Jessa Watters

Favorite BioBlitz!: Black Mesa

# of BioBlitzes: 6

Favorite BioBlitz! find: Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis)

Misconceptions about herps: Snakes are not slimy and most are NOT venomous!

Podcast Chat with Jessa

Rickey Cothran

Favorite BioBlitz!: Sutton Urban Wilderness

# of BioBlitzes: 5

Book Suggestion: Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Misconceptions: Many people have no idea about the interesting invertebrates that live in Oklahoma’s water. The diversity of these animals is often eye opening.

Sheila Strawn

Favorite BioBlitz!: Robbers Cave

# of BioBlitzes: ALL OF THEM!

Field Guide Suggestion: Lichen Study Guide and Lichen Field Guides for Oklahoma and Surrounding States

Misconceptions: They are SO much more than a “symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an alga.”

Zach DuFran

# of BioBlitzes: 2

Favorite BioBlitz! find: Bumelia Borer Beetle

Misconceptions about Moths: They are NOT ugly!

Field Guide Suggestion: Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America

Podcast Chat with Zach

Abby Moore

Favorite BioBlitz!: They are all so good, but maybe Black Mesa

# of BioBlitzes: 4 – everyone since coming to OK!

Favorite Natural History Books: The Ghosts of Evolution by Connie Barlow and Nature’s Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy

Misconceptions: That goldenrods cause hay fever; they are just colorful and flower at close to the same time as ragweeds, which actually cause hay fever.

Angelina Stancampiano

Favorite BioBlitz!: Osage Hills

# of BioBlitzes: ALL OF THEM!

Book Suggestion: The Sixth Great Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

If I didn’t study vertebrates, I would study mycology.

Rusty Grimpe

Leading our Nature Discovery Walks, Rusty knows so much about Oklahoma’s Natural History!

Podcast Chat with Rusty

Priscilla Crawford

# of BioBlitzes: 18

Favorite BioBlitz!: Sequoyah State Park – usually it is the one that we just finished!

Misconceptions: Oklahoma is boring – NOT!  We have an amazing diversity of ecoregions and organisms across the state.

Book Suggestion: Pollinators of Native Plants by Heather Holm

Tony Stancampiano

Favorite BioBlitz!: Black Mesa – The Clark’s Nutcracker was such a surprise!

# of BioBlitzes: ALL OF THEM!

Favorite BioBlitz! Moment: Watching the younger kids follow the “glowing” mice each year

Misconception: All mammals are animals but not all animals are mammals

If I didn’t study mammals, I would study yeasts.

Aaron Goodwin

Favorite BioBlitz!: Osage Hills State Park in 2015. My daughter was 9 and it was our first BioBlitz together.

# of BioBlitzes: 7

Favorite BioBlitz! Memory: Observing tiger beetle larvae in burrows on the beach of Lake Texoma

Book Suggestion: Naturalist by E.O. Wilson and Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy

www.oksnakes.org

Nick Czalplewski

Favorite BioBlitz!: Black Mesa

# of BioBlitzes: 7

Favorite BioBlitz! Sightings: Bats at Sequoyah and Pronghorn tracks and sign at Black Mesa

Book Suggestion: any field guide

Randy Soto

Favorite BioBlitz!: Black Mesa

# of BioBlitzes:

Favorite thing about BioBlitz!: Seeing the teamwork at all of the BioBlitz’s from volunteers

Misconceptions: That Oklahoma grasslands are devoid of wildlife and are boring

Vonceil Harmon

Favorite BioBlitz!: Black Mesa

# of BioBlitzes: 4

Favorite BioBlitz! Moment: Being greeted at the Black Mesa State Park entrance by pronking pronghorn and catching the antics of Chihuahuan raven fledglings at the nest.

Optimist Reading: Rewilding North America: A Vision for Conservation in the 21st Century

Misconception: All bees sting and all wasps are aggressive.

Amy Buthod

Favorite BioBlitz: Beaver’s Bend and Black Mesa (the extremes!)

# of BioBlitzes: 7 or so

Natural history(ish) book that influenced me growing up: The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Misconceptions: Bradford pears are terrible for many reasons, but you probably aren’t allergic to them.  Instead, blame the grasses that are flowering at the same time. And yes, grasses DO flower.

# of BioBlitzes: majority since 2003, when I moved to OK

Natural history books you would suggest: Dennis Paulson’s Dragonflies and Damselflies: A Natural History and, of course, my own Dragonflies at a Biogeographical Crossroads

Misconceptions: That bugs are gross. (no way!)

Nickname: “The Dragon Lady of Oklahoma” – but not only do I study dragonflies and damselflies, I also work with tiger beetles, robber flies, and a wide variety of other animals!