Executive Director

Jenny DeSarro

Jenny comes to Wyoming Untrapped with a robust background in environmental education, conservation advocacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration. A Wyoming native, her conservation ethic and journey toward weaving ecological understanding and cultural fluency stem from joining her dad in the incubation room to monitor bird eggs from around the globe as part of a broader effort to restore threatened waterfowl through captive breeding programs. Jenny holds a Bachelor of Science from Utah State University and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Lesley University. When off the clock, Jenny enjoys exploring nature with her husband, Matt Hall, and their labrador Ike.

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Board of Directors

Lisa Robertson

  • President (Co-Founder)

Lisa is a co-founder of Wyoming Untrapped.  She has been involved with land and wildlife conservation projects for more than 40 years. She pilots her small Cessna aircraft, from which she takes big-picture images of the landscape to document wild places, often those at risk. She has provided pro-bono aerial radio telemetry and monitoring for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wolf Recovery Project and for various non-profit organizations, agencies and individuals researching and documenting populations of wolves, grizzlies, cougars, coyotes, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, moose, lynx, owls, falcons and other birds. Whenever possible, laughter is on the daily agenda.

“Wyoming’s wildlife management is not keeping pace with our modern society’s shifting views on the intrinsic value of our wildlife,” she says. “Programs and agencies need to transform to engage and serve broader constituencies, which will create a safe and humane environment for all our people, pets and wildlife. It’s time.”  With civility and compassion, we can succeed.

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Debbie Reis

  • Director (Co-Founder)

Debbie Reis is a Wyoming Untrapped co-founder, and conservation advocate who heads our trap-release workshops. She has been a board member and Events Coordinator for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and a volunteer with other valley organizations. An admirer of the late Mardy Murie, Debbie was honored to meet Mardy at her 101st birthday party and came away aspiring to be the type of person who made a difference. She has volunteered for St. John’s Living Center, the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the Conservation Alliance, and supports a host of animal and human rights organizations.

By working with Wyoming Untrapped, Debbie hopes to inspire others to join and help create a safe and humane environment for people, pets and wildlife. “We all deserve to feel safe when hiking on our public lands,” she says.

Whitney Royster

  • Secretary/Treasurer

Whitney Royster has worked as a natural resources reporter for most of her career. She graduated with a dual degree in English and Political Science from Duke University, then obtained a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She covered the environment for the state of Wyoming and for Teton County and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. When not chasing her two young children, she helps Wyoming Untrapped with media coverage and long-term strategy.

Leslie Patten

  • Vice President

Leslie Patten has worked with land her entire life. As a professional landscape designer in the San Francisco Bay Area, her gardens were featured in Garden Conservancy and local art tours. While living in Northern California, she worked with school-age children, helping them explore the unique ecology of redwood forests and coastal tide pools. In 2005, she moved to the Cody area where she spends summers backpacking throughout the Greater Yellowstone region. Leslie is passionate about changing laws to protect wildlife from the outdated custom of trapping. She believes education is key. Her own dog was caught in a leghold trap on public lands. She is the author of three books, her latest one on mountain lions entitled Ghostwalker: Tracking a Mountain Lion’s Soul through Science and Story.

Karen Hanson

  • Director

I received my BA in Zoology from UC Berkeley and my professional career was in college textbook publishing. I currently live in California (Mill Valley and Tahoe), but spent almost 20 years living part-time in Victor. I left the Tetons in late 2019, but return several times a year to enjoy the beauty, wildlife, and stay connected with friends. I love traveling and staying active with my beautiful dog Riley.

I am a passionate photographer and videographer, using my skills to help conservation organizations whenever possible. I’ve served as a judge for the Jackson Wild film festival for several years, and have won several major photo contests with my wildlife images and videos.

I served on the Board of Directors for Western Watersheds Projects for several years and while residing in Victor worked on a couple of media projects for the Teton Raptor Center and the Teton Regional Land Trust.  I have recently joined the Board of Directors for Rewilding Idaho. I am very excited to join the Board of Directors for Wyoming Untrapped to help this incredible organization move forward with their ambitious goals.

Advisory Council

Sharon Brown, Advisory Council

S Sharon Brown

Sharon Brown, Advisory Council

Sharon Brown

For Sharon Brown, wildlife is the soulful expression of our planet. Without them, we are soulless. To gaze upon a free roaming animal is to know all is right with the world. Sharon has 25 years combined experience working with top-shelf brands as a producer, director, and editor in broadcast, branded content, and digital media.
Dr. Franz Camenzind, Advisory Council

D Dr. Franz Camenzind

Dr. Franz Camenzind, Advisory Council

Dr. Franz Camenzind

Dr. Franz Camenzind is a wildlife biologist turned filmmaker and environmental activist. In his career he conducted numerous wildlife assessments, often focusing on threatened and endangered species. Serendipitous opportunities lead him to a long career in the documentary film industry where he produced films on coyotes, wolves, grizzly bears, pronghorn antelope, giant pandas and black rhinos. Although now enjoying retirement in his Jackson, Wyoming home of 44 years, he is still very much involved in local, regional and national environmental issues. He spent his last 13 years as Executive Director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. Prior to that he served on its board for 13 years and was one of the founding board members of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He has also served on the boards of Keystone Conservation (Formerly, Predator Conservation Alliance), Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Wyoming Conservation Voters.
Bernadine Craft, Advisory Council

B Bernadine Craft

Bernadine Craft, Advisory Council

Bernadine Craft

Bernadine Craft has served in the Wyoming State Senate, holding the position of Minority Whip. She served on the joint Travel, Recreation and Cultural Resources Committee, along with several other distinguished Senate roles. She is the executive director of the Sweetwater Board of Cooperative Educational Services and an adjust instructor at Western Wyoming Community College, in addition to being a psychotherapist and Priest at Holy Communion Episcopal Church in Rock Springs.
Melissa Groo, Advisory Council

M Melissa Groo

Melissa Groo, Advisory Council

Melissa Groo

Melissa Groo is a wildlife photographer, writer, and speaker. Her photographs have been published in numerous books and magazines, including Smithsonian, Audubon, Birdwatching, and National Wildlife. She writes a regular column on wildlife photography for Outdoor Photographer magazine, and is a contributing editor to Audubon magazine. She speaks and writes frequently on issues of ethics and conservation in wildlife photography, Melissa is a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers, and is the Chair of the Ethics Committee for the North American Nature Photography Association. She shows regularly and her prints are in personal and corporate collections all over the world. She lives in upstate New York and visits Wyoming whenever she can.

J Jeff Hogan

Jeff Hogan

Cinematographer Jeff Hogan has been filming and photographing wildlife around the world for over 30 years earning numerous awards for his work including several Emmy nominations for Cinematography. Being a naturalist at heart, Jeff's passion is to witness wildlife behavior, and for a privileged view into the secret lives of wildlife, capturing intimate imaging that illustrates the unique story’s that abound throughout the Natural world. Jeff resides in the heart of the Yellowstone Ecosystem with his wife Karen and son Finn with homes in both Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Silver Gate, Montana. Living at the doorstep of both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Jeff often captures behavioral sequences rarely witnessed in the wild. Bringing these images and stories to the screen is Jeff’s goal, with the understanding and hope that society will respond with a desire to conserve, protect and treasure our incredible natural worlds.  And restore our wild lands to complete intact ecosystem once again.

Asher Jay, Advisory Council

A Asher Jay

Asher Jay, Advisory Council

Asher Jay

Asher Jay is an international adventurer and public figure whose compelling paintings, sculptures, installations, animations, ad campaigns, and films all have a single purpose: to incite global action on behalf of wildlife conservation. Asher's travels to the frontline have made her witness and story-teller, combatting illegal wildlife trafficking, promoting habitat sanctuaries and illuminating humanitarian emergencies. Her core message, again and again: biodiversity loss during the Anthropocene – the Age of Man.
Penny Maldonado, Advisory Council

P Penny Maldonado

Penny Maldonado, Advisory Council

Penny Maldonado

Penny Maldonado has lived in Moran Wyoming for 25 years, and has volunteered for many organizations dedicated to wildlife conservation and environmental protection. She has always had two jobs...one that 'pays the bills' (Postmaster of Moose) and one that makes her life rich (volunteering!). Now, as Executive Director of The Cougar Fund she can combine her love of wild things and her working life. She is entering her 15th year as a volunteer backcountry ranger in Grand Teton National Park, encouraging and educating visitors on how to recreate safely in wild places. She has an academic background in social sciences, which has reinforced her belief that conservation is primarily about people, positivity, and building trust.
Kristine O'Brien

K Kristine O’Brien

Kristine O'Brien

Kristine O’Brien

Kristine O’Brien is a longtime backcountry skier and advocate for conservation and wildlife. She and her Border Collie volunteer with Teton County Pet Partners programs at the Teton County Literacy Center and at C-Bar-V Ranch. She has fostered and adopted shelter dogs in Teton County and with Strays of Abu Dhabi while living in the United Arab Emirates.

Kristine is passionate about ski mountaineering. She is often backcountry skiing in the Tetons, and has also climbed and skied in Europe, South America, the Himalaya, South Africa, and Northwest China.  She founded and for several years ran a tour operator company taking people skiing in the French Alps.

Kristine O’Brien graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota, receiving a BS in Economics. She earned an ABD in Economics also at the University of Minnesota. Kristine has traveled extensively, living and raising her two children in five countries.

D Dave Pauli

Dave Pauli

Director, Wildlife Innovations Humane Society (US) Dave Pauli started his animal career in 1979 by starting a wildlife conflict resolution business in Madison, Wisconsin called Humane Animal Controls, Inc. Since then he also served as a superintendent of animal control (Billings Animal Shelter), a bi-county Humane Society in Eastern Washington (Tri-Cities) and for the past 30 years as a field responder/manager for The Humane Society of The United States. Dave has responded to domestic animal/exotic/wild animal projects in all 50 states and in Taiwan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Canada, Turks & Caicos, Costa Rico, Vieques, Culebra, St Johns, Molokai, and a seaborne rescue ship. Dave currently works on remotely solving wildlife conflicts, but also responds to natural disasters and participates in chemical immobilization and immunocontraception projects for deer. He also participates in volume capture projects for prairie dogs, and feral dogs and cats for translocation or spaying. The remainder of his time is allocated to helping all HSUS, Humane Society International and the Wildlife Land Trust with field projects or programs. He is an HSUS point person on wild pigs, prairie dogs, beavers, turtles and tortoises, pigeons, trapping issues and wildlife contraception. Dave began teaching trap-release workshops with us in 2013.
Ashleigh Scully, Advisory Council

A Ashleigh Scully

Ashleigh Scully, Advisory Council

Ashleigh Scully

Ashleigh Scully is a young nature photographer from New Jersey who enjoys spending time looking for wildlife in the Tetons. Her focus is to capture intimate wildlife behavior in the hopes of creating much-needed empathy and compassion for her subjects. Ashleigh was a co-presenter at WU’s “Wild Canids & Felids: Stories from the Field” event in 2017, and she has self-published three books to raise money for wildlife conservation. A recent Youth Wildlife Photographer of the Year award-winner, Ashleigh hopes that her work will inspire the next generation of young conservation-minded nature photographers.
Gary L. Shockey, Advisory Council

G Gary L. Shockey

Gary L. Shockey, Advisory Council

Gary L. Shockey

Gary L. Shockey was born in Casper and graduated from Yale University with degrees in Political Science and Sociology. He went to the University of Wyoming School of Law and worked for the Natrona County Public Defender before becoming a partner in the Spence Law Firm. He has served on many civic boards and groups, including board memberships for the Jackson Hole Alliance for Responsible Planning, the Teton Science School, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and the Casper Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps. Gary enjoys man outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, boating, sailing, skiing and hiking. He and his wife Dona have three children – Amber, Jeremy and Kimberly.
WU Board Member Peggy Struhsacker

P Peggy Struhsacker

WU Board Member Peggy Struhsacker

Peggy Struhsacker

Peggy has been involved in animal advocacy for her whole life. Her spirit and efforts have been marked by a dual love of the Rocky Mountains and the northern forests of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. She has worked to protect the gray wolf as a carnivore consultant for the National Resources Defense Council in Livingston and the National Wildlife Federation in Vermont. She also worked for Wyoming Untrapped in 2009, and still leads 10-day expeditions through northwest Wyoming. She also taught sciences at the North American Hockey Academy and Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy in Stowe, and operated a horse blanket cleaning service in Morrisville, VT, still staying connected with the equine and animal community. Peggy now is a resident of Alpine, WY, living near her family and new granddaughter, Sophie.

Our work has been generously supported and funded through individual donors,
businesses and the following organizations:

Wildlife for All