Field Seminar Instructors

The Mono Lake Committee works with field leaders who have received high ratings from past seminar participants. Our instructors are experts in their fields, and bring enthusiasm and a unique perspective on the Mono Basin.

Santiago Escruceria is a Colombian-born American citizen residing in California for the past 30 years. He has taught environmental education, in Spanish and English, for the past 17 years, 12 of which he has spent with the Mono Lake Committee. At Mono Lake he manages an outdoor education program for Los Angeles inner-city youth. Santiago is an avid birder, leading bird walks in Colombia during the winter and walks for school groups and the public in the Mono Basin during the summer.

David Gubernick is a nationally published and award-winning nature photographer and workshop leader. Some of his exhibition prints can be seen at Gallery Sur in Carmel and the Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur. He provides fine art prints and stock images for the advertising, corporate, editorial, and home décor markets. His first photography book, Wildflowers of Monterey County, was published in 2002 and has been a best-seller, garnering rave reviews.


Ann Howald was trained as a plant ecologist. She is a consulting botanist who focuses on rare plant surveys and conservation issues. Ann is also an active volunteer for the California Native Plant Society. She lives in Sonoma, and spends some of each summer studying plants in the Eastern Sierra. Ann's enthusiastic and personal teaching style make for very popular seminars; participants return again and again to learn about plants with Ann.


Elizabeth Kenneday-Corathers is a Photographic Specialist for the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association in Lee Vining, and teaches painting at the Eastern Sierra College Center in Mammoth Lakes. She lives in June Lake and is completing a book of photographs of the Mono Basin. Elizabeth has been a longtime and faithful volunteer for the Mono Lake Committee.

Richard Knepp is an accomplished, veteran photographer and former resident of the Mono Basin. Rick has explored color transparency, infrared and zone system image making and printing. Working primarily with a 4x5 field camera, his first love remains black-and-white study of the land. He has studied with master printers John Sexton and Jim Stimson, teaches photography and darkroom techniques, and directs and assists at workshops around the Southwest.

Lucy Parker is a descendant of the Yosemite Miwok, Mono Lake Kutzadika'a, and Kayasha Pomo peoples. She learned traditional handiwork from her mother, a master basket weaver, and passes on some of her knowledge in classes for the Mono Lake Committee, Yosemite Conservancy, Pt. Reyes Field Seminars, and many other venues around California.

Julia Parker is Lucy's mother and has dedicated her life to learning and teaching basketry as well as continuing the traditions of her people. She is one of the famous basket weavers of California, and the only weaver still practicing who was taught by women who wove in the early 20th century. Julia works as a cultural demonstrator in Yosemite National Park, and was named as a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2007.


Greg Reis has been the Mono Lake Committee's Information Specialist since 1995 And is the perfect guide for unraveling the Mono Basin's complex and fascinating plumbing. He has extensive experience in Mono Basin hydrology and restoration and keeps close track of Mono Basin water management. Greg's thoughtful, patient teaching style suits such a complicated subject well, and participants return to learn from him again and again.


Ane Carla Rovetta is a landscape painter known for her realistic depiction of our golden western lands. Her formal training was as a zoologist, and like the artisans of the European Renaissance, she is committed to the practice of art and science as kindred disciplines. Ane Carla has spent most of her adult life unifying the two in paintings, handmade art materials, and lively public performances across the United States. Her enthusiasm, humor, and care with her students bring many participants back for more of her classes.

Dave Shuford is an expert birder, avid naturalist and teacher, and a full-time ornithologist with PRBO Conservation Science's Wetlands Ecology Division. Dave's bird research has included over 16 years studying the ecology of Mono Lake's California gull colony and five years compiling an atlas of breeding birds in the Glass Mountain area. He regularly teaches classes with the Mono Lake Committee and with San Francisco State's Sierra Nevada Field Campus at Yuba Pass and his patient teaching style and encyclopedic knowledge benefit both beginning and expert birders.

John Wehausen has studied bighorn sheep intensively for over 30 years as a wildlife ecologist with the White Mountain Research Station in Bishop. He is the president of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation, and makes his living entirely as an independent research biologist working on bighorn sheep inhabiting the high mountains and deserts of California.

Stuart Wilkinson is a long-time Mono Lake paddling guide and veteran kayaker. He and his wife Sue own and operate Caldera Kayaks, and have been operating on Mono Lake for about 15 years. When he's not kayaking, Stuart assists with the monitoring of Long Valley Caldera for the US Geological Survey.

David Wimpfheimer has been educating and interpreting birds and the natural history of California for over 25 years. His connection with and love for Mono Lake started with educational work for the Mono Lake Committee in 1983 and continued as he rode in 11 Mono Lake Bike-A-Thons. He has worked with groups such as the Smithsonian, Point Reyes Field Seminars, the Oceanic Society, Wild Wings, and Elderhostel. David's seasoned focus and knowledge make for enjoyable and educational outings.