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The Founders

A young man with blue eyes and facial hair taking a selfie outdoors in a foggy, forested area wearing a blue Patagonia down jacket, a black baseball cap, and a gray Osprey backpack.

Brady o’brien

Brady is an expert naturalist from Garrett County, Maryland, in the heart of the state’s Allegheny Mountains. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Biology from Frostburg University.

Brady specializes in amphibians, birds, moths, plants, and reptiles. He is an expert in wildlife photography, with photos published in scientific books, articles, and a gallery of his own work. He also utilizes his photography to create scientific infographic-style posters for education on biodiversity.

Brady’s photography primarily focuses on bringing the small, often unseen details of an animal or plant to the spotlight. He says this style gives the viewer a new perspective and appreciation for either a commonly encountered species or something rare they’ve never seen or heard of before.

A man standing on a rock in a river with a waterfall and green trees in the background, holding a colorful toy.

Frank Gebhard

Frank is a naturalist from Bel Air, MD, who now lives in Tucker County, West Virginia, amongst the Allegheny Highlands. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from James Madison University.

Frank specializes in amphibians, ferns, and herbaceous plants. He sees the world through salamanders, which have opened up his world to the wonders of overall ecology. “You can’t find salamanders if you don’t learn the ecology around them,” he says.

Frank has had photos published by Highland Outdoors Magazine, The Highland’s Voice, National Forest Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and more. His photography focuses mainly on salamanders and landscape photos of their habitat and mountains, but his true passions lie in cinematography. He is currently filming a feature-length documentary about the salamanders of the Appalachians.

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