DIRECTOR

Trip founded Balance Media and has worked with National Geographic for over a decade. He was named Adventurer of the Year by Nat Geo after his first project with the organization, an expedition in Papua New Guinea. Since then his films have won dozens of awards around the world and aired on major networks on every continent. Trip focuses on issues that are at a tipping point. He works to educate the public, front line communities and decision makers so they can make informed decisions about issues that affect their lives. His passion for making the world more just and sustainable is fueled by outdoor experiences, running rivers and surfing waves in Oregon and far beyond.

SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR

Lisa found her passion for fire while working as a wildland firefighter. She went on to focus her PhD and years of research on disturbance ecology, fire behavior and natural resource management.

Lisa's research program is focused on the interactions among people, plants, animals, and disturbance in Western rangelands and forests. She uses both field and modeling techniques to investigate how management modifies risk and resilience to wildfire and alters post-fire recovery. Lisa believes that strengthening the ties between people and place through education and outreach is one of our most important tools to conserve landscapes.

CULTURAL ADVISOR

Margo merges thousands of years of indigenous knowledge with the current need to restore fire back to the land. As a Yurok tribal member and the Director of the Cultural Fire Management Council and advisor to the Indigenous People’s Burn Network, she brings ancient wisdom to bear as a modern actor in a complex world.

Margo returns fire to the land, gathers and prepares traditional food and medicine, and is a basket weaver and regalia maker. She has a love for fire and the many benefits it has for maintaining healthy forests and ensuring the safety of nearby communities.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

For nearly two decades, Ralph has advised community-based conservation groups, recreation clubs and citizens throughout the Pacific Northwest on the conservation of our forests, including burned landscapes. Over the past five years he has investigated the causes of fires, documented wildlife in burned landscapes, volunteered his time to rebuild trails in fire burned areas and spent time in these forests with firefighters, expert scientists and ecologists. Ralph has helped the public, decision makers and students confront the dominant cultural beliefs about fire, and understand the paradoxes that mark our relationship with it.

CO-PRODUCER

With a background in cultural anthropology, Sara brings the slow, intentional approach of ethnography into her storytelling. Sara has been making award-winning films and shorts with Balance Media for five years, telling the stories of frontline communities facing fossil fuel infrastructure projects, wildland fire threats and attacks on public land. From documenting community-based fisheries along the Mesoamerican Reef to restoration of native food sovereignty in Maine, Sara has a particular interest in exploring rural environmentalism and the deep connections to place that come from living from the land.