Author Linda Masterson

Author and researcher Linda Masterson was a member of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Bear Aware team for more than a decade. Her latest book, Living with Bears Handbook, is an expanded and completely updated second edition of the guidebook that's been the bible of coexisting with bears for more than a decade, Living with Bears.

"Most people really are smarter than bears. They don't want to cause problems. But they don't understand how seemingly harmless things like feeding birds or leaving your trash on the curb overnight can trigger a chain of events that can quickly lead to big problems for people and death for bears."

"I see my job as an author as turning on the human light bulb. I sift through mountains of information, unearth what really matters, and then try to communicate with people in ways that make them think, nod their heads, groan, laugh and finally get up off the couch and do something."

Linda has been a featured presenter at several International Bear Management Association and Human-Bear Conflicts conferences and workshops. She's a partner in marketing and communications firm Masterson & Phillips and lives on Florida's southern Gulf Coast with husband and fellow outdoor enthusiast Cory Phillips.

Also by Linda:
Surviving Wildfire: Get Prepared, Stay Alive, Rebuild Your Life (A Handbook for Homeowners)

Principle Scientifc Advisor Rich Beausoleil

Rich Beausoleil has been conducting bear research since 1997 in Louisiana, Tennessee, New Mexico and Washington, where he's been the statewide bear and cougar specialist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2002. He's the Chair of the Management Committee for the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) and a frequent contributor to professional publications and journals. He's also authored several agency manuals on responding to human-carnivore conflicts, and his efforts contributed to the state of Washington passing an anti-feeding regulation.

Rich cofounded the Karelian Bear Dog (KBD) Program in Washington in 2003, and has more than a decade of experience as a handler, using KBD's to help resolve conflict between bears and people non-lethally. He's a frequent speaker at both professional conferences and community events, although he freely admits that understanding bears is often much easier than unraveling the mysteries of human behavior. He holds double degrees in wildlife biology, a BS from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master's Degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.