Adriana López Vermut | workshop presenter

Workshop: VENEZUELAN AREPAS FROM SCRATCH!

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Adriana raised four children in San Francisco and now lives in Kelly, WY. She holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and an MSc in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on organizational change and leadership coaching.

She was owner and operator of Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen in the Bay Area, and introduced arepas to Guy Fieri in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives! 

Eric Gerson | Workshop presenter

Program Coordinator, Outdoor Learning School — Teton Science Schools. Workshop: FROM DECAY TO DELICACY: ECOLOGY & FLAVOR OF MUSHROOMS

Eric has been a mushroom enthusiast for many years. He used to think he was allergic to mushrooms after eating them uncooked, but learning how to cook them properly changed his relationship with fungi and set him on a path toward learning more about their ecology. He works at Teton Science Schools, where he loves sharing the natural world with people. He has also led public mushroom forays and workshops for many years with the Utah Mushroom Society. 

Esther Smith | Experience presenter

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Farm to crag. Experience: FOOD AS MEDICINE

Esther Smith is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a lifelong climber, and mountain sports athlete. Her introduction to organic farming began in her late teens when she and her siblings taught themselves to garden, tend an orchard and raise animals in New Mexico. Climbing and adventuring has taken her to places worldwide. Always mindful of her connection to the land and the communities that she visits, Esther searches out local food and producers to nourish her body and soul. As a Board member, she hopes to share the Farm To Crag Map to give fellow travelers a tool to find local food and network with farmers with ease. Esther has spent her PT career focused on helping climbers support their missions through quality rehab techniques, self-care guidance, and nutrition education. Along this path, it has become clear to her that we must heal the land in order to heal ourselves. Esther believes that the joy and community that food brings us is such a beautiful way to respond to climate change and grow conscious advocates for environmental change who can create positive action anywhere there is dirt.

JOhnny fifles | Experience presenter

Artist & Sr. Microgreens Associate, Vertical harvest. Experience: GROWING WELL THROUGH FOOD

Johnny Fifles was born in Chicago on April 28, 1990. In 1993, their family moved to Jackson, Wyoming, for a change of scenery. In 2009, they started college In Riverton, and relocated two years later to Laramie for another four years of college. After graduating from the University in 2015, Johnny returned to Jackson and worked at the Elk Country Inn. On March 28, 2016, Johnny first worked at Vertical Harvest, where they harvested tomatoes and seeded lettuces and microgreens, a job they hold today. Johnny enjoys making art just because. They're drawn to Tim Burton movies as well as animation, and they like to work with sharpies, colored pencils, and watercolor.

John Mionczynski |Workshop presenter

Workshop: Native Plant Walk in Cache Creek

John is an ethnobotanist and retired wildlife consultant who lives in the historic mining town of Atlantic City, Wyoming.  John has led field trips and taught classes in ethnobotany and natural history for the Native Science Field Center at the Fort Washakie School in Fort Washakie, WY. He has taught for the Teton Science School in Kelly, Central Wyoming Community College in Riverton, National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Family Medicine Residency Program (through the University of Wyoming) and for the Wyoming Outdoor Council in Lander – as well as other venues.

Mionczynski has worked on the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study, Interagency Studies of Bighorn Sheep, and numerous other research projects, and is co-founder of the Native Memory Project. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Bighorn Restoration Group based in Lander. John also functions as ethnobotanist for the Shoshone Ancestral Food-Gathering Group on the Wind River Reservation.

leif routman | Workshop Presenter

Workshop: EXPLORING HERITAGE & HEIRLOOM GRAINS

Leif Routman is a passionate local food systems advocate, connector and forager. He makes his living in the Teton region primarily as a musician-bandleader and composer; alongside moonlighting in vegetable farming and professional cooking. In his cooking for both community and clients, he works and studies to understand and integrate timeless culinary techniques from his travels around the globe with the terroir and richness of both the cultivated and wild ingredients of the Greater Yellowstone region.

Patti Baldes | Keynote speaker and workshop presenter

Northern Arapaho & Big Pine Paiute, Buffalo Medicine Woman, Woxuu Heeneecee |Experience: RELATIVES, RELATIONSHIP AND RESPECT, A FOOD CONVERSATION WITH PATTI BALDES

Born on the Big Pine Paiute Reservation in California and raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Patti currently collaborates with three food access organizations, The Sweetgrass Lodge, Buffalo Youth Nation Project and Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative. Patti also enjoys sharing her story and conservation experiences through her 20-year photography career, Patti with an Eye, ReMatriate, performance art and sculpture, Buffalo (Bison) harvests and presentations/workshops for nationwide organizations focusing on relationship, healing and growth. She is the Executive Director for Wind River Native Advocacy Center and serves on WyoFile, Wind River Alliance and Native Memory Project Boards of Directors, which nurture her journey, sharing Matriarch in training perspective, building genuine relationships between native and non-native communities.

Zena Wolcott-MacCausland

Owner of Basin Flower. Workshop: BULBS, CORMS & BIENNIALS: PLANNING AHEAD FOR EARLY SPRING FLOWERS

Zena Wolcott-MacCausland is the owner of Basin Flowers, a small cut flower farm located in Victor, ID. Basin Flowers provides locally grown flowers for florists, independently-owned grocery stores, coffee shops, and local farmers markets.  Every fall Zena plants thousands of bulbs, corms and biennial flowers for early spring blooms.