Matt Kelly
Director, Producer
Matt is an independent journalist and storyteller. He has covered stories such as endangered bee species, cybersecurity in rural America, and keeping people fed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. He is the creator, editor and host of the Bee Report newsletter and podcast. Matt is also a volunteer EMT and firefighter, 24/7/365.
Tony Di Zinno
Director of Photography
As a concerned photographer turned filmmaker, Tony has carved a niche as a veteran DP of subjects that mirror his global sensibilities. His time in Afghanistan on projects of giving voice and empowering women in the conflict zone were followed by participation in years of effort in supporting the solidarity between the diverse tribes of the Great Sioux Nation in the Black Hills. More recently his primary focus has turned more specifically to the natural world in general and conservation in particular. He is privileged to be a working team member on the ambitious projects of Endangered Activism and Design for Wildlife. Tony was recently nominated to be the Visiting Artist in Residence for the Seneca Zoological Society in 2019-2020, providing tuition and workshops on visual storytelling for urban youth in Rochester, NY.
Olivia Carril
Reseacher
Dr. Olivia Carril has been studying native bees for over 20 years. She received her Masters degree from Utah State University, where she studied the bee fauna of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. For her PhD, Olivia studied a specialist bee, Diadasia, and its host plants; she received that degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2013. In 2015 coauthored the book The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees. She lives in Santa Fe, NM, with her husband and their two young daughters. When she isn’t dreaming up new questions to ask about bees, she is working on two more bee identification books, as well as some bee surveys for northern New Mexico.
Joseph Wilson
Researcher
Joseph Wilson grew up in Utah and has been strongly drawn to the natural world for as long as he can remember; at the age of two he declared to his parents that he would, in fact, be a lion when he grew up. While he didn’t quite make it to lionhood, his academic studies in biology at Utah State University allowed him to become the next best thing: a professor of biology. His research focuses primarily on the evolution and ecology of bees and wasps – creatures whose lives provide as much drama, mystery, humor, and intrigue as any prime time TV show. In 2015 Joseph coauthored the book The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees. As a result of his work and experience with bees, Joseph has appeared on NPR, Canada Public Radio, and in the New York Times. His research enables him, his wife and their three children to travel the country collecting and photographing the beautiful bees and wasps that live all around us.
Farrah Lafontant
ioby Strategist
Farrah, a proud Brooklynite, discovered her passion for community engagement when she served as a Parent Coordinator at New York City’s Department of Education. There, she learned the power of advocacy, community, and coalition building. She often finds her self in awe at civic leaders who are passionate about changing their communities on their own terms. She is excited to bear witness to this type of leadership on a national scale, and support it through her work as an Associate Leader Success Strategist. When she’s not working to drive change in her own neighborhood, she’s practicing her kreyol, exploring her passion of all things fiber arts, or leading walking tours focusing on the history, architecture and culture of her East New York neighborhood, in Brooklyn.
Suzanne Hunt
Advisory Team, Project Ambassador
Suzanne has nearly two decades of experience solving problems in energy, agriculture, transportation and the environment. She founded Hunt Green LLC in 2007 to provide policy, fund raising, business development, and strategy support to leading organizations. Her clients have included private equity firms, UN bodies, government agencies, clean tech start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and non-profits. In the spring of 2015 she moved the business from Washington DC to the Finger Lakes region of New York state to help with her family’s seventh generation farm and winery Hunt Country Vineyards, and to help accelerate the historic clean energy transition underway in New York.
Mariana Prieto
Visual Design Advisor, Team Illustrator
Mariana is the creator of Design for Wildlife, a collective of creative talent working to support wildlife organizations on challenges in human-wildlife conflict, donor fatigue, poaching communities and other human-centered issues. She is currently a TED Resident, working out of TED HQ in New York. Previously, Mariana was Design Innovation Lead for the International Rescue Committee. In 2013, she was named Global Design Fellow for IDEO.org where she worked on poverty alleviation projects such as reducing teen pregnancies in Zambia, building social enterprises for female farmers in India, supporting victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and working with The Rockefeller Foundation to write a book on the informal workforce in Africa and Asia. On the side, Mariana dabbles in illustration, co-creating a graphic novel series about superheroes that protect wildlife with National Geographic Adventurer of the year, Shannon Galpin.
Josh Gelman
Advisor, Production Guru, Fount of Wisdom
Josh is a 26-year veteran of CBS News. As a producer for the show “48 Hours”, he has received three National News and Documentary EMMY awards, as well as four additional nominations, a duPont-Columbia University award and a RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for overall excellence in television news production. Josh has produced more than 50 hours of network television including numerous breaking-news prime-time specials and special collaborations with Vanity Fair and Vogue Magazine. Prior to joining CBS, Josh was an independent film editor, working on feature films, documentaries, commercials and political campaigns in both New York and Los Angeles. He is also an accomplished and passionate photographer, reasonable fly-fisher, embarrassingly slow runner and proud survivor of leukemia. He is a graduate of Bennington College in Vermont and currently resides in New York City with his wife, 10-year-old daughter and new puppy Bo.
The Amazing Joe Taylor
Composer
Joe’s career in film and television includes scores for the hit CBS series “Stephen King’s Golden Years”, the Discovery Channel’s “SpyTek with Roger Moore”, ABC Television’s “Turning Point”, A&E Television’s “Spies” and Sony Studios “Veronica and Me”. An acclaimed guitarist, Joe has been described as “a funky mix of Jeff Beck and Chet Atkins” by The Mississippi Press; Just Jazz Guitar magazine described his residency at New York’s world famous Living Room as “a joy to watch.” During his career, Joe has worked with an array of artists and producers, including Donna Summer, Al B. Sure!, Keith Diamond, Ahmet Ertegun, Dave Koz, The Roches, Nile Rodgers and Emmylou Harris. On the Classical and Celtic end of the spectrum, Joe has worked with The Canadian Brass, Angel Romero, James Galway, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Jerry O’Sullivan. Taylor’s hit singles “Delphin’s Daughter”, “Built For It” and “Meet Your Mother at the Rocket” are mainstays at Instrumental Radio, and all landed on top of the instrumental charts.
Romy Rosemont
Narrator
Romy currently recurs on the ABC drama, A Million Little Things. Known for her role as Carole Hudson (Finn’s mom) on Fox’s Emmy-winning hit series Glee, she recently starred on Freeform’s supernatural thriller Beyond. In addition to the lead in the Lifetime TV movie Psycho Mother In-Law, Romy’s other credits include recurring roles on Silicon Valley (HBO), Scandal (ABC), Justified (FX), American Crime Story (FX), Secrets & Lies (ABC), The Fosters (Freeform) as well as many notable TV guest appearances. As a writer/producer Romy co-created, produced and co-starred in the critically acclaimed and wildly popular web series Bitter Party of Five.
The Bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante 