Contributors
We’re excited to introduce our guest contributors here on Explore the Outdoors! Every Tuesday, there will be a fun guest post from one of our contributors.
Justin Wolf
Justin Wolf grew up in the backyard of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area where he spent a great deal of his childhood exploring the wooded hills and tributaries. It’s here that he developed an appreciation and love for things in nature. Today, Justin enjoys discovering the natural areas of Ohio with his family, in particular at Columbus MetroParks and in the Hocking Hills region. He has a fondness for teaching his children about the flora and fauna they find on their excursions, and hopes to do this on a more formal basis in the future. Other interests include hiking and photography. He lives in Dublin, OH.
Chad Smith
Chad Smith is a naturalist supervisor with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Ohio State Parks, Southwest District. Chad began his career with ODNR when he was 18 years old as a natural resource specialist (NRS), then promoted to a seasonal naturalist at Heuston Woods State Park. He and Wife Marcia live near Oxford, Ohio.
Kristin Marks
Kristin Marks writes the blog cbusmom.com where she reviews and suggests kid-friendly activities in Central Ohio and surrounding areas. She lives in Columbus with her sarcastic Xbox-loving husband; two children, who she thinks are plotting to take over the world with chocolate chip cookies, two barky mini-schnauzers, and a tank full of random fish. Check out her blog or follow Cbus Mom on Facebook and Twitter.
Cody Sowers
Cody was born and raised in the hills of Southeastern Ohio, where he spent a good chunk of his youth running around the woods. This led to his interest in obtaining a degree in Natural and Historical Interpretation from Hocking College. He then spent some time in California before finally settling down outside of Cincinnati. Cody is happily married, with a daughter, age 3 and a boy on the way. He still spends as much time in the woods as possible, cycling, hiking, bird watching, or photography. Read his blog here.
Jenny Richards
Jenny grew up on the edge of Shawnee Forest exploring the outdoors with her older brother, Kamiakin. Currently, she lives on 16 acres on the edge of Shawnee Forest since 2000 and “built a really cool house out of native rocks and wood. I am a really lucky girl.” She has a bachelor’s degree in Geography from Ohio University. She has been living her dream as a park naturalist for the past 11 years. She enjoys hiking, canoeing, bird watching and flipping rocks in search of reptiles and amphibians. She loves sharing her passion for the great outdoors with park visitors.
Andrea Ratulowski
Andrea Ratulowski is a certified health coach, foodie, and runner living in Columbus, OH. Her website, FoodEmbrace.com, focuses on living an active and healthy lifestyle. She believes in eating real whole foods and enjoys teaching others how to do the same. You can also find her on Twitter, @foodembrace, and on Facebook.
Brenda Culler
Brenda lives two blocks from Lake Erie in Huron, Ohio with daughters, Breanna 8 and Kendra 6. They love going to the beach about any time of the year and have even gone in their snow suits to check out Mother Nature’s ice sculptures. In their spare time they like to go camping, fishing, kayaking, biking and adventuring. She has been the public information officer, internet and education coordinator for Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management for more than 9 years. Brenda grew up in Stark County, Ohio. She attended Kent State University as an Honors and Founders Scholar with a degree in journalism and minor in political science.
John Ross
John currently writes for Alive, the free weekly magazine in Columbus, Ohio where he covers outdoor adventure. This means he gets to hike, bike, camp, paddle and fish his way across the Buckeye State. Follow the escapades at columbusalive.com/venture.
Pat Quakenbush
A naturalist by profession, Pat has spent the past twenty years working for Ohio State Parks. Currently, he is the Naturalist at Hocking Hills State Park. He is also an Ornithology instructor at Hocking College. Pat’s newest project is the design and coordination of the Hocking Valley Birding Trail. He is happily married to his wife, Jannette. Together they have four kids.
Derek Hennen
Derek is currently an undergraduate student, studying Biology and Spanish at Marietta College. He has found his passion in the world of Biology, specifically, insects and has been searching for as many insects as he can ever since. Somewhere along the line, he realized that there are more insects than he ever realized, and Ohio offers a wonderful medley. Since then, he has been focused on introducing others to the diversity of insects and how wonderful insects truly are. He also keeps a blog of his adventures in biology here.
Joe Laing
Joe Laing is the Director of Marketing for El Monte RV. He lives with his wife and daughter in Southern California and enjoys the outdoors and travel.
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