13 years, Kirin currently works with Oregon Natural Resources Education Program teaching educators to use the environment as an integrating context for learning. As a not-so-silent partner with CogWild Mountain Bike Tours, Kirin loves to take kids and adults on bike rides throughout Oregon. Find her skiing Mt. Bachelor or the local side-country, riding her bike in the woods, or hanging at Bend's parks with her imaginative 5 year old daughter. |
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Mary Yanalcanlin is a Montessori teacher with nearly 30 years of experience. An active member of the East Cascades Audubon Society, Mary volunteers to lead Audubon’s education programs for kids and their parents. In her spare time Mary enjoys birding, exploring nature and taking photos. Mary has lived in Bend for five years and thoroughly enjoys our rivers and streams after 20 years in the arid southwest. Mary is currently working to complete her Oregon Master Naturalist certification. |
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Carol Wall's background is as an academic and an anthropologist who taught cultural anthropology and linguistics for many years at the University of California, Davis where she was a professor as well as a dean and vice chancellor. Today she enjoys retirement thoroughly, traveling widely, spending time in the outdoors, and continuing a 40 year hobby of bird watching. She has taken as her dedicated avocation to know and understand the natural world in this place she has come to call home. She has done this through reading and learning from others involved with the Land Trust. More recently the Oregon Master Naturalist program has broadened her understanding and her horizons. Carol is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist. |
