Alex Ridyard, Summer 2009 Intern



A Pennsylvania native, Alex Ridyard grew up in Jenkintown, a suburb of Philadelphia. Going into his senior year at the University of Delaware, Alex is majoring in wildlife conservation with a minor in educational studies. Alex has interned at the Academy of Natural sciences of Philadelphia in their live animal center, and interned as an education ambassador of the Philadelphia Zoo were he gained experience in interpreting animal behavior, interacting with guests, and taking care of reptiles. In his free time Alex enjoys fishing, kayaking, backpacking, spending time at the beach, and watching and playing sports.

Alex was drawn to the internship program at WERC from the very beginning. The appeal of the west and a chance to work with the gray wolf drove Alex to apply. Alex was excited to be accepted to an internship that would provide him with captive animal care and education experience: both his areas of study. Having always been fascinated by predators, Alex is enjoying learning more about America's top dog. He hopes to use this information to educate the public about the wolf's unique ecological role and individual and pack behavior. Alex is enjoying socializing with the members of the WERC's two packs, and hopes to strengthen these bonds as summer progresses. When not with the wolves, Alex likes working around camp in construction and repair projects to keep the center and camp in top shape.

Aubrey Gunther, Summer 2009 Intern

Aubrey was born and raised in Leavenworth, KS. She regularly went camping, fishing, and horseback riding, and has lived on a small farm with cattle, horses, goats, dogs, and cats all her life. She attended a small rural high school, where she gained an interest in life sciences.

Her rural background gave her a love of animals of all kinds, and she attended Kansas State University hoping to go into Veterinary Medicine. Everything was changed, however, when she became aware of the Wildlife Biology curriculum. She was an active member of the K-State Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society, gaining skills such as small and large mammal handling and interpretation, and worked for the Fort Riley Range and Training Land Assessment group which helped her learn more about plants and GIS technology. Aubrey graduated in May with a Bachelor's in Wildlife Ecology/ Conservation Biology. She is excited to be at the WERC for the phenomenal experience it will give her, as well as a chance to see a little more of this beautiful country.

Olivia Hanson, Summer 2009 Intern



A northwest native from Seattle, Olivia grew up with a love of the outdoors and wildlife. Four consecutive summers of tracking wolves in central Idaho with the Wilderness Awareness School focused her passions and gave her direction. Olivia expanded her backcountry living and technical backpacking skills in the summer of 2008 on a month long National Outdoor Leadership School backpacking expedition in the Rocky Mountains.

Olivia attended Washington State University studying Wildlife Biology as a freshman. Wanting to see more of the world and to live in a more rural setting she moved to Unity College in Unity, Maine; an environmental school of under 500 students. Going into her junior year at Unity she is majoring in Captive Wildlife Care and Education with a minor in Environmental Policy. Olivia hopes to gain vital experience as a WERC intern that will help shape her future career decisions.

Lindsay Rasmovich, Spring 2009 Intern



Lindsay is a 22 year old graduate from Delaware Valley College with a B.S. in Animal Biotechnology and Conservation, with a concentration in Conservation and Wildlife Management. Lindsay was born and raised in Oakland, NJ, where she grew up with a fascination and passion for nature and wildlife. Attending Delaware Valley College gave Lindsay the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica through a Tropical Ecology course to study New World Primates, one of her many interests. Since graduating, Lindsay has been working as a Vet Tech at the Bergen County Zoo, where she has had opportunities to care for a great diversity of animals and assist the vet with a number of procedures.

Lindsay is grateful to be a part of the Wolf Center and is really enjoying her time here. Wolves are one of her passions, and she loves spending time with the Sawtooth and Owyhee Packs, observing their behavior, and building bonds with them. She hopes her time at the Wolf Center will help expand her knowledge of wolf conservation and biology and to help bring her closer to achieving her career goals. Aside from her passion for wildlife, Lindsay enjoys hiking, photography, fossil hunting and bone collecting, bird watching, archaeology, anthropology and paleontology.

Brittany Moe, Fall 2008 Intern



Brittany Moe is a 22 year old Minnesota native who graduated this last May with a bachelors' degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP). During her time at UWSP she was involved in many projects through the Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society. She also volunteered through the Sandhill Wildlife Refuge under the guidance of noted Wildlife Biologist Dick Thiel.

Brittany is thoroughly enjoying her time here at the Wolf Center. She has also had a deep passion for wolves and is grateful for the opportunity to learn from her fellow colleagues and interact everyday with the members of the Sawtooth and Owyhee packs. She is also grateful for the opportunity to be able to share that passion by helping to educate visitors.

Brittany has been passionate about wolves since a very early age. She hopes that her time here with the Wolf Center will lead to acceptance into graduate school to continue her passion of working with wolves. Her lifelong goal is to work with the gray wolf in a research and/or conservation capacity. She hopes that her time here with the Wolf Center will give her the experience and knowledge that will help her achieve this lifelong goal.

Matt Colombo, Summer 2008 Intern

Matt is a 20-year-old, soon to be junior attending the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. A native of Massachusetts, Matt has lived for the past 14 years on a small patch of private forest. Seeing large portions of this area developed and exploited by big-market real estate over time has instilled in Matt, the importance of preserving natural hotspots, working to educate the public on environmental issues and generally dispelling the idea that scientific understanding is reserved for the select.

Matt is currently working towards a degree in Zoology and Wildlife Ecology. In addition, Matt is also preparing a proposal for an experimental study, with the goal of gathering information for the comparison of the resource utilization habits among native species of tree squirrel, in the Eastern United States. He hopes to eventually present his results at the university's Undergraduate Research Conference before graduating.

Matt was first exposed to wolves in high school as a volunteer interpreter and keeper aid at the Walter D. Stone Zoo affiliate of Zoo New England. During his two and a half years with the organization, Matt was witness to the care and cultivation of a small pack of Mexican Gray wolves as a part of a captive breeding population in the Southwestern United States. Matt has since developed a strong respect for and desire to advance his understanding of this continent's most efficient carnivore.

Matt is very excited to have the opportunity to observe and work with the Sawtooth and Owyhee pack as a part of the Wolf Center team. In his free time, Matt enjoys following professional baseball, listening to music, outdoors and learning more about miscellaneous topics of interest.

Rachel Johnson, Summer 2008 Intern

Rachel is a 21-year-old Tennessean, entering into her senior year at the University of Tennessee. She is a Wildlife and Fisheries Science major, with a concentration in wildlife health. Rachel has been involved in many research projects at the university, including her current senior research project concerning Lyme Disease in Tennessee. She is also highly involved in the Wildlife and Fisheries Society and the Martial Arts Club at UT.

Rachel is enjoying her internship at the Wolf Center, especially her time spent with the Sawtooth and Owyhee Packs. She is excited about the opportunity to learn more about an animal that she is very passionate about, the wolf, and she is looking forward to sharing this passion and helping to educate visitors.

This fall, Rachel plans to apply to veterinary school and hopes to concentrate in small animal and wildlife health. She hopes that this internship with the Wolf Center will give her a unique perspective when going into the wildlife field later in life.

Brent Churchwell, Summer 2008 Intern

Brent is a 23-year-old Alabama native nearing completion of his B.S. degree in Wildlife Science from Auburn University in Auburn, AL. He left the pre-med program of the University of Alabama at Birmingham to obtain training for a career involving his passion for the preservation of wildlife. He has previous experience working with wildlife volunteering with many organizations including the Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, the Birmingham Zoo, the Montgomery Zoo, and the Southeastern Raptor Center.

Having a special interest in large cats and birds of prey, Brent decided to spend his summer as a Wolf Center intern to gain experience working with a species of increasing interest to him: the gray wolf. Although his interest in cats and raptors will not fade, he knows he will take away with him a greater understanding and appreciation for wolves.and perhaps an additional passion.

In the future he plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career involving wildlife conservation and endangered species management on a global scale. He hopes to someday have the opportunity to live in many countries, become multi-lingual, and help set up wildlife management plans and natural resource policies in countries with limited knowledge and experience in such practices.

Although he greatly misses his Rottweiler "Roxanne", Maine Coon "Phoenix", friends, and family, Brent is incredibly excited about spending his summer working with the Sawtooth and Owyhee packs at the Wolf Center. In his thoughts, however, will be his return home and the campus of Auburn University "where the eagle soars, the tigers roar, and the plainsmen aren't so plain."

Leah Kramer Heyman, Summer 2008 Intern



Leah is a 22-year-old recent graduate of the Audubon Expedition Institute at Lesley University with a B.S. in Environmental Science and a concentration in education. She grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts where she was immersed in respect for the natural world and learned to love to play outside as well. She is no greenhorn to the non-profit sector working with the Fresh Air Society and the Chewonki Foundation. She is having a wonderful time doing hands on learning at camp and looking forward to more education opportunities with the Wolf Center through outreach programs in local schools. She hopes that this amazing experience will open up new opportunities and ideas for the future.

Kim Harle, Summer 2007 Intern

One of four interns here for the summer of 2007 at the Wolf Center, Kim Harle is native to Pennsylvania. Going into her senior year at Delaware Valley College, located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, she majors in Small Animal Science, but possesses a great wonder for the outdoors and wildlife. At college, Kim has been a member of Del Val's collegiate softball team for 3 years and was named co-captain for the 2006-2007 season. Outside of college, Kim enjoys hiking, kayaking, camping and exploring nature by being outdoors.

After learning of this internship opportunity and all it had to offer, Kim knew this was exactly what she had been looking for and was thrilled to be accepted into the program. Kim has always had a passion for the care and well being of all animals, the wolf in particular. Living a new, unique and exciting lifestyle, she now gets to see the wolf in action. Learning first hand the social structure of the pack and the mysteries behind wolf behavior all intrigue Kim as she observes the pack daily. Building a bond with the pack and beginning to grasp concepts that were once foreign to her is what is most exciting about the internship. She sees this internship opportunity as a huge step toward her future, which she knows, will be devoted to animals in some way shape or form.

Chris Smith, Summer 2007 Intern



Chris was raised in the Puget Sound region, attending school at Olympic High School near Bremerton. While growing up, Chris volunteered at the Northwest Raptor Center and took classes through Wilderness Awareness School on tracking, wilderness survival, edible and medicinal plants, and bird language, completing their Kamana 4 Naturalist Training Program in 2006.

In the summer of 2006, Chris worked as a Wildlife Techinician for the Olympic National forest, completing ecological surveys of timber plots for the Spotted Owl. Chris currently attends Washington State University as a sophomore in Wildlife Ecology, where he volunteers at the Captive Ungulate Facility, does taxidermy for the Conner Museum, and participates in the Raptor Club and Wildlife Society. During his free time, Chris can often be found in the woods bird watching, shooting his recurve bow, or journaling tracking animals.

Matthew Christman , Summer 2007 Intern

Raised in the small town of Ephratah, just a few minutes south of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, Matthew has had a lifelong interest in the natural world around him. A 2007 graduate from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a Bachelors in Wildlife Science, Matthew knew that working with wolves was his calling and that Winchester's small town atmosphere suited him. While working at the Wolf Center, Matthew hopes to develop a strong bond with the current pack and gain the necessary handling experience to continue working with wolves once his internship is completed. Although he is not exactly sure where his career is going from here, he knows that wolves will remain a part of his future.

An avid outdoorsmen, Matthew spends his free time hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and playing sports such as football and baseball. A fan of ice and snow Matthew is also an avid skier and snowboarder.

Matthew has also spent the last five years as a member of the New York Air National Guard, and has achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-5) as an Aircrew Life Support Journeyman and hopes to soon become a commissioned officer and enter the Navigator field to begin flying for his unit.

Chiji Ochiagha, Summer 2007 Intern



A Minnesota native, Chiji Ochiagha grew up in the only one of the lower 48 states where wolves were never driven to extinction. Chiji graduated in 2007 from Pomona College, located in California. While there he majored in Environmental Biology and minored in both geology and anthropology. Chiji has been involved in many research projects, including a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grant he received from the National Science Foundation to study the effects of temperature on the foraging of the North American pika and Ochotona princeps, in Colorado during the summer of 2006. In his free time, Chiji enjoys hiking, backpacking, and camping.

While at the Wolf Center, Chiji is interested in learning more about one of the few social predators in the United States. With a profound interest in nature, he is interested in educating the public about the social behavior and ecological importance of wolves. Working and socializing with the pack is one of Chiji's favorite things to do at the Wolf Center. Chiji is very happy to be sharing his knowledge about wolves and the natural world with visitors to the Wolf Center.

Sharon Lander, Treasurer

Board of Directors

California

Dennis Olson

Board of Directors

Montana


Denny Olson's formal training as a biologist and geologist, as well as teaching nature for over 20 years in the north woods and mountain west, has given him expertise in many disciplines. He has done research on beavers, hares and loons, and received an M.S. Degree, (magna cum laude) from the University of Minnesota. From those scientific beginnings he forged an unlikely union between science, humor, and drama, and established a national reputation as an innovative performer and educator.

Denny has trained thousands of naturalists, teachers and students in acting techniques, designed practical instructional evaluations, lectured on Native American storytelling as a teaching tool, and conducted workshops nation-wide. He has performed his humorous alter-egos (Critterman's Unhuggables, Wolfman, The Grizz, Dr. Death, Prof. Avian Guano, Dr. Loonacy, The Lost Voyageur, The Mad Herbalist) over 3000 times, in 49 states, for over 2 million people. Included in these totals are over 80 conference keynotes, 50+ national park presentations, and 30+ universities.

His books, Way of the Whitetail, Shared Spirits: Native Americans and Wildlife, and Cougars -- Solitary Spirits have been critically acclaimed. Wolf: Wisdom Warrior (a companion book to Shared Spirits) and a children's book, Special Gifts, were released in 1999. "Critterman's World" appeared weekly for four years on the statewide NBC Montana Today Show.

Jayme Burch

Board of Directors

Oregon


Jayme moved to Portland Oregon in Dec of 2004 from Santa Cruz California and have been doing massage for 12 years. She taught massage at the University of California Santa Cruz and now teaches at Pioneer Pacific in Wilsonville as well as operates a private practice in Portland. Her passion and love for wolves started with Living At The Door film from the library. Since then I have read many books about wolves. Two summers ago I went to meet the Sawtooth Pack, which changed my life forever. I am excited to be a part of WERC and working towards education, conservation and protection of this amazing animal.

Danielle Hawthorne

Board of Directors

Oregon


Danielle comes to WERC with a wealth of experience and enthusiasm. Her background in product development and marketing make her a real asset to help WERC meet the challenges of our future. Some of you have already heard from Danielle as she partners with the Executive Director to reach out and thank people for their commitment to wolf recovery. In addition to a commitment to wolves, her exciting history includes having owned and operated an online cigar business with a manufacturing partner in the Dominican Republic. She designed an e-commerce site to launch their brands and market to an international audience. She also conducted market research and analyses to develop brand position, identify target audiences and segmentation for current product lines and line extensions, and cultivated vendor relationships to reduce costs and expand product lines.

Her most recent experience is as Brand Manager, Davidoff and Zino Classic at Davidoff of Geneva where she is responsible for product management, integrated marketing communications strategies, POS development, event planning, social media and project management. Her additional areas of expertise include branding and identity, direct mail, multichannel print and online advertising as well as art direction and graphic design. We are especially excited about her proven success in developing and implementing process and procedure along with her commitment to continuous improvement methods.

Chris Anderson, Executive Director

Staff


Oregon native, Chris Anderson, joined WERC as Executive Director in 2006 following an advisory role with the board of directors. He joined WERC following a 13 year career in managing project development, fund-raising, planned giving, and public relations efforts for two international humanitarian organizations, Medical Teams, Int'l (formerly NW Medical Teams, Int'l) and The Cascade Division Salvation Army in Portland, Oregon. Through 2005, he had been directly responsible for or participated in raising over $25 million dollars toward disaster relief and health related relief programs in the United States and in the third world. He co-founded and remains active in an outreach group named Mission Oaxaca that serves under-privileged natives of Oaxaca, Mexico by building modest homes, school classrooms and facilitating volunteerism. He is the past Board Chair of The Marshall Christensen Foundation and currently serves as Vice-Chair of Co-Serve International, an organization working throughout Asia in leadership development and has traveled on behalf of those two organizations to Kazakhstan, Ukraine, United Emirates, Afghanistan, and Mexico.

In 1996, he developed a science education company called Owl Brand Supply Company which retails online science labs throughout the United States, Canada, and the UK, named one of Canada National Geographic's Best Resources for Teachers in 2005 and currently a recommended science curriculum by the National Science Teacher's Association.

He brings a passion for leadership, wilderness stewardship, collaborative outreach, and science based educational instruction to WERC. In combination with a desire to provide a profound educational experience to the numerous volunteers, contributors, and visitors who come to the Center each year hoping to get face to face with wolves, he has a distinct goal of creating community that benefits all involved.

Jeremy Heft, Wildlife Biologist

Staff




Jeremy has shared life and the territory of the Sawtooth Pack since 1997. In December of that year, Jeremy moved into Wolf Camp as an intern, studies the Pack for the next six months under Megan Parker and Keith Marshall and then assumed management of the Pack in September of 1998. Before WERC, Jeremy taught Coastal Ecology in Virginia and Mountain Ecology in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Jeremy received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from the Kutztown University near him home town of Quakertown, Pennsylvania. During his limited his free time away from Camp, Jeremy occupies his time with the duties of the Assistant Fire Chief and Emergency Medical Technician in Winchester, Idaho. Jeremy lives just outside the Pack's enclosure with his girlfriend and their two cats, Jager and Rhundi in a rustic cabin devoid of electricity, plumbing, and phone service. The Sawtooth Pack has taught Jeremy endless lessons of behavior, survival, life, and death.

Randy Stewart, Education Coordinator

Staff


Randy Stewart was born and raised in the San Bernardino area of Southern California. He entered the Navy in August 1972 and retired as a Sonar Technician Submarines (SS) Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) October 31, 1993 after over 21 years of service. He then moved to Winchester, Idaho in August 1993.

Randy attended Lewis Clark State College, Lewiston, Idaho from Aug 1993 - Dec 1997 earning a BS degree in Natural Science, Secondary Education. He later worked at Winchester Lake State Park during the summers of 1997 - 1999 as the park interpreter, followed by work at the Wolf Education and Research Center in October 1999 as the Educational Program Coordinator.

He is a Certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association of Interpreters, Level 2 handler for the pack, Advanced Emergency Medical Technician and Volunteer Firefighter with the City of Winchester, and serve on a variety of local organizations.