Michael Forsberg

Mike is a senior fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers who has focused his career on North America’s Great Plains, its prairie wildlife, and watersheds. His work has appeared in National Geographic and Outdoor Photographer, and his books on On Ancient Wings and Great Plains – America’s Lingering Wild have been turned into documentary films for PBS. Mike is co-founder of the Platte Basin Timelapse Project, and currently serves as faculty with the University of Nebraska.

Melissa Groo

Melissa is a wildlife photographer, writer, speaker, and educator. She’s a contributing editor to Audubon magazine, writes a column on wildlife photography for Outdoor Photographer magazine, and is an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers. She speaks and writes extensively on issues of ethics and conservation in wildlife photography, and leads workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Melissa was Chair of the Ethics Committee for the North American Nature Photography Association from 2014-2018. Her work has been published in numerous books and magazines, such as Smithsonian, Audubon, National Wildlife, and Natural History. Melissa is represented by National Geographic Image Collection and has a long-term gallery at Audubon Greenwich in Connecticut.

Jim Richardson

Jim has work appearing regularly in National Geographic magazine and National Geographic Traveler in addition to Geographic books. Jim is on assignment for Nat Geo projects almost full time and for good reason. Richardson, a onetime newspaper photographer in Kansas and Colorado, brings amazing story-telling techniques along with detailed research to his pictures. Thirty years ago, he began photographing the area around his hometown in north central Kansas.

Katie Schuler

An advocate for the planet’s most at-risk species, Katie operates at the nexus between science, empathy, and storytelling. More than a decade of filmmaking across six continents has afforded Katie expertise in the field and in the editing room. Using her signature storytelling flair, Katie’s films explore how we live alongside nature, garnering accolades, accruing millions of views, and inspiring meaningful conservation victories. Her production company, Coral & Oak Studios, has partnered with many of the most recognizable names in wildlife filmmaking, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, BBC, HBO, and PBS. Katie’s film, Pangolin, is the winner of six best short awards including Jackson Wild’s 2017 Best Short category. Since its premiere, Pangolin has been translated into four languages, reaching over 75 million people while serving as an important tool for conservation. Two of her latest films, Where Life Begins, and Nigerians Fight to Protect the World’s Most Trafficked Mammal, have won awards at festivals in 2019. Katie is a National Geographic Explorer, a graduate of the Corcoran College of Art and Design, a Henry Luce Fellow, and a member of the International League of a Conservation Photographer’s Emerging League.

Dave Showalter

Dave Showalter is based in Colorado and focused on the American West. Dave has published two books – Sage Spirit, The American West at A Crossroads by Braided River (2015); and the award-winning Prairie Thunder by Skyline Press (2007). Dave’s photographs and articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Audubon, Conservation Biology, Outside, Outdoor Photographer, National Parks Magazine, High Country News, Wilderness, Colorado Life and elsewhere.

Allen Murabayashi

Allen Murabayashi is the Chairman and Co-founder of PhotoShelter, the worldwide leader in photography portfolio websites, photo sales, marketing and archiving tools for photographers. Allen previously served as a founding employee and Senior Vice President of Engineering at HotJobs.com.

Mariah Lundgren

Mariah is a conservation storyteller, filmmaker and photographer. She is dedicated to telling stories within the Great Plains and the American West. She loves giving voice to the voiceless and telling stories that will help people better understand our natural world.

She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a BS in Environmental Studies, and a minor Fisheries & Wildlife. She is the producer & project manager for the Platte Basin Timelapse project; a long-term documentary project using time-lapse and traditional photography and multimedia storytelling to educate about the Platte River Basin and what it means to live in a watershed today. This project has taught her the art and importance of storytelling and science communication. She is also a photographers assistant with Michael Forsberg who is Senior Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers and is represented by National Geographic Creative.

Chris Steppig

Chris is the owner and director of Summit Workshops. Summit was his first job out of college and nearly 20 years later, this is home.  He is in charge of all workshop operations, scheduling, logistics, faculty, social media, marketing and sponsorship. Chris has a passion for conservation, travel, and education and the workshops are a dream platform to help others reach new heights as not only photographers but as people.

Chris is an affiliate of the International League of Conservation Photographers. The iLCP is a U.S. based non-profit whose mission is to further environmental and cultural conservation through ethical photography. This affiliation provides a tremendous opportunity to help deliver great content and also be an advisor on matters large and small.  He is also a professional advisor for Outdoor Photographer magazine.  Through collaboration and great communications with the editor of the magazine, there have been countless articles written by Summit Alumni in the magazine over the years.

Matt Stirn

Matt is a photographer, writer, and archaeologist based between Boston and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Focusing on stories related to archaeology, history, culture, and conservation, Matt’s images and writing can be found in Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, National Geographic, GEO, BBC, Archaeology Magazine, Outdoor Photographer Magazine, and more. Matt is a National Fellow at The Explorer’s Club, currently directs multiple archaeological projects in the Rocky Mountains, is involved in several excavations in Greece and Italy, and worked as the Photographer In Residence for the British School in Athens, Greece where he specialized in photographing artifacts. Along with his wife Rebecca, Matt has both lived and worked in Greece and is passionate about sharing it with fellow photographers and travelers.