Sam Jaffe is a New England-based naturalist, photographer, and educator who is an advocate of insects. In 2013 he founded The Caterpillar Lab a non-profit educational outreach organization in Marlborough NH. From this hub, he travels across the country working with universities, museums, botanic gardens, nature centers, and schools, sharing insect stories and nourishing public appreciation - taking the educational message on the road. He is also writing and illustrating a very in-depth book on the identification and natural history of native caterpillars. When he is not behind the camera or tending his zoo of caterpillars, Sam is outdoors, waist-deep in vegetation.
Kelly Capuzzi is a fisheries biologist and water quality specialist with 30 years of experience in sampling lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands throughout the state of Ohio. Kelly has a BS in Zoology from The Ohio State University and is also an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist (OCVN) for the Hocking Hills region - volunteering for a number of nonprofit education and conservation nonprofits. Kelly’s latest obsession is learning about native bees and growing native plants for pollinators.
Brent Charette was trained in forest resource management at Hocking Technical College. His first career was with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, working as a state-wide naturalist for the Division of Parks and Recreation. He eventually went on to serve as Park Manager at Malabar Farm State Park. Brent now works for the Arc of Appalachia in landscape care and restoration. As Nancy’s partner, the two of them enjoy hosting natural history events and courses at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary and, in their personal time, caring for one of the Sanctuary’s tracts of land known as Ridgeview Restoration Farm. Brent is one of those guys who seems to be able to do just about anything, but his greatest passions include nature interpretation, permaculture & forest gardening, native tree propagation, subsistence gardening, and hosting education programs for the Arc of Appalachia. He loves anything to do with trees, including growing edible mushrooms, carpentry, studying mycorrhizal associations, and teaching others how to learn and appreciate our native trees.
Elijah Crabtree is Land Manager for the Arc’s Tremper Mound Preserve in Scioto County. Elijah was born and raised in Ross County – the epicenter of Hopewell architecture – where he developed a passion for local cultural history, natural sciences and conservation work. He has a special interest in connecting people to the natural world and promoting historically significant sites as protected public domains for education and inspiration. Elijah is an excellent all-around naturalist and has a special passion, particularly for geology.
Becky Donaldson works as a Naturalist for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History at Mentor Marsh. She also serves as a Eco-analyst/Stream Quality Monitoring Coordinator for the ODNR Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, Scenic Rivers program and is a board member with Blackbrook Audubon Society. Becky earned her degree in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University, but originally hails from Northeast Ohio. Rearing caterpillars on native plants is one of many passions, as well as chasing/educating about native bees (and all bugs!).
Laura Hughes is a Wildlife Photographer & Videographer and enjoys studying and filming/photographing wildlife, especially those things that many people don’t get to see. She worked for ten years for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the last few as a macroinvertebrate biologist. She is now a contract biologist working with the state-endangered Allegheny Woodrat for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. She also recently worked for the BBC filming fireflies for their Planet Earth series. In her spare time getting outside to see what interesting things we can find and film with her husband.
John Howard is a southern Ohio naturalist and biological field researcher. Exploring the treasures of Adams and Scioto Counties near his home, he has learned nearly all of the resident dragonflies, butterflies, vascular plants, birds, amphibians and reptiles in the region, and has a good understanding of just about everything else. John has a particular fondness for insects and herps. He is currently researching and working for the improved protection of Ohio's endangered timber rattlesnakes.
Katy Lustofin is an associate professor in the Department of Biology and Environmental Science at Marietta College in SE Ohio. She also serves as president of the Lower Muskingum Conservancy and on the committee working to earn Marietta status as a Bee City, USA. One of her focuses is working with the public to increase awareness of native pollinators, especially bees.
Jim McCormac was one of the founders of the first Mothapalooza and hasn't missed one since. An Ohio-born naturalist and author, Jim publishes articles for the Columbus Dispatch and his beautifully illustrated nature blog. He is also a stunning nature photographer - check out his work here. Jim books include: Wild Ohio, Great Lakes Nature Guide, and Birds of Ohio. His latest book, co-authored with Chelsea Gottfried, is Gardening for Moths: A Regional Guide and is now available for purchase from the Ohio University Press. Jim retired from a long and successful career with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, where he performed public information and education in many creative capacities.
Dave McShaffrey is a Professor of Biology, Environmental Science, and Leadership at Marietta College. He has worked extensively with the Ohio Odonata Society performing field work, museum research, and authoring 5 chapters for the 2002 book “Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio” (published by the Ohio Biological Survey) for which he served as co-editor. Dave's photographs are widely published, and he is currently working on a field guide to Ohio's Odonata.
Shaun Pogacnik is a senior at Ohio University studying Plant Biology. Field botanists sometimes seem like a state-endangered species in Ohio, and Shaun's rising star in the botanical field is noticed by fellow conservationists and deeply valued. Shaun currently works part-time as a Field Botanist for the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. Although Shaun holds broad interests in botany and general natural history, he specializes in the identification and ecology of mosses and lichens.
Tim Pohlar is a Regional Land Manager with the Arc of Appalachia and resides in the larger Sanctuary region on private land with his wife, Miriam, and two daughters, Rose and Quinn. Tim has been with the Arc since 2004, where he started as an intern, learning his trees and nature studies from the many great naturalists who were happy to mentor him. Tim took leave from the Arc for many years, when he moved with Miriam, to her parents’ organic dairy farm in Wisconsin, where he learned a boatload of practical skills. We are thrilled to have him back here with the Arc. Tim has a passion for sharing the beauty of nature with others and stewarding our natural lands.
Colleen Sharkey is a generalist natural history enthusiast, with wide-ranging interests; from stream, forest and prairie ecology, to fungi and pollinator conservation, just to name a few. Colleen became captivated by the diversity and beauty of moths as an intern at Clear Creek Metro Park in 2012, and joined the Mothapalooza committee after falling in love with the event in 2016. After several years as a naturalist and program coordinator, Colleen is now an assistant park manager with ODNR, and happy to stay involved with Mothapalooza as a volunteer!
Nancy Stranahan is the Director of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System and was one of the non-profit’s founders back in 1995. Since that time, Nancy has organized the Arc’s expansion from zero acres to over 7000, founding over 20 new preserve regions in southern Ohio. Nancy previously worked for ODNR for ten years with Ohio State Parks as Chief Naturalist, and twenty years running a bakery, a soup & cafe, and international gift store in downtown Columbus known as Benevolence, promoting healthy and intentional food choices. Nancy not only loves preserving land, but she also has a passion for habitat restoration, and native plant propagation and re-introduction. Nancy LOVES teaching, learning, networking, and helping organize educational events such as Mothapalooza.