Corey Anco is the Willis McDonald, IV Curator of Natural Science at the Draper Museum. He is inspired by the ability of natural history museums to aid in the discovery and sharing of scientific information among people of all ages and learning abilities.

Corey’s research activities are conducted in tandem with the needs of state and federal natural resource managers. His interest in Pinyon Jays is linked to their complex social structure, unique adaptations, and capacity to survive in harsh and arid environments. In his words, “a foraging flock of Pinyon Jays can be a cacophony and yet, still be music to my ears!”

Destin Harrell has worked as a Wildlife Biologist in the Bighorn Basin since 2001 and is currently a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. He has experience with prescribed fire applications and their effects on sagebrush and juniper/limber pine woodland avian communities.

Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Zoology/Physiology at the University of Wyoming, Eric C. Atkinson is Associate Professor of Biology at Northwest College (NWC), Biology Coordinator, and Project Lead of NWC INBRE (IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence). Eric grew up in the Gallatin Valley of southwest Montana where he developed a strong commitment to the wildlands and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He shares this passion with undergraduates via research centered upon the disease community affecting the songbirds of the Bighorn Basin and adjacent southcentral Montana. Beyond his avian research, Eric utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to model hazards for wind power deployment and has developed conservation strategies for vulnerable species across the continent while collaborating with others on rare species research, disease investigation, and the importance of place in the development of scientific and conservation ethics. Eric is committed to guiding hands-on exploration of native systems by students inspiring future conservationists, biologists, biomedical researchers, and health workers, as well as educated and grounded citizens.  His commitment to conservation extends to his personal life as he and his wife, Melonie, raise Galloway cattle in an ‘ethecological’ manner on their farm near Belfry, Montana.  They can often be found hiking the sagebrush/juniper draws of the Pryor Mountains with a dog and a pair of binoculars.

Abel Guevara is a Wildlife Biologist for the Bureau of Land Management-Cody Field Office. Abel has worked on a variety of projects throughout his 15-year career such as habitat restoration for Greater Sage Grouse and fence modification for pronghorn antelope and elk. Currently he is part of an interagency team working on maintaining the population of black-footed ferrets in Meeteetse, WY. He continues to work on identifying and modifying more fences to facilitate wildlife migration and is currently working on a forb diversity project that he hopes will help Greater Sage Grouse chicks and pollinators.

Dr. Jason Riggio is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on applied solutions to wildlife and landscape conservation challenges. Jason is particularly driven to address human impacts on biodiversity at the intersection of species distributions and global change, but also appreciates that the best maps at any scale are often informed by local surveys. As a postdoc, he is conducting a large-scale biodiversity monitoring project of California Department of Water Resources riparian forest and wetland restoration sites across the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Jason is also working on research projects in Wyoming surveying bat populations in alpine areas of the Absaroka Mountains and pinyon jays in the Bighorn Basin, and in East and Southern Africa developing methods to map continental-scale and multi-species landscape connectivity and wildlife corridors.