SFI Instructor Biographies

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PAUL BISCHOFF has lived and worked in Sequoia National Park for 15 years. He has been a cross-country and backcountry ski instructor for 10 seasons, and has lived and worked in the backcountry of Sequoia for six summers. This gives him a great understanding of what this park has to offer. Paul also teaches kayaking and has worked as a whitewater raft guide on the Kaweah River.  He is the owner/operator of Sequoia Sightseeing Tours.

SAVANNAH BOIANO is the new Education Director for SFI.  She has been a naturalist in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks and has had several years of experience running an environmental and outdoor education program for a school district in California. In addition to her background as a naturalist and educator, she has worked as a backcountry naturalist-guide. She has a passion for teaching and a great deal of enthusiasm.

 

RANDY COFFMAN is an experienced mountaineering guide.  He has over 30 years of experience as an instructor for educational institutions, search and rescue organizations, and the National Park Service.  In 1994, Randy was the summit team leader for the American-Norwegian International Expedition to Gasherbrum II (26,360’) in the Himalaya, Pakistan.  He has climbed and guided mountains in the Sierra , the Rockies, the Alps, East Africa, the Andes, New Zealand, and the Alaska Range.  After serving 31 years as an NPS Ranger (18 as a paramedic in backcountry rescue operations), he recently retired as the National Branch Chief of Search and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services for the National Park Service.  He is currently the Ski Patrol Supervisor at Sierra Summit Mountain Resort.

 

RICHARD FLORES was born in Los Angeles and has studied fine art throughout most of his life.  As a young man he was critically burned and doctors intended to amputate both of his arms, but never expecting him to live, he was given last rights.  Not only did he defy the odds and survive, with much determination and hard work he regained the use of both his hands and arms. He continued on to win major art competitions and receive a full tuition scholarship to Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara.  He also received multiple scholarships from Los Angeles Pierce College, Cal-State University at Northridge and CAL Earth (the Institute of Earth Art and Ceramic Architecture) in Hesperia, California.  Skilled in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional fine art, Richard has worked with the late famed ceramist Beatrice Wood, performed numerous Hot Glass workshops with Richard Marquis and William Davis and continues to be a major factor in the education and development of Earth Art and Ceramic Architecture with internationally renowned Architect and author Nader Khalili and is also an exhibiting member of the Ojai Studio Artists in Ojai, California.  Richard now lives in Visalia, California where he shares his wide range of artistic talents performing inspirational workshops, education training seminars and instructing seven college courses as the Three-Dimensional Fine Arts Professor for College of the Sequoias.  “The connectedness of one thing to another, the resulting balance between differences and the passionate exploration of life’s textures expressed through art.”

LINDSAY LANEY has grown up exploring the Sierra Nevada.  As a Northern California native, Lindsay began leading outdoor adventure trips in college. That set off a life-long passion of teaching in the outdoors.  In addition, she received a B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from CSU, Chico.  Over the past couple of years, she has been an instructor for Outward Bound in Utah and a naturalist in Yosemite. Her other passion is travel. This passion has sent her packing her bags to Central and South America, and more recently to Malaysia and Indonesia.  When she isn't working on her Masters in English, she spends most of her time playing on skis, bikes, boots, and in rubber rafts.

 

COURTNEY LAURELL (a.k.a. Turtle) fell in love with the Sierra Nevada 2 ½ years ago, and hasn’t left since.  As a child she could be found examining ladybugs in an open field, or exploring new territory in the Michigan forests surrounding her house. Her love of nature emersion led her on adventures with Voyageur and North Carolina Outward Bound Schools, as well as multiple adventures canoeing, climbing, kayaking, canyoneering, and backpacking across the country thereafter.  Courtney earned her BA at Prescott College, with a minor in adventure education and a major in Ecopsychology.  She became a naturalist while working at two different Outdoor Education Schools in California.  Courtney is currently working on earning her Cal. Teaching Credential with a Masters in the Art of Teaching through Chapman University College.  A perfect day for Courtney involves having the opportunity to share the magic of nature with others.

 

BURLEIGH LOCKWOOD is serious about her work. She is a Chaffee Zoological Garden biologist working in the Education Department, field instructor, and docent trainer.  When she’s not writing Fact sheets and other publications for zoo docent use, she’s traveling with the Zoomobile, or appearing on Channel 30 being interviewed by students.

 

RACHEL MAZUR has been the wildlife biologist at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks since 2000. She has also worked at several other parks, including Zion, Redwood, North Cascades, Denali, and Saratoga Battlefield.  Rachel holds an M.S. in Forest Biology, an M.P.A. in Public Administration, and is in the final stretch (she hopes) of earning a Ph.D. in Ecology. Her favorite day of work (to date) was the day that she found a sow (black bear) and her two yearlings in a fir den during a winter storm.

JAMES McGREW frequently visited the Sierra Nevada since he was 4 months old and has drawn its features and wildlife as long as he can remember. He works as a full time artist and seasonal naturalist including ten summer seasons as a Yosemite naturalist. McGrew's award winning artwork hangs in collections across the U.S. and Europe, and has shown in major competitions, museums and galleries including numerous solo shows. He is a member of the Oil Painters of America. Undergraduate and graduate education in biology, chemistry, geology and environmental education. James paints en plein air and later orchestrates his field studies with photography and strong visual memory to create his refined studio paintings. Such works often tell stories or serve as complex metaphors. Participants on his programs say his love and enthusiasm for nature is contagious. His inspirational teaching styles reach a broad audience as he interweaves art and science in an entertaining manner that people easily understand. Please see his website for more information and examples of his work: www.JamesMcGrewFineArt.com

 

PETIT PINSON grew up in Three Rivers playing in the Sierras and has spent the last 15 years exploring mountains, rocks, rivers, oceans, and cultures on six differentcontinents. Her eclectic job history includes firefighting, running sled-dogs, sports modeling, dance choreography, yoga, writing, wilderness guiding, and class-room and outdoor education. She is a CA credentialed teacher and certified Wilderness First Responder. One of Petit’s biggest adventures to date was the opportunity to be a part of Global Extremes, an adventure reality television show on OLN, which took her all the way to 27,400’ above sea level on the north face of Mt. Everest in Tibet! Petit has recently established a non-profit educational adventure organization, C.O.R.E., with colleague, Stephanie Strickland, to reach students in the central valley of CA.

 

STEVE STOCKING is a recently retired instructor of biology-botany at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA. He is the author of The Giant Sequoias of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Wildflowers of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and Day Hikes of the Grant Grove Area. Steve has been a regular summer migrant to the Grant Grove area for over 50 years

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BILL TWEED has been exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for more than forty years.  A writer, historian, and naturalist, he spent 28 years as a ranger at both parks, rising ultimately to serve as the Chief Parks Naturalist.  He has written extensively about the parks, and his titles include Challenge of the Big Trees, Sequoia and Kings Canyon-the Story Behind the Scenery, Kaweah Remembered, and A Place for Wonder.  Dr. Tweed holds a PhD in history.

 

STEPHANIE STRICKLAND has spent the majority of her ten years in Three Rivers exploring the foothills and Sierras on bike, foot, or snowshoe. She is the co-director of Creative Outdoor Recreational Edventures (CORE), a non-profit outdoor adventure education program; a certificated California educator with 15 years of classroom experience; and a burgeoning naturalist. Currently, along with co-director Petit Pinson, CORE is working with the Hanford Elementary School District to plan, implement, and run their experiential science and environmental learning facility at Burris Park in Hanford.

 

JIM WARNER has been hiking these park's trails for nearly 40 years, including much of his career with the National Park Service and leading natural history ‘seminars’ for SNHA since his retirement.  His education and experience in field natural history is extensive.  His knowledge and enthusiasm for the flora and fauna of the Sierran National Parks is contagious.  His list of “groupies” continues to grow!

 

JANE ZIEGLER expressed herself as an artist beginning on the kindergarten playground.  All though grade school and high school she attended classes at colleges and art rooms in Philadelphia.  Her B.F.A. was acquired at Maryland Institute College of Art.  For many years after college she honed her skills in New York City painting, sculpting, and working as a commercial artist for such places as National Lampoon.  Today Jane lives and works in the Kings Canyon National Park area continuing and ever-maturing her art.  She has shown in New York City (2005); was selected for the prestigious Maynard Dixon Country National Art Competition two years running; and has been represented in many other national juried shows and one-woman exhibitions.

 

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