Missouri Conservationist online

Dan Dey is a USDA Forest Service research forester with 19 years experience in forest management and research. Mavis Dey is a freelance writer and home-school mother of four children.

Betty Grace lives on a farm outside Albany, Mo., with her husband, Jim, and their children, Jacob, 9, and Anna, 4. They are a family of campers, traveling anywhere they can set up their tent. Betty has drawn a monthly cartoon for the Conservationist since 1986 and sometimes illustrates articles.

Richard Guyette is a research associate professor in forestry at the University of Missouri's School of Natural Resources. He studies tree rings to learn about forests, the environment, ecology and history. He lives with his wife and children in central Missouri. His hobbies are drawing and boiling maple sap into syrup.

Paul Lamble and his wife "nest" near Kansas City and are raising a brood of their own, looking forward to their first flights. They also maintain what he describes as a "40-acre tick farm" in Benton County. Paul has written for the Conservationist on such subjects as crows, hiking trails, mistletoe and urban deer.

John McPherson has been with the Conservation Department for 25 years. Since 1989, he has been working to acquire lake and stream areas and to develop boat accesses. He enjoys country living with his wife, Jeanne, and their two children, Jordan and Jayna, on a small farm near California, Mo.

Stan Michaelson has worked for the Conservation Department for 30 years. He currently is a fisheries field operations chief . He lives with his wife, Nancy, and three children on a small acreage near Jefferson City. When not remodeling or repairing their house, he enjoys fishing, waterfowl hunting, gardening and reading.