Course Listing - by Instructor
| Name | Biography |
|---|---|
| LERN Staff | |
| Ayumi Amama | Growing up in Osaka, Japan, Ayumi always enjoyed cooking. Since she started making rolled omelets at 7 years old, she has continued learning new techniques and developing new recipes. Ayumi has also taken calligraphy lessons in Japan for about eight years and is trained in architectural design. She enjoys sharing Japanese culture. |
| Dori Bell | Dori Bell (The Blossom Bar) is an aromatherapist with 23 years of education and practical experience in aromatherapy. Dori’s focus is on the safe, sustainable use of essential oils for emotional and mental well-being. Learn more about Dori and her work at www.theblossombar.com. |
| Tom Boley | Tom has been a hobby woodworker all his life and became a woodturner in about 1995. One of his joys in life is standing at the lathe, teaching the craft to others. He teaches in his shop at his home near Wamego. When an opportunity to make actual money in the woodturning business arose in 2005, he changed directions to focus on architectural woodturning. From December 2005 to July 2014, he was a full-time custom architectural woodturner in northern Virginia, making turned items for both restoration and new construction, numbering from a single item to sometimes hundreds of the same thing. Examples of that are new balusters in the same style and shape as old ones for the restoration of a railing around the porch of an old house. Newels, porch posts, table legs, and finials were also commonly requested turnings. As of August 2014, Tom mostly retired from that business and moved to Wamego, near Manhattan, the home of his beloved Kansas State Wildcats. Now, in addition to some commercial work, he very much enjoys working on the artistic side of woodturning as a hobby and participates in one or two craft shows each year. The hobby produces bowls, bottle stoppers, pens, sweater pins, and other items. Tom's favorite turnings are natural edge bowls in several different forms, specializing in square natural edge bowls and what he calls "log bowls." And he has started a woodturning club for local turners called Flint Hills Woodturners (www.flinthillswoodturners.org), a great place to meet fellow woodturners, and be inspired by the Show and Tell items they bring to the meetings and learn about the craft. |
| Ted Cable | Ted Cable is Professor Emeritus of Park Management and Conservation at Kansas State University. He has authored 14 books, several book chapters, four scenic byway video scripts, and more than 250 articles, reports, and presentations dealing with nature, travel, and heritage interpretation. Four of his 14 books deal specifically with birds and Dr. Cable has birded in all 50 states and on every continent. He has seen more than 4,000 species of birds globally and more than 440 species in Kansas. He has received teaching awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and was named Kansas Wildlife Federation Communicator of the Year in addition to many teachings, student advising, and faculty mentoring awards from Kansas State University. He received the National Association for Interpretation’s Master of Interpretation Award and in 2000 he received their highest honor by being named a Fellow of the National Association for Interpretation. In 2020 the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration awarded Ted the Park and Recreation Legend Award. |
| Cary Chappell | |
| Melissa Copp | |
| Body First | |
| Katharine Hensler | Katharine Hensler is the new Director of the Riley County Historical Museum. She moved to Riley County, Kansas in 2017 and brings over 20 years of experience in collections management and museum administration. Originally from northcentral Pennsylvania, Ms. Hensler received an undergraduate degree in History from Lock Haven University of Penna. and a graduate degree in Historic Preservation from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. |
| Marsha Jensen | |
| Aliah Mestrovich Seay | |
| Debbie Newton | Debbie has been a certified yoga teacher (CYT) since 2007. |
| Vaishali Sharda | Born and raised in northern India, Vaishali moved to the US to work on her PhD. She grew up watching her mother cook everything from scratch in the small town they lived in. Her passion for cooking grew when she met her husband who is an avid foodie. She blogs about her adventures in the kitchen at www.kitchendocs.com and works at K State as faculty in climate and water resources management. |
| Melinda Sinn | |
| Robert Smith | Robert Smith was born in Nebraska and attended Nebraska University where he majored in history. Bob has always had a love for history and a particular interest in military history as he comes from a military family. Prior to his return to academia and advanced degrees Bob managed a family operated business where he learned management and organizational skills. He returned to academia in 1998 attending Kansas State University receiving a Master of Arts in military history in 2004 and a Ph.D. in military history in December 2008. Currently Bob is the Director of the Fort Riley Museum Complex, Fort Riley, Kansas. |
| Chris Sorensen |
