Who We Are
What is natural history?
We define natural history as the “…practice of intentional, focused attentiveness and receptivity to the more-than-human world, guided by honesty and accuracy.”
Why a Natural History Institute?
Natural History is as old as humanity—there have never been people without natural history. In recent years, however, natural history has been marginalized—many academic institutions have removed or shrunken natural history curricula—and the arts and humanities have too often been wrung out of remaining natural history programs.
Our Mission
The Natural History Institute provides leadership and resources for a revitalized practice of natural history that integrates art, science, and humanities to promote the health and well-being of humans and the rest of the natural world.
About Us
The Natural History Institute engages the next generation of naturalists to reunite science, humanities, and art in the practice of natural history. We nurture hope by combining traditional observational tools and practices with modern technology and global information sharing to help people develop attitudes and skills to meaningfully connect with the natural world, and to contribute understanding and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. We provide easily accessible public programs, research facilities to document the biodiversity of the Mogollon Highlands ecoregion, and facilitate a national conversation on a renaissance of natural history generating creative ideas and proactive strategies for engagement.
You are invited to utilize the Institute as a place to collaborate on projects, share information, pursue research questions and ecological curiosities, and become inspired to better know the world around you.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Natural History Institute promotes equal opportunity in employment, educational programs, and activities. Discrimination is prohibited based on race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, and qualified veteran status.
We recognize that as an organization we have room for improvement on this issue and we look forward to doing the work.
Current Staff
Bob Ellis, M.S., Executive Director
Jessie Rack, Ph.D., Program Director
Deborah Springstead Ford, Interim Development Director
Lisa Floyd-Hanna, Ph.D., Science Director
Jennie Tutone, Collections Manager
Retired Staff
Tom Fleischner, Ph.D., Senior Advisor & Director Emeritus
Bob Ellis
Jennie Tutone
Deborah Springstead Ford
Jessie Rack
Lisa Floyd-Hanna
Advisory Council
Paul Dayton, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
Harry Greene, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Jeff Hardesty, M.S.
Conservationist; The Nature Conservancy (Retired), Gainesville, Florida
Jane Hirshfield
Poet; Chancellor, Academy of American Poets, Mill Valley, California
Eileen Lacey, Ph.D.
Professor of Integrative Biology; Associate Director & Curator, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California
Nalini Nadkarni, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Reed Noss, Ph.D.
Florida Institute for Conservation Science, Orlando, Florida
Julia K. Parrish, Ph.D.
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, College of the Environment, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Mary Power, Ph.D.
Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley; Past President, Ecological Society of America, Berkeley, California
Sarah Juniper Rabkin
Independent natural history writer and artist; former faculty, University of California, Santa Cruz, Soquel, California
Mitchell Thomashow, Ph.D.
Past President, Unity College; past Chair, Environmental Studies, Antioch University New England, Dublin, New Hampshire
Saul Weisberg, M.S.
Executive Director, North Cascades Institute, Bellingham, Washington
Board of Trustees
Josephine Arader Delille
Gallery Director & Senior Sales Associate, Arader Galleries, New York City, St. Helena, California
Reuben Ellis
Professor and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Woodbury University, Los Angeles, California
John Farmer
Financial Advisor; former Adventure Education Faculty, Prescott, Arizona
Ty Fitzmorris
Proprietor, Peregrine Book Company & Raven Café; Entomologist, Prescott, Arizona
Matthew Frankel
Physician; Conservationist, Prescott, Arizona
Rebecca Ruffner
Child and Family Advocate, Non-Profit Executive (Retired), Prescott, Arizona
Scientific Advisory Council
Lon Abbott, Ph.D.
Senior Instructor and Research Associate, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
Harry W. Greene, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Dave Huffman, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Development, Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona
M. Andrew Johnston, Ph.D.
Collection Manager, NEON Biorepository Invertebrates, Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Elizabeth Makings, M.S.
Curator, Herbarium, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Gallery Council
Roger Asay
Sculptor, Painter, Prescott, Arizona
Jen Chandler
Photographer, Climate Activist, former Gallery Manager, Prescott, Arizona
Edie Dillon
Sculptor, Painter, former Gallery Manager, Prescott, Arizona
Diane Gilbert
Textile and Installation ArtIst, former arts faculty, Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona