Bill Doering is an environmental scientist with Power Engineers in Boise, Idaho. He has studied bats in Idaho since 1989. His areas of professional interest include resource requirements of mammals; bat ecology, habitat use and threats; thermal ecology, physiological ecology; habitat fragmentation; wildlife species at risk and educating the public about bats. Some of his research has included investigating thermal biology in Townsend’s big-eared bats hibernating in caves on the Idaho National Lab and spotted bat foraging habitat and distribution in southwestern Idaho. Currently he is engaged in a study of seasonal movements and timing as well as stopover habitats used by migrating forest bats as they cross the shrubsteppe desert of the Snake River Plain.

Rita Dixon is Biodiversity Program Leader for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, where she endeavors to converge plant, animal, and systems ecology. Rita also serves as the technical lead for ongoing development and revision of Idaho’s State Wildlife Action Plan (formerly known as the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy). In addition, Rita works with the Idaho BLM Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) program to evaluate abandoned mines for their suitability to and use by bats. She is currently President of the Western Bat Working Group, co-chairs the Idaho Bat Working Group, and serves as Idaho’s co-representative to the Western Bat Working Group. She recently served as Vice President and President of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Rita is also engaged in regional and national efforts to address white–nose syndrome in bats.

Rita received a BS in Biology from the University of California at Riverside, a MS in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho, and a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho, where she studied the ecology and metapopulation biology of White-headed Woodpeckers. Rita’s professional interests include bat community ecology, avian ecology (especially cavity–nesters), captive care and rehabilitation of insectivorous bats, geostatistical modeling, conservation planning, and critical thinking.

Leslee Doner - Leslee is an Idaho Native who has been volunteering with the Snake River Raptor Volunteers since 2007 and serves on its board of directors. She has a passion for the outdoors, protecting life and nature, and a great admiration for birds of prey.

John Doremus - A retired biologist, John began working with raptors for the BLM in 1972. He worked as the raptor biologist for the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area since the area was first designated for protection as a Natural Area. John focused on monitoring and creating artificial nesting for owls and ferruginous hawks building and placing several hundred nest boxes and platforms in the desert.

Barb Forderhase - as the Education Specialist for the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, Barb gives many live raptor programs each year reaching thousands of children and adults. A casual birder, she learned how to identify local raptors by developing the raptor identification lecture.

Olin and Shelley Gardner - Idaho Guide Service Inc. is owned and operated by Olin and Shelley Gardner and Family. We are a licensed, bonded and insured outfitting company with over 35 years experience in providing fun and exciting adventures for folks of all ages and abilities. We have a terrific crew of guys and gals who help make all our trips a great success. They themselves are licensed professional guides with their own unique specialties and personalities. We have been doing trips in the Birds of Prey Area since the 1970’s and would love to share our Adventures with you. Lead Guide Olin Gardner started running river trips in the 1960’s with the Boy Scouts out of Camp Bradley on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, and has spent every Summer since on the Snake and Salmon Rivers. Idaho Guide Service offers trips from Mild to Wild on over 400 miles of Idaho’s most famous Rivers. Trips offered are from 1 to 6 days all inclusive. Our staff and owners have a combined 200 years plus of experience as Outfitters and Guides, and can promise a Fun, Exciting, and Professionally run Outdoor Adventure, Please JOIN US.

Steve Guinn - Steve and Jill Guinn have been operating Birds of Prey Expeditions for over 30 years and have been involved in all facets of raptor education and protection. Together with Morley Nelson, they have escorted thousands of visitors from around the world through the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area.

Bruce Haak - Regional Wildlife Biologist in Idaho Fish and Game’s Southwest Region. Working with mostly nongame species, Bruce conducts studies of ground squirrels, frogs, bats and birds.  A graduate of Oregon State University, Bruce did one of the early radio-telemetry studies of the prairie falcon.  Later, he was involved with peregrine reintroduction and population monitoring, including the pairs in downtown Boise and Nampa.  Bruce has authored two raptor-related books: The Hunting Falcon is about the sport of falconry, while Pirate of the Plains is a natural history book about prairie falcons and the high desert environment of the Pacific Northwest.  He is interested in the urban-adaptation of raptors and is currently studying the three subspecies of merlins that winter in southwest Idaho

Greg Kaltenecker - Excecutive Director, Idaho Bird Observatory. Greg Kaltenecker received his B.S. in 1989 and his M.S. in Raptor Biology in 1997, both from Boise State University. He co-founded the Idaho Bird Observatory in 1993 with his major professor, Dr. Marc Bechard. The Idaho Bird Observatory was created when Kaltenecker and colleagues discovered that the Boise Ridge is a significant raptor migration concentration point and landbird stopover site. They decided that a long-term study of bird migration was in order, and created a unique research program intimately connected to Boise State University to accomplish this goal. One of Greg’s objectives was to provide an exciting and real-life research and training opportunity for Boise State students while conducting long-term research.

Greg’s research passion is bird migration, and his lifelong pursuit is to educate the public about birds, science, and conservation. He believes that a strong public community presence is critical to being an effective scientist and the easiest way to accomplish conservation is through active public engagement.

Mike Kochert - Emeritus Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He has conducted research on Golden Eagles and many other raptor species in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA) for more than 40 years. He began his raptor career as a University of Idaho graduate student studying Golden Eagles in what is now the NCA. This year he will complete his 42nd consecutive field season with these eagles. He has authored numerous scientific articles on Golden Eagles and other raptors, including the species account on Golden Eagles for the Birds of North America series. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Raptor Research Foundation and an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Biology, Boise State University.

Bill Mattox - Dr. Mattox received his education at Dartmouth College (A.B.) and McGill University (M.A., Ph.D.). He served as President, Conservation Research Foundation (a non-profit, 501 (c) 3 environmental entity). He is former Vice-President, Greenfalk Consultants, Inc., prime contractor for a long-term study of the impacts of military training on the productivity and behavior of raptors inhabiting the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, Idaho (1990-1996).

Dr. Mattox incorporated Conservation Research Foundation, Inc. in January 1994 to carry out environmental research and education. He has been involved in the following: Volunteer work with libraries; Vice President, Friends of the Boise Public Library (2001-2011); Secretary, Cloverdale-Columbia Neighborhood Association; Technical Associate (Publications), The Archives of Falconry.

In 2011 Dr Mattox plans the completion of edit of book to be published by The Archives of Falconry (The Peregrine Fund, Boise, ID), which lists every book published in English on falconry (1486-2000), to be published March 2011. He will also be working on the continuation of the following projects: roadside survey of wintering raptors in Marsing/Homedale, begun in 1998; field research of winter site fidelity of migratory raptors in SW Idaho; placing and monitoring barn owl nest boxes, and banding of adults and young (begun in 2001); and population survey of nesting Swainson’s Hawks in SW Idaho, including banding of adults and young.

Tylor and Norman Nelson - Come join Tyler and Norman Nelson, the sons of the late, renowned conservationalist and falconer Morley Nelson as they guide you on a very special trip deep inside the Snake River Canyon. They are two-time EMMY Award winning cinematographers and have spent most of their lives exploring, filming, and climbing raptor nests in the National Conservation Area. Learn how they filmed the famous scenes in the numerous Walt Disney movies they worked on. Discover the best times of day to locate, identify and film raptors in the canyon with your still camera. Enjoy the spiritual surroundings and aerial acrobatics of the world's fastest animals. Check out their work at www.echofilms.com.

Larry Ridenhour - As an outdoor recreation planner in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, Larry has had the opportunity to lead many trips through the NCA to explore the many unique natural resources. Larry has been watching and studying raptors for 15 years, but only "really" began birding about 4 years ago. A native of North Carolina, Larry moved "out west"in 1988 for graduate school in Montana and then moved to Idaho in 1991.

Dean Shaw - as the Archaeologist for the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area and the Four Rivers Field Office, Dean has been working with Cultural Resource Management (CRM) for about 19 years. Dean is very pleased to be working in his “backyard”, because he was born in Boise and graduated from Boise State University with a BA in Anthropology. His experience also includes working one season with the Forest Service around Enterprise Oregon and in Hells Canyon.

As a personal hobby, he has been making Native American artifact replicas for over 20 years. He calls these replicas his “artifakes” and he uses them to teach fourth grade students about the Indians of Idaho, the history of Idaho and protection of cultural resources. He has created bows and arrows, drums, brain-tanned leather, stone tools and other implements. He has displayed these “artifakes” at Celebration Park as part of Idaho’s annual Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month in May for several years. You can see his artifact replicas in the school gymnasium on Sunday.

Karen Steenhof - Karen is a research wildlife biologist, who retired from the U.S. Geological Survey in 2008. In her 31 years with the US Federal government (BLM and USGS), Karen studied birds of prey in and near the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. She served as leader of the Pacific Bald Eagle Recovery team and has published many articles about raptors, including papers on long-term population dynamics of Golden Eagles and long-range movements of Prairie Falcons, as determined by satellite telemetry.

Monte Stiles - Monte Stiles is an award-winning nature photographer who has been capturing images of birds of prey and other wildlife for many years. Monte’s work has been featured on the cover of numerous magazines and in articles about the great outdoors. Monte is also a highly sought-after speaker on the subject of photography, with recent presentations in Phoenix, Arizona, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Portland, Oregon and Hudson, Massachusetts.

“Although I enjoy all kinds of photography, wildlife photography is my favorite. It is therapy for the soul.”

Monte’s informative and interactive slide presentation will increase appreciation for the magnificent birds of prey and other wildlife, and will include valuable information on photographic techniques that can be used to capture wildlife images.

“The number one thing I want to accomplish in a presentation is to help people appreciate the beauty of this earth, including its wildlife. Next, I want to teach people people how to improve their wildlife photography skills through learning basic techniques. Finally, I hope to inspire people to enjoy the outdoors, which includes protecting and preserving it for future generations.”

This presentation is suitable for anyone who enjoys wildlife or photography. The information presented will assist photographers, from beginners to the very serious amateur. All are welcome.

Monte’s work can be viewed at www.montestiles.com.

Justin Welty - graduated with his Masters of Science in Raptor Biology from Boise State University in August of 2010. His thesis entitled “Costs and Benefits of Variable Nesting Density in Burrowing Owls: Effects on Predation, Ectoparasites, Egg Yolk Hormones, and Productivity” explored the relationship between nesting density in burrowing owls and multiple response variables. He found that increasing nesting density interacted with proximity to agriculture to reduce observable predation attempts. One possible explanation for this reduction in observable predation attempts in high-density areas was documented neighbor warning and group defense which was not present in low-density sites. He found no evidence linking nesting density with ectoparasite levels or egg yolk hormone levels. However, when comparing egg yolk hormones from the 1st half of a clutch to the 2nd half of a clutch he did document higher levels of testosterone (T) , dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and androsteindione (A4) in latter laid eggs. He also found a curvilinear pattern in egg yolk T, DHT, and A4 with levels of these hormones peaking near the middle of the breeding season. Finally, multiple factors were found to influence burrowing owl productivity. Increasing nest density interacted with median hatch date and burrowing owl clutches hatching earlier in the season and those in higher densities produced more fledglings per clutch. Reduced observable predation attempts and increased female body condition both positively influenced productivity while ectoparasite levels on nestlings had a negative effect. Currently Justin is working with the U.S. Geological Survey and is the project leader for the Land Treatment Digital Library. A program designed to capture and enter all of the BLM’s legacy land treatments into a single repository for use by the BLM.

Jesse Woody - Life-long master falconer and past president of the Idaho Falconers Association.