Kate Rutherford
Farm to crag | Keynote speaker
Kate is a professional climber, artist, advocate for wilderness and eater of leafy organic greens. Her passion for climbing has taken her all over the world including first ascents on Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Kenya and Venezuela, a free ascent of El Capitan’s Free Rider and the opportunity to work with some amazing organizations, including Patagonia, La Sportiva, Black Diamond, Clif Bar, the Access Fund, and the American Alpine Club. The combination of climbing, a biology degree from the Colorado College, rural homesteading in Alaska, subsistence hunting and fishing, carrots from Mom's garden, and watching organic regenerative agriculture’s ability to combat climate change, led Kate to start Farm to Crag. It is the perfect blend of climbing, stories, farms, maps, organic greens, environmental activism, and dinner parties!
Esther Smith
Farm to crag | workshop presenter
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.
Nick Phillips
Sweet Cheeks Meats | workshop presenter
Nick Phillips of Sweet Cheeks Meats is a whole animal butcher, specializing in the utilization of locally raised animals, from hip-to-hip & nose-to-tail.
Patti Baldes
Workshop Presenter
Patti Baldes (Northern Arapaho/Northern Paiute), was born on the Big Pine Paiute Reservation in California and raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Baldes is an enrolled Northern Arapaho with Northern Paiute lineage. She lives on the Wind River Reservation with her husband and they share four children. Baldes is currently the Executive Director of a tribal non-profit, the Wind River Native Advocacy Center. She works closely and collaborates with other local non-profits, focusing on conservation, tribal sovereignty, self-determination and relationships. Baldes enjoys sharing her story and conservation experiences through her photography line dubbed, Patti with an Eye. She has been sharing photos for close to 20 years. Baldes’ focus has and will continue to be the Buffalo, restoring them to and increasing tribal lands, sharing her talents through art, photography and storytelling. Baldes also produces and participates in an exhibit called, REMATRIATE. This exhibit shares the connection to buffalo through art, song and dance, focusing on the matriarchal role and how it benefits the land and community we all share.
ian mcgregor
farmstead cider | workshop presenter
Ian McGregor is co-owner and Cider Maker for Farmstead Cider, the first and only cidery in the state of Wyoming. Born and raised in Jackson Hole, Ian never thought fruit could grow in this cold climate. But after working in sustainable agriculture and winemaking in varying climates around the world, he discovered that certain fruits are well adapted to thrive in the unpredictable weather of the high mountains. Now Ian grows apple and crabapple varieties in his orchard that give his ciders a uniquely mountainous flavor.
taylor Varnum
Mountain roots | WORKSHOP Presenter
Taylor was very excited to join the Mountain Roots Education team in the fall of 2023. Taylor has many years of experience in ecology and habitat restoration with a focus on plants and noxious weeds, and when she is not working with students in a school garden classroom, she's busy serving as Landganics' field manager and noxious weed expert. She also has experience teaching in Teton Valley, loves project-based education and gardening, and enjoys sharing these joys with the students at Victor and Driggs Elementary schools. Taylor moved to Teton Valley in 2013, and can often be found working in her vegetable and fairy gardens, or getting out on a good wildflower hike, mountain bike ride, or river float with her two girls, May and Charley, and husband, Ellis.
Zander Short
Mountain Roots | Workshop Presenter
Zander brings an infectious enthusiasm for nature and culinary exploration to the role of Garden Educator. Her journey began in a town surrounded by agriculture, where she not only developed a love for the earth but also gained an understanding of food systems and their critical importance to our communities.
Zander has worked on farms across the globe, enriching her knowledge of sustainable practices and appreciating diverse cultural approaches to agriculture. Throughout her career, she has embraced outdoor education, guiding students to discover the joy of growing their own food and understanding the processes that bring it to their plates. Zander loves cooking for her loved ones and creating healthy recipes outside in her free time.
Emily Yeates
WORKSHOP PRESENTER
Emily Yeates is a sticker designer and multimedia artist in town. She grew up in a household of all self-taught artists and has taken on the same approach in most mediums she explores. From ceramics, to natural dye, watercolor, film photography, and home curation, Emily is drawn to forms that bring us back to a slower & more meaningful process of production.
Matt Bambach
Workshop Presenter
Matt Bambach is a phycologist, forager, and skier who originally grew up in Connecticut and first moved to Jackson to teach at the Teton Village in 2015. After leaving the Tetons to research cyanobacterial blooms in Minnesota lakes and work for a few years in Sandpoint, ID (where he picked his first burn morels and fell in love with mycology), he returned to the area in 2021 to work at Teton Full Circle Farm in Victor. Matt unequivocally believes in the power that local food systems and clean water have to unite and fortify communities, and is grateful to serve our watershed as a staff member of Protect Our Water Jackson Hole. He is excited to share his love for finding strange, beautiful and delicious things in the forest, as he is always on the lookout for new ways to use information and experiences to build a holistic stewardship ethic.
Jenna Barnes
Workshop presenter
Jenna Barnes is an active travel guide, herbalist and plant-based chef. She is the creatrix of Parakalo Provisions: catering wellness retreats, curating al fresco pop-up meals, and blending herbal teas. After working on numerous organic farms, exploring the cuisine of over 20 countries, and studying herbal medicine + wildcrafting, she weaves these supportive plants into the meals and tells the stories of culinary traditions from around the world through the vibrant food she creates.
Jenna believes that food is a ritual and that a meal is medicine. We are all part of nature, and she brings that connection and purpose to the plate and into the mug for a deeply nourishing and healing experience.
Katie rose griffith | workshop Presenter
Head of Farm & Garden and Outdoor Education, Teton Valley Campus – Mountain Academy Teton Science Schools
Katie Rose is the Farm & Garden and Outdoor Education Director at the Teton Valley Campus of Teton Science Schools. With a Master's in Early Childhood Education and a background in permaculture, she brings a deep passion for hands-on, place-based learning to her work with students of all ages. Katie Rose joined Teton Science Schools in 2017 after working with Classroom in Bloom and Mountain Roots Education, where she first fell in love with the power of school gardens. Her teaching blends ecology, creativity, and wellness through meaningful connections to land and food.