Our Staff
Carol Bauman
Office Administrator
A native New Yorker (from da Bronx!), Carol’s only exposure to the Wild West was through watching “The Lone Ranger” and “Gunsmoke” on TV. Her only experience with sand came from digging in a playground sandbox and occasional summer trips to Long Island beaches. Never did she dream that after living on the East coast for more than half a century she would move to southern Utah, have two horses, one camera-shy dog, and a chicken join her family, and be surrounded by sands of many colors. Carol worked as a technical writer and manager in a computer company for many years before she and her husband Richard decided to move to an area with wide open spaces and no traffic to speak of. After almost seven years in Utah, she is still awed by the beauty surrounding her, and she is happy to be working in an organization whose focus is on the scientific research and educational opportunities provided by the Monument. It’s a great sandbox to play in!
Tylor Birthisel
Palenontology Lab Manager
Tylor manages the GSENM paleontology lab, which over the last ten years has become filled with thousands of specimens from the fossil-rich badlands of the Kaiparowits Plateau. Much of this bounty still lies wrapped in protective plaster jackets due to the delicate and lengthy process involved in preparing the specimens for display and study. There is so much work to do that we rely on the help of dedicated volunteers to help in the preparation of these treasures. Here’s where Tylor, dinosaur lover since the age of 3, 
steps in. His first assignment was sorting through and organizing the incredible fossil collection, such as several new species of dinosaurs, rare findings like dinosaur skin, and several species of turtles, crocodiles and ammonites, among other interesting ancient animals. Through those efforts, Tylor was able to increase the capacity of the lab and create new work spaces to accommodate more volunteers. The lab is now open to volunteers to prepare fossils Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Tylor directing and overseeing the painstaking (but fun!) work .
steps in. His first assignment was sorting through and organizing the incredible fossil collection, such as several new species of dinosaurs, rare findings like dinosaur skin, and several species of turtles, crocodiles and ammonites, among other interesting ancient animals. Through those efforts, Tylor was able to increase the capacity of the lab and create new work spaces to accommodate more volunteers. The lab is now open to volunteers to prepare fossils Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Tylor directing and overseeing the painstaking (but fun!) work .Tylor, a geology graduate of the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, recently came to southern Utah in 2011 to continue his love of paleontology by volunteering full time at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm. Tylor has been involved with the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm for over seven years now, and has years of experience in fossil preparation and lab management. Now he brings that wealth of experience and knowledge to the Monument. He has traveled to China and Europe to study dinosaurs and has helped author several scientific papers on subjects such as fossil fish, dinosaur tracks, phytosaurs (crocodile-like animals), and even fossil algae. He makes a great addition to the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners in helping preserve this vital resource.
Roger Cole
Executive Director
roger@gsenm.org
Roger Cole joined GSEP in 2010 and brings more than 28 years of conservation planning and non-profit management experience to GSEP. Roger worked for municipal governments and not-for-profit conservation organizations in Maine, where he lived for 30 years before relocating to Kanab. Before joining Partners, Roger coordinated a 10-member conservation collaboration that raised more than $20 million for natural resource protection. When out of the office, Roger enjoys exploring the culture and landscapes of red rock country and volunteering for community events, including suiting up in 19th-century pioneer garb for an open house at Pipe Spring National Monument.
Daisy Johnson
Graphic Artist
Daisy joined Partners in 2006 and works primarily with graphic design and page layouts. Her first project was assisting with the design, layout, and uploading of the GSENM high school curriculum to the web (available at gsenmschool.org). Since then she has done the layout and graphics for the elementary workbooks used at each of the GSENM visitor centers. Compiling papers and completing the page layout for the Learning from the Land: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Science Symposium 2006 publication is her most recent accomplishment. She graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelors Degree of Science in Business in 2010. In her spare time Daisy enjoys riding horses, roping, camping, fishing, and hunting with her husband, Derick, and their son Jerod.
Kristina Pack
Field Coordinator, Escalante River Watershed Partnership
kris@gsenm.org
Kris has dreamed of living in Escalante since her first visit to the Monument, and after receiving her Bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in 2007 she was able to turn her dream into a reality. Kris worked seasonally for the Monument botanist, which is where Kris came to be involved with removing of woody invasive plants — like Russian olive — on the Escalante River. In 2009 the Escalante River Watershed Partnership was formed to bring together federal and state agencies, conservation organizations (including Partners), local communities and private citizens to continue efforts to restore the Escalante River and its tributaries to their natural state. Partners received grant money in late 2010 to continue removing Russian olive from the river, and to continue restoration work there. Kris handles all the logistics and oversees all field work and crews working on the Escalante River. Luckily, this includes spending much of her time hiking to the places that made her want to live here in the first place. When not at work Kris can be found on Boulder Mountain fishing, going on long horseback rides, or helping out at the Escalante Outfitters.
Wade Parsons
Education Coordinator
Wade is our education coordinator during the school year (he’s a BLM archaeologist during the field season).When the assignment involves reconnecting people to nature, Wade is both student and dedicated teacher. Wade was a high school social science teacher for 18 years. As a faculty member he developed an on-campus outdoor wildlife learning site, was the adviser for the National Honor Society Environmental Committee and organized Sierra Teen outings. In his free time, he worked regularly with the Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, Kansas, and provided historical write-ups and illustrations for the Symphony In The Flint Hills. Wade’s knowledge of the grasslands and enthusiasm for teaching found him frequently enlisted as an instructor at workshops for educators and camps for students. His fascination with early cultures in Kansas led to his discovery and documentation of the first known prehistoric sites on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Those discoveries prompted him to earn a Master’s in anthropology. Since then he has worked for National Forests, the BLM, and private companies across the west.
Wade is our education coordinator during the school year (he’s a BLM archaeologist during the field season).When the assignment involves reconnecting people to nature, Wade is both student and dedicated teacher. Wade was a high school social science teacher for 18 years. As a faculty member he developed an on-campus outdoor wildlife learning site, was the adviser for the National Honor Society Environmental Committee and organized Sierra Teen outings. In his free time, he worked regularly with the Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, Kansas, and provided historical write-ups and illustrations for the Symphony In The Flint Hills. Wade’s knowledge of the grasslands and enthusiasm for teaching found him frequently enlisted as an instructor at workshops for educators and camps for students. His fascination with early cultures in Kansas led to his discovery and documentation of the first known prehistoric sites on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Those discoveries prompted him to earn a Master’s in anthropology. Since then he has worked for National Forests, the BLM, and private companies across the west.
Karolyn Jackman Tenney
Site Steward Coordinator
Karolyn joined the Partners in 2011 to organize and administer
the GSENM Site Steward Program. A native of Arizona, she grew up in the great outdoors and never lost her love for playing in the dirt. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Brigham Young University (BYU), teaching high school English, and rearing seven children, she returned to her love of digging and earned a Master’s Degree in anthropology with an emphasis on Historical Archaeology from BYU. After a brief excavation season in Guatemala, she worked for ten years in contract archaeology in Southern Arizona, directing excavations for the downtown Phoenix Diamondbacks baseball stadium, relocating a large early historic Native American cemetery located in a freeway corridor, and researching historic properties along the Red Mountain Freeway corridor in the Mesa/Lehi area of Arizona, among many other projects. She also wrote a history of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation and developed a curriculum for the school system on that reservation to preserve and teach Pima-Maricopa culture history. Much of her work consisted of surveying and recording both prehistoric and historic sites throughout Arizona, excavation on those sites destined for destruction due to development, and research in early pioneer diaries, newspapers, and journals to document the early settlement of the Arizona Territory. Karolyn retired when she and her husband Ben moved to Kanab in 2001. She volunteers at the Kane County Hospital Thrift Store and in the lab for the BLM Paleontology program. She was persuaded to get back into the archaeological saddle when the opportunity came to contribute to the preservation and protection of archaeological and paleontological resources on the Monument through the Site Steward Program.
Karolyn joined the Partners in 2011 to organize and administer
the GSENM Site Steward Program. A native of Arizona, she grew up in the great outdoors and never lost her love for playing in the dirt. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Brigham Young University (BYU), teaching high school English, and rearing seven children, she returned to her love of digging and earned a Master’s Degree in anthropology with an emphasis on Historical Archaeology from BYU. After a brief excavation season in Guatemala, she worked for ten years in contract archaeology in Southern Arizona, directing excavations for the downtown Phoenix Diamondbacks baseball stadium, relocating a large early historic Native American cemetery located in a freeway corridor, and researching historic properties along the Red Mountain Freeway corridor in the Mesa/Lehi area of Arizona, among many other projects. She also wrote a history of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation and developed a curriculum for the school system on that reservation to preserve and teach Pima-Maricopa culture history. Much of her work consisted of surveying and recording both prehistoric and historic sites throughout Arizona, excavation on those sites destined for destruction due to development, and research in early pioneer diaries, newspapers, and journals to document the early settlement of the Arizona Territory. Karolyn retired when she and her husband Ben moved to Kanab in 2001. She volunteers at the Kane County Hospital Thrift Store and in the lab for the BLM Paleontology program. She was persuaded to get back into the archaeological saddle when the opportunity came to contribute to the preservation and protection of archaeological and paleontological resources on the Monument through the Site Steward Program.
