Instructors
Angelina Stancampiano
Angelina has been in the field of interpretation professionally for five years. With a degree in biology and work with protected species, she found her way into a more public-facing role as an interpretive ranger and then senior naturalist for the state of Oklahoma. She has been in Wyoming since 2021, serving as Shoshone District Interpretive Ranger for Wyoming State Parks. She is a Certified Interpretive Guide, Leave No Trace Master educator, and involved with Proect learning Tree. Angelina's passions include connecting underrepresented groups with public lands, as well as providing adult programming.
Brett Addis
Brett Addis is the Associate Director of the Biodiversity Institute and Assistant Lecturer in Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. Brett earned her master’s degree and PhD at the University of Montana, where she studied population genetics of boreal toads and dispersal in spring salamanders. She came to Laramie in 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher to analyze amphibian population trends using data from the Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project. In addition to thinking about quantitative questions in ecology, Brett enjoys snow, field guides, and searching for elusive critters.
Melissa Connely
Melissa Connely is a professional geologist whose focus is on geoscience education and paleontology. Melissa holds a Master of Science Degree in Geology from Utah State University and is co-owner of a consulting business, providing paleo-consulting, mitigation, and fossil preparation. She has 20 years’ experience teaching in the classroom and for special interest groups in the field. Her passion is to unlock the secrets of the past through the study of sediments and fossil remains.
Paige Copenhaver-Parry
Paige Copenhaver-Parry is the lead ecologist for the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD) at the University of Wyoming. Paige holds a Ph.D in Ecology from the University of Wyoming and a B.S. in Biology from George Fox University. Paige has spent the past decade conducting research in forests of the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest, teaching undergraduate students, working alongside natural resource managers to address information and data needs, and directing and participating in science outreach activities. Paige especially enjoys finding creative ways to make the more complex and quantitative elements of forest ecology accessible and relatable to managers, students, and the broader public.
Scott Schell
Scott Schell is the University of Wyoming’s extension entomology specialist based in Laramie. He earned his B.S. (1991) and M.S. degrees (1994) in entomology from U.W. and then was a research associate for Prof. Jeffrey Lockwood in the College of Agriculture for nine years. Starting in 2003, his work responsibilities changed to the identification of arthropods submitted through the Extension system to UW and providing management recommendations for arthropod pests of all sorts.
Dorothy Tuthill
Dr. Dorothy Tuthill is the former Associate Director of the Biodiversity Institute, where she developed and delivered educational programs. She is an alumna of the University of Wyoming Department of Botany, with research focused on soil microfungi. Raised by entomologists and broadly trained in botany, Dorothy enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for the natural world with students of all ages, and especially enjoys looking at the often missed tiny things.
Mason Lee
Mason Lee is the senior project coordinator for the UW Biodiversity Institute. She has a B.S. and M.S. in wildlife biology and has worked with endangered reptiles and amphibians in Texas and Wyoming. Horned lizards are her passion.
Zach Hutchinson
Zach Hutchinson is the Community Science Coordinator for Audubon Rockies, a partner of the Wyoming Naturalist Program. Zach is an experienced master bird bander, coordinating the monitoring efforts by Audubon Rockies in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
Rhiannon Jakopak
Rhiannon Jakopak is a wildlife ecologist with a background researching mammal behavior. She finds the mammals of Wyoming particularly fascinating, and she spends as much time as she possibly can learning from them. She is a research scientist and outreach coordinator in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. Her research is focused on the ecological and behavioral aspects that are passed from mothers to their offspring.
Lennie Poitras
Lennie, from the Wyoming Naturalist Class of 2022, is a professional jewelry artist with education in horticulture and the arts. She combines her interest in plants, animals, and landscapes with her art background in nature journaling.
Brian Sebade
Brian Sebade is a University of Wyoming Extension Educator located in southeast Wyoming. He is based in Laramie and serves Albany, Carbon, Goshen, Platte, and Laramie Counties. Brian’s focus for Extension is related to agriculture and horticulture education with a smaller focus on 4-H and youth development. A few of the major programs and subjects Brian has taught and facilitated include native plant identification and awareness, range monitoring, poisonous plants, edible plants, weed management and identification, Master Gardeners, wildflowers for reclamation and pollination, and pesticide certification.
Emily Youse
Emily Youse is an Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in the Cody Region. She started working in her current role in 2022 and has enjoyed having an active part in AIS monitoring and prevention in Northwest Wyoming. She likes educating people about the effects of AIS on the ecosystem and their role in preventing the spread of AIS in Wyoming. She received her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana in 2018.
Paul Gerrity
Paul Gerrity is a Regional Fisheries Biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Lander, where his primary job duties include sportfish management and native species conservation. He started his career with the WGFD in Casper in 2005 and transferred to Lander in 2009. Prior to working in Wyoming, he worked as a fisheries technician in Ohio on Lake Erie and in the Sierra Nevada foothills in California. Paul holds a M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University and a B.S. in Biology from John Carroll University.
