About the
Wild Wonder Foundation
Mission
Founded in 2022, the Wild Wonder Foundation is dedicated to encouraging nature connection and conservation through attention, curiosity, art, science, and community.
We strive to make nature and nature journaling accessible to everyone by sponsoring the annual Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference as well as other events, educational workshops, field trips, teacher trainings, retreats, exhibits, grants, and other activities and projects in support of our mission.
We are committed to inclusivity, respect, and equal opportunity for everyone as we nurture and celebrate a diverse, global community of nature journalers. We strive to make events and resources free and/or low cost, and we offer scholarships for those who face economic barriers, underrepresentation, and/or historic marginalization.
The birth of this foundation is a direct result of the 35+ years of dedicated work by award-winning author, educator, scientist, and artist John Muir Laws, a.k.a. Jack. He has created, nurtured, and grown a diverse, worldwide nature journaling community through his great generosity, inspired teaching, and boundless energy and joy.
Meet Jack and our team below.
Young John Muir Laws sketching poppies.
Why the name: “Wild Wonder”?
We chose this name for many reasons. We chose “wild,” because nature journaling connects us with the wild of nature, and because we feel wild and free when we journal. We also wanted our name to give a nod to poet Mary Oliver, who asked in her poem “The Summer Day”: “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” The name includes “wonder” because paying close attention to nature brings wonder as in curiosity (I wonder…?) and wonder as in awe.
Our Team
John Muir Laws
President, Founder, and Creative Director
John Muir Laws is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. Jack is an award-winning naturalist, artist, scientist, and educator who has dedicated nearly four decades of his life to connecting people to nature through art and science. From an early age, his parents instilled in him a deep love and respect for nature. Over the years, that love has grown to a commitment to stewardship, nature conservation, and a passion to share the delight of exploring nature with others. As a writer, scientist, and artist, Jack has developed numerous interdisciplinary educational programs that train students to observe with rigor and to refine techniques to become intentionally curious. (See Resources.) He is the author and illustrator of several books including The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (also available in Spanish), The Laws Sketchbook, The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, Sierra Birds: a Hiker’s Guide, Sierra Wildflowers: A Hiker’s Guide, and The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada. He is co-author with Emilie Lygren of How to Teach Nature Journaling. Learn more about John Muir Laws here.
Beth Kelley Gillogly
Vice President and Founding Director
Beth Kelley Gillogly has collaborated with John Muir Laws since 2018 on numerous projects. She is creator and co-founder of the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference, a co-creator of the Nature Journal Connection video series, and she manages John Muir Laws’ Naturalist Store. Beth has more than 30 years of experience as a marketing consultant, writer, editor, event manager, publications manager, and fundraiser for a variety of nonprofit and educational organizations including the Community of Writers, Poets and Writers Magazine, New York University Press, and Santa Clara University. A passionate poet and writer, Beth earned her master’s degree in English and creative writing from New York University. She is the proud mother of Fiona Gillogly, who is an avid birder, artist, nature journaler, and advocate for nature. Beth loves to laugh, hike, sing, harmonize, bird by ear, tend her garden, plan events, and build community, and she has kept a nature journal since 2005. Learn more about Beth here.
Roseann Hanson
Treasurer, Co-founder, and Operations Manager
Roseann Hanson is co-founder and logistics director of the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference and the author of Nature Journaling for a Wild Life, an 8-week guided course for beginners. Her latest book, Master of Field Arts (2022), is a deep-dive into becoming a master naturalist and field artist. For more than 35 years, Roseann has worked around the globe as a guide, journalist, and conservationist. She has authored a dozen natural history and outdoor books, and her work has involved thousands of miles of overlanding on five continents. She is an elected National Fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of her conservation and science communications work. She established the trans-disciplinary Art & Science Program at the 117-year-old Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, part of the University of Arizona College of Science, and currently teaches through her own Field Arts Institute. Learn more about Roseann here.
Anne Marie Bergen
Program Associate
Anne Marie discovered the natural connection children and adults had for experiential learning at Foothill Horizons Outdoor School as an environmental educator. For many years, she worked as an elementary educator in Oakdale, California, where she created a laboratory and field-based elementary science program involving thousands of children each year, as well as their teachers, and the community. Her final decade as an educator was at Cal Poly State University, creating and teaching science and STEM undergraduate courses for future educators and providing professional development for teachers. Previous leadership roles include the California Teacher Advisory Council (chair), Central Coast Science Project (co-director), and National Academies Consensus Committee. She was honored for her teaching and program development in 2003 as California Teacher of the Year, as Cal Poly Honored Alum in 2008, and by President Obama in 2010, Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics. She enjoys exploring and journaling the beaches and bluffs of California’s central coast, coordinating the Pantry Project, and harvesting at City Farm SLO.
Board of Directors
The Wild Wonder Board of Directors includes:
John Muir Laws, Roseann Hanson, Beth Kelley Gillogly (bios above), as well as the following people.
KATE RUTTER is a visual journaler, sketchnoter, and designer with an experimental and rambunctious visual practice. She believes observation is a window to the natural word, and advocates for bold experimentation as a path to wonder and curiosity. Kate teaches at the California College of the Arts, hosts the East Bay Sketchers Meetup group, has illustrated a few books, and once journaled the first 100 days of an avocado pit’s growth. She holds a BA in studio art from Wellesley College. More about Kate