Desert Institute Instructors
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Diane Best's work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout the country. She has done freelance work for animation studios such as Nickelodeon and Rich Animation, artwork for the entertainment industry, and commissioned portrait work. After moving to the Mojave Desert 12 years ago, she shifted the focus of her talent to capturing the intense drama of the desert landscape that surrounded her. Ms. Best will be having her first solo museum show June to August 2009 at the Carnegie Museum in Oxnard, CA. Her work can be seen locally at he Red Arrow Gallery in Joshua Tree, Desert Collection in Palm Desert, and DIGS in Palm Springs or on-line at www.dianebest.net. |
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Bruce Bridenbecker Geology of Rattlesnake Canyon |
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Paul Campbell is the author of Survival Skills of Native California and Earth Pigments and Paint of the CA Indians. Mr. Campbell has a deep interest in understanding, preserving and practicing skills from California’s indigenous past. He has lectured widely and taught many classes on these techniques. Avoiding the simplistic and “artsycrafty,” he strives for detailed authenticity, the actual ancient know-how. |
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David Chappell Ph.D., Astronomy, Associate Professor of Physics, University of La Verne, has taught astronomy and physics for nine years. Dr. Chappell’s research interests include star formation, galaxy evolution, and computational astrophysics. Dr. Chappell’s interest in archaeo-astronomy has led him to study in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, the Shetland Islands, and the Kingdom of Tonga. |
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Spelman Evans Downer M.A., Painting & Drawing, is a professional visual artist and art educator. Mr. Downer has been a landscape photographer for thirty years, using 35 mm, 2-1/4, and digital formats, concentrating on desert environments and wild rivers. He has a B. A. from Stanford and an M. A. from San Francisco State University. He has exhibited nationally from Alaska to New York City to California and internationally as well. Currently he is an art instructor at Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree, CA. |
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Gretchen Grunt graduated with distinction from Sonoma State University where she studied the traditional printmaking methods of etching and lithography, instructed by Kirt Kemp and Shane Weare. Ms. Grunt has worked in numerous mediums including figure drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpting and bronze casting, but is currently focused on printmaking. She moved back to the 29 Palms area in 2003 and established the 29 Palms Creative Center & Gallery. She uses her Griffin Etching Press to make unique prints with the simple monotype process or the more complex exploration of combining traditional processes: dry points, etchings, and linoleum cuts. She also uses the experimental techniques with stencils, found objects, Chine-colle and collage elements. |
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William Hayes Ph.D,. Zoology and Physiology, is a Professor of Biology, Loma Linda University. Hayes specializes in the ecology of venoms and venomous animals, behavioral ecology and conservation of lizards and behavioral ecology, taxonomy, and conservation of birds. He has published numerous works, taught and organized conferences and workshops, and has given multiple television contributions. Hayes currently teaches classes in behavioral ecology, herpetology, ornithology, and conservation. |
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Richard Hazlett |
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Anahita King graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Visual Communications. King has worked in various mediums including ceramics, painting, and drawing for multiple corporations nationally and has shown her work internationally. Currently, she teaches art in Topanga, has on-going exhibits at the Topanga Canyon Gallery, and is the Principal of King of Arts Design Group. For more information on King's art and art classes in Southern California go to www.anahitaking.com |
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Kurt Leuschner M.S., Wildlife Ecology, Associate Professor of Natural Resources, College of the Desert. Leuschner’s specialties include: ornithology, entomology, and desert ecology. He has led hundreds of field trips both locally and in Africa. He teaches natural history courses for California State University, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and other conservation organizations. |
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Dennis Mammana M.S., Astronomy, has delivered the wonder and mystery of the cosmos to audiences the world for over three decades. Mr. Mammana is the author of six books on astronomy, hundreds of magazine and encyclopedia articles, and every week since 1992 has written Stargazers, the only nationally-syndicated newspaper column on astronomy. Mr. Mammana photographs the spectacular sky from around the world, but mostly from his desert home in Borrego Springs. His work can be enjoyed online at www.dennismammana.com. |
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David Jesse McChesney David Jesse McChesney has been photographing America’s National Parks for 40+ years and has been published around the globe. In 2008, the award-winning photographer released the book, Muir Roots: At One with the Wild, illustrating the natural wonders and wildlife imagery captured as he traveled the western hemisphere. Since moving to Joshua Tree, his quest to photograph wildlife and nature has allowed him to assemble an incredible collection of local treasures. This year, his exhibit “Joshua Tree: Miles of Wonder” spent two months at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum prior to being commissioned by Joshua Tree National Park to hang in its Joshua Tree Visitor Center Gallery for several months. The 230-image exhibit of wildlife, wildflowers, insects, scenics and climatic changes has garnered television coverage and international attention. |
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Tony Nester teaches survival and primitive technology courses at Northern Arizona University. Founder of Ancient Pathways in Flagstaff, AZ, he has led desert survival trips for over 15 years, focusing on the Mojave, Sonoran, and Great Basin Desert. Tony has instructed survival courses for the U.S. Military, National Park Service, and USDA. He has been a featured survival expert on NBC News, The Travel Channel and in Outside Magazine. Tony has a B.A. in anthropology and is nationally certified as a Wilderness First Responder. He is the author of two books on outdoor survival, Desert Survival Tips, Tricks and Skills and Practical Survival. To learn more about Mr. Nester please visit his website. |
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Nicole Pietrasiak is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Soil and Water Program at UC Riverside. Her research interests include soil science, botany, phycology and desert ecology. Ms. Pietrasiak has conducted extensive research on biological soil crust across the western U.S. and has made major contributions to the study of abundance, distribution, and diversity of soil crusts at Joshua Tree National Park. Her continued research will contribute phycological records to the biodiversity database of the park through discovering new species of algae and cyanobacteria as well as investigating evolutionary relationships of these organisms from diverse habitats. |
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William Pink is a native Cupeno/Luiseno Indian from the Pala Indian Reservation. He has been teaching for 25 years at California museums and public institutions. Mr. Pink comes from a long line of Culture Bearers and Native Skills Teachers of the Warner Springs and Temecula areas. He has received training from traditionalists including Mable McKay (Pomo), Lillian Cantrill (Pit River), Lisa Mojado (Soboba), Ruby & David Modesto (Torres-Martinez). |
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Chris Rogers has been teaching navigation courses professionally since 1998. He has worked extensively with Outward Bound as an instructor and course director. Mr. Rogers has extensive experience leading groups through remote areas on five to 22 day trips focusing on backpacking, rock climbing, mountaineering, and sea kayaking in the Western United States. He enjoys providing opportunities for others to remember “Plus est en Vous” and encourages individuals to live proactively. |
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Chris Sagebiel M.S., Geological Sciences, is the San Bernardino County Museum Geological Sciences Collections Manager and is the museum’s Curator of Geology. His masters had an emphasis on vertebrate paleontology and he is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Riverside in the Graduate Group in Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics, studying an array of extinct mammals from South America. |
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Joan Schneider Ph.D., Associate State Archaeologist, California State Parks, Colorado Desert District, has extensive experience in the archaeology of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and has been a principal investigator/project director for ongoing research in Joshua Tree National Park since 1991. Her interests are focused on geoarchaeology as well as settlement patterns and subsistence practices of early arid land peoples. |
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Eric Scott M.S., Physical Anthropology, is the Curator of Paleontology for the San Bernardino County Museum. He studies the evolution and extinction of Plio-Pleistocene large mammals in western North America, with a particular emphasis on horses. He is a specialist in the identification of fossil vertebrates, and is familiar with the skeletal anatomy of vertebrates dating from the Miocene Epoch to the Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs. He has authored numerous paleontology research articles in books and professional scientific journals. |
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Lorene Sisquoc is a member of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe and a descendant of the Mountain Cahuilla of Southern California. Ms. Sisquoc is the Curator of Sherman Indian Museum, a Cultural Traditions Leader, and Native American Traditions teacher at Sherman Indian High School. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Malki Museum and California Indian Basket Weavers Association. She attended classes taught by Cahuilla basket weavers Rosalie Valencia and Donna Largo. She is dedicated to the preservation and continuance of Native American culture. |
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Kathleen Springer M.S., Geological Sciences, is the Senior Curator of Geological Sciences for the San Bernardino County Museum. Ms. Springer has an extensive background in both geology and paleontology with over twenty year’s experience in leading geologic and paleontologic investigations throughout southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. She emphasizes the importance of detailed data recovery and full curation of recovered resources in such studies. Ms. Springer is responsible for developing fossil resource management guidelines for County, State, and Federal agencies. |
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Tony Soares is an artist and potter who learned the fundamentals of pottery from his grandmother at age seven starting a seventeen year journey to revive the fading art of olla making. Today, his pottery is displayed in art galleries and museums including the Tahquitz Canyon Museum. He is dedicated to sharing his knowledge to ensure that Native American pottery making is never lost. He has taught his skills at many venues including the Agua Caliente Band of the Desert Cahuilla of Palm Springs and the Cocopa of Yuma, Arizona. |
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D.D. Trent Ph.D., Geology Professor, Emeritus, has been involved in geological projects and teaching geology since 1955; teaching for 28 years at Citrus Community College, Glendora. He has extensive field research in Alaska and California and served as adjunct faculty at University of Southern California, teaching field ecology. He appears in the PBS telecourse series, The Earth Revealed. Dr. Trent has been active in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for 30 years, serving as chair for the Far Western Section and an officer at the national level. He is a recipient of the Association’s Robert Wallace Webb Award and is co-author of the recent JTNPA publication, Joshua Tree National Park Geology. |
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Michael Vamstad M.S., Ecology, is the Wildlife Ecologist for Joshua Tree National Park. He started working at Joshua Tree National Park in 2004 as a restoration ecologist and has been involved with bighorn sheep issues in the Park for three years. Mr. Vamstad is improving the artificial water system for bighorn sheep in the Park as well as protecting critical habitats of the sheep during stressful times. He recently completed his thesis (University of California, Riverside) which addressed the effects fire has on native plants and small mammal ecosystems within the Park. |
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Claude Warren Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is considered to be one of the foremost archaeologists working in the Mojave Desert today and has contributed syntheses of the prehistory of the desert regions to both the Smithsonian Institution’s Handbook of North American Indians, Vol.11 and California Archaeology. |
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Mark Wheeler has an M.S. in Education and a Journeyman’s Degree in Natural History, having spent most of thirty years hiking and studying the mountain and desert landscapes of the west coast. Mr. Wheeler has worked extensively with wildernessadventure programming groups such as Outward Bound, training both students and instructors in wilderness travel skills and group dynamics. A working writer, he focuses on subjects about the natural world. Mystery of the Wonderland of Rocks |