BEHIND THE STORIES

Dan Potts

Dan grew up in SLC, attending West High School, followed by a BS from USU and an MS from Auburn University, where he focused on wildlife management and aquatic ecology. Largely due to his many nature-oriented hobbies, he is a longtime volunteer nature activist and officer of the 100-year-old Salt Lake Fish and Game Foundation.

Dan retired more than 40 years ago after returning from the Peace Corps, devoting himself to promoting Utah’s hunting, fishing, and other renewable and watchable natural resources.

Dan volunteers on a variety of local neighborhood and nature boards. Through his activism and teaching a variety of classes, he has advocated greener approaches to living on Earth. In addition to Utah Stories, Dan has written many how-to and human-interest articles over the years for other local newspapers and magazines. Dan really appreciates working with Utah Stories to “round out” its many great articles.

Mike Jones

Mike has been a Utah stories contributor of photography and articles since 2012. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, nature and portrait photography, whisky and craft beer tastings.

Earlier this year he earned his masters degree in library science with a concentration in archiving from Emporia State University.

“My favorite thing about Utah has got to be the history,” Mike says. “There are so many weird and interesting things that have happened here. The outdoor scene is pretty great as well; summer or winter, there’s always something to do, and lots of great people to do it with.”

The reason he likes contributing to Utah Stories? “The people I get to meet. I get to play an active role in spreading the news about what makes Utah great, and I get to do it with my camera.”

Holly Lammert

Holly Lammert is a teacher, coach, climber and writer who lives in Moab. She currently teaches math at Grand County High School as well as yoga at various places. Mostly, she is motivated to get kids outside to experience the engaging classroom of nature and connect those themes to their lives and the world.

When not in school, she’s working on a project to convert a once-active school bus into a camper/energy lab/think tank to let learning roam and inspire small groups of wanderers. She runs a summer camp called Elements of Change, where participants can experientially study science and mythology and build skills in grassroots activism, along with a girls support and self-discovery group called the Artemis Project.

Holly enjoys exploring canyons, rivers and mountains, and diving into adventures big and small. She also loves to dance wildly, sing in harmony, travel responsibly, and walk dogs aimlessly. She climbs when she can.

She writes mostly recreationally — journaling, blogging and sharing stories with friends. She is embracing investigative journalism and the process of researching, interviewing and bringing stories to the public that invite readers to consider community, our relationship to the environment, healthy living, and critical conversations about justice and education.

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