2003 Symposium Speaker Biographies
In alphabetical order, these are the speakers who'll be presenting at our 2003 International sled Dog Symposium. For more information, contact Carol Kaynor at kaynor@mosquitonet.com or 455-9663.
Sue Bulanda (keynote speaker)
Sue is a canine and feline ethologist and a search and rescue expert who lectures internationally. Sue holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in education, and has taken graduate courses in behavioral sciences. She has been a search and rescue dog trainer and handler since 1981, and head trainer at the Phoenixville Fire Dept., K9 Search & Rescue Unit. Sue has written six books and many articles, including books on search and rescue, a breed book, and a book on scent work for hunting dogs. She has trained dogs in search and rescue, sled dog racing, drug detection, hunting, and obedience.
Jean Battig, DVM
Dr. Battig graduated from Oregon College of Veterinary Medicine in 1985. She worked with racing horses and greyhounds until 1990, when she came to Fairbanks and started working at a small animal clinic. At that time she became interested in veterinary dentistry and is currently training to become board certified as a specialist in veterinary dentistry. Since opening up her own practice, Chena Ridge Veterinary Clinic, six years ago, she has enjoyed working with performance dogs, with special attention to their oral health.
Deborah (Molburg) Bicknell
Deborah was born in Laconia, New Hampshire, to a family deeply involved in sled dog racing. She started her competitive mushing career in 1957, racing in a children’s “mutt derby” with a Saint Bernard. Deborah was the first woman to win the World Championship Sled Dog Derby in Laconia, New Hampshire, which she won again a year later. She retired from sprint racing in 1987, but later got into mid-distance and distance racing, eventually competing in the Yukon Quest.
Terri Champaine
Terri was born and raised in New England and started racing at age 7. Her family was also involved in racing (father, brother, uncles and cousins). Terri raced mostly in New England as a kid, then eventually all across the United States and Canada as an adult. She retired from racing when she was 41.
Ellie Claus
Ellie ran the Junior Iditarod four times, finishing eighth, fifth, eighth, and in 2003, first. In 2000, she was the rookie of the year and in 2002, she received both the sportsmanship award and the humanitarian award. Ellie plans to run the Yukon 500 this year. She is a two-time champion of the Junior Yukon Quest. Ellie was the youngest person to run the Junior Iditarod and will be the youngest person to run the Iditarod this year when she starts the Iditarod 12 days after her 18th birthday. Ellie says she has been working toward running this Iditarod since she was nine.
Dan Daigle
Dan started mushing in New Hampshire in 1978. A friend, Jim Tilton, got him interested, so he bought one dog and borrowed two more for his daughters to race. That just wasn't enough dogs for him, so he bought out a New Hampshire kennel and has been running dogs ever since. He has raced in all the major unlimited-class races from New England to Canada to Alaska. Dan retired from major competition in 2001 and now has only 4 sled dogs to skijor with.
Andy Elsberg
Andy has been running dogs since 1996, first as a handler for Darren Rorabaugh, then as a skijorer, before establishing a distance race kennel with Shannon Brockman. Their kennel focuses on having a good time with their dogs, and they put a lot into keeping things positive. They have both run the Yukon Quest, using sleds Andy designed and built. When Andy is not running dogs, he works as a mountain and river guide.
Curtis Erhart
Curtis, a noted fourth-generation musher, comes from a long family tradition of running sled dogs and racing in Alaska. He has been involved in many aspects of racing since his first race at 7 years old. Having been deeply involved in running both sprint and distance racing, Curtis brings a wealth of experience and information for beginners and experienced mushers alike.
John Estle
John was UAF cross country ski and cross country running coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1982-1990. He was head coach for cross country of the U.S. Ski Team from 1990-1993, and head coach of the US Olympic Ski Team in 1992. John was a member of the coaching staff at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics, the 1991 and 1993 World Championships, the 1994 World Junior Championships, and the 1983 World University Games.
Karl Kassel
Karl got involved with dog mushing in the mid-1970s and since that time has participated in almost every aspect of the sport. He has run dogs recreationally, raced limited sprint classes competitively, and traveled the Alaska and Yukon backcountry by dog sled. He has served in a variety of organizational capacities, including president of ADMA and president of the Yukon Quest. He has helped design, construct, and maintain a variety of dog mushing and multiuse trail systems, and has also designed trail grooming equipment.
Carol Kaynor
Carol Kaynor has been running and racing dogs since 1986. She has won several 4-dog races and took the silver medal in the 2001 World Championship 4-dog class. Carol's kennel, fondly named “Morningside Dog Asylum” after a former mental asylum in Seattle, is entirely comprised of second-hand dogs. Carol is coauthor of Skijor With Your Dog and has been writing about skijoring and sled dogs off and on since 1987.
Carol Kleckner
Carol Kleckner has been skijoring and mushing for 7 years, and her dogs have racked up an impressive number of wins in the skijoring, 4-dog, and 6-dog classes. Carol's kennel is composed of 21 second-hand dogs, all neutered and spayed. She describes herself as a "bleeding heart for every castoff, unwanted sled dog that needs a home, and adopter of many."
Mike Malvick
Mike has skijored both competitively and recreationally, and has served on the ASPA board of directors for four seasons. He won the multi-day ASPA Race Across the Valley twice and earned IFSS Regional World Cup medals in skijoring and 4-dog sprint mushing, despite having only a 5-dog "microkennel" of two pointers/husky hybrids and three Alaskan huskies. Mike also enjoys skijoring the wide variety of backcountry trails and rivers in the Fairbanks area. Having grown up in Tucson, Arizona, Mike is living proof that almost anyone can successfully learn winter sports.
Jeanne Olson, DVM
Dr. Olson has been practicing veterinary medicine in Interior Alaska since 1988. She specializes in holistic medicine, including herbal, chiropractic, acupuncture and homeopathic modalities, through her private practice at Raven Veterinary. She has been head veterinarian for the Copper Basin 300 and Yukon Quest for numerous years, as well as team veterinarian for numerous local sprint and mid-distant races. She took the job of staff veterinarian for the Fairbanks North Star Borough Animal Shelter last year, and has recently accepted the position of shelter manager at the same facility with a goal toward improving life for sled dogs in Alaska and the working relationship between mushers and the shelter.
Wesley Rau
Wes is a physical therapist of 29 years, and a certified manual therapist. He was the Oregon state representative for veterinarian physical therapy, and has presented at the National Physical Therapy Symposium in Seattle on spine disorders of canines. Wes worked on Ken Anderson and Gwen Holdmann’s team before and after the AttaBoy 300 race in Oregon and before the 2003 Iditarod.
Tammi Rego
Tammi got her first taste of Alaska while stationed on Adak Island with the U.S. Navy in 1992. On leaving the military, Tammi, her husband, Manny, and son, Devlyn, made the move back to Alaska and settled in Two Rivers. Tammi has been in Alaska for going on five years, has been running dogs for about 10 years, and has had dogs all her life. The Regos own Running Swift Kennel, a racing kennel of about 25 hounds and huskies.
Arleigh Reynolds, DVM, PhD
Dr. Reynolds is a veterinarian and a canine exercise physiologist and nutritionist who also competes in open-class sprint races. He received both of his doctoral degrees from Cornell University. He says racing started as his doctoral project, but has become his job and life's passion (second to wife and kids). Dr. Reynolds has studied the relationship between diet and performance in sled dogs for more than 10 years in his laboratory and on the Alaskan sled dog trails.
Harry and Lela Schlitz
Harry and his team have been presenting programs about sled dogs for the past eleven years all over southern California. They travel to schools and libraries, bringing sled dog literature to life for students and adults. They also visit hospitals and work with special education students in more therapeutic settings. Lela recently retired from elementary school teaching and counseling in an urban school district in southern California. Her classes followed the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest sled dog races, and she and Harry shared their dogs with her students in a variety of settings.
Miriam Taylor-Cooper
Miriam has lived in Alaska for about eight years and has been running dogs for seven. She had always been active hiking and skiing with her pet dogs, but when she discovered that a simple harness and some ropes would take them even farther into the woods, she never looked back. Miriam noticed there wasn't much information available for recreational mushers who just wanted to have fun with their teams and enjoy the outdoors. To provide an outlet for these mushers, she started the Alaska Recreational Dog Mushers (ARDM) in December 2002, and says the group has been having a blast ever since.
Aliy Zirkle
Aliy began mushing in 1993 and has been a kennel owner and tour operator for the last four years. She ran the Yukon Quest three times, finishing in fourth place the second time and winning in 2000, the first woman to do so. Aliy ran her rookie Iditarod in 2001. She says that sled dogs are her life and her passion. She enjoys watching puppies grow, learn and eventually become part of a team with their siblings.