Instructor Biographies

Grand Canyon Field Institute is proud of its outstanding team of instructors. Made up of resource experts possessing PhD's, Masters and Bachelors degrees, our instructors continually share their passion for Grand Canyon with others. The following is a list of instructors that will likely be leading classes during the upcoming season.

If the class description lists the instructor as “Field Institute staff,” one of the following instructors will serve in that capacity. Preclass materials will indicate which instructor has been scheduled for your class, or you can call the Field Institute office for the latest information on specific assignments. All instructors listed, with the exception of Mike Buchheit, Jack Pennington and Elaine Maier, are acting as independent contractors while leading courses and performing duties for the Field Institute. Mike, Jack, and Elaine are full-time employees of the Grand Canyon Field Institute.

Listed alphabetically by last name.
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Larry Lindahl

Larry Lindahl enjoys sharing his knowledge and passion for photography with his strong focus on the artful side of the medium. He is a professional freelance photographer and writer whose work frequently appears in books, magazines and scenic calendars. Arizona Highways magazine has published feature stories about Larry’s Grand Canyon hiking trips and several portfolios of his landscape images. In his book Secret Sedona: Sacred Moments in the Landscape, he thoroughly explores his connection to Sedona’s sandstone wilderness in photography and field journal entries collected over a 12-year period. His landscape photography can be seen in the now-classic book Grand Canyon: The Vault of Heaven and is featured in the award-winning book Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography. Larry lives at the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau in Sedona, Arizona.

Elaine Maier

Elaine Maier was born in Illinois but raised in Arizona. She has spent much of her time backpacking and hiking the Southwest. For over 20 years, she has hiked extensively in the Grand Canyon. Elaine has worked as a trail guide, river guide and tour leader in the Southwest, and taught backpacking and hiking skills classes for several parks and recreation departments in the Phoenix area. When not on the trail with Field Institute participants, Elaine is in our office assisting instructors and students as they prepare for their journey into the Grand Canyon.

Jennifer Marshall

Jennifer moved to the Grand Canyon area from the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York four years ago. After falling in love with canyon country upon her first trip here in eighth grade, she is now happily living in Grand Canyon National Park with her husband and two children.

During her 13 years of teaching experience, Jennifer has worked as a private art teacher, public school art teacher, Waldorf preschool teacher, and now a second grade teacher at Grand Canyon School. In addition to teaching, she has owned and operated her own Fiber Arts business in New York. Jennifer is a graduate of State University of New York at Potsdam earning a B.A. in Studio Art with concentration in Sculpture. She completed her teaching degree at St. Lawrence University and a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Plattsburgh State University, with a concentration in Art Education.

Jennifer has worked as an Environmental Education Ranger at Grand Canyon National Park for the past two summers, joining together her love of the Grand Canyon, education, and the arts. She has led various educational programs at the Grand Canyon for children and families.

Jennifer enjoys drawing, felting, and spinning wool, and is endlessly inspired by the beauty of the Grand Canyon and the Southwest.

Charles Matheus

Charles Matheus is an Arizona native who has bachelor’s degrees in natural history and education from Cornell University. He taught high school biology for several years, along the way working with his students to monitor local streams and rangelands and develop keys for identifying aquatic invertebrates and riparian trees. For several years, Charles traveled to Costa Rica with the Organization for Tropical Studies to teach graduate-level courses in canopy access and arboreal research techniques. Charles is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Mountain Instructor’s Course and has led extended trips in most of the West’s major mountain ranges and deserts. He likes to combine his passion for backcountry living and biology by keeping trip-by-trip species lists of flowering plants and birds. Besides leading canyon trips, Charles runs his own business building organic food gardens in people’s backyards.

David Meyer

David Meyer was raised in New Jersey and made his first visit to the Grand Canyon in 1987 for a three-month photography project. He was so taken by the canyon that it sparked a 25-year love affair that continues to this day. David started working for what was then known as the Fred Harvey Company (now Xanterra South Rim LLC). He managed several operations on the South Rim until he finally worked his way to the bottom: He became the manager of Phantom Ranch and spent the next 10 years living at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. As an instructor for the Field Institute David is able to share his love and enthusiasm of this special place he calls his home.

Melanie Miles

Melanie Miles, a native of England, is a teacher and naturalist who has led groups through the Grand Canyon and down the Colorado River as a guide/naturalist for Yavapai and Prescott Colleges of Arizona and Woodswomen of Minneapolis. She has taught earth science, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling and backcountry skills from Catalina Island to the Isle of Wight.

Steve Monroe

Steve Monroe is a hydrologist and aquatic ecologist with the National Park Service, working on water issues in national parks throughout the southern Colorado Plateau. He previously worked for more than 15 years with the U.S. Geological Survey. Steve has hiked extensively throughout the Grand Canyon to research the hydrology and ecology of its springs and seeps. Based in Flagstaff, Steve is an avid explorer of the Four Corners region, hiking and skiing in the area’s spectacular mountains and wandering endless canyons by boat and on foot. Steve holds a master’s degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University.

Tom Myers

Tom Myers is a longtime physician at the Grand Canyon National Park clinic. During his tenure on the South Rim, he has diagnosed and treated thousands of backcountry medical problems. He has been exploring in and around Grand Canyon since 1973 and teaching for the Field Institute since 1994. Tom is the author of Grand Canyon Trail and River Medicine Field Guide and Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon. He is also coauthor of Grand Obsession: Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of Grand Canyon.

Jack Pennington

Jack Pennington received his education in his native England, earning a B.S. in geology from Queen Mary College (London) and an M.S. in mineral exploration and mining geology from Leicester University. Geology has taken Jack across much of the globe. He traveled to Africa where he worked as an exploration geologist at the world famous Ashanti mine in Ghana, and visited South Africa’s and Swaziland's rich mining districts. He also studied the geology of the UK and much of Europe. Jack came to Grand Canyon National Park in 1994 working first as a volunteer naturalist with the Division of Interpretation and then as a restoration specialist (plants) with Grand Canyon’s Science Center. He has been down the Colorado River almost a dozen times each time assisting with science research projects.

Andre Potochnik

Andre Potochnik is a Flagstaff-based geologist, educator and river guide with a doctorate in geology from Arizona State University. Andre’s inspiration in geology and rivers stems from working as a river guide in the Grand Canyon since 1973. His interest in conservation of natural resources spurred his involvement with Grand Canyon River Guides, where he currently works as river science coordinator. For the past eight years, Andre has also served on the Adaptive Management Work Group to improve operations of Glen Canyon Dam for the benefit of the river ecosystem in Grand Canyon. Andre has held lectureships at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Yavapai College and Prescott College. He also develops river guide and interpreter-training seminars and teaches outdoor public education classes through the Grand Circle Field School, Elderhostel and other groups. Andre is currently organizing and leading a group of educators from across the nation to advocate for education-based river trip access to Grand Canyon National Park. Today, he continues to integrate research, policy and education on Colorado River and Grand Canyon issues.

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Instructor Biographies